Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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If you are able, please remain
standing, and let's give our attention to
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titus, chapter two. Titus too. But as for you, teach what
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accords with sound doctrine. Older men
are to be sober minded, dignified,
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self controlled, sound in faith,
in love and insteadfastness. Older women,
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Likewise, are to be reverent in
behavior, not slanderers or slaves too much
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wine. They are to teach what
is good, and so train the young
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women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled, pure,
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working at home, kind and submissive
to their own husbands, that the word
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of God may not be reviled.
Likewise, urge the younger men to be
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self controlled, show yourself in all
respects to be a model of good works,
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and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot
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be condemned, so that an opponent
may be put to shame, having nothing
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evil to say about us. Bond
servants are to be submissive to their own
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masters and, ever everything there to
be well pleasing, not argumentative, not
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pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn
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the doctrine of God. Our Savior, for the grace of God, has
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appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce on goodliness and
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worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and Godly lives. In the
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present age, waiting for our blessed
hope, the appearing of the glory of
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our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ, who gave himself for us to
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redeem us from all lawlessness and to
purify for himself a people for his own
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possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things, exhort and rebuke
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with all authority. Let no one
disregard you. Hey, God bless his
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word to us, he may be
seated. We have been going through titus
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chapter two, a little bit by
little bit, connecting each of these commands
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with this Gospel passage in verses eleven
through fourteen. We finish this chapter to
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this evening. By looking at the
whole chapter, I'm particularly from Titus's perspective.
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As you probably noticed, particularly in
the beginning and in the end of
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this chapter, there are is a
particular direction to titus, this fellow servant
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with the Apostle Paul, who has
been set on the island of Crete to
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establish these churches, the appolic God's
Apostle commands tied us and ministers after him
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to teach in verse one what accords
with sound doctrine, to declare these things
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at the very end, in Verse
Fifteen, Exhort and rebuke with all authority.
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Let no one disregard you. We
have other commands or titus. In
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the sections between the young men and
the bond servants. We're titus is called
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to show yourself in all respects to
be a model of good works and in
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your teaching, show integrity, dignity
and sound speech that cannot be condemned so
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that an opponent may be put to
shame having nothing evil to say about us.
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So the sort of simple point here
is what is true and titus true
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is, of course true of the
whole letter. It's a book written to
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Titus. It's a book written to
this minister and how to do his work,
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how to do his job, but
of course it's also to the people
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as well, and that means this
evening that God requires us to get a
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little personal, and I don't just
mean about the ways in which we think
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about our personal lives, and we've
been doing that as we've been going through
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this chapter, as we think about
the particulars of how we lives our lives.
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A live our lives before God.
But Titus too, and honestly the
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book as a whole, also asks
us to think about the particulars of our
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lives as we relate to one another. And when I say we I mean
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you and me, sheep and shepherd, preacher and parishioners. We have to
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consider our lives as they are lived
out together, because this is what God
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is talking about. In Titus too, on the one hand, he speaks
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God's apostle rights to titus and writes
this pastoral letter to a pastor. We
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see these commands teach, exhort,
rebuke, do so with authority. He's
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given particular doctrines that he is to
teach, duties that he is to command
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his people. He is called to
be bold in all of this, to
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let no one disregard him. These
are the in explicit instructions that are given
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to this minister. And yet in
all this there are, of course,
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implicit instructions to those whom he is
called to preach. Command, the Claire,
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exhort, rebuke. These instructions that
are given to all of us as
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a whole, as Christians in a
general sense, are not there by accident.
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They're given directly to us by the
spirit of God. In other words,
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we didn't happen to find this letter
to tide us sort of slipped in
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this pastor's desk drawer and then sort
of looked at it and thought, well,
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what might we learn about our own
lives from this? No, the
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spirit of God gives us to tide
us, but also to his people,
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and it's similarly. He gives it
to me and he gives it to you,
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and so in this we are called
to think about these things together.
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And here we find. We find
that in addition, that, in addition
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to the law, in addition to
these requirements that we are to live by,
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we are also given the Gospel,
tied us to centers our lives and
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pulls our lives around these two great
truths, the Law and the Gospel.
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God calls us to live a certain
way, but to do so by faith
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that God is living in us in
a certain way. And in all of
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this, the one thing becomes really
clear that we are all under one authority,
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both pastor and congregants, shepherd and
sheep. We all answer to the
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same chief, the same shepherd,
just as we all have our saving grace
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in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is, in Colossians, one called the
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head of the church. So though
God is called some to be overseers,
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like titus, and some to be
overseen, some to preach and some to
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receive preaching, no one is said
above God. It is God who governs,
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it is God who graces, and
it's together that we are called to
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submit to him in faith. So, in fulfilling my own calling this evening,
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the command of God in my life, to preach these things to you,
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I want to bring your attention to
God's word, to these particularly these
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two things which are really at the
center of the whole of Christian life,
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the Law of the Gospel, and
how they relate to each other in Jesus.
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This is what comes out to us
in the in this chapter and really
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in many ways summarizes the whole of
Christian life and t and and Christian doctrine
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in general, the law and the
Gospel as we find them related to one
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another in Jesus. So let's consider
both of these. First, the law.
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God commands us to live as a
certain way. This is his law.
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He is the king, he has
a right to make these commands,
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and he does, and we've been
considering these in depth. I won't go
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through them all in the way that
we have, or we would be here
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for a long, long time,
but we will go over them briefly and
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I want, as we do,
I want you to call to your mind
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the things that we've been considering and
discussing as we've gone through these requirements one
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by one over the last several weeks. If you were to summarize all of
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it together, how might you do
it? What is the Christian life to
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look like? What are we to
do? How are we to live?
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Here's one way to put it.
No matter what your place or station is
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in life, God has called each
of us to live before him with the
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honor, wisdom and obedience that is
right for those who represent the king in
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this world. It's a little bit
long, I know. I'll read it
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one more time. No matter what
your place or station in life, God
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has called each of us to live
before him with the honor, wisdom and
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obedience that is right for those who
represent the king in this world. Older
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men and older women are called to
be examples of people who are mature in
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their faith. They are to be
leaders of the young, guiding them in
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Godliness. They're thinking is to be
clear. They are dignity as to be
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true. They are to control themselves, not living according to the lusts of
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the flesh, but according to the
life of the spirit. Younger men and
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younger women are called to follow suit, learning to respect those whom God has
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put in their lives to teach them
and help them grow. And as they
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do that, they are to learn
to work with diligence, love and service
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and the callings which God has called
them to. Slaves and others under authority,
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like children, are called to obedience, even when it's difficult. Their
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service should be rich, not poor, in love. It should be found
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in the heart and not only in
the hands. Because we think about these
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things, as you think about your
particular calling, your station in life,
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the things which God has asked you
to do, the wisdom and dignity and
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honor and obedience he has called you
to live with, you'll realize very quickly
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that you've been called to a very
high and dignified and noble calling. It
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is a calling that is a pleasure
to fulfill. It brings joy to our
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hearts, it benefits our communities,
it honors our kings, our king,
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and this is what makes it so
bad when we don't live this way,
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when we live in a ignoble way, when we live in a dishonorable way,
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when we live in unrighteousness instead of
godliness. Simply consider the headlines this
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week, as millions of people,
some of them prominent, professing believers,
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have been exposed to have committed,
or at least pursued the sin of adultery.
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When we fail to live according to
Grace, the grace we've been given,
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when we don't mortify the flesh but
feed it instead, we do harm
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to our souls, to our neighbors, and we bring dishonor to the name
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of our king. We even cause
people to doubt about the power of the
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word of God. We're told that
the Gospel is the power of God,
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Unto Salvation, and yet if we
don't live as saved people, it brings
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doubt, unnecessary doubt, unfair doubt, on the word of God. But
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you almost soul. Might consider another
headline from this week, that of the
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brave off duty American soldiers risking their
lives to stop mass murder on a train.
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As Americans and a foreign country,
their actions represented all of us in
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a way, and for that reason
many people find themselves quite proud of these
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men and what they did. A
similar thing is true for us as Christians,
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no matter where we live, no
matter what country we belong to.
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One of the earliest ridings we have, after the New Testament, one of
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the earliest Christian writings, has this
line in it, if I can remember
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it somewhat exactly, says that to
every country, to the Christian, every
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country is a fatherland and every fatherland
is foreign. Is this me has this
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sense in which we can live anywhere
and have our place in that society,
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and yet it a sense no matter
where we call home, it's never quite
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home, because we are, after
all, citizens of a heavenly country,
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and God calls us to a loyalty
and a pay treatism to this kingdom that
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exceeds any other love. When we
live this, when we live in light
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of that and live in light of
that citizenship, seeking God himself to sustain
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us and work in us the kind
of life he wants us to live,
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then we are called to represent him
in these foreign countries in which we live.
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As pilgrims in this world. We
are called to live in a way
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in which people recognize us as Christians, as one who, as people who
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belong to the Kingdom of God.
And Paul says that when we show the
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truth and power of God's word in
this way, we take away any valid
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reason for accusation and we even adorn
the doctrine of God, our Savior.
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Well, this, beloved, is
the law. It is beautiful, it's
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a wonderful, high, noble calling. It is a thing which we ought
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to think of often and dwell on
deeply. We ought to think about in
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ways and in ways that apply to
our hearts, in our lives, and
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this is why Paul Calls tied us
to command these things, to teach them
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these things that accord with sound doctrine. People, a people of God,
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are not left to live their lives
of wandering about in this world without direction.
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We're given specific, clear commands that
we are to apply and live as
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citizens of Heaven in this world.
This is the obedience that we are called
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to. Let it be clear in
your mind. Don't be confused about the
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points, be single minded in your
dedication and in your devotion to them.
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This is the law of God.
Now let us consider the Gospel in verses
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eleven through fourteen. In verses eleven
through fourteen, we have a connection between
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that First Section, in the next
these commands, and then in verse eleven,
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for the grace of God has appeared, and he goes on from there
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to describe what has appeared and what
has what is God is doing in His
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grace. Let me read this passage. For the grace of God has appeared,
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bringing salvation for all people, training
us to renounce on godliness and worldly
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passions and to live self controlled,
up light, upright and Godly lives in
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the present age, waiting for our
blessed hope and the appearing of the glory
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of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us
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to redeem us from all lawlessness and
to purify for himself a people for his
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own possession who are zealous for good
works. I want to point out a
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simple thing, but which all admit, is very easy to miss, and
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that it's this and these verses a
liven through fourteen. We are not told
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in the first place what we are
to do, but what God is doing.
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We're not told in eleven through fourteen
in the first place what we are
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to do. But what God is
doing not us. What he says,
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he says, for the grace of
God has appeared. God's grace has appeared.
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Verse Fourteen explains what that is,
the appearing of the glory of our
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great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem
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us from all lawlessness. Well,
who appeared? Well, God did,
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Jesus Christ. What did he do? He gave himself for us to do
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what? To redeem us from all
lawlessness and what else? To purify us
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for himself, a people for his
own possession who are zealous for good works.
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You see this as God's work.
It's God's appearing, it's God's doing.
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He comes to redeem us, he
comes to save us, to purify
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us and to make us a particular
kind of people, a people for his
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own possession, a treasure to himself, a people who are zealous for good
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works. Here we read what God
is doing. Of course, implicit in
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this is what we are to do. But that's not the apostles first focus.
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God is doing these things and we
are to receive them and rest in
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them. A consider them a little
more in depth. What is God doing?
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At first we read that he's made
his grace to appear. Jesus Christ
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has come into the world to save
people for them, sent from their sins,
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to redeem us from all lawlessness.
This means that when Jesus comes into
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the world, he comes into the
world with a particular mission in mind.
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He comes into the world for the
very purpose of doing God's will, to
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save people, and not just a
general salvation or to save them from general
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evil or wickedness, but from their
wickedness, from their lawlessness. He wants
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to purify for himself a people that
are impure, to make a people for
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his own possession who are zealous for
good works. That's Jesus Christ's mission.
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This is God's mission, the Triune
God, Father, son and Holy Spirit,
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that he desires to accomplish in us. And as you consider things like
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the sovereign power of God, let
me ask you, is this something that
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God is going to Failin? Did
Jesus Christ go to the Cross and sort
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of miss the boat, not quite
do what he was hoping to do?
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No, of course not. Jesus's
blood was not shed in vain. He
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purified for himself a people, he
redeemed a people from for himself. He
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created a people for his own possession
who are zealous for good works. This
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is the grace of God that has
appeared. He explains this and explains that
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grace does two things, saving and
training. First, he says that it
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he brings salvation for all people,
all of these different people that we've been
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considering, older men, younger man, older women, younger men and women,
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slaves, free, all classes of
people, it doesn't matter. God
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comes to redeem them all. This
is so contrary to the world's wisdom,
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which sees the treasures being most often
given to those who are rich and wealthy
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and powerful and have status. But
Jesus comes to save all from their sins.
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He brings this salvation, a salvation
which, as we've talked about,
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redeems and purifies possesses. This is
the saving that he does. He saves
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us from our sins, he purifies
us from our impurity. But the work
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goes on. God's work goes on. Not only does he save us,
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but we are told here that he
trains us to do three things renounce the
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bad, live for the good and
hope for and wait for the hope.
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He calls us to renounce the bad. He trains us, God trains us
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to renounce on godliness and worldly passions. He also trains us to live for
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the good, that is, self
controlled, upright and Godly lives, and
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he calls us to wait for our
hope. We wait for the blessed hope,
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the appearing of the glory of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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These are, of course, things
that we do right. We renounce
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the bad, we live for the
good, we wait for our hope.
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But that's not exactly how it's put
here, is it? Where is the
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emphasis? The emphasis is on God
and his work, the things that he
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is doing. In other words,
we do these things, but we are
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told that we do them because God
is doing them in us, beloved of
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the Lord, people of God,
who are his possession. Let that sink
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in. Would you understand? Would
you believe what God says here, that
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the work he calls you to do
is the work he's already doing? This
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means that, if you're a Christian, no matter how bleak your spiritual life
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may seem, God is making progress
in your soul. This is a promise,
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this is God's work that he will
not fail to do. It means
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that if you are a Christian,
you are a tree that does produce fruit,
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perhaps slowly, perhaps less than you
ought or less than you like,
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but nevertheless one that produces one that
is glorifying God, one that is,
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in some degree or another, zealous
for good works, that wants to be
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his child, that wants to be
his possession, that desire in the bottom
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of your heart, that that that
thought in your mind that won't go away,
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of wanting to live for him.
It won't go away because it is
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from him. It is him in
you, working in you, living in
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you, doing his own good pleasure. It means that God is being glorified
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in you, because God is working
in you and his work does not fail.
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The Gospel, therefore, in these
verses eleven through fourteen, isn't just
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a motivation to good, to do
good, though of course it is that,
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but it's also a promise that God
is doing good in you. It's
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a work that is begun in Christ
and it's a work that will be finished
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in Christ. So where does this
leave us? Well, leaves us is
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people who live the way we live, who obey God and the way that
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we do, because we are a
people who stand on in and by the
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promises of God, nowhere else.
We stand by his strength. We work
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because he works in us. We
live. We live because he lives in
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us. We stand on, in
and by the promises of God, because
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these promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who has come the grace of God,
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has appeared in this world. He
has accomplished these things and now all
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we're doing is waiting for the consummation
of them. These promises have been fulfilled
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in Jesus through the grace of his
first coming, in the coming grace of
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his second coming and in all the
grace in between. And in between.
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He gives us this sustaining grace,
which includes the sending of men to preach
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the word, Law and Gospel as
they are found in Jesus Christ. But
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not only does he send these men
to preach the word, he also opens
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the heart of those who hear the
word, who receive the word. This
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is what God is doing in this
world, and this, miraculously through US
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sinful people, God is doing among
us here. This is His grace.
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This is what the Apostle Paul means
when he says that we carry this great
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glory, this great treasure in Jars
of clay. On the one hand,
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it's almost unbelievable that sinners like us
would be capable of doing these things.
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But of course we're not capable in
and of ourselves, but we're made capable
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because of the spirit working in us, the spirit working against our flesh,
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the spirit bringing us to life,
a life that is begun in Christ and
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will be completed in him. Let
us therefore pray for one another. Pray
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for me that I might preach the
word as it is found only in and
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through Jesus Christ, and I will
pray for you that you will hear it
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and will receive it and that together, we will all find our salvation in
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him. May God grant this in
this church, so that we might live
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in him and for him, all
to the praise of his glory. Amen.
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Let us pray
