The Grace of God Has Appeared for All People
First B Jackson
2018-07-15

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Alright. Well, we're here. Some of us. And people will be trickling in here as we sing, but, would you like to stand up? And, we'll sing together.

Here's a psalm of encouragement here. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. Shall we do that?

Alright, O Lord. O Lord, my God. When I am not some wonder consider all the worlds I am in. And I see the stars. I hear a rolling thunder.

Bow throughout the universe displays then sings then sings my soul, my savior God's name. I and take me home where joy shall fill my heart. And I shall bow in humble adoration, their profane. My God, how great you

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a few announcements this morning. One of em is that there is a discovery class. Discovery class for those who have been coming to the church and want to know a little bit more about it.

Between services, the third Sunday of each month, Mark Hall will be in there. I think Clay will probably join him down the hall in my office which is the second door on the left on the way down the hall. There's a discovery class for those who are interested in maybe a membership or learning more about church, how you might get plugged in and serve. So, that's the discovery class happening and this is interesting. So, Amanda McMullen who has grown up here in this church has undertaken to do a history of this church.

We had we are 107 year old church and we have a hundred years fairly well documented but the last seven years is not fairly well documented. If you've been around during that time and you have something that you think could be good in the church history, if you'll let her know, she is weeding through information. Yes. But if you'd let her know, that would be great. This is congregation on dedication Sunday way back when when they're dedicating a building and that's the old building right there which is actually still in use as the other Baptist Church across town next to the hospital.

That's the building. It was moved around this town four times and all this history is online. If you go on First B's website, you could see this and that is a a view of town from about the Fighting Bear Antiques. They're a little closer to town than that. It's changed a lot over that time.

If you want to see that, there's there's that. Teton County Fair. This is two weeks from today, July 29. We are going to be having the church services. Both are going to meet there.

We're going to do it one time. It's going to be at 11:00 which is immediately after the Lions Club breakfast. So, if you normally come to the nine, you're welcome to come on over and have a Lions Club breakfast before we do the church service at eleven. We're taking the 09:00 band and going over doing this style of music and we're going to have church there but we're not going to have church here, okay? So, two weeks from today, we'll not have church in this building.

We're going to have it. The church has left the building. Okay? We're going over to the Teton County Fair and if you want to know where we're going to be, they have moved. The big top used to be right here.

They're not going to do that anymore. So, this is across the street. Snow King Avenue right there. They're not doing the tent right there anymore. It's going to be up here where the Lions Club breakfast usually is.

That's where a church is going to be to under that same big tent. Everybody with me? Yeah, the visitors like, where in the world could they possibly understand that? Alright, it's just a few blocks from here. It's not hard to find.

Alright, we are also sending our youth to Lagoon. Lagoon is an amusement park down in Salt Lake City, August tenth and eleventh. There's going be on a lagoon trip. If you would like to more information about that, you can talk to Mike Demetrius. Standing right back there.

Yeah, that's him. He's our youth director. Turning Point is having their annual gala this July 19. July 19 this week. That's going to be Thursday night at 05:30.

It's at the Gill Ranch. If you would like to be signed up for that and you're not already, please let us know and we'll get you hooked up with that. Monday nights, Carl.

Yep, it's on tomorrow. Mike D is speaking. That guy who said he's the youth director back there and Florine is leading music and Blaze Cooking and so know that you're invited. 06:00, meal, music, message.

Meal, music, and a message tomorrow. Monday nights at First B. Also, that reminds me, we're doing Monday nights after the fair on the twenty ninth, on the thirtieth, we're going to go to Mike Yoko, right? I'll remind you of that again in the next couple of weeks but we're doing Mike Yoko Park on the thirtieth for Monday night. It's happening.

It's just happening somewhere else. Again, and I think that's it. Anything else? Did I forget anything? Yes, I knew I was forgetting one.

Anne, would you get up and just do an announcement about community Bible study on this red mic? It's in your bulletin, by the way, more information.

So, first of all, in your bulletin, read it. There there is an announcement to invite folks to two opportunities to learn more about community Bible study. One at my house on Tuesday evening and one about 11:00 at KC McCooey's house. Brian and KC McCooey. Find find us after the service.

Just want to say that we kicked off community Bible study this fall. It kind of started crawling along almost ten years ago, but we are trying to grow way beyond the 20 or so women to be much more comprehensive. Community Bible study is interdenominational. It is all about getting saturated in God's word, making a difference in your community, being in a caring community. So here are some visions in my brain.

Co ed night class. Maybe just a small group for women, small group for men, maybe co ed. I don't know. Teenagers can be involved, ex addicts can be involved, people coming out of prison can be involved, they have specialized, studies for those groups. There, there could even be a small group in, let's say, Romanian, or a small group in Spanish because CBS is in over 100 countries.

There are 700 classes in The United States, and it's been translated into 70 different languages. It's really cool. It's been going for nearly forty five years, and I just really hope you can come and learn more about it and be a part of transforming this community, maybe being a part of the third great awakening.

That's great. Thank you, Anne. If there is anything that I have forgotten, it would be in your bulletins. That CBS is a great great study. Tanya is a part of a CBS in South Carolina that she just absolutely love but if there's anything that I've forgotten, it would be in the bulletin.

So, grab one on your way out if you didn't grab one on the way in. There are prayer requests in there too and would you just stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song.

Alright. Let's sing. It's fallen from. It's fallen from the clouds. A strange and low sound.

Can hear Alright. Beautiful and free. Beautiful and free. It's all the galaxies. It's reaching

Let's pray together. God, I thank you for truly what we just sang. Your overwhelming, never ending love for us, that you have and you continue to pursue us. Lord, as you grab a hold of us, as you are chasing us, you're calling us, don't let us refuse you. Don't allow us to push you away.

Lord, would we draw near as you draw near to us. In Jesus' name, amen. This is a great prayer, by the way, from Ephesians. It says, also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him. Think we'll spend our entire lives, our entire lives learning this.

What does this mean? We don't get it right now. We will learn it as we get to know God, as we as we grow in our knowledge and our understanding of him, we'll begin to understand his power more and more. You can be seated and frontline teams coming forward and I'm going ask Ray to to pray with the offering this morning.

God almighty, thank you so much for your love and care, your love and kindness, lord. A lot of the songs that we've been singing this morning about your love even calling it reckless love, lord. When we did not deserve it, that you come after us and God I just want to say thank you for that, that you do, that you are pursuing God. God, I pray that you would be pursuing others through us this morning. That the love that we have reflects the love that you have for us.

We can love because you first loved us. So, God, I pray that we would love people. Temporally, we'd love them well and take care of them as best we can with their physical needs lord but that we would care enough about them eternally that we would share the good news. God, I pray that you would superintend and that you'd be here guiding and that you would be presentness in each of us here this morning, lord. Illuminating scripture as we go through it but I pray lord that this would be just a broadcast, a transmitter, a broadcast station that would broadcast that good news.

I pray that we'd understand it experientially and we would spread it. So, God, would you do that this morning? We come to a time right now of offering where we put back some of the resources you've entrusted to us saying lord, we do trust you. We trust you to spread and build your church and we want to be a part of what you're doing. So, God, I pray that you would take these gifts, these offerings, and that you would multiply em that you'd bless them and you do your kingdom's work with these gifts.

I pray that you'd also bless the giver. In Jesus name, lord, we come to you humbly asking for your blessing. Amen.

Would you sing this with?

Alright. It feels when I say this every week for the past three or four weeks, I've been saying, it feels funny not to have all the kids stomp out of here in that little intersection between the music and the sermon. We will pick back up when school picks back up. We'll pick up with children's church again but I like the sound of those pitter patter of little feet running out of here. I have got, we've gotten up to Titus two.

We're up to Titus two. I actually bridged over last week and shared the first verse with you to bring it back up and kind of center ourselves on a kind of self evaluation based on the rest of that text but I'm going start right there and this is a household code. That's what all of the commentaries are saying. It's the household code. You can compare it with Ephesians five twenty two through six nine, Colossians three eighteen through four one, first Timothy chapters two, three, and five, and first Peter two, and we've been through a lot of those together before.

It's another one of those household codes, but as I was studying it for the past few weeks, anytime you come up on gender roles in our society, you have to do so with a bit of trepidation because it says what it says. And so I have been studying. I usually read all I can. This is this is the stack from from this week. I hadn't read all these books this week, but I've read a part of all these books this week.

This one was written in 1956, but it was revised in '75. Think about that. '56 to '75, big change, right? Bigger change if we go till now, '56 to '75. This one was written in '57.

This one's pretty trustworthy grammatical study, really, really good. I love this book. This guy started earlier and then someone else finished for him, but this one was written by Kistemacher I mean Hendriksen, William Hendriksen in 1957. Kistemacher finished them for him. But it was written in German originally, really, really scholarly work.

56, 57. This one's 74 ERA. Does anybody know what that is? Not your earned run average, but there are equal rights amendment, right? 74.

So there's a gap there. 94 was the next one that I have. There were other commentaries written, but these are the ones I had on my shelf. I pulled down and read. 94.

This one is pretty good too. I like this one. He did a thorough study before and he did the goal of our instruction. It was a very application based book and then went to this. 99.

This one's wimpy, wimpy, wimpy. It's great on history, but it's not really great on application at all. And it's called the Application Commentary. But in 'ninety four I mean 'ninety nine, I guess that one was. This one was also written in 'ninety nine.

It's thirteen years in process. This is William Mount. He's the grammar guy. He actually literally wrote most of the grammar, the Greek grammar books for biblical studies. This guy wrote it and that's a pretty good size on the pastorals.

You know, this this short little books, first, second, Timothy, and Titus. He wrote that in '99. Very gracious and very generous person sticks to the word. I really like this guy. This is probably my favorite one of all of these guys and then, this one was written just in 2013 by people that I dearly really really admire and love.

Daniel Aiken, David Platt, Tony Meredith. Usually, when you're reading that, you can trust that it's going to be very biblical centered but I tell you what, this this book sounds mean. It sounds ugly and nasty. Now, the reason it sounds ugly and nasty is because I'm reading it right now. All of these things are saying the same thing but I I wanted to I had to go back and look at these and think, when were these written?

The one in '99 was the not this one but this one was really good on the history of it but not knowing what to do with it. So I say that to say do go into this considering our times and considering our place and trying to consider our context as much as I consider the context of when it happened. Does that make sense? So that's what I want to do. I am working on this and I think I'm going to reserve the right to come back to this passage or at least a part of this passage either next week or the week after when I feel like I've kind of gotten it through.

I've got plenty for today. I promise you. This is like a Kit Kat sermon. I can break off a piece if I have to but but we're going to go for it, alright? We're going to go.

In fact, your bulletin says we're going to verse 10 but I think we're going to go to verse 15. So, listen fast, alright? But as for you, this is Titus but as for you, Titus, or man of God, he says, as for you, if you're seeking to do this, as for you, Titus, teach what accords with sound doctrine and sound there is word. It's it's actually a base for hygiene. It's healthy.

Healthy doctrine. The application of scripture that's healthy, okay? It's not off balance legalistically. It's not off balance towards license. It's right in the center.

It's balanced and healthy. It's not too much of one thing and not enough of the other. Teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men, he goes immediately into the code. I like when he's talking to Titus.

He doesn't mince anything. He just goes to it. Teach what accords with healthy doctrine. Older men, and he starts the list. So older men.

The context of this time. Do you all know what patria potestas is or patripotestas or paterfamilias? The paterfamilias is the concept of the father of the family. It was Roman law at the time. No doubt about it.

Creek was a part of the Roman Empire at this time. So it was Roman law that the oldest male was the patriarch of the family and he decided what went. Okay? Completely. He had the power to sell his own children into slavery and it was not against the law.

He could sell his children in slavery. He could do that up to three times. Before they were able to be emancipated from him. He sold me into slavery three times. He's trying to tell me something.

It's a it's I mean, the Roman Empire was known for a few things and one of em was governance. They governed pretty severely and part of that was this oldest male in the household and it's not just like old, I'm the oldest male in my household but my dad still lives. So, my dad's the father of the family. Does that make sense? And all of the land rights, if I acquire land, it's his land.

Does that make sense? Not in our day, it doesn't. Come on. Y'all say yes. You understand that it's true, but it doesn't feel right.

It doesn't seem right. It's very different from the way that we live. But this was the law of the land at the time. So the potter potestas or the potter familias, the head of the family was the one who called the shots and he could rule as a despot if he wanted to. Does that make sense?

He could be a tyrant and many were. He had the right to say who or you could or could not marry flatly. It was like, and you couldn't do it if he didn't say you could. Does that make sense? It's very different from the way that we live life.

So, the context that this was written into and the context we live in are very different. I'll give you that. The word is still the word and so we're going to go forward thinking about that. Older men, older men basically could do whatever, and this is not elders, by the way. It's a different word, completely different word.

This is presbytous. It just means aged men. They changed aged in a lot of translations to say older because aged sounds bad, doesn't But it's aged. Aged men. So, typically at this time and according to Roman law, 60.

60 was considered an aged man. So, if you are 58, you are a younger man. I I said in Timothy, the way that he wrote it to Timothy, he said, you, Timothy, treat people who are older than you like you treat your father. People who are younger than you like brothers. You know, women older than you like mothers and women younger than you like sisters.

So, that's what he said to Timothy but this is actually more by the book, okay? He's saying, older men, he's starting there. Aged men, 60 and above. Typically, 50 was considered aged for a woman according to Roman law. Older men are to be sober minded.

Now, that could be any kind of way they wanted to. There was, right? Because they had the power, mostly. These older men. Older men are to be sober minded.

They're they are to be dignified. Was that the law that they had to be dignified? No. But they were in charge. And since you are in power, he's saying you are to be dignified.

Self controlled. I highlight self controlled because this passage, a lot of it has to do with self control. He mentions it four times in what we'll cover today. He says self control. Self control.

I'll get to that more towards the end. We're going to hit it several times and I'll sum up. Or maybe just do it now. Hey, why not? Whatever comes up on that screen, right?

Y'all are gonna sing whatever comes on that screen even if it's not right, aren't you? Self controlled, sofrona. I've used this slide before. It's acting in God's definition of balance. It makes someone genuinely temperate like really, well balanced but from God's perspective.

True balance is not a one size fits all nor is it blandly static. You can certainly still have personality but it's not going to be characterized by extremes. Sophron describes a man who does not command himself but rather is commanded by God. It is, it can be passionate but it's passionate with a god given passion. Does that make sense?

Alright. So, Frona, this is self control, sound in faith. Again, healthy in faith. It is a healthy faith. I I know that there is such a thing as religious delusion.

I'm not dumb to that. I know that there is. I know it's unhealthy and when people take upon their own faith thinking that they are the one that God is going to use to a lot of people end up doing bad bad things and blaming it on God. There are deceiving spirits. We need to go through it.

It has to be healthy and based in your faith. Does that make sense? Based in the actual gospel, the faith. Self controlled, sound in your faith. Sound in love Did they have to be?

According to the law? They didn't have to be. They could be really really harsh but he's saying older men, this is the way you're to be. Sober minded, dignified, self controlled, sound in faith, sound in love, you actually love because he's speaking to older Christian men. He's speaking to people who are within the church.

The ones who have been called out from every tribe, tongue, and nation and they are in the body of Christ, the Ecclesia, the called out one. So, this is for Christians. You are to be sound in love. You can love because God first loved you and do it. Be loving.

And in steadfastness. So, that sounds like it's bringing people into a pretty tight pattern, doesn't it? A lot of those steadfastness goes right along with self controlled, sober minded, dignified, sound in faith, and love and this is for the aged or older men. So, there's the list. So, sober minded, dignified, self controlled, sound in faith.

Sound in faith healthy in your faith is knowing about it. Understanding the concepts, applying them to your own life, and being able to articulate them to the generations that would follow especially if you're the part of Familius and you're the one that's in charge of how your family line is going to go. You can be, you have the chance for being a benevolent dictator, right? The philosopher king, that's the best form of government. When somebody has the power and is good.

Paul is saying that's what you should be, older man. That's what you should be. Older women, he doesn't he doesn't skip around just older women. Likewise. So, all of those things, likewise, likewise, they are to be reverent in behavior and I think you could characterize the older men as reverent in their behavior, wise, sober minded, dignified, self control, all that.

Older women, you are also to be reverent in your behavior. He has a couple of pitfalls that apparently were a problem on Crete may still be a problem. It's still scripture. It's still valid. Not slanderers.

So, don't be speaking ugly about people. Older women, don't slander people. Don't tell lies about people to defame them or slander them. Actually, don't even use the truth to bring people down, okay? It don't use it to harm people.

Not slanders or slaves to much wine. He throws that out there too. Do not be enslaved to wine. He's already mentioned that for the elders above in chapter one but not slanderers or slaves to much wine for older women. They're to teach what is good.

Amen. The the song we just sang, oh for grace to love him more, that song. My grandmother's name is Grace. And she's always held on to that. Oh for grace to love him more.

Because that's her name, you know? And so, when I sing that in my head, I'm going to, oh, for Ray, to love him more. Because that's that's something that my grandmother taught me. She was to teach that which is good and she did and she does still. She is fading and I told y'all that a few weeks ago.

She's not doing well. If y'all would be praying for her and for the family who's taking care of her, I'd appreciate it. Grace McDaniel. They're to teach what is good. And so or and in this way.

So, they're not to be slanderers. You know, gossip and slander is infectious. Once once somebody starts doing it, everybody around them kind of tends to join in. That's the way that that goes. It in fact, it's kind of hard to stop it.

You can do it though. There are a few tricks. Oh, wow. Hadn't heard that but I don't want to hear it. You can stop it.

You can say, wow. That's hard and rough and ugly. I'll be praying for her or him or them. Wow. Can we stop right now?

Oh, if you stop right now and pray, they'll they won't tell you another bit of gossip for a while, alright? So train the young women. And so in this way, not slandering, not full of much wine. That's also infectious. Misery loves company.

People want to invite others in to do whatever it is that they are doing. And so, if you are, here we are, not slandered, reverent in your behavior, not slanderous, not slaves to much wine, teaching what is good, and in this way, that's what the sow means right there and in this way, train the young women to love their husbands and children. Did they have to? According to the law. They've got this dictator living in the house with them, some of em.

He's calling the shots. Could be doing so tyrannically. Did they have to? They didn't have to. Paul's flipping the script on this and he's saying, I know that you're under subjection.

But you can still be loving. You can still carry Christ into whatever situation you are in. Older women teach what is good and in this way, train the young women to love their husbands and their children. So, at this point, he's given the list for older women, reverent in your behavior. Not slanders, not slaves much wine, teaching what is good, training the young women to love their husbands and their children.

And then that really starts the list for young women right there too. The young women are to love their husbands and children. That's first. To be self controlled. Here it is again.

So he didn't specifically mention it to the older women but he did say likewise and he carried it over into that especially reverent behavior, everything that he said. Not slandering is something that you can exercise self control over. Does that make sense? Even if you want to say something bad, you can hold back if you're self controlled. So younger women are to be self controlled.

They are to be pure. Specifically, in this case, this is probably chaste or as it relates to their sexual purity. They're to be self controlled and pure. Working at home does not say exclusively working at home. Actually, a good translation of keepers of the home.

I didn't say housekeeper. Okay? I didn't say it but keepers at home is a good translation of it. So, the affairs of the household as Proverbs 31 says, are the domain of the younger women. Working at home.

Kind kind. I I often put into a marriage ceremony. I do it both ways. The mutuality of this but you are entering into a lifelong commitment today to be loving and kind to one another. Kindness.

Kindness is really, really, really appealing. And kindness works. It makes a difference. It makes a difference in the person who is being kind and it makes a difference in the person to whom they are being kind. It softens people to be kind.

You're to be self controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands. This was not just in general that women and although the law did basically say that, women were basically having submit to men on pretty much every level but she's saying, Paul saying to ladies, young ladies, submissive to their own husbands. That's an added word in there, the own part, husband. So, there it is, the list for the younger women and he actually follows up the submissive to their own husbands with a reason why. It says, so that, so that is the henna clause, that so that the word of God may not be reviled.

So that the word of God may not be reviled. Now, reading that list in our day, you wonder, wait a second, the reason that he was writing this and saying, you should follow the established order as it is in society but with a twist, you should actually be loving, gentle, kind, and embrace the situation that you're in. And then, he follows it up with so that the word of God may not be reviled. Now, the main thing today that people are reviling the word of God for is saying that it is paternalistic. It's male centered and all this and people are railing out.

So, the balance in Christianity and in across denominations right now is people are trying to sort out for themselves by feeling, I think, mostly. How is it that we can elevate the word of God in people's lives in general in society and that they would not revile it when it says things that are so against our society. Well, God is good and he is sovereign and I think that we can reasonable people can disagree about how this goes. I do think that that's the case. There are denominations that lean very heavily that there is no difference.

There should be no difference. There's no slave nor Jew nor Scythian nor free. No male nor female. And they hold to that and they say, Everything is open to everyone and you may live basically however you wish. There are some that believe that.

And then there are others that are absolute. Who cares about the Patriopotestus or the Patafamilius and the law in the context in which it was written? This is holy writ. This is the way God said that it has to be and they're holding to that absolutely and holding on. I actually tend towards that side.

I believe that. I believe that if you do things the way that God has designed them, they tend to go better. I think that we're fighting a lot of battles but I want for our battle to be for this so that the word of God may not be reviled. Are you with me? If an older man, Christian, is all of the things that this says that he should be.

Are you with me? And an older woman is all of the things that this says that she should be and the things that she says and she's not the things that says she should not be and the younger women are this way. There may be some that say, oh, you're living under an absolute outdated pattern. This is ridiculous. They may say that but they don't control how you feel in your loving union, do they?

If you are genuine in your love for one another, if you are caring and you are seeking to bring honor to God and to your beloved whether that be your husband or your wife. And the word of God, if you actually practice the gentleness and the self control that comes with all of this, you may be contested. There may be people who stand up against, but it's not going to change how you are. Do you all get this? This is something I'm I'm saying.

I'm reserving the right to come back to this because I'm working through this right now. I'm working through it on a way that especially when it gets to bond servants. So, that's going to be in a few minutes. But this is so far older men, older women, younger women. So, it's a kiosk that construction there.

It's going next to younger men and it's funny that it says, so that the word of God may not be reviled being submissive to your husbands and they were expected to marry when they were younger. Actually, Roman law penalized people who didn't get married. Men before 60 or women before 50. If you were not married, you basically had very very few rights especially to properties and things like that. They take em away from you because you're supposed to get married because the family was one of the units of governance by the Roman government.

Anyway, these list, I put em up there like this for you to see something. The the the younger man, it just says this, likewise, likewise, urge the younger men to be self controlled. So, that's it. It doesn't say anything else. Now, if you look at that like this list, right there, you just go, wait a second, that's a raw deal.

What do young men have problems with? I'm serious. I could get you to name specifics, but all of them are going to come up under self control. Would you agree? What is seriously, hit me.

What's that? Drinking. Self control. We've have so many studies of dopamine centers in our brain now. We get this little, we get this little joy from, I don't know, some people from receiving text messages.

Or from getting on Facebook or from drinking, or from drugs, or from sex, pornography. All of these different things fall under self control. There's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it's the way of destruction. Self control is what it is all about for younger men. And I said up to 60, I think it probably goes beyond that, but we've got the other list for the older men, and his includes self control too.

How are you going to get to be oops, sorry. How are you going to get to be right here? Excuse me. How are you going to get to be right here, dignified and self controlled in your older age without being self controlled or working on that in your younger years. You're not going to get there.

You might not make it there. You might actually not live that long. Sound in the faith, sound in love. How do you get to be that? How do you get to be the benevolent and good dictator instead of being a selfish jerk?

If you're not self controlled. So, he does hit him with that. I think what happened though and Paul does this quite often. He's riding along or reading along, probably dictating along and he says, younger men, you are to be self controlled and then, he speaks to Timothy to I mean, to Titus directly and says, show yourself, Titus. I trust you.

I've been around you. I know that you're self control. I wouldn't have left you in charge on the island of Crete if I didn't think that you had this covered. Show yourself, Timothy, to these other younger men in all respects to be a model, to be a model of good works. Good works matter.

I say, doesn't matter for your salvation but it does matter. Doesn't matter for other people. It does matter for your sanctification. It doesn't matter for you being sound in your faith. To put your faith into practice makes you more sound in your faith, more healthy in your faith.

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works. Titus, I'm saying that to him. I'm saying it myself. I'm saying it to you. Show yourself.

In all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching, show integrity. Integrity properly means this, it's no corruption. Don't let any corruption sneak in to what it says. So, as I'm studying and I'm studying the Bible for exactly what it says and all the grammar and trying to get all the relationships of all the words so I get the relationships of all the people and then I look at this list of these things that have happened and it does change and it waivers. I'm seeking for something in my teaching that is has integrity.

I stay true to what it says. Although in my society, I'm tempted to swing one way or another depending on the time and the place where I live. I'm trying to stick with what it says. Understood and proper context. So it is unable to experience deterioration, incorruptibility.

It's lacking the very capacity to decay or constitutionally break down. Now, does that mean that Titus is that? No. But he's saying in your teaching, this is what you seek for. Something that is actually absolutely true to the word.

You're not going after irreverent babblings. You're not going after endless mythologies or genealogies. You're sticking to the subject hand with dignity and sound. That's healthy speech that cannot be condemned. Healthy speech that cannot be condemned.

So that. There's a good so that close. So that an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us. Now, at this time, Christianity in the Roman Empire was not seen as a good thing by the government. They were seen as being atheist because they weren't wouldn't worship the emperor.

They're seen as atheist because they only had one God rather than all the family gods. Actually, the Patria Potestas, the Patafamilias was in charge of the religion. He was the priest for his own family. So that an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us. You remember the passage that says, against such things, there is no law in Philippians.

Concentrate on these things. Whatsoever things are noble, just, pure, all those things. Against such things there is no law. Even heathens don't mind if you're doing good. Now it goes right here into bond servants and I said that I'm bit off.

I'm gonna have to break off this Kit Kat bar right here, I think, because I'm, it's straight up 10 right now. Bond servants is the next place we'll go next week. The word is doulas. It means slave, servant, or bond servant. I hate to break right in the middle of this.

Let me skip this. Hold on just a second. Imma get to eleven. This is the why and I'll cover this again next week. I'm just going to hit you with the why.

Why is it that we are to live out in the roles that we have been placed in? Why is it that we should live them out? Flipping the script and doing it out of love, not out of obligation, out of goodness, not obligation. Why should we? And this is where he says, for, that's why this household called for, the grace of God has appeared.

Because of Jesus. The grace of God has appeared. He's bringing salvation for all people. So, everyone out there, this salvation is available for absolutely everyone. Older men, older women, younger men, younger women.

It's out there for absolutely everyone but the way that they are going to come to trust it is to see it in practice. For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people. It is about salvation. It's also training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions is about sanctification. So, salvation, yes.

It's out there for everybody. The gospel is really out there for anybody who would accept that Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life. He did that on our behalf. Our behalf is anyone who trusts in that salvation that he's provided. Anyone who trust in the payment that he has provided for their own personal sin will be saved.

Call on the name of the Lord. He will save. But the sanctification, it goes further than that. He trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, things that are selfish. He can bring us into a place of self control and to live self control.

For the grace of God has appeared for all people to live self control. So, Imma throw that out there at you. I will come back next week. We'll go back into the similar passage but I want for you really. I want for each of you, everyone of you that's here this morning, whether you're traveling, visiting, or whether you're here every week or sporadically.

I want you to consider this, the green highlighted part right there. The grace of God has appeared not just for salvation. That's true and if you have not trusted in Jesus, please, please do. Come see me afterwards. Come see me during the last song.

Come see me in my office during this week. I'd love to try to introduce you to Jesus and how this thing works, the message of the cross. But I think more of us in this room are fitting right here. It hit it on all of the list, right? The grace of God has appeared for all of us to live self control.

Is there anything in your life right now that is out of balance? And if there is something in your life that's out of balance, I want for you to consciously and seriously this week. Be prayerful about that. Find a group of people that will pray with you about it. I will be in that group of people that will pray with you.

Let me know, okay? And the things that we are attempting to practice self control over. The grace of God has appeared to deal with it. Let's let him deal with it but consciously so and next week, we'll come back. We'll hit the bond servants and masters.

I'm prayerful about the time for that because I think that actually could be a tipping point for some of us too. I hit something this week that I've not hit before and I'm dealing with it and I think it's going be really good by next week. We'll see. It wasn't quite cooked this morning. Would you come on up, Carl?

Where are you? There you are. And would you all stand with me? The rest of that passage, the next passage is pointing us towards our incorruptible hope in heaven for sure. And so we're going to sing about that this morning.

Same power.

Same power? Yeah. Alright. That's even better.

Same power.

I was always thinking. That man's always thinking. How about the same power that rose Jesus from the grave? We're going to sing that one again.

There it is.

In his strength. There is nothing we can't do. Yes. We know. There are greater things in store.

We will not be in lives in

So, I've got two different benediction slides today. I think it's based on that kind of salvation and sanctification. If we are going to get better, if we're going to become more godly, it takes surrender in our will to God's will But I like this one first. Restore to me, lord, the joy of your salvation. You are the one that has provided the salvation.

Lord, restore to me the joy of knowing that everything in the past has been forgiven and I have a secure future with you, God. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. That's from Psalms and then, Walk in wisdom towards outsiders. Making the best use of the time and let your speech always be gracious. Seasoned with salt so that you may know how to you ought to answer each person.

Lord, would you keep us from being brash and ugly and mean? Would you put us in the place of dignified integrity, recognizing that it is your salvation. We did nothing to deserve it but it can be secured through humility. Would you make us, lord, humble servants that are able to spread your gospel by the way we live our life and the way we use our words. In Jesus name, I pray a blessing on all of us as we go.

Amen.