Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20251105 - Recognizing the Kindness of God - Titus 3

Transcript

#20251105 - Recognizing the Kindness of God - Titus 3 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:05
Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
0:08
Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
0:12
resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
0:15
into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
0:20
dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
0:24
Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
0:30
Amen. So during the past two weeks, we
0:36
have looked at chapter 1 and chapter 2 of this letter, Paul's
0:40
letter to Titus, his son in the faith, as he calls them.
0:45
And if you happen to have missed those two studies, they are on
0:49
the church app Calvary church app and you can listen to those
0:54
when you like, but I've entitled chapter 1 set in order the
1:01
things that are lacking and those of you that were here can
1:04
remember that we examine the exhortation of the Apostle Paul
1:08
to Titus to look for and appoint elders who would oversee the
1:12
house churches throughout the island of Crete there in the
1:16
Mediterranean. Their character must be
1:20
blameless in every way and they needed to be strong in the faith
1:23
because the society and Crete was so godless that not only
1:30
would the elders words be important, but his life, his
1:33
manner of life would be important as a testimony to to
1:37
deal with the the the ungodliness there in the
1:40
culture. In Chapter 2, we considered the
1:45
exhortations Paul gave concerning the different age
1:48
groups and life situations of those attending the house
1:52
churches. You know, it's so easy for us to
1:55
superimpose on the 1st century what we're used to in the 21st
2:00
century. But back here, when Christianity
2:03
was in its beginning, they met in homes, and the homes were
2:08
smaller. And once in a while, maybe like
2:11
Philemon's home, maybe that was larger, but as a rule, they were
2:15
smaller. So they were smaller groups.
2:18
And so when a, a false doctrine would come in or someone would
2:22
try to bring a, some kind of heresy in, because the
2:27
relationships are so close, it really affected a lot of people.
2:32
And so these elders that were chosen needed to really protect
2:39
and be shepherds over those small groups.
2:43
And then the exhortation saying, listen, I know the society is
2:48
telling you to live this certain way and it should look like
2:51
this. And you should talk like this
2:54
and you should be involved like this.
2:57
And sometimes it can so saturate your mind that all of a sudden
3:01
you're you're thinking, well, maybe I should do this because
3:04
that's what's expected. And that's where they had to go
3:08
back to the word and say, what does God look for?
3:12
What blesses his heart? How can you be a man or woman
3:16
after God's heart? And so when you look through
3:21
chapter 2, you see those exhortations that Paul gave.
3:27
And and then in verse 11 of chapter 2, there was this super
3:34
great summation of the gospel, chapter 2, verse 11 to 15.
3:40
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
3:46
men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
3:53
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
3:57
present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious
4:02
appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave
4:07
Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless
4:12
deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous of
4:18
good works. Speak these things.
4:21
Exhort rebuke with all authority.
4:24
Let no one despise you. This was the charge to Titus.
4:29
And when it says in verse 15, speak these things, it's
4:33
continued to speak these things. We see this all through the
4:38
letter. Don't just do a one off Titus
4:40
where you go. Well, I visited that house
4:42
church. You know, they're on their own.
4:44
And that's not the heart of a shepherd yet there's a continual
4:48
need. And that leads us will lead us
4:52
into verse 1 of chapter 3. So we're going to finish the
4:56
letter to Titus here. And I I want to break up the
5:00
chapter into 3 sections. Those of you taking notes, you
5:04
can just put these there and you can put notes in the three
5:07
sections. The first section is called
5:10
consider all he has done for us. Consider all he has done for US,
5:16
verses one through 8. And the second section is
5:20
confront false teachings, verses 9 through 11.
5:26
And you find that exhortation throughout the book of Titus and
5:30
also in in First Timothy, because they were laying the
5:34
foundation of Christianity in the Roman world and they were
5:39
coming against so many false philosophies and religions in
5:45
the Roman world. And they had to be sure of what
5:48
they believed. They had to know what they
5:50
believed. And then they had to live it out
5:53
and also lovingly, graciously, but firmly confront that, which
5:59
was an error. And then the third section that
6:03
we're just closing instructions. And that's the normal pattern of
6:08
writing an epistle where you have your, your opening, your
6:12
introduction, and then you had your statement of purpose, the
6:15
main line that the whole epistle hangs on.
6:18
And then you have the body of doctrine.
6:22
That's that explains the main purpose.
6:25
And then you have the closing, which is some personal remarks,
6:30
some little instructions, but it's not the main purpose of the
6:34
letter. And so again, there's those
6:37
three parts there. And that's verses 12 to 15.
6:40
So follow along with me. I'm going to start off by
6:43
reading verses one through 8. Titus chapter 3.
6:49
Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey,
6:54
to be ready for every good work, to speak evil to of no one, to
7:00
be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
7:08
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived,
7:14
serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and
7:19
envy, hateful and hating one another.
7:24
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward
7:28
man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have
7:34
done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the
7:40
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
7:46
whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ
7:50
our Savior. That having been justified by
7:53
His grace, we should become heirs together according to the
7:58
hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and
8:04
these things I want you to affirm constantly that those who
8:08
have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.
8:13
These things are good and profitable to men.
8:19
So let's take a look at the first couple of verses.
8:24
Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey,
8:28
to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be
8:31
peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
8:37
I need to remind you that there were no chapters and verses when
8:41
Paul wrote this letter. Those chapters were written in
8:45
the 13th century AD. The verses were added the 16th
8:49
century AD. And so when you're reading
8:53
through and you look at the last exhortation that Paul gave,
8:58
which was verse 9 of chapter 2, he was talking to those who were
9:03
Doulos people, those who were bond servants that you couldn't
9:09
get out of that position. And unless you died, it was a
9:12
lifelong service servitude to the master.
9:19
So there was this whole issue of stuck and what do I do in my
9:24
situation? Well, you serve the Lord when
9:27
you're stuck. You serve the Lord in that
9:29
situation and you let his Spirit use you.
9:34
And even though maybe outwardly you were restricted, inwardly
9:38
you were free because you were the Lord's free person.
9:43
And so then he goes in chapter 3, verse one, remind them to be
9:50
subject to rulers and authorities.
9:53
Let's understand something. This is the Roman world, this is
9:57
the Roman Empire. This not the Roman Republic.
10:01
Now it's the Roman Empire. Citizens of Rome did not have
10:07
any ability to change the laws, very little, if anything.
10:13
I mean, you can make an appeal to Caesar and all, but it was it
10:18
was an empire. And so you're in a stuck
10:21
position as well. Very different than our our
10:27
culture, our governmental structure today as a as a
10:30
Republic. We'll talk about that in a
10:32
minute. But the first thing he says here
10:36
is remind them. And in the Greek, it's
10:40
constantly remind them, Keep reminding them.
10:46
Why? Well, because we forget #1 and
10:50
#2 the pressure of the culture is not that way.
10:56
It's not going to bring you to that place of submission, but
11:00
rebellion instead for people to do what they what they want to
11:04
do. Like Chapter 1 talked about
11:06
about the culture, remind them. So important.
11:12
All throughout the New Testament, we run across this
11:15
exhortation to remind others or be reminded of something
11:20
important. It's not wrong to forget.
11:25
It's just a part of who we, we, we can't, there's just so much
11:28
going on, especially in our days.
11:31
I mean, if we're just out farming and we just have to, you
11:34
know, remember to put gas in the combine, I mean, you know, and
11:38
then do, you know, work out the farming situation.
11:42
But man, in this age of, of technological marvels, there's
11:46
so much that fills our mind. And so God wants us to be
11:53
reminded. As a matter of fact, from
11:56
Genesis to Revelation, there are constant reminders because God
12:01
understands us. What came to mind is second
12:09
Timothy chapter one, verse 6. Paul says to Timothy, therefore
12:15
I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through
12:21
the laying on of my hands. How could you forget that?
12:25
Well, Timothy, you will. And you're going to get caught
12:29
up in this stuff and you're going to forget who's in charge,
12:33
who, what, where's the power coming from?
12:37
I remind you to stir up the gift of God.
12:40
There's a part you play in the reminding.
12:45
There's a part you play and we'll talk about that more here
12:49
in a second. Second Timothy chapter 2, verse
12:51
14. Paul says to him again, remind
12:55
them of these things, charging them before the Lord, not to
12:58
strive about words, to no profit, to the ruin of the
13:02
hearers. And then Peter says the same
13:06
thing in his last epistle. Second Peter one verse 12 for he
13:10
says for this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you
13:16
always of these things. I won't I will not be negligent.
13:21
It's negligent not to remind someone.
13:24
And so there is that there is that need just to speak to one
13:28
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
13:34
grace in your heart to the Lord In Jude verse 5, he says, but I
13:41
want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord
13:45
having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
13:48
destroyed those who do not believe in the warnings.
13:52
So reminders aren't just for the, oh, you know, remember who
13:58
God is, but it's like, remember how serious this is.
14:03
Remember that there is a heaven and there is a hell.
14:06
Remember, keep the full gospel in your mind.
14:10
Understand that it's, it's not just, oh, God's just a doting
14:14
grandfather. And when and when, when people
14:16
die, he'll go, aw, shucks, come on in anyway.
14:19
I mean, that's not the Bible. That's not what the Bible tells
14:22
us. Jesus spoke about hell.
14:25
And if you're going to be a follower of Jesus, you got to
14:28
understand that that's a reality, eternal torment
14:35
forever. Do we understand the detail?
14:39
No, we don't. We can't.
14:41
We can't comprehend that, not in its fullness.
14:45
But we can trust it. We can believe that if Jesus
14:49
mentioned this, I trust him with all my heart and I know there's
14:53
a justice of God in the midst of it.
14:58
So this exhortation and verses 1 and 2 is to Titus about telling
15:04
them to, to be submitted to the ruling authorities.
15:09
Because here's the thing, the island of Crete was crazy.
15:11
It was like the Wild West and the the ruling authorities
15:15
barely kept a handle on everything that you know from
15:19
going crazy. And so he's saying, and I want
15:23
you to take a look at how he describes the manner of life,
15:29
the manner of life here. There are 7 action verbs that
15:33
Paul used in these two verses. Be subject to obey.
15:39
Be ready for every good work. Speak evil of no one, be
15:44
peaceable, be gentle, show all humility with all men.
15:50
There's one word that sums up all seven of those, and that's
15:54
the word Jesus, because that's what Jesus looks like.
16:02
And sometimes we think I have a right to say something and, and
16:04
you know, we're, we're just all wound up and, and upset.
16:08
Hold on. God has you in the middle of
16:12
situations. And the very first thing is your
16:17
responsibility is to live out Jesus in who he is, what he's
16:22
like. I know there's stuff that has to
16:25
be sorted, but the first level, the first responsibility is
16:29
letting God shine through your life who he is, not who you are.
16:38
How often we can superimpose our own opinions and preferences and
16:43
habits upon the Scriptures. And we think all that and, and
16:48
we've taken and if there is a rule that comes out and we don't
16:52
like it, the first thing we want to do, I'm going to fight with
16:55
that. And, and, and you got to, you
16:58
got to bring that stallion back in because your first
17:03
responsibility as a believer is to say, Lord, you're with me
17:10
right now. I don't understand.
17:13
I don't agree that that's the best thing that should happen in
17:16
our community. But I come to you first.
17:22
I have to live you out in the midst of this.
17:28
You know, Paul says in Romans, where sin abounds, grace does
17:33
much more abound. And it reminded me of a story of
17:37
Billy Graham. I don't know where I read it,
17:40
but he was, he was in a plane flying over San Francisco.
17:44
And he says, I want to do a crusade there.
17:48
And the people are saying, oh, that's a pretty dark place.
17:51
He says, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.
17:56
And sometimes we get so put off by the evil around us that we
18:01
forget that the Lord wants to shine his light in evil places
18:08
because they need the gospel. They're evil for a reason.
18:12
Satan has taken control and taken captive so many people.
18:17
And Jesus is the hope. The gospel is the very hope.
18:24
You don't read the apostle counseling believers to go and
18:27
and and start picketing the the the the you know, in Crete.
18:33
He just says live out Jesus. Now we live in a governmental
18:38
structure that's a representative government and in
18:43
our governmental structure, we have a right to make an appeal.
18:47
We have a right for civil disobedience when it comes to
18:52
violating our conscience before God or the very word of God that
18:57
were commanded to disobey. But it's not the first place.
19:03
There's always that appeal process.
19:06
They're always like, oh, OK, how can I help bless this community
19:12
with maybe a different way of doing it?
19:14
Can I make an appeal saying, can we accomplish the good in a
19:19
different way that doesn't violate my conscience?
19:22
We have that right. And then when they demand saying
19:25
no, you must do it our way, then you have a right to say I to
19:29
I've I ought to obey God rather than man.
19:33
But still you don't be filled with bitterness and cynicism and
19:39
hatred because that's not the Holy Spirit.
19:42
That's you. That's sin.
19:46
And so in the midst of it, just consider yourself lest you also
19:50
be tempted. I know that Pastor Ed has done a
19:55
teaching on Romans 13, which is another reference here about
19:59
submitting in the midst of the Roman government.
20:02
I mean, they're in Rome. And so those teachings there on
20:06
Romans 13 would be really good to look at and to listen to.
20:12
But I I want to take us on now to verse 3 because it's kind of
20:16
a contrast to the craziness of the culture.
20:22
Compared to the life we're to live, he says in verse 3.
20:27
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived,
20:35
serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and
20:39
envy, hateful and hating one another.
20:45
And by the way, there are seven of those and that's decided
20:51
that's like a summation of the of the world.
20:55
That's what it's like. You turn on the news, that's
20:57
what you're seeing. All of that, all seven of those.
21:03
Just after he talks about submission to authorities, then
21:08
he says, you know, he says we also, he includes himself.
21:15
He sees sin in his own life, how in self righteousness he was
21:21
just following along but putting a religious name on it.
21:27
You know the bondage that comes because of our sin nature brings
21:33
forth behaviors and I it reminded me of what Jesus said
21:39
in Mark Chapter 7 verse 20 when he said to the Pharisees, what
21:44
comes out of a man that defiles a man.
21:48
For from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts,
21:54
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
22:00
wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye which means malice.
22:06
You want to just tear down the person?
22:09
Blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from
22:15
within and defile a man. You can take a person who has
22:21
done one of these things, broken the law, put him in jail, but it
22:25
doesn't change him because the jail is inside.
22:31
That's the real bondage. And Jesus came to be the key to
22:34
unlock that cell door of our heart.
22:40
That's what the gospel does. That's the hope of the gospel,
22:43
is to set you free on the inside.
22:45
The behavior follows as time goes on, but it starts in the
22:51
heart. Just to conform people on the
22:54
outside is not what he's looking for.
22:56
He's looking for freedom from the oppression of the real
23:00
enemy, the old sin nature inside.
23:05
So these 7 descriptions are interesting here.
23:08
When he talks about we ourselves, we're also once and
23:12
then there's seven. Let's take a look at those
23:14
seven. First of all, he says foolish
23:18
and the Greek word is morose from where we get our word
23:22
moron, foolish. And actually it in the
23:27
definition means stupid, unintelligent, the technical
23:33
term behaving as if having no common sense.
23:40
That's what foolishness is. And then disobedient.
23:45
Every rule of law is challenged as wrong and purposely ignored.
23:51
That's the heart just hardened, deceived to choose to be LED
23:56
astray from the paths of truth, serving various lusts and
24:02
pleasures. This is a core issue, serving
24:05
self desires and what we deem as pleasurable no matter the
24:09
outcome. If it feels good, do it.
24:13
Back in the 60s you know that was one of the chiming things.
24:16
If it feels good, do it without any with blindness to the
24:22
repercussion. In Hebrews 11 it tells us that
24:29
yes, sin has a momentary passing pleasure.
24:32
It's Hebrews 1124 through 26 talking about Moses.
24:37
It says there by faith Moses when he became of age refused to
24:43
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
24:47
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
24:51
passing pleasures of stem of sin, esteeming the reproach of
24:57
Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
25:02
For he looked to the reward. It's when you get your eyes off
25:08
of the Lord and onto his reward that all the sudden the sparkly,
25:16
tensely thing of sin, you get your eyes off the Lord.
25:20
All those things capture your attention.
25:23
Oh, I've never had a thing like that.
25:25
And you know, I wish I could have one.
25:26
And and this person's promising this to me.
25:29
And, and all of a sudden it's like a, a fish with a lure, with
25:33
a shiny lure. And you got to get your eyes
25:37
back on the Lord because that's what Moses did.
25:40
That's how he rejected the treasures in Egypt, because he
25:44
looked to the reward. What gets hidden in the passing
25:48
pleasures of sin is the very high cost of sometimes lengthy
25:53
repercussion of those sinful choices.
25:57
And I've lived long enough to see it in my own life and the
26:01
lives of others. In Galatians chapter 6, verses 7
26:06
through 10, Paul writes. And Ed's going to be covering
26:10
this in the next few weeks, I'm sure.
26:13
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.
26:19
For whatever a man sows that he will also reap.
26:26
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap
26:32
corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit, will of the Spirit
26:38
reap everlasting life. And let's stop for a moment.
26:43
You know when, and I've used this illustration before, I'm
26:46
not sure if I've used it in this particular study, but when you
26:50
sow a kernel of corn in the ground, what comes up is a
26:56
stock, and then there are ears on that stock and there's a
27:03
multitude of kernels. 1 kernel sown produces a multitude of
27:10
kernels. And what's being said here is
27:14
that what you sow you will reap in quantity and quality.
27:22
When you sow a kernel of corn in the ground, that doesn't come up
27:26
Peaches, Duh. But here's the thing, when you
27:32
sow to the flesh, it comes back in quantity and quality.
27:41
You're giving strength to the monster.
27:45
That's a true principle. But the point of this section of
27:49
Galatians is, listen, although that's true, think about it.
27:54
Just one seed sown to the spirit.
27:58
Just one. And what will come back as
28:01
quantity and the same quality. So he says, sow to the Spirit
28:08
because you'll reap life everlasting.
28:10
That means an experience of life right now.
28:13
Everlasting life is not just in the sweet by and by.
28:16
It's like I can taste of it and experience it right now, but
28:20
I've got to sow to get that fruit.
28:27
And the Lord wants us to sow just to take every single day
28:32
sow to the Spirit, which means, you know, when someone comes at
28:36
you and they get angry and they bark at you, then everything in
28:42
you, in your flesh wants to say, Oh yeah, I'll see your bark and
28:45
I'll tell you 3 and and you just want to go after him.
28:49
That's your flesh. But all of a sudden the Holy
28:52
Spirit says, shut up, don't say anything because what you're
28:58
seeing are symptoms of a of a deep hurt going on inside.
29:05
And, and God starts reasoning with you in your heart and you
29:10
start praying and there's a whole different response because
29:14
you're, you're, you're sowing to the spirits.
29:17
You're going, I'm going to yield to the prompting of the Spirit
29:20
of God and I'm going to see what happens.
29:25
And then he says in verse 9 and Galatians 6, and let us not grow
29:29
weary while doing good. You see, that's sowing.
29:33
For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart and give
29:37
up. Therefore, as we have
29:40
opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are
29:44
of the household of faith. A few more words that Paul used
29:50
here in Titus chapter 3, Living in malice and envy.
29:55
Malice is wanting to do evil to another person, probably out of
29:59
envy of what that person has that oneself once desperately.
30:06
You remember a few months ago when when all that keying of
30:09
Teslas was going on and people didn't consider that Teslas have
30:15
cameras all around. And so they're just like on
30:18
stage, you know, and they get busted immediately, but they had
30:22
to just do something because they're mad at Musk.
30:25
And and so now they're just like scraping the Teslas and and then
30:28
they're getting busted. It's like they're not even
30:30
thinking malice and envy. And then Paul uses the word
30:37
hateful. It's only used here in the New
30:39
in the New Testament hateful, which means despicable, a life
30:44
that creates mayhem and destruction to others.
30:49
And I and, and when I think of the word mayhem, I think of the
30:52
Allstate commercial, you know, mayhem.
31:00
Wow. And then one more, the 7th 1
31:02
hating one another. Isn't that what we see going on
31:07
in our world today? Just unbelievable hatred.
31:16
It's just the flesh. And Satan is is like he's got
31:21
this billows and he's just, you know, just stirring the fire and
31:25
then stepping back and saying it's not my problem.
31:29
Well, he's the one that stirred it up, but it's not my problem.
31:32
He's just cooking up the the coals of the flesh and then
31:36
people just going crazy. These descriptions could sum up
31:43
the Roman, the Roman culture there and Crete.
31:50
But Jesus is saying, listen, guard your heart.
31:56
Guard your heart. How can anybody end up having
32:00
such hatred that they murder somebody?
32:03
I'll tell you how it happens. It's a process.
32:07
It starts off with annoyances. It starts off with annoyances
32:15
and then those beliefs are seen as offenses and then these
32:19
offenses on dealt with lead to resentments.
32:23
And then of course unforgiveness and bitterness follows which
32:27
rules the heart. And this unchecked will settle
32:30
into hatred and eventually it can lead to murder.
32:36
That's what Jesus said in Matthew 5.
32:38
You've heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not
32:42
murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.
32:45
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without a
32:49
cause shall be in danger of the judgement.
32:51
It starts in the heart. And James chapter 4 verses one
32:57
and two says this. Where do wars and fights come
33:01
from among you? He's talking to believers.
33:03
He's talking to the church. Do they not come from your
33:08
desires for pleasure, that war in your members?
33:11
You lust and do not have your murder and covet and cannot
33:15
obtain. You fight and war, yet you do
33:19
not have because you do not ask. It's all just the flesh.
33:30
And then Peter says in first Peter 211 beloved, I beg you as
33:35
sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war
33:41
against the soul. Now in the midst of such a dark
33:44
background, is there any hope? And that's where we come to
33:50
verse four in the midst of our darkness, in the midst of a Dark
33:55
World. Verse 4 says but when the
33:59
kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man appeared.
34:11
Some of us are awkward with the word kindness.
34:19
We grew up in a home that did not have kindness.
34:24
It had abuse. Kindness wasn't part of it.
34:31
And when someone is kind to you, you're, you're suspicious
34:38
because it, it doesn't feel right, because you, you grew up
34:43
not understanding what kind of, what true kindness was all
34:46
about. And when somebody was trying to
34:49
be kind, they were after something.
34:51
And so you're guarded. And so when God's kindness comes
34:57
to you, you have a hard time dealing with it because I don't,
35:04
I feel it doesn't feel right, it feels wrong, but it's true
35:08
kindness. It's pure kindness.
35:10
It's holy kindness. And God wants to heal us in the
35:17
process. And actually, verse 4 is a
35:20
fascinating verse because the word love is not agape, but
35:26
phileo, which means to be fondly affection toward God has
35:32
compassion on the darkness ruling our life.
35:36
And he wants to heal us and change us in his kindness.
35:42
How can we reject that? How can we turn away from that?
35:46
Well, because there, there's, there's something wrong and and
35:50
you know, I, I, I feel awkward with true kindness.
35:53
And that's what God wants, to heal your heart.
35:57
But when the kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man
36:01
appeared, Romans 58 says God demonstrates his own love agape
36:08
toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
36:12
us. Amen.
36:15
And you know this loved this love of God toward man is one
36:19
word in the Greek philanthropa philanthropia.
36:26
There there's the word philanthropia phileoanthropos
36:33
fondly affection toward man. Why would God want me when my
36:40
life is so messed up, when I've sinned so deeply, when I've hurt
36:44
so many people? Because he loves you.
36:53
How do you see God? I mean, what's your opinion of
36:57
what he's like? You go on the street and you ask
37:00
people that and you go, Nah, I don't think even is even exists.
37:05
And always he's always looking for trouble.
37:07
You know, he's, I can't ever be perfect.
37:09
And people have this mindset of who God is ignoring how he's
37:13
revealed himself in his word. The Bible says the kindness and
37:21
love of God toward you appeared not by works of righteousness,
37:27
which we have done, but according to His mercy.
37:30
He saved us. Why would he bother me?
37:34
Why would he bother to adopt me out of the world's terrible
37:38
orphanage? Doesn't make sense.
37:42
Well, it makes sense from God's point of view, because it's His
37:45
choice. Because He's kind.
37:49
It's who He is. How does He do this?
37:53
Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
37:57
Holy Spirit. The washing of regeneration.
38:01
Regeneration means you're born again.
38:04
That's the technical meaning of that Greek word.
38:07
Basically, you're born again when you turn your life over to
38:11
Christ. You're a new creation.
38:13
You're born again by work of the Holy Spirit and not only just
38:18
regeneration, but renewing. That's the daily washing that
38:23
goes on by the Holy Spirit. It reminds me of when Jesus
38:29
washed the disciples feet there in John 13 and they didn't know
38:34
what was going on here. Their Lord and their their
38:37
Savior bends down and he's washing their dirty feet, dirty,
38:42
stinky, smelly toe jam feet and and Peter says, I get this, nor
38:50
you'll never wash my feet. And then Jesus said to him,
38:56
well, let's just look at the Scripture.
38:59
John 13, seven through 10. Jesus answered and said to him,
39:04
what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will
39:08
know after this. Can I just say that's one of my
39:11
life scriptures. I have that highlighted,
39:15
underlined. That's my life scripture.
39:18
What I am doing. You do not understand now, but
39:21
you will know after this. I've walked in the Lord for 50-6
39:26
years and I'm still finding out because I just don't know what
39:30
He's doing. I know He's, I know He's doing
39:32
something, but I can't give you the detail.
39:35
I'm just trying to walk through it and keep out of trouble.
39:39
And Jesus word to you tonight, is this what I am doing?
39:46
You do not understand now, but you will know after this.
39:54
Can you trust him like our give 10 prayer?
39:58
And that's when Peter said, you shall never wash my feet.
40:01
And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part
40:06
with me. And Simon Peter said to him,
40:09
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands on my head.
40:13
No, he was all in at that point and Jesus said to him, he who is
40:19
bathed needs only to wash his feet but is completely clean.
40:26
Understand this, They didn't have bathtubs in their house.
40:32
There was a public bath place and so they would go there and
40:37
wash and then they would walk home or walk to where they were
40:42
going. And so that's, that's what he's
40:46
saying here. I'm washing your feet because
40:49
you're already clean with the word that I've spoken to you and
40:53
you've obeyed. But you're walking through the
40:55
world and you pick up stuff on your feet.
41:00
And I want to wash you daily from all the stuff you pick up
41:07
along the way. You guys that'll work in
41:10
construction, you pick up stuff because you hear it all day long
41:17
and, and you just feel like dirty when you get home, you
41:19
know? But here's the thing.
41:21
You'd go to the Lord saying, Holy Spirit, would you just
41:24
flush out my thought life here? Just flush it out, man.
41:28
I, I don't want this rolling around in my mind.
41:34
Jesus washes feet verse 7 back in Titus three, that having been
41:45
justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to
41:48
the hope of eternal life. Justified as a a legal court
41:53
term meaning cleared of all offenses because the personal
41:57
penalty has been made. It's not amnesty.
42:03
A payment was made, a penalty was paid by Jesus on the cross.
42:10
Verse 8. This is a faithful saying, and
42:14
these things I want you to affirm constantly.
42:17
See, we need to be reminded of these truths constantly that
42:23
those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain
42:27
good works. In other words, let it flow.
42:31
And this brings me to Philippians chapter 2, verses 12
42:35
and 13. Therefore, my beloved, as you
42:38
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more
42:44
in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
42:49
trembling. For it is God who works in you
42:54
both to will and to do for his good pleasure.
43:00
And I, I want to read this again, and I want you to hear
43:03
the Lord Jesus speaking to you this truth, because He does.
43:09
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my
43:15
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
43:20
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is Me who
43:26
works in you both to will. I want to work with your
43:30
willingness, and I want to give you the power to do it for my
43:36
good pleasure. That's the truth.
43:42
God wants to work in our willingness and give us the
43:45
power to follow through. Let's go on to the second
43:50
section. These will go a little quicker
43:52
verses 9 through 11, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies,
43:59
contentions and strivings about the law for their unprofitable
44:03
and useless. Reject A divisive man after the
44:06
1st and 2nd admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and
44:12
sinning, being self condemned nude.
44:15
Paul's calling somebody warped, that's amazing.
44:18
But he says that's just you're. You're a crooked arrow.
44:20
You're not. You don't shoot straight.
44:23
Avoid it. Don't get caught up in it,
44:26
Titus. It's going to be tough.
44:28
There's going to be a lot of, you know, vain philosophies and
44:36
then reject in verses 10 and 11. Reject, you know, after a while
44:40
after you're trying to deal with them and they're just not
44:43
getting it. They're not wanting it.
44:44
They just are, are like pearls before swine, just just rejected
44:50
and and after the 1st and 2nd admonition, knowing that such a
44:54
person is warped and sinning and self condemn and you just got to
44:57
leave it to the Lord. Leave the person to the Lord.
45:00
He's got to be worked with. And then the third section of
45:04
the chapter and the whole epistle is really verses 12
45:08
through 15 closing instructions and all those that these things
45:13
were on Paul's heart. They weren't the most important
45:15
thing, but they do have to be communicated.
45:18
He says in verse 12, when I send Artemis to you or Ticicus, be
45:23
diligent to come to me at at Nicopolis, for I've decided to
45:28
spend the winter there. Send Zenith the lawyer and
45:31
Apollos on their journey with haste that they may lack
45:34
nothing. And let our people also learn to
45:38
maintain good works to meet urgent needs, that they may not
45:41
be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you,
45:45
Greet those who love us in the faith.
45:48
Grace be with you all. Amen.
45:52
And so Nikopoulos was on the West Coast of Greece.
45:56
Paul had determined to to stay there, and he wanted Titus to
45:59
come there temporarily to be with him.
46:02
He was sending off Zenith. The lawyer in Apollos Jikakis
46:06
probably brought the letter. He seems to be kind of a Courier
46:11
throughout Paul's ministry. And so that that kind of sums up
46:16
the whole. It's a, it's an intense epistle
46:19
because they're dealing with life that's pretty intense on
46:22
the Isle of Crete. Not impossible though.
46:25
And there were believers there and he didn't tell them to move.
46:30
He told them to be a light. God has you and me where he has
46:35
you and me right now because he wants us to be light to this
46:40
Dark World rather than getting mad and angry.
46:44
No, we need to show Jesus his love because that's that's what
46:51
God did with us. When the kindness and love of
46:54
God toward me appeared, I can't believe it.
46:58
In kindness, He chased me down and he called me to himself.
47:03
Why would he do that? Because I want to show you what
47:07
kindness is like. I want to heal your heart from
47:11
the opposite of kindness abuse. I want to heal that part of your
47:15
life. I want to change you from the
47:17
inside out. How can you turn away from that?
47:21
Let's close with prayer. Father God, we thank you for
47:26
this letter to Titus. Thank you that it's been saved
47:30
so we can look at it and learn the God.
47:34
These exhortations. We don't want these exhortations
47:37
just to fall to the ground. We want to.
47:42
We want to live them out. And we ask you, Lord, to be
47:46
patient with us. And Lord, in a, in a group like
47:52
this, there are times that there are those that come in or those
47:58
that are listening that it's like they're just passing by and
48:03
they're hearing this for the first time.
48:09
And Father God, if there's anyone here tonight that has yet
48:14
to surrender their life to your son Jesus, would you reach them?
48:22
Because you love them, you care about them, you want to show
48:26
your kindness to them, you, you, you have compassion on them.
48:34
And if this is you tonight, then really all God's looking for is
48:39
that you would turn to him, repent from the way you're going
48:43
and turn to him and say, God, forgive me of the sin of my
48:49
life. I'm a mess.
48:53
I believe that Jesus died for my sin, and I believe he rose again
48:58
on the third day to prove that you accepted what he did for me.
49:07
God, would you come into my heart and live, make your home
49:10
in my life, fill me with the Holy Spirit, make yourself real
49:16
to me. A prayer like that, honestly
49:22
spoken in faith. He won't turn away.
49:32
And after we close at the end of the chorus, if you prayed along
49:35
with me, I want to talk to you. I want you to come up and talk
49:39
to either me or one of the prayer partners up here and just
49:42
let them know that tonight I took that step.
49:49
And so Father God, tonight we we thank you for this last chapter
49:54
and give us strength for the rest of the week in Jesus name,
50:00
Amen. We pray that you've been
50:02
encouraged by this Bible study, delivered live from the
50:05
sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
50:10
Grace that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
50:18
integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
50:22
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
50:27
Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
50:30
this week.