Excellent and Profitable

Good morning. We are finishing Titus today, and this morning we're looking at a text that calls us to good works because of what God has done. And to think about what's happening in the passage, I want to ask, what do you do when you're lost? When you're lost, when you don't understand where you are or where you should be going, what is it you do? Do you keep persevering down the wrong way, hoping that somehow, magically, you'll figure out the right way? Do you stop and ask for directions? That always seems painful and somewhat humiliating. We oftentimes find ourselves going the wrong way. And really, we don't realize it until there's a sign. The highway has all kinds of signs to tell you you're going this direction towards this city. So that if you are trying to go to a different city in a different direction, you know to turn around. Thankfully, we have these devices now that tell us recalculating, make a legal U-turn. When you're hiking, you need bearings. The National Forest, it has markers everywhere so that you can make sure you're following the right color marker on the tree as you're following along. If you're an advanced hiker or advanced outdoorsman, you know how to look at the stars or the mosses growing, the sunrise, to get your bearings on where you are. We need help from outside to know where we are, especially when we're lost. There was a hike my first year here, January. And I had two young men with me, and this hike, there was no instruction, to be clear, of the kind of hike we were doing. You had to take three turns on this hike. And without any instruction, every time we'd get to a turn, someone would either get their phone out or GPS and try to figure out which way should we go. And, well, two of the three turns, I made the wrong turn. And me and these two young men, they were 10, 12 years old, Our food was frozen. It was getting dark and we were out of water. But thankfully, even though we had missed the turn, we knew we were going the wrong direction. We turn around and, well, here is a brand new pastor with two deacon's kids, hitchhiking out of the National Forest, so that it was the day I saved those boys' lives. Many will tell that story, the day I lost them. No, no, no. It was the day that I saved those boys lives. Had to set the record straight. But it's important. When you're lost, you're looking for some kind of sign, some kind of clarity. All right, where am I? Which way do I need to go? What's actually more terrifying is if you don't know you're lost and you keep going the wrong direction. As we think about the Jesus and and who he came to spend time with. He was constantly judged by others for spending time with sinners. And his response was very clear. It's not the healthy that need a doctor. It's not the righteous that need saved. It's the unhealthy, it's the sick who need healing. It's the sinners who need saved. Now that presses a question, is there really anyone who's perfectly healthy? Is there anyone without sin? His point wasn't that I didn't come to save people who were really righteous. No, it's only those who actually recognize their sin, only those who recognize their loss, only those who recognize they're actually dead, running in their own ruin. I'll save them. Come to me. The question is, how do I know when I am lost? Well, our good God gives us truth. Our good God breaks into our problem. Our good God tells us what's wrong with us, tells us how he's going to fix it, and then tells us what he expects of us. He's a good God. We're in Titus, and if you look at chapter one, verse five, Titus is a pastor helping other churches fulfill the mission of Christ. Paul is speaking to this pastor who's going to go to all these different churches and encourage them, this is how you need to be put in order. Order requires godly men who will teach godly things. Order means separating out those who are teaching ungodly things. Order means men who are going to grow up to be dignified, women who are going to grow up to be reverent, everyone who is going to be submissive and have self-control. And then there's these two gospel passages. These are worthy of our memorization. Chapter two, 11 to 14, we've looked at that the last two weeks. Notice there, for the grace of God has appeared, verse 11. And then hope, we're looking for that blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He has come, he will come again. Today we're looking at that other great gospel passage that is to be insisted upon a trustworthy saying. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared. Notice the word appeared. It breaks in. to the midst of our sin and chaos. If you're taking notes this morning, there are three points. Our old way, God's disruption, our new way. Our old way, God's disruption, our new way. Or we could look at it in these three simple points. Our destruction, God's disruption, our devotion. There is an old way we used to live, and as we heard in a very clear testimony, the new way is about repenting of those old sins that were destroying us. That is why we're called to a new way. Church, embrace what Paul calls profitable and worthy. God's salvation from sin so that we can be devoted to good works. Let's first begin, because we have to recognize what is wrong, what has been wrong, in order to really understand why we need help. So verse three, that's gonna tell us, it's a marker, it's a sign from God, it's a description that will help us see what's wrong. This describes our lostness. For we ourselves, Speaking of the church there, we're once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. Well, that's not very flattering. Who wants that on their resume? Who wants that to be described of them? Who would even think about describing that way? Paul's telling us that's who we were. This is a marker from God, a declaration from God about who we were. And I want us to see here, there's actually three aspects to our sin. There's three different kinds of sin being described here. Because our sin has three directions. There's upward sin, sin against God. There's inward sin, our own twisted, enslaving self-indulgence. Then there's outward sin. Notice the inward sin, foolishness, disobedience. The inward sin, slaves to our passions and pleasures, led astray. And then the outward sin, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. First, our upward sin, our rejection of God. This is the first and foremost problem. We have suppressed the truth of God. We've rejected Him. We have chosen to live a life that does not honor Him or give Him thanks. Well, how do I get that foolish and disobedient error about God? Well, the fool says there is no God according to Scripture. Wisdom begins with the fear of God. To live foolishly is to have little or no reverence for God in a way that says, I'm going to do things my way because there can't be a good enough God who's gonna tell me something better than I already know. Foolishness insists upon my desires. Foolishness rejects the God who speaks. Disobedient, well who do we disobey? The good God who gives good commandments. We just think about His good commandments as they relate to others. Do not steal. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not covet. These are good commandments, and when we break them against others, we're disobeying God. So we have an upward problem. We've rejected God by not honoring Him, seeking His wisdom, revering Him, or giving Him thanks. What about our inward problem? Well, this leads to our perverse desires. We're led astray. The whole idea that we're just supposed to trust our hearts, what if your heart's deceptive? What if your heart is so clinging to a love of sin, a lust of the eyes, a lust of the flesh? What if we're so focused on self-indulgence, we can't trust our hearts? No, we need God to tell us actually what's good. An inward sin takes God's good gifts and doesn't say, God, what can I do with this gift for your glory and your way? No, God, thanks, now I'm gonna do it this way, my way, without any consideration of God. Notice there the picture, slaves to various passions and pleasures. What does sin promise you? Freedom. If you just participate in this, if you just indulge a little bit in this, you'll be set free. That desire you have, it'll be satisfied. When sin is knocking at your door, promising just partake in this, you'll be satisfied. Has that ever really worked? It's like quenching a thirst drinking from the ocean. No, it's enslaving. It promises freedom, but only enslaves. Because you're always going to want more. Our passions, our desires that are set against God and turned in only on ourselves are misleading. And then we see the last category of sin. Passing our days in malice and envy. We're destructive, we see what God gives other people and we envy, we recognize what others have and like children, we want it. Not able to look and see all the different things God has given us. Other people envy us, we envy other people. This seems to be one of the unique human predicaments in that it isn't just a desire for something good, it's a desire because somebody else has it. and then hated by others and hating one another. This is a pretty horrible picture of humanity. Who do we think of who's like this? I look, I see what appears to be massed pretty good and decent people. Who really is described here? Who would we dare say these things about? Not somebody we love. Not ourselves. But notice here, Paul says we ourselves. Paul, a religious man. Paul, a man committed to the laws of God. Paul committed to the Torah and the people of God as Israel, but he did it his own way. And therefore, he was disobedient. led astray, hated by others, and hating one another. He was a murderer. This is an honest picture of who we are without Christ. Now that's hard. I mean, I know, that's hard, but it's honest. If we don't get this marker that God gives us to help us reflect on who we really are, we're not gonna appreciate who God really is. So let's think about this. Okay, we can probably remember a time, at least, when we've experienced this hated and hating. We can probably remember a time where there's been envy. Okay, sin against others is pretty obvious and easy to identify at some point. But what about our own passions? Do you feel like you have complete, perfect self-control over all your desires and passions? Really, the hard one to see is our sin against God. Because unless we see the God who created us, who is worthy of all worship, we see the God who speaks truth, we see the God who is making known and making known and making known who he is so that we would know him and that we reject him constantly, we're not going to see that we sin against God all day, every day outside of Christ. How do you know if you are going the right direction? Well, this is a simple list that I believe helps us realize how twisted, corrupted, and sinful we are. The good news is that God disrupts this. Our second point, God's kind disruption. God's kind disruption. Notice, but, when the goodness and loving kindness of God, Those three letters, that little three letter word but, it's one of the most powerful words in scripture. Bible student, when you see this word, circle it. Especially when the next word that follows is the subject of God. But God. Notice how Paul describes God. There's a goodness. There's a loving kindness. That's what God revealed about himself. A goodness and a loving kindness. Now, this is an odd transition. We just heard about a people who are full of malice, envy, hate. And the goodness and loving kindness of God comes? That's odd. The proper response of a righteous God, a good God who holds up goodness, is to exercise wrath and judgment. We have to acknowledge that before we can really appreciate how important that but is. Let's stick a therefore. We were foolish, full of malice, envy, hating one another. Therefore God, well, we know what he did once. He brought a flood and destroyed most everyone. And that was righteous, and that was good. It is a right response of God to exercise judgment and wrath. But the goodness and loving kindness of God appear. It is God's right response to punish sin, but it is God's nature to love and show compassion and mercy. There's a problem, there's a conflict there. God in his nature is merciful and compassionate and kind and slow to anger, but God's right response is to punish the kinds of sin that are in verse three. This is why the gospel has to understand verse three. God does not respond to our sin according to our works, God responds to our according to his mercy. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior, it appeared. We're gonna know what that appearing is. But he is a loving God, he is a good God, he has a compassionate heart. Now this isn't God lovingly trying his best to save a people. This isn't God screaming as loud as he can, hoping that we'll listen one day. No, this is a decisive, absolute action. Notice what it says. He saved us. If you want a simple memory verse, that's it. Let's say it together. He saved us. Let's say that again. He saved us. It's decisive. It's not a father helplessly saying, no, please don't run in the road. No, it's a father running and snatching the child up so the child can't run into destruction. God is the author of salvation. The action is God. He saved us. Where did he save us from? Ourselves. His own judgment, us going in our own way. He saved us. God, our Savior, He saved us. Well, everything else that's said here is actually about that declaration. He saved us. Let's first ask the question, why? Why did God save us? Look at that next section of verse five. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. This is kind of like that moment on Valentine's Day when your spouse says, why do you love me? What are you supposed to say? You're supposed to list all the different things about her or him that are lovely. The gospel doesn't do that. The gospel doesn't say God saved you because you were so worthy because of all the things you've done or could do. The gospel says God saved you while you're sinners. The gospel saved us while we were once like that. The gospel didn't save us because of some good things that we've done that we're storing up some kind of an account with God, and so finally when it became full, God said, all right, now I'm gonna save them. Because there's nothing we do to add to the account of righteousness. No, our account is full of sin. He saves us not because of works done by us, but according to his own mercy. Wednesday night, Andrew Haunt had just done the devotion on Blesser of the Merciful, for they shall be shown mercy, and he gave a very helpful definition of mercy. Seeing a need and meeting that need with the best of our ability. Mercy, seeing a need and meeting that need with the best of our ability. And so as humans, when we have mercy, we see somebody in need and we wanna meet that need with the best of our ability. God, when he sees our need, foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves of various passions, pleasures, passing our days in malice, envy, hated by others and hating one another, not because of what we've done, but because of his own mercy, by his power, he saves us. He has compassion, he shows kindness when we do not deserve it. Well, now let's look at that power. Why does God save us? Only because of His mercy. Only because of His own heart, not because of what we've done or we deserve. Notice why and then how. Remember, our problem has three directions. We send upward, inward, outward. This passage actually addresses all three of those. when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared. Let's go back and remember chapter two, verse 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. He's talking about the same gospel, different words, same gospel. And then it says, what is the grace of God? What did God give us? Verse 14, Jesus Christ, he gave himself to redeem us and to purify us. Our biggest problem with sin is the upward problem. We rebel against God, we disobey God, we refuse him, we do not honor him, we do not give him thanks. That's why the appearing, I believe this is referring to when Jesus Christ, God's own son, took a boat, decided to abide in Mary. He added to himself humanity. Why? so that he could walk among us. He could become just like us. He could do what we've refused to do. He was obedient, he was wise, he was not led astray. He loved, he did not hate. He lived the life we have refused to live so that when he died on that cross, he is a perfectly righteous man with the power of God Almighty. so that when he died as a righteous man, he takes upon himself the weight and punishment and wrath of all our sin. He bears the burden of our guilt so that God is just in punishing that sin, he's good, and now he can declare to us, you're forgiven if we believe in him. He redeems us from lawlessness. He redeems us and purifies us to be his own people. He came to die for us and then rise again so that we might have new life. If you're not a believer, this is what we need to share with you. There will be a day when we die. Everyone will die and everyone will face their creator. And there's only two things you can hear at that moment. Because at that moment, if you just picture this room, you and God in this room, and this room is full of writing all over the walls and the ceiling of every word, thought, and deed. Of all the sins committed. We're speechless. We're speechless. There we see the clarity of all our sin, and there's only two things that can be said by God. The first is away with him, away into the punishment, because that sin is now coming into full contact with his glory, and there's going to be wrath forever. If we stand alone, that is what we will hear. The offer of Jesus Christ is, believe in me, who died for sinners. Believe in me who rose again to give you new life. Believe in me, and at that moment, I will stand with you, and I will say, no, Father, I have washed away all those sins. This one is ours. He's coming with me. This morning, your only hope is to believe in Jesus, who is the only one who can speak on your behalf at that great moment. That's the upward problem, and how Christ appears to resolve it. But notice it's not just what Christ accomplishes on the cross, it's then by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ has come, he's lived the life we could not live, he died for our sins, he rose again, he's now ascended, and after he's ascended, he sends the Holy Spirit to give us his new life. The key word there is washing. We read about that promise in Ezekiel earlier. We sang about the washing. This is where those led astray, slaves to passions, we need our hearts washed. We have to recognize the filth and that we need to be washed. There's renewal. He puts us back into a right relationship with God. There's regeneration, there's new life. Christian, because of the power of the Holy Spirit who washes with renewal and regeneration, there's no excuse to continue to waddle in the mud. There's no excuse to keep going after those self-indulgent patterns. The power of God Almighty resides within to wash, to renew, to restore. And notice here, it's God our Savior, he washed us by the Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the whole trinity. The Father, our Savior, washes us through the Holy Spirit, whom he pours out on us through Jesus Christ, our Savior. All three persons intending fully to save us. And yet we somehow always find an excuse to fall back into our passions and pleasures. That inward problem. There's also a future. Notice what he says next, verse seven, there's a purpose. So that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The word justified, that is a legal term. At that moment when you are faced with God and Jesus says, no, this was mine, is reminded, no, you have been declared righteous forever. You've been declared forgiven. You've been given a foreign righteousness, Jesus' own righteousness. It's a gift by the grace of God. In other words, they're becoming heirs of the hope of eternal life. I have wrestled with this, but I think I'm gonna have to give a retraction from things I said earlier in Titus. That's always what happens when you preach a book, you get to the end, you're like, oh, I don't think I might need to say that differently. I keep saying, I've kept saying, because this is what most have taught, there's two basic ingredients to the Christian life according to Titus. What are they? Teaching and good works. Sound doctrine and godliness. I'm convinced there's three. Teaching, good works, hope. Teaching, good works, and hope. We actually see it in chapter 1, verse 1. Starts out that way. Paul, for the sake of the faith of God's elect, their knowledge of the truth was in accord with godliness in hope of eternal life. The three are right there. It's obvious. We saw it emphasized in chapter two, verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope. And here we see it again as an important aspect. We might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Our Christian lives can't be lived secular. If we're only living for the moment, you're not gonna be living as Christ called you to. If you're living for the hope of eternal life, if you're living knowing that Christ is gonna come back and restore all things, That is the fuel for obedience. There's hope. Well, what is that hope? What's a better world? A world without sin? A world without disease? A world without pain, death? A world where those desires that entangle us and hinder us, they're removed, we're washed? I just buried my grandmother yesterday. Her husband, my grandfather, was the key instrument to call me to Christ. And the words that penetrated my heart through all the week were what we sung earlier. When this poor lisping, stammering tongues sit silent in the grave. When I can no longer speak imperfectly in this life because I'm dead, oh, what a sweeter and nobler song. I'll sing my power to save. The most frustrating thing for you in this world should be sin that hinders you from singing that song in the fullest, noblest, sweetest tongue. We must long to worship God purely, and that is why we seek to purify ourselves. God saves us and calls us. Our third point, we've seen our old way that is, notice how past tense it is. We were once. You're not supposed to be that way anymore. What God has done is he's saved us fully, completely, and then our new way. Devotion. Look at verse eight. This saying is trustworthy and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. In case we missed that, drop down to verse 14 and let our people learn to devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful. There's nothing more discouraging or confusing to hear professing Christian to insist that, no, these sins are going to continue. It's amazing how Christians easily become experts in finding loopholes to justify a legalism or a licentiousness and a lawlessness. No, there's a devotion to good works. Well, what are these? Seek order in the church. Seek sound teaching in the church. Older men, be dignified. Older women, be reverent. Everyone, be submissive and self-controlled. These are good works among the body that help us grow up into Christ. Good works is setting out those false teachers. Good works is promoting right teaching. Notice here, this saying is trustworthy. Insist on these gospel truths. These things are excellent and profitable for people. Avoid those foolish controversies. Avoid those persons who strip division, knowing that such a person is warped and self-condemned. We're called to be committed to God's truth so that we are growing up in his good works with the hope of his return. We need to be seeking these good works. So Christian, I ask a few questions about what devotion to good works means. One, how are you growing more mature in Christ today? Another more practical question, who is helping you grow in Christ to be more mature today? We have this odd individualism. If your ceiling is your own ability to understand God's word and your sin and God's righteousness, it's a low ceiling. That's why God gave us a church. Who is helping you grow up to be more like Christ? Another question, who are you helping to grow up to be more like Christ? Who could say today, I have learned more about Christ and I've grown in my faith because of you? We're making disciples. If we're not devoted to Christ and his good works, we're not gonna be making disciples. As we close, we recognize the greatest danger of the church always comes from inside. Look at verse nine. These are things that are gonna be dangerous to the church inside. Controversies, genealogies, dissensions, quarrels. These are unprofitable and worthless. Why would we want to talk about things over there, out there, unhelpful when Paul's given us excellence, profitable. How are we investing our time and our words? I can get up here and I can say this gospel truth every Sunday, but if we're not actually meditating upon it during the week, if we're not talking about it, we're not creating the culture of the church, we're not protecting ourselves from the kind of division that he warns of here, What's the word cloud of our conversations? As we read earlier from Colossians. Three, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let these gospel truths that are worthy and profitable, let them dwell in you richly. Why? So that we can be teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything. In the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. One of those things we're gonna do is partake in the Lord's Supper. This does not save us. Baptism did not save David. The Lord's Supper will not save you. This is for Christians to partake because it is a way for God to use other Christians to remind us we've been saved. The body has been given over for us so that we can be given new life. The blood has been poured out so that we can be washed. Our goal this morning is to participate in the Lord's Supper as not just an individual, but looking around and looking, and if you're a guest and you're a part of another church and you're just here as a guest, you're welcome to take it with us, but the goal is to normally take this as a body where you're looking around and seeing other believers. Because one of the great encouragements is that you would take this with me. And that I would take it with you. Because we're one body. All purchased by the same blood. This morning, as we meditate upon who we were, we need confession. As we meditate upon what God has done, we need thanksgiving. And as we meditate on what God expects, we need commitment, devotion, zeal. The glory of God. Will you pray with me?