back to index2021-08-22 You are what you know
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As most of you know, summer is almost over, and midweek Bible studies resume in about 00:00:15.800 |
From September to December, our entire church, including the youth and all the way down to 00:00:19.760 |
the children's ministry, will be doing an inductive Bible study through Paul's epistle 00:00:27.040 |
So in the book of Titus, we're going to find instructions on how to do church, what to 00:00:31.680 |
expect of church leadership, how to combat false teachers and false teachings. 00:00:37.200 |
We will learn God's blueprint for building strong churches that are effective in evangelism. 00:00:43.200 |
And we will learn about how Christians are to conduct themselves in the pagan world that 00:00:48.400 |
So Titus has a lot to say about how we're going to engage the world around us. 00:00:53.400 |
And I know that many of you are excited to dive into the study. 00:00:58.040 |
And the sermon today will serve in some ways as an introduction to the series and to the 00:01:03.280 |
And hopefully it whets your appetite for more. 00:01:06.480 |
I'm going to start by reading the first five verses of Titus for you, and then we're going 00:01:10.160 |
to ask the Lord really to speak this morning to our hearts. 00:01:17.760 |
"Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen 00:01:23.880 |
of God and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness. 00:01:28.940 |
In the hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago, but at 00:01:34.680 |
the proper time manifested, even his word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted 00:01:40.720 |
according to the commandment of God our Savior. 00:01:44.240 |
To Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father, in Christ 00:01:52.680 |
For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint 00:02:05.520 |
Lord, we are very thankful just that you give us a freedom to worship, to hear your truths, 00:02:18.600 |
and by your grace would you allow us to respond appropriately this morning, to have our souls 00:02:24.520 |
fed that we would be filled with joy, that we would be filled with power, that we would 00:02:32.720 |
know how best to display the reflection of your glory to the world that is lost around 00:02:40.680 |
Would you hide your servant behind this pulpit and would you speak and minister to your sheep? 00:02:49.160 |
We ask for your blessing and we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:02:54.040 |
Up to about 15 years ago, when the majority of our church members were still in their 00:03:03.000 |
And it was a big deal, not just for the couple, but for the entire church. 00:03:06.800 |
So every engagement was announced and the wedding was an all-church event. 00:03:12.620 |
If there was a church member's wedding in any particular month, that bridal shower, 00:03:17.280 |
the bachelor party, the rehearsal, and obviously the wedding were all included into the church 00:03:25.880 |
And if you were a Berean, you didn't need an invite. 00:03:33.420 |
And it was also assumed that you would stick around after the wedding to help clean up. 00:03:39.680 |
And obviously those days are long gone and far behind us and we are no longer at that 00:03:47.300 |
Now we have lots of weddings going on throughout the year. 00:03:50.640 |
All four of the pastors were at a wedding just yesterday. 00:03:54.840 |
In the five-week stretch from October 16th to November 13th, in those five weeks, we 00:04:00.960 |
have six Berean weddings scheduled and every single weekend, at least one of our pastors 00:04:11.540 |
So at present, we have a bunch of engaged couples and lots of pre-marital counseling 00:04:21.920 |
So you know that the engagement period can be a strange and challenging one. 00:04:27.280 |
There's a degree of struggle and tension as a couple prepares for a life of oneness, but 00:04:31.920 |
they still need to function as two separate individuals. 00:04:35.740 |
The couple is growing in knowledge of each other as a future life partner, but they're 00:04:42.820 |
They want so badly to be fully together, but for all intents and purposes, there is still 00:04:51.680 |
So the engagement period is not easy, but it is important. 00:04:56.420 |
And there are things to be planned and prepared during the engagement, and there is work to 00:05:04.460 |
And if you skip the engagement, no one's going to come to your party, your wedding, if you're 00:05:13.320 |
And there's one thing that all engaged couples have in common, and it's this. 00:05:30.600 |
I haven't met a single person who wants to stay engaged forever. 00:05:36.040 |
The Christian life on this side of eternity is very similar to an engagement. 00:05:39.960 |
A pledge has been made, but it has not yet been actualized or consummated. 00:05:46.240 |
We now belong to the Lord, but are not quite yet with the Lord. 00:05:51.680 |
We have access to the bridegroom, and we are called to grow in the knowledge of him. 00:05:57.160 |
But for now, this knowledge is in part, and not yet in full. 00:06:01.100 |
So just as there is an already-but-not-yet tension in an engagement period, the same 00:06:09.000 |
I've been memorizing through Titus and chewing on the book of Titus for the last few months. 00:06:15.820 |
And the more I recite this book in my head, the more I meditate on these verses, the more 00:06:21.080 |
my mind keeps picturing an engaged couple preparing for a wedding. 00:06:27.240 |
I see many guiding principles in the book of Titus that parallel a Christian engagement. 00:06:32.540 |
The central figure in the book of Titus is the bridegroom, Christ Jesus, and the church 00:06:38.320 |
looks forward to the coming of the bridegroom. 00:06:42.400 |
And the church faithfully stewards this engagement period in which she finds herself. 00:06:49.120 |
There are instructions detailing how she is to conduct herself while she waits. 00:06:56.600 |
So for a legitimate few seconds, I actually was contemplating naming our Bible study series 00:07:04.160 |
But I just ended up with the more conservative life in the Father's house, so you guys wouldn't 00:07:10.940 |
But keep this engagement imagery in mind, and hopefully you too will come to observe 00:07:19.200 |
So I read the first five verses of Titus a few moments ago, and the sermon today will 00:07:28.960 |
First I'm going to start with the premise of the letter, chapters 1, verses 2 and 3. 00:07:39.120 |
And then we're going to be looking at the practice of the letter, how it's meant to 00:07:45.720 |
And then I'm going to backtrack, and in verse 1 we're going to look at the purpose of the 00:07:54.320 |
And now I'm guessing that the order of this outline is already rubbing some of you the 00:07:58.340 |
Some of you guys were more anal, because I'm doing the 1 at the end. 00:08:01.780 |
And in your inductive study, the order of the points is going to be different. 00:08:06.820 |
If I were teaching this as a Bible study, the order would be different. 00:08:11.140 |
But because I'll be spending the bulk of my time on verse 1 this morning, this is how 00:08:17.100 |
So hopefully this will make more sense as we move through the text and the message. 00:08:21.220 |
The premise of the epistle to Titus, the practice of the epistle to Titus, and then we're going 00:08:29.580 |
So the premise of the letter, verses 2 and 3, verse 2 starts grammatically mid-sentence. 00:08:34.520 |
So in order to avoid further aggravating you, I'm going to just read from verse 1. 00:08:39.060 |
So let me read the three opening verses again for you. 00:08:41.820 |
"Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen 00:08:47.140 |
to God and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, in the hope of 00:08:52.060 |
eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested 00:08:58.940 |
even his word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted, according to the commandment 00:09:03.960 |
of God our Savior, in the hope of eternal life." 00:09:08.580 |
So here in the opening verses, the apostle Paul says that he has been preaching because 00:09:16.180 |
He's been commanded to preach because of this future hope. 00:09:19.700 |
The bridegroom will return and that those chosen of God will be betrothed to him forever. 00:09:28.940 |
God has promised this and God always makes good on his promises. 00:09:33.840 |
So when I proposed to my wife Becky about 15 and a half years ago, I wrote a song and 00:09:41.020 |
And I'm going to read a very, very cheesy line for you in this dumb song. 00:09:51.380 |
I'll cook, clean, do the dishes, and diapers too." 00:10:01.380 |
So when you go, you know, when guys go down on a knee and do their little speech before 00:10:09.820 |
And we say fluffy things and make all kinds of lofty promises and we are doing our best 00:10:15.020 |
to be sincere, but some of the stuff we say doesn't quite work out. 00:10:22.320 |
Human promises are all too often broken, even with the best of intentions. 00:10:31.120 |
But when God makes a pledge or a promise, he speaks absolute and certain truth. 00:10:45.460 |
He is all-powerful and he cannot and does not lie. 00:10:55.800 |
So Ephesians 1, 13 to 14 says that we were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise 00:10:59.760 |
and he is a pledge, a guarantee of our inheritance. 00:11:12.440 |
The Bible defines it as an eternity spent growing in intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. 00:11:18.560 |
If your picture of eternity has no Jesus, chances are you don't have the Spirit of God 00:11:30.080 |
Eternal life is focused on a growing intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. 00:11:36.320 |
John 17, 3 reads, "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God 00:12:03.680 |
Eternal life does not begin when your heart stops beating and you physically expire. 00:12:08.360 |
For the Christian, it starts at the moment when God opens the eyes of an unbeliever, 00:12:12.880 |
changes his heart of stone into a heart of flesh, and the person puts his faith in the 00:12:21.440 |
There is a promise of a betrothal, and an eternal relationship has begun. 00:12:30.760 |
And this knowledge of God begins on this side of the heavenly wedding feast. 00:12:35.640 |
So eternal life for you and me has already begun. 00:12:41.080 |
And for fuller context, I'm going to read verses 17, or chapter 17, verses 1 through 00:12:46.800 |
"Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, 'Father, the 00:12:54.840 |
Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. 00:12:59.080 |
Even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him he may 00:13:06.280 |
This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you 00:13:12.880 |
I glorify you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do.'" 00:13:22.320 |
Jesus prays before his trial and eventual crucifixion. 00:13:26.480 |
So what was that work, past tense, that Jesus accomplished on the earth? 00:13:31.380 |
It was to give sinful man access to holy God through the cross. 00:13:37.860 |
So the earth and this life on earth still remains in judgment. 00:13:45.580 |
It still stands condemned, but access to the knowledge of God has now been granted and 00:13:51.820 |
initiated and the bride of Christ now waits with eager expectation for the bridegroom's 00:14:06.420 |
But the wedding for the bride of Christ is still future. 00:14:11.040 |
So what are the contents of Titus founded upon? 00:14:17.700 |
Green writes, "Confident expectation based on the promise of the unlying God." 00:14:25.460 |
There's going to be a wedding, y'all, is what he's saying, is guaranteed. 00:14:32.280 |
So the church is now eagerly waiting for the great wedding feast. 00:14:36.620 |
And if you want a description of this wedding feast, look at Revelation 19. 00:14:42.560 |
But for now, at present, the church is in this already, but not yet engagement, tension, 00:14:56.000 |
The promise of eternal life is the premise on which this church exists. 00:15:01.400 |
The promise of eternal life is the premise on which Paul is commanded to preach. 00:15:06.100 |
And the promise is the premise for which Titus finds himself in Crete. 00:15:18.900 |
So here is the expected practice of the letter. 00:15:27.620 |
What were his expectations of the churches in Crete? 00:15:29.660 |
And what are the Lord's expectations of a church like ours? 00:15:33.060 |
Okay, I'm going to read verses four and five again for you. 00:15:38.140 |
To Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ 00:15:46.380 |
For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint 00:15:55.740 |
So for this reason, okay, Paul left Titus in Crete. 00:16:04.500 |
The this and for this reason is the premise that we just looked at in verses two and three. 00:16:10.540 |
The practice begins in verse five and continues throughout the rest of the letter with very 00:16:15.620 |
specific instructions for the church, the bride of Christ. 00:16:21.200 |
So the all-important engagement period has been initiated. 00:16:29.300 |
Proper wedding garments have been supplied already by the bridegroom. 00:16:33.500 |
And a seat at the table is guaranteed for all who are dressed in those garments. 00:16:52.820 |
So Titus was to do his best to build the church in the way God would want it built. 00:17:00.400 |
And the specifics we'll see in the rest of the letter. 00:17:07.740 |
Leaders leading the way God would have them lead. 00:17:10.780 |
Older men in the church conducting themselves in ways that are appropriate. 00:17:16.300 |
Younger men and women behaving properly in God's church. 00:17:31.920 |
And how God's church is to interact with the outside pagan world. 00:17:41.580 |
It's the primary vehicle through which the invitations to the kingdom of God are going 00:17:47.540 |
It's the means through which disciples of Jesus will be made and grown. 00:17:51.920 |
And the building of God's church was the priority for Jesus' early followers. 00:17:58.340 |
So if you guys think through how did the early apostles, how did the apostles, what did they 00:18:04.180 |
Did the 12 of them make 12 disciples and instruct them to make 12 disciples more in some kind 00:18:12.020 |
They all folked, they went all in on the church. 00:18:19.540 |
They poured all their energies into the churches. 00:18:22.780 |
First Timothy 3.15, the latter part reads, "I write so that you will know how one ought 00:18:28.420 |
to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the 00:18:37.460 |
So the church of the living God is the pillar and support of the truth. 00:18:48.300 |
The dynamic translations like the NIV will call it a foundation. 00:18:52.820 |
So the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:18:56.600 |
It's the platform through which the truth of God is magnified and displayed. 00:19:03.300 |
And because the church of God is going to be on full display for the world, what she 00:19:08.840 |
puts on display needs to be reflective of the bridegroom to whom she is pledged. 00:19:18.180 |
And the two things that are being put on display are one, the teaching of the church, and two, 00:19:28.380 |
Paul had similar instructions for Timothy, that he was to watch his doctrine and his 00:19:37.220 |
So in Titus 1 through 5 and following, Paul starts with instructions for church leaders, 00:19:44.580 |
for elders, and that's how you get those little sections of qualifications. 00:19:49.100 |
The elders of the church are to be at the very front, modeling correct teaching and 00:19:54.660 |
correct behavior for the rest of the church to see. 00:19:59.280 |
So verse 9 of Titus 1 emphasizes that the leaders of the church need to hold fast the 00:20:04.520 |
faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching. 00:20:08.380 |
So church leaders need to make sure that their doctrine is sound, that they are teaching 00:20:16.060 |
And as an aside, and that's why our church stresses expository verse-by-verse preaching. 00:20:24.820 |
The culture around us doesn't tell us what we preach and teach. 00:20:31.000 |
The affairs of the world, national crises, don't dictate what we teach and preach. 00:20:38.820 |
The scriptures dictate what we preach and teach, and because God's word is living and 00:20:43.900 |
active, when we preach accurately from the scriptures, the spirit of God will go forth 00:20:50.180 |
from this pulpit and instruct and feed and guide his people into all truth, we read in 00:21:01.240 |
So teaching is the first important practice for the church while she awaits the bridegroom's 00:21:08.880 |
And through that teaching, the invitations come. 00:21:12.320 |
The second practice involves the church's deeds, her good works. 00:21:19.160 |
The apostle Paul writes at length to Titus about the importance of the deeds of the church 00:21:36.940 |
The doctrine of God in and of itself is beautiful, but it needs to be adorned, cosmeo, by the 00:21:46.500 |
And we get the word cosmetic from this word cosmeo, to adorn. 00:21:53.300 |
A beautiful woman without makeup, she's still beautiful. 00:22:03.580 |
But when you apply the proper cosmetics on an already beautiful woman, she becomes next 00:22:11.020 |
level radiant and she catches the eye of everybody. 00:22:16.140 |
So the doctrines of God are beautiful in and of themselves, but how much more radiant would 00:22:21.280 |
they be when the church adorns itself with godly deeds? 00:22:26.420 |
So the church, Titus is hearing, needs to be characterized by good deeds. 00:22:33.940 |
Because the church is on display for all the world to see. 00:22:37.820 |
The church's faith must lead to visible good works. 00:22:41.980 |
Good deeds or good works, if you're using the ESV, are repeated again and again and 00:22:51.000 |
116, by their deeds they deny him, worthless for any good deed. 00:23:13.720 |
314, at the end of the letter, just in case Titus didn't catch it, Paul writes it again. 00:23:18.440 |
Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds. 00:23:25.360 |
You know what happens when church members are properly adorning themselves and accurately 00:23:34.560 |
Blaspheming and ridiculing mouths are silenced. 00:23:45.520 |
Titus 2.7.8, "In all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity 00:23:55.560 |
in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will 00:24:03.360 |
be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us." 00:24:08.300 |
So over the next three months, we will be diving into a deep study of how God would 00:24:15.080 |
And may this study produce in our church many good deeds for his glory. 00:24:20.920 |
So we looked at the premise of the letter, the promise. 00:24:26.060 |
We noted the practice or application of this premise is to focus, go all in on the building 00:24:39.280 |
And we'll see it in the opening verse, the greeting and introduction to Titus. 00:24:44.080 |
Verse one, "Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith 00:24:50.320 |
of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness." 00:24:57.680 |
I hear something that I hope you will see when we study through the epistle to Titus. 00:25:04.200 |
Building the church God's way is not humanly possible. 00:25:12.520 |
Building the church God's way is not humanly possible. 00:25:16.640 |
So if you were writing down an application, "Okay, I need to focus on building the church," 00:25:23.080 |
So you and I in our own strength cannot build his church. 00:25:28.020 |
You and I, no matter how eager we are or how devoted we are, cannot beautify or cosmeo 00:25:39.560 |
So good deeds or good works does not come from our determination or our planning. 00:25:51.320 |
Human strategy, human ability, human ingenuity, clever management of the church, studly leaders, 00:25:57.840 |
just wealthy members, skilled people are not enough to build a God-honoring church. 00:26:08.200 |
And this is touched upon from the very opening of the letter. 00:26:11.600 |
First, God is the one who is doing the choosing. 00:26:18.760 |
Second, godliness also comes from something outside of human effort, something beyond 00:26:29.040 |
So the Greek preposition kata, it's translated "for." 00:26:36.000 |
In the English word "for," it can mean all kinds of different things, okay? 00:26:46.960 |
And at both times, kata is followed by accusative singular feminine nouns, okay? 00:26:59.140 |
So Paul is writing this letter to Titus to primarily address and encourage, one, the 00:27:03.920 |
faith of the elect of God, and two, the godliness of the elect. 00:27:16.380 |
And that's why if you do a comparison of different translations, the rendering of the verses 00:27:22.760 |
And the biggest question here is, what is the relationship of the knowledge of the truth 00:27:33.480 |
If we're supposed to be known by good deeds, godliness is measurable, then what's this 00:27:38.840 |
relationship with knowledge as it relates to godliness? 00:27:48.760 |
Does a knowledge of the truth lead to godliness, as NIV seems to suggest? 00:27:58.900 |
Does godliness lead to greater understanding of truth? 00:28:01.600 |
Because sometimes when I'm in a sin, I kind of forget things. 00:28:07.940 |
But when I am being more godly, does that mean the truth is highlighted in my life? 00:28:12.880 |
That's an important question you're going to wrestle with in about a week and a half. 00:28:22.620 |
If you start with it and verse one is really difficult, it gets better. 00:28:28.920 |
So here's the point throughout the flow of the whole letter. 00:28:32.840 |
Right belief and right behavior are inseparable. 00:28:39.240 |
Right belief and right behavior are inseparable. 00:28:43.160 |
My understanding of the opening of this passage is that truly right belief leads to right 00:28:53.040 |
Right behavior is evidence of your right belief. 00:28:57.320 |
If you have knowledge of God but your life is not consistent with your knowledge, you 00:29:02.080 |
prove that you actually don't have knowledge, that you are a buffoon, and that you are in 00:29:11.080 |
Titus 1:16, "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being detestable 00:29:18.740 |
and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." 00:29:23.220 |
So right belief and right behavior are inseparable. 00:29:28.920 |
And in Titus, you find people of the circumcision and you find lazy gluttons in Crete, okay? 00:29:38.240 |
They all profess to know God, but they have no idea what it is that they're professing. 00:29:44.600 |
They're professing to be wise, but they are fools. 00:29:49.440 |
Romans 1:22 says something very similar, "Professing to be wise, they became fools." 00:29:56.160 |
So the Bible makes it clear that genuine knowledge of the truth always produces godliness. 00:30:04.100 |
So this begs an important question, what then is the knowledge of the truth? 00:30:12.720 |
The godly deeds are expected from me, from the church, and there's a relationship between 00:30:28.660 |
And that is a very important question, and I'm going to start with some things that are 00:30:32.960 |
mistaken for the knowledge of the truth, okay? 00:30:37.540 |
First one is having correct or extensive theological proficiency. 00:30:44.180 |
Having correct or extensive theological proficiency. 00:30:48.500 |
You can be well-read in your theology and still not know God, and still not know the 00:30:56.820 |
You can be a biblical scholar and still not know the truth. 00:31:04.820 |
Being raised in Sunday school and being familiar with all the stories, is that knowledge of 00:31:11.300 |
Being at church for three decades, four decades, five decades out of my life, we do church 00:31:15.760 |
every Sunday, is that knowledge of the truth? 00:31:21.140 |
As an aside, one of the problems of my generation is that many of us have only grown up on children's 00:31:31.020 |
Where 40% of all my Christianity is Genesis, 50% of all my Christianity is Jesus' miracles 00:31:37.620 |
and his road to the cross, and the 10% is Jonah, David, Samson, Goliath, and some Elijah 00:31:54.100 |
Another thing that's often mistaken for the knowledge of the truth is having a strong 00:32:03.340 |
You know that guy, every time he sees a poor person on the street, he gets teary. 00:32:14.900 |
He's closer to God because he's so generous with people. 00:32:33.540 |
That's also sometimes mistaken as knowledge of the truth. 00:32:38.180 |
Having a passion for strong Christian values is often mistaken for knowledge of the truth. 00:33:00.780 |
Being active in a church, being active in a Bible church does not equate to knowledge 00:33:10.540 |
And these are things that are often mistaken for knowledge of the truth. 00:33:15.540 |
Knowledge of the truth will always lead to these things. 00:33:19.180 |
Having better theology, having a tender, compassionate heart, being active in church, having strong 00:33:28.640 |
Knowledge of the truth always leads to those things, but it's possible for the habitual 00:33:32.500 |
church attender to have all of these things and have no knowledge of the truth. 00:33:38.300 |
Knowing a lot about God is not the same as knowing God. 00:33:43.100 |
Getting a dating app, finding a girl that seems attractive on paper, pursuing her just 00:33:48.700 |
from that through text, engaging in an email is not a relationship. 00:33:56.500 |
Knowing a lot about God is not the same as knowing God. 00:33:59.740 |
I want to share with you a couple of Jesus' own definitions to describe what the knowledge 00:34:07.660 |
There's a belief, there's a discerning of the shepherd's voice, and a following. 00:34:18.580 |
There's a belief, a discerning of the shepherd's voice, and a following. 00:34:22.340 |
You do not believe because you are not of my sheep. 00:34:26.100 |
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 00:34:31.960 |
And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish. 00:34:42.980 |
Knowledge of the truth is also what sanctifies a believer of Christ. 00:35:04.980 |
This is my definition, an intimate and growing understanding of the heart of God through 00:35:16.080 |
An intimate and growing understanding of the heart of God through feeding from the 00:35:25.420 |
And knowledge of the truth always leads to the godliness of the believer. 00:35:32.180 |
So here are two questions that I want to throw at you. 00:36:06.800 |
This is my 21st year of pastoral ministry, and the older I get, the more I grow in pastoral 00:36:13.780 |
ministry with each passing year of being a Christian. 00:36:19.820 |
It's strange because the more inadequate, the more hypocritical, and the dirtier I feel. 00:36:29.780 |
When I was a pastor in my 20s, I would tell myself and psych myself up, "Dude, you're 00:36:44.580 |
You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. 00:36:54.500 |
And then I hit my 30s, and I matured a little. 00:37:08.220 |
But now I'm a few years into my 40s, and you know what my mantra is now? 00:37:14.200 |
Don't do something so stupid and get disqualified from ministry. 00:37:19.040 |
Don't be stupid and get disqualified from ministry. 00:37:24.340 |
With each passing year, I'm becoming more increasingly aware of who I'm not. 00:37:33.380 |
There is nothing good in me outside of Christ, and I'm becoming more and more aware of my 00:37:38.340 |
hopelessness without the grace of God sustaining me day to day. 00:37:44.580 |
There is so much in my heart that desires comfort, pleasure, glory. 00:37:53.300 |
In my heart, there are areas of it that are still so fond of sin. 00:38:01.500 |
And I, in my effort, always mess things up, and I taint everything. 00:38:09.040 |
When I work hard for something spiritual and it goes well, you know who I want to give 00:38:16.540 |
I can package it before you in a nice way, but when I do something spiritually well, 00:38:26.580 |
If I teach or preach or lead well, I naturally attribute it to my preparation, my hard work, 00:38:40.760 |
The harder I work, the more I corrupt, the more I taint, the more I just make things 00:38:52.940 |
So I'm discovering that my hard work has done nothing but to frustrate and only make me 00:39:06.280 |
No amount of hard work has made me any godlier in the last 28 years as a Christian or 21 00:39:17.820 |
And I've realized something through the years. 00:39:23.100 |
There's actually only one thing I can control, one thing I can pursue to become godlier and 00:39:38.300 |
You know, the more I study the scriptures, the ungodlier I feel. 00:39:45.020 |
The more hypocritical I sound in my head as I preach. 00:39:50.860 |
The more I study God's word, the more the blemishes and the blotches and the dirty things 00:39:58.540 |
The more I study the scriptures, I'm reminded that not only do I not measure up, there's 00:40:06.140 |
a lot still in me that just stands in outright rebellion toward the God of the universe. 00:40:14.220 |
So the only thing that I can pursue and control really is not to resist when His word washes 00:40:23.660 |
me, when His word purifies me, when His word cuts me and carves me up, not to resist and 00:40:37.060 |
I can't work any harder to become godlier, but I can stay exposing my heart before the 00:40:47.500 |
word of God, and He sanctifies and purifies and washes me. 00:40:55.300 |
And whenever the areas of sin are revealed, don't justify it, don't make excuses, just 00:41:11.820 |
You know, the interesting thing is, is as I'm interacting with God's word and my heart 00:41:20.260 |
is moved to repentance, I find myself to be a more zealous worshiper. 00:41:30.660 |
As I'm sitting there humiliated and humbled, a few things happen. 00:41:36.700 |
The grace of God, the cross of Christ, becomes that much more beautiful. 00:41:42.480 |
The forgiveness and the patience of God becomes that much more sweet. 00:41:47.340 |
The forest in my eyes get exposed, so when I see a little speck in someone else, I have 00:42:01.380 |
Repenting before the word, before the Lord, leads me to have a greater appreciation of 00:42:12.660 |
You know, funny thing is, true biblical knowledge never leads to legalism. 00:42:22.940 |
True biblical knowledge never leads to legalism. 00:42:36.100 |
True biblical literacy, where you know the truth of God, will always bring forth terror, 00:42:48.500 |
That always happens because the knowledge of the truth sanctifies and beautifies the 00:42:56.060 |
Godliness does not come from effort or hard work. 00:42:59.700 |
It's the bridegroom who washes and sanctifies. 00:43:07.740 |
Sponges, a lot of times, you look at it from the surface, it doesn't look dirty. 00:43:12.980 |
But when you squeeze the thing, what happens? 00:43:16.500 |
Sometimes, when I am squose, I'm shocked by what comes out. 00:43:22.960 |
You put me in a circumstance and squeeze me, stuff comes out, and then I'm embarrassed, 00:43:39.020 |
Dunk, squeeze, dunk, squeeze, dunk, squeeze, dunk, squeeze, until all that is left after. 00:43:52.180 |
Ephesians 5, 26 to 27, and this is often used at weddings, husbands love your wives. 00:44:02.860 |
This is speaking of Jesus, "So that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing 00:44:11.020 |
of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having 00:44:21.340 |
no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she would be holy and blameless." 00:44:29.580 |
So godliness does not come through effort or hard work. 00:44:33.900 |
It comes from an ever-increasing, intimate knowledge of the truth. 00:44:40.000 |
It comes from being daily sanctified by the word of God. 00:44:51.420 |
Because a bridegroom takes very seriously the purification of the church, the godliness 00:45:07.720 |
The bridegroom takes responsibility for the purification of his bride, and as he purifies, 00:45:13.180 |
he makes beautiful and godly, and he sets free from the bondage to slavery and to decay 00:45:33.840 |
So the premise of the letter to Titus is God made a promise, and he always delivers. 00:45:43.000 |
So while we're waiting, there's things we need to do as a church. 00:45:47.740 |
There's a wedding feast that's waiting ahead, and we just need to get the word out. 00:45:55.860 |
But the purpose of the letter to Titus is to emphasize the growth in the faith of the 00:46:04.360 |
community, and the growth in the godliness, and the beautification of the bride of Christ 00:46:15.820 |
The premise was the promise, and because of this premise, we build a church. 00:46:21.360 |
But the point of all of this is that we can only truly build a church God's way when he's 00:46:26.280 |
the one who's doing the building in and through us. 00:46:32.680 |
This church and this church's growth is not because of the efforts of the seven men who 00:46:43.280 |
His word, when it's honored, it grows the church. 00:46:48.960 |
I'm going to leave you with my only application. 00:46:54.960 |
Expose your heart to the word of God as often as you can. 00:47:02.240 |
Expose your heart to the word of God as often as you can, and you're not going to like it. 00:47:14.480 |
You're going to hate what you find in you so much more than what you hate in what you 00:47:20.960 |
But it's going to break you, and the only real response that you can give is repentance. 00:47:26.960 |
But as you're repenting, your thankfulness grows. 00:47:37.040 |
And for some strange, mysterious reason, you can finally love and finally see people through 00:47:46.760 |
the eyes of Christ, and you can be long-suffering. 00:47:52.080 |
So expose your heart to his word as often as you can. 00:47:55.920 |
Repent, and as he purifies you, observe the growth in godly deeds. 00:48:07.760 |
Rejoice in these good fruits that come out and give glory to the God, and teach others 00:48:21.000 |
Get your hands, like, your dirty hands clean. 00:48:28.400 |
And I'm going to leave you a nice little summary of everything we studied together this morning. 00:48:39.440 |
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny 00:48:47.680 |
ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present 00:48:53.880 |
age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and 00:49:07.520 |
Verse 14, this is the bridegroom, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless 00:49:19.200 |
deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. 00:49:33.480 |
These things speak, exhort, reprove with all authority, and let no one disregard you. 00:49:47.080 |
I look forward to our study together, which starts in about a week and a half. 00:49:52.480 |
And may the Lord bless us with an increase of the knowledge of the truth. 00:50:01.400 |
May he make us more godly and broken and loving. 00:50:10.760 |
So I'm hoping you guys are excited about the book of Titus and that we grow, just delight 00:50:22.440 |
I'm going to give you a minute to pray as a praise team comes up. 00:50:31.960 |
And I encourage you to just ask the Lord, "Lord, am I godly? 00:50:46.400 |
Pray and then the praise team is going to lead us in our closing praise.