When Young Men are Christians (Titus 2:6)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:05.120 If you're able, please remain standing, and let's give our attention now to 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:25.660 titus chapter two, Titus two, verses six through eight, and then eleven 3 00:00:25.820 --> 00:00:35.619 through fourteen, titus two, verse six. Likewise, urge the younger men 4 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:40.049 to be self controlled, show yourself in all respects, to be a model 5 00:00:40.090 --> 00:00:44.770 of good works and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity and sound speech 6 00:00:44.890 --> 00:00:49.210 that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, 7 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:55.759 having nothing evil to say about us. And now to verse eleven, for 8 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:00.600 the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us 9 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:07.030 to renounce on godliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and 10 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:11.469 Godly lives. In the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the 11 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:15.069 appearing of the glory of our Great God, and Save Your Jesus Christ, 12 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:21.180 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for 13 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:26.340 himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. May 14 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:44.329 God bless his word to us. Please be seated. Let's we give our 15 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:48.400 set, our attention now to these verses in Titus two. We're giving our 16 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:55.439 attention to the fourth of five different sets of instructions given to different people within 17 00:01:55.560 --> 00:02:00.120 the church. First older men, than older women, than younger women, 18 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:06.549 and now younger men from Ted US instructs them, instructs them, giving them 19 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:13.189 the instructions that have been received already. The older men were also called to 20 00:02:13.310 --> 00:02:17.460 be self controlled. The older women were called to teach this kind of self 21 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:22.860 control to the younger women, and that's why Paul begins with verse six when 22 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:29.460 he says Likewise, urge the younger men to be self controlled. Now this 23 00:02:29.620 --> 00:02:36.090 word is a little bit difficult to translate. It's translated here as self controlled. 24 00:02:36.409 --> 00:02:43.370 In older translations it's translated as prudent or temperate. It has perhaps the 25 00:02:43.569 --> 00:02:49.439 idea all of these things combined together to some degree or another. It's really 26 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:53.120 difficult to say. But what is clear is there's this kind of prudence and 27 00:02:53.719 --> 00:03:00.629 a wisdom that is a being being focused on here. I'm perhaps with a 28 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:07.189 particular note of self control, the idea that one is living in their lives 29 00:03:07.349 --> 00:03:10.990 in this sound way, in a wise way, in a prudent way, 30 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:19.699 and thereby controlling themselves, their passions, so their pleasures. Recently, a 31 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:27.250 social commentator and political commentator, Camille Pelia, was complaining about what she called 32 00:03:27.330 --> 00:03:34.050 an excessive bloyishness in some of our current Republican presidential candidates. It is as 33 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:38.610 if their maturity has stalled, she says. Now, this is her personal 34 00:03:38.729 --> 00:03:44.159 judgment. You may disagree with her, but certainly we all would agree that 35 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:47.800 there is a poor, important gravatoss that is to be had in our leaders, 36 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.800 a kind of wisdom, of self control, restraint, a temperance. 37 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:00.909 I'm she admits that these particular people she has in her targets are remarkable for 38 00:04:00.990 --> 00:04:04.830 their ambition, their intellect and charm, but they lack depth, she says. 39 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:10.740 They are often given over to what she labels as self absorption, absorption 40 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:15.379 and narcissism. They may be quick on their feet and able with their tongue, 41 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:19.500 but they're also smart, Alex she says, Glib and ultimately juvenile. 42 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:25.329 Well, again, this isn't the first time, perhaps you've heard these kinds 43 00:04:25.370 --> 00:04:29.410 of comments, and whether or not you agree with her conclusions about the current 44 00:04:29.529 --> 00:04:33.889 slate of nominees, who can argue that leaders should have in themselves the characteristics 45 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:41.959 of mature leaders, integrity, dignity and soundness and speech? Well, if 46 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.800 that's true for presidents, it's also true for pastors, and that's what Paul 47 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.920 calls tied us to. The office of a minister is one that demands respect. 48 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:56.470 The world may not give that respect, but at least the minister should 49 00:04:56.990 --> 00:05:01.430 of his own office. When he considers the high calling of heralding the Kingdom 50 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:06.939 of God, of exercising the keys of that kingdom, of watching over a 51 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:14.500 soul and even a flock of souls, you'll immediately recognize that, while you 52 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:18.540 want your minister to be himself and to be authentic, you also want him 53 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:24.649 to not be a boy but to be a man. Being a child is 54 00:05:24.730 --> 00:05:28.250 fine, but it is something we are called to grow out of, as 55 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:31.370 Paul says in First Corinthians Thirteen, when I was a child, I spoke 56 00:05:31.449 --> 00:05:34.649 like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. 57 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:41.279 When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. And this 58 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:46.279 is what Paul Hall's tightest to and it's what he calls him to urge the 59 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.110 young men to is, as well as the older men and the older women 60 00:05:49.230 --> 00:05:54.949 and the younger women, but he particularly says of the younger men, to 61 00:05:54.990 --> 00:06:00.470 urge them to it and perhaps this is because, I'm often it is the 62 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:05.899 younger men who take the longest in getting there. It's a strong word, 63 00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:12.620 urge. It's used in various places in in terms of mourning, calling, 64 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:17.220 begging, pleading. The demons use this same word, this urging, when 65 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:23.730 they say to deem to Jesus cast us into that herd of pigs. They 66 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:27.610 plead with him, they call out to him. It's that same kind of 67 00:06:27.730 --> 00:06:32.639 pleading and urgent calling that Paul says to titus. Teach these things to the 68 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:38.199 others, but to their young men. Urge them, urge them to be 69 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.399 wise. Well, as I mentioned, perhaps this is because, more than 70 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:46.430 any other group, I'm young men have the hardest time giving up the passions 71 00:06:46.470 --> 00:06:51.110 and pleasures of youth. There are, of course, many exceptions to this, 72 00:06:51.230 --> 00:06:55.310 but it's usually not the young mother who blows all her money at the 73 00:06:55.350 --> 00:06:59.670 reduce track or goes out and buys a fancy sports car when there isn't any 74 00:06:59.670 --> 00:07:03.620 money left. It's often the young men who struggle to form a reasonable plan, 75 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:08.420 to employ themselves in the world, to stick to the plan, to 76 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:13.220 execute it. It takes some knocking around in the world before they learn the 77 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:16.050 maturity they need to get to the place that they are to be, to 78 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:23.889 be temperate, self controlled and matured. Too often young men are controlled by 79 00:07:23.930 --> 00:07:28.449 their passions, by their dreams. They refuse to listen to advice, they 80 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:31.240 struggle to see their own weaknesses. And so Paul tells that the young men 81 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:36.480 are to be urged, urged to temperance, urged to prudence, to self 82 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:43.079 control. Of Titus is to be a model of this. He is not 83 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.870 merely to tell them what to do, but show them in himself, in 84 00:07:47.029 --> 00:07:54.990 his own actions, the maturity that Paul seeks of young men and of all 85 00:07:55.069 --> 00:08:00.180 of us. This temperance, this reasonableness, is to be found in titus 86 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:05.300 himself. He says that tied us as a minister, is to exhibit this 87 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:09.860 in his good works. In fact, he'SAS be so good in his works 88 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:13.689 that he has to be a model for others, in his teaching in particular, 89 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:18.889 but in every area. He is to have integrity, he's to have 90 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:26.290 dignant dignity, words that are sound. Integrity means that he has to live 91 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:30.519 his life not as a hypocrite but as a in a unified way. The 92 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:35.559 things he teaches are to be the things he practice. has others are watching. 93 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:39.000 Paul says, I'm you. Notice he goes on to say, show 94 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.789 yourself in all respects to be a model of good works so that opponents may 95 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:48.509 be put to shame. Having nothing evil to say about US, opponents of 96 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:56.220 Jesus Christ will seek to shame us in our lives, ministers and a members 97 00:08:56.299 --> 00:09:01.340 alike. The enemy and the enemies of Christ will seek to find ways in 98 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:05.700 which we are weak and to put us to shame, and they will often 99 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:09.529 accuse of things. But at the end of the day, whether they accuse 100 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:13.610 or not, we must be able to stand on our own two feet and 101 00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:18.169 be able to have clean consciousness before God and say of these things I am 102 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:26.480 free, so that they accusations will be put to shame, these accusations of 103 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:33.000 integrity and dignity and soundness of words. How is he to show dignity? 104 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:37.360 Well, this, of course, is not acting proud, but it's feeling 105 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:43.549 the weight of the office he has been called to. Ministers who are silly 106 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:48.269 and smart, Alex and Glib, especially in the pulpit, should be corrected, 107 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:52.500 for this kind of immaturity takes away from the proclamation of God's word. 108 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:58.460 It is a serious thing he does. It doesn't mean there isn't room for 109 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:03.100 areas, forms of speech and a certain measure of sarcasm from time to time. 110 00:10:03.139 --> 00:10:05.940 The prophets use that, Jesus uses it, but it does mean that 111 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:11.610 the overall character of the Ministry of the word should be one not only of 112 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:20.250 soundness, but of of weight, of gravity, of dignity. Finally, 113 00:10:20.370 --> 00:10:24.519 his speech is to be sound, it is to be true, it is 114 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.600 to be that which is reliable. If you go and you walk out on 115 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.399 a bridge that isn't sound, you're not going to be on a bridge that 116 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.070 for very long. The words that the minister feeds his flock with must be 117 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:43.750 true and they must be strong. They must be delivered in a way that 118 00:10:43.750 --> 00:10:48.350 means what he says and he says what he means, and this is true 119 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:52.860 not only of his preaching and his teaching, but at all times. Perhaps 120 00:10:52.899 --> 00:10:58.580 this means that he would be wise to speak less rather than more. He 121 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:03.139 should weigh his thoughts, he should know the power of his tongue. It 122 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:07.769 means that he should be studious in forming his thoughts and measured as he presents 123 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:11.889 them. In putting it in this way, God is reminding us that a 124 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:18.289 measure of a man is not in his physical strength or his social power or 125 00:11:18.529 --> 00:11:22.639 money, but it's in the strength of his character. It's in the wisdom 126 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:26.879 of his heart, and of a minister in particular. The weight of a 127 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:31.759 minister, the dignity and integrity of and the words that he speaks, are 128 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.509 not found in his charisma or his charm or his good looks or these other 129 00:11:35.669 --> 00:11:39.750 things that are often so attractive, the things that we want, but they're 130 00:11:39.750 --> 00:11:45.149 found in the faithfulness of his delivery of God's Word and the way that he 131 00:11:45.470 --> 00:11:50.700 weighs these things on us and he delivers to us, haralds to us the 132 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:56.299 word of God. In all these things, tide us and all and the 133 00:11:56.340 --> 00:12:01.889 ministers after him are to feel the weight of these things and honestly to be 134 00:12:01.929 --> 00:12:09.090 humbled, for tide us and me and many others are indeed humbled by these 135 00:12:09.250 --> 00:12:13.850 things, knowing that we often let our tongues run when they should be stopped, 136 00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:18.960 knowing that we do not walk in the ways that God has called us 137 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:22.759 to walk, and in that we are called to submit to the very word 138 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:28.879 that we preach, to be humbled by it, to turn in repentance and 139 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.669 ask God to forgive us our sins, and in that it is my hope, 140 00:12:33.750 --> 00:12:37.029 as it was titus's hope and Paul's hope, that you would be imitators 141 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:41.429 even of me, not in anything that is great in me, but in 142 00:12:41.789 --> 00:12:46.580 the biblical repentance that we are all called to, in humbling ourselves when we 143 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:52.340 go wrong and coming before God and submission to his word and in faith about, 144 00:12:54.100 --> 00:13:00.370 in faith in His grace. We are all called, as God's people, 145 00:13:01.169 --> 00:13:05.129 to follow him, and we follow him by hearing his words and walking 146 00:13:05.169 --> 00:13:09.690 in his ways. Our lives are to be lived under the control of the 147 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:15.639 spirit, not under the control of the flesh. We are to live purposely 148 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:20.840 for God, not distracted unto ourselves. We are to live for his will, 149 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:28.789 not our immediate pleasures temptations. So this is the vision that Paul sets 150 00:13:28.830 --> 00:13:33.870 before tied us, before young men into a degree, to all of us. 151 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:37.269 These kind of way of walking in the world that sees the word and 152 00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:43.139 the will of God and desires to know it, to be balanced in it, 153 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:46.659 to feel the weight of it, to walk in it as one, 154 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:52.940 as people who are self controlled. So how do you get there? How 155 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:56.730 do you become a wise person, a temperate person, a prudent person. 156 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:03.090 The Bible gives many answers. We find many, in particular in the book 157 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:07.529 of proverbs, and they are two things come to the for that I'll bring 158 00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:11.720 your attention to briefly. The first is the fear of the Lord. This 159 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:16.159 is stated so clearly that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. 160 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:22.960 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And second the 161 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:28.190 book of proverbs calls all of us, and we might say young men in 162 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:35.230 particular, I'm to a disposition of wisdom seeking, a posture that recognizes that 163 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:41.299 wisdom is something that is attained to. It's not something that's simply handed over 164 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:46.700 or stumbled upon or found, but it's it's sought. Throughout the book of 165 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:50.860 Proverbs, God reminds us that we are to seek after these things, after 166 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:58.289 we might seek after treasures, focused, attentive, looking, willing to overcome 167 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:05.730 obstacles and challenges to get there. That's hard work. The proverbs also remind 168 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:09.200 us that often times that that work of obtaining wisdom is not very pleasurable. 169 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:16.559 We often learn by being disciplined. For that reason, the proverbs remind us, 170 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:22.029 I'm not to not to a Chafe at reproof or turn away when we 171 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:28.350 are instructed and disciplined. Instead, we are to be thankful for these kinds 172 00:15:28.389 --> 00:15:33.509 of things, to diligently seek after them. So these things, to these 173 00:15:33.629 --> 00:15:37.980 two things together, really form a large part of what it means to get 174 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:41.539 wisdom or is I asked a second ago. How do you get there? 175 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:46.820 How do you become this kind of person, a posture of seeking wisdom and 176 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:52.330 the fear of the Lord? What does it mean to fear the Lord and 177 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:56.169 to seek after wisdom? Well, it means to honor the authority of God, 178 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:02.289 means to recognize that he has given us a moral order in which we 179 00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:07.320 live. It means humbling ourselves. Seeking knowledge and wisdom like you would a 180 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:11.600 treasure. Means growing to know the world that God has made and finding your 181 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:18.480 place in it in subjection to him and his will. You will not get 182 00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:22.190 there by doing all the opposite of these things, just to make it clear 183 00:16:22.389 --> 00:16:27.750 and playing. If you refuse to honor and recognize the authority of God, 184 00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:33.980 if you refuse to recognize the moral order in which you are called to live, 185 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:37.700 if you are proud, if you do not seek after wisdom and knowledge, 186 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:41.139 if you do not desire to grow, if you do not desire to 187 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:45.740 place your will and subjection to God, then you will be a fool. 188 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:52.250 That is the language that proverbs use. The proverbs use, you will be 189 00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:56.490 like an animal that is has to be let around by bits and Bridle, 190 00:16:56.970 --> 00:17:02.879 unable to restrain yourself. You will be one who constantly falls into error, 191 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:07.880 again and again and again, who constantly falls to the consequences of your sin 192 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:11.759 again and again and again, who wakes up every morning lazy and wondering, 193 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:17.589 why do I keep having all these problems over and over again, and you 194 00:17:17.630 --> 00:17:22.029 will find yourself, ultimately, one who is separated from God, in your 195 00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:26.990 pride, in your self absorption, in your narcissism, you will find yourself 196 00:17:26.069 --> 00:17:30.619 as one who is not wise, but who is cast aside by God, 197 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:37.779 as a fool. This is how you get there, but key to all 198 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:41.700 of this is, of course, the grace of God. We cannot get 199 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:48.049 there, we cannot obtain attain to the things of the Lord on our own 200 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:53.450 strength, according to our own wisdom, because when we exercise our quote unquote 201 00:17:53.450 --> 00:17:59.480 wisdom, the Bible teaches us that we are indeed fools. But though it 202 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.440 is the wisdom of God that often is called foolish. That is our true 203 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:08.680 salvation. And what is that wisdom of God? Well, is what Paul 204 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:14.750 says in verses eleven through fourteen, that the grace of God has a period 205 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:18.390 bringing salvation for all people. The wisdom of God is that he has come 206 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:23.990 into the world through Jesus Christ, our Savior, to crucify the fool in 207 00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:30.339 order to make him wise, to discipline the fool, to instruct him that 208 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:37.099 we might grow and depend on grace. And when we humble ourselves before the 209 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:41.730 Lord, when we repent of our sins, when we see our foolishness in 210 00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:47.450 this way, he does indeed make us wise. He strengthens us in our 211 00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:52.529 grace. He even trains us. He says in Verse Twelve, the grace 212 00:18:52.650 --> 00:18:56.160 of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce 213 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:03.119 all ungodliness worldly passions and to Live Self controlled, upright and Godly lives. 214 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:08.440 In the present age, this happens because the Holy Spirit is at work within 215 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:12.750 the world. This is why we turn to God and not to ourselves when 216 00:19:12.789 --> 00:19:18.190 we seek these kinds of things, when we want to live our lives in 217 00:19:18.269 --> 00:19:22.750 accordance with God's will. That means living our lives in accordance with His grace. 218 00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:27.900 It means seeking after him, knowing his plans, as Paul goes on 219 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:33.259 to say in verse thirteen, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of 220 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:38.250 the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. You see, 221 00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:44.250 the wise person, the temperate, self controlled person, has a goal, 222 00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:49.450 has a purpose. It's not the attainment of wealth, it's not the satisfaction 223 00:19:49.609 --> 00:19:55.680 of his momentary desires. It is, and I quote, the appearing of 224 00:19:55.799 --> 00:20:03.279 the glory of our Great God. Save Your Jesus Christ. Young men, 225 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.390 that is what you are to set your eyes upon. That is the hope 226 00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:11.549 to which you are walking, that is your those are your marching orders, 227 00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:15.829 that is the thing that strengthens in you and keeps you this solid, everlasting 228 00:20:17.029 --> 00:20:21.859 hope that God's glory has appeared in the coming of Christ, that grace of 229 00:20:21.940 --> 00:20:26.180 God has appeared, bringing for salvation for all people, and that he will 230 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:32.779 come again. The glory of God will appear and in the meantime he is 231 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:38.289 training you to renounce on godliness worldly passions and to live self controlled and upright 232 00:20:38.450 --> 00:20:45.970 lives. If you desire to be a wise person, a mature person, 233 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:52.559 a person of integrity and dignity in character. You must therefore look to the 234 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:57.279 grace of God, you must find yourself established in him and cast aside any 235 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:03.359 hope you have of obtaining these things on your own. You must focus on 236 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:07.670 him and His grace that comes to us through the cross, to find all 237 00:21:07.750 --> 00:21:14.150 of your foolishness and your sins are crucified there, and look to the appearing 238 00:21:14.269 --> 00:21:18.220 of the glory of our Great God and Save Your Jesus Christ, because, 239 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:23.380 as verse fourteen says, he gave himself for us, US, to redeem 240 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:30.059 us from all lawlessness and to purify himself a people for his own possession who 241 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:37.170 are zealous for good works. If you want to make your car work, 242 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:41.769 you have to run it according to its plan. You can't stick the key 243 00:21:41.970 --> 00:21:47.640 in the seat or in the ceiling or in the dashboard somewhere. It only 244 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:52.359 goes one place, it only works one way. This is how God has 245 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:57.119 created the world. He has willed it in one direction and we live in 246 00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:03.309 it according to those ways. But we only live it according to those ways 247 00:22:03.869 --> 00:22:07.230 if we put our faith in the grace that has come in Jesus but when 248 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:12.190 we do, we find that His grace is sufficient, that our lives often 249 00:22:12.269 --> 00:22:17.619 begin to work. Even though we suffer, even though we falter, God 250 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:22.019 keeps us for himself, his own possession. The word says who are zealous 251 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:27.700 for good works. May We indeed be zealous for good works. May God 252 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:33.930 teach us, teach all of us, young men and maidens, old men 253 00:22:33.049 --> 00:22:37.329 and old women, all of us together, to be zealous for these things, 254 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:44.519 by trusting in His grace to supply them, provide them until the end. 255 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.480 Let us pray our