Practical Expectations for a Christian Life
Titus, pt. 5
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© February 7, 2016
What do you think the world will be like in 2030…some 15 years from now?
In late January 2016, there was a meeting in Switzerland of some of most touted progressive thinkers and personalities, wealthiest entrepreneurs and political leaders in the world. This meeting is called the World Economic Forum. Let’s take a few minutes and hear what some of these experts think the world will be like in 2030.
http://www.openforumdavos.ch/en/life-in-2030-humankind-and-the-machine.html
So, what do you think the world will be like in 15 years?
All of this discussion and conjecture has to do with how our lives may change because of
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•a host of intriguing inventions,
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•widgets, apps, and convenience enhancing technologies,
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•wealth and commercialism, etc.
but in reality none of these things reveal any concrete changes in human nature.
There is still...
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•greed,
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•deception,
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•unfaithfulness,
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•antagonism,
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•jealousy,
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•rage,
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•slander,
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•and war, etc.
...as well as many positive traits – just like there has always been in recorded history.
The nature of people has not changed in 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 – and longer. The way people interact as carnal human beings is still the same, since the fall of mankind.
Sometimes people act a little better, given their circumstances, and sometimes people act a lot worse – even in the best environments…but in reality, human nature has not changed.
In 15, 20 or 100 years from now people will act and respond just the same as they have done for millennia.
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•Their occupations may change;
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•Their position and authority may change;
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•Their wealth may change;
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•Their loyalties may change;
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•Their housing and mode of transportation may change; and
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•The convenience or inconvenience of their lives may change;
but the general nature of people will not change, whether they live
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•on the Moon,
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•on Mars,
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•or in Antarctica…
unless that person has been changed on the inside.
God changes people from the inside out and God wants His People to act differently than how the world acts.
Paul told Titus to teach the people in the Church how God expects them to act. God’s Spirit would empower them to act they way He wants them to and how they should.
Today we are finishing the book of Titus in the New Testament. We will be discussing two main things:
1. What people in the natural world think and act like.
2. What God expects people who have been Born Again into His Family should be and act like – because of a radical change on the inside.
You will notice in this book of Titus, that Paul goes back and forth several times between how the Natural Person acts and how God’s Transformed Person should act. As we have already stated, these traits are still the same; human nature has not changed in two thousand years. Paul begins with teaching how church leaders are expected to live.
God Honoring Qualities Expected of Church Leaders (Titus 1:6-9)
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•What does their family look like?
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•What does their personal life look like?
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•What does their public life look like?
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•What do they believe, what are their leadership abilities, and how long have they truly known the Lord?
Then Paul switches back to identify the lifestyles of natural carnal folks…even if they try to act religious!
Worldly Qualities of Human Nature (Titus 1:10-16)
Rebellious People, mere Talkers, Deceivers, Religious acting, seekers of dishonest gain, promoters of religious Myths; they teach Legalism while rejecting the Truth; corrupted Minds and Consciousness. Claiming to know God, but by their actions denying Him...detestable, disobedient, and unfit for anything good!
What are the specific groups of people Paul tells Titus to teach in Titus 2:1-10?
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•Older Men
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•Older Women
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•Younger Women
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•Young Men
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•Servants (also a timely word to Employees – in our day)
Summary Statements on Qualities of God’s People in Titus 2:11-13
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Why did Jesus Christ give Himself for Us? What three changes are observable in Jesus’ followers, spoken of in Titus 2:14?
Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
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1.Jesus Christ Redeems His Children from all wickedness (Jesus’ Blood cleanses us from every sin and “Justifies” us, making us Righteous before a Holy God)!
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2.Jesus Christ purifies for Himself His very own People
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3.Jesus Christ’s Followers are Eager to do what is Good
Paul had just written how God’s Children should be taught, and then “underlines” the importance of that teaching here, “These, then, are the things you should teach!”
Titus 2:15 These, then, are the things you should teach.
How should faithful Pastors and Teachers encourage and rebuke God’s People?
Titus 2:15b Encourage and rebuke with all authority.
Should leaders be despised for teaching how God wants His Children to live? Why?
Titus 2:15c Do not let anyone despise you.
If those in the church despise what the leadership is teaching them, what should they be reminded of?
Titus 3:1-2
3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
2 Corinthians 5:10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
How Does Paul Itemize how We All Once Lived as Children of the World in Titus 3:3?
Titus 3:3 At one time we too were
foolish,
disobedient,
deceived and
enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.
We lived in
malice and
envy,
being hated and
hating one another. (Has “human nature” changed in 2,000 years; 5,000 years?)
What does “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,” mean?
Titus 3:4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
Does God Save Us because we are Doing Good Things?
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done…
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•Because we were doing good things? No.
Why Does God Save Us?
Titus 3:5b But Because of His Mercy.
How Does God Save Us?
Titus 3:5b-6 He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
What Happens to those whom God Saves?
Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying.
What should be stressed to those who have trusted in God?
Titus 3:8b And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
In Addition to not living a life in opposition to God’s expectations, what else should be avoided?
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
How Should a Divisive Person be Treated?
Titus 3:10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. 11 You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Paul’s Final Remarks to Titus
Titus 3:12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need.
Practical and Sound Godly advice for anyone since the beginning of time!
Titus 3:14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.
Titus 3:15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Today is Communion Sunday. Paul confirmed to Titus in 3:5-8 why Jesus died; what would be given to those who put their faith in Him, for whom He paid so great a price, and how He expected His Followers to live in this world.
Titus 3:5-8 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Our AMAZING Planet
I projected a picture of the earth on the screen during this message for a reason…a similar picture is on my computer’s screensaver…to remind us of our Awesome God, what He has given us, what He has done for us, and what He has in store for us!
We live on an amazing planet full of profound, unique and exotic living things, all floating and spinning at enormous speeds in a perfect and precise life-sustaining orbit in space around an amazing life-giving yellow dwarf star, almost 93,000,000 miles away, called the sun. Each living specie has been created to be sustained through highly sophisticated and individualized mechanisms of replication and reproduction. Each of the millions of species is unique and cannot reproduce outside the boundaries of its own specie.
Astronauts experience a unique observation point when they circle the earth time after time in orbit around our planet. They are out of a normal earthly routine…they are not driving to work day after day, taking their children to school, or soccer games, preparing meals and be a parent, or stationary in a scientific laboratory all day. Instead, they perform their duties in the space module and look out on this amazing planet speeding under their shuttle, dangling in perpetual motion in the heavens and brimming with a myriad of dynamic life. It has a profound effect on them. It has been coined, “The Overview Effect.”
“I felt the world was just… there was too much purpose, too much logic,” said astronaut Gene Cernan. “It was too beautiful to happen by accident. There has to be somebody bigger than you, and bigger than me, and I mean this in a spiritual sense, not a religious sense.”[1]
Because we were formed in the Image of God, human beings live, move, think, reason, plan and work. We are creative, we take personal initiative and we have a sense of spiritual reality (every culture in history has evidenced some form of religious awareness). We have been created with wonderful, complete, fully functioning physical bodies, which are a perfect fit to house our human soul and spirit – our invisible consciousness, in our human journey here on this planet.
God has made us to be amazingly complete beings, to live on an extraordinary planet, fully equipped – without any assistance from mankind, for all the necessities and benefits of life, but there is also death, which gives all human life a profound conclusion!
God has also given us the blessing of forgiveness from sin and guilt through the Sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. He has given us the empowerment of His Holy Spirit to transform us to be His Children, so we can live a life pleasing to Him. And, God has given us the hope of eternal life! Those who have New Birth in Jesus Christ have been created and transformed by the Holy Spirit to be honorable Children of God, and they are those who God expects to do good works.
Let us remember God’s Greatness and the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Redemption of our sins, as we partake of Communion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=52&v=CHMIfOecrlo