Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

INTRODUCTION

The next major section of 1 Peter (after the introduction in 1:1-2) runs from 1:3 to 2:10. In it Peter focuses on the glory of God and his salvation as the primary power for Christian perseverance in persecution. In other words, Peter here asserts that the main way God’s people are empowered to stand up to suffering is by considering the greatness of God and all that he has done and will do to save his people.

This second section begins, as we’ll see this morning in 1:3-5, with a remarkable doxology. That is, it begins with a recounting of God’s glory and work and promises and a call to praise him in response.

This truly is an amazing section of this letter and of the entire bible. Be prepared to be filled with awe and wonder and thanksgiving and great help for times of trouble.

Simply, once again, in this short passage Peter issues a call to the suffering saints to worship God and then gives several reasons why worship is to be the first and main response of God’s people—even in the face of significant suffering.

Accordingly, let’s ask God to fill us with a sense of awe and wonder in this description of his glorious nature and works and promises; sufficient to draw us into worship. And let’s ask God to use these things to carry us when difficulty comes upon us; even as it did the early Church.

 

A CALL TO WORSHIP IN SUFFERING

Before looking at Peter’s argument, I want to help you all feel the need for the argument.

If someone you knew were suffering significantly because of their faith in God (picture Marty and Selena and the kids), how would you comfort them? What would you say to them to encourage them in their suffering? What advice would you give them as they endured isolation and confusion and fear and the anger of others? What would you focus on? What would you avoid? What’s the first thing you’d tell them to do?

Would you tell them to hang in there and remind them that it won’t last forever? Would you first encourage them to pray for help and deliverance? Would you offer to go and help?

All of these are fine in their own way, but Peter takes a different approach from any of these. He starts by telling the suffering Christians of the dispersion to worship God. He admonishes them, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Another translation (NIV) reads, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” While this might sound like a description (“God is blessed”), it’s really a command (“Bless God”).

Are you suffering for identifying with Jesus? Praise the Father. Are you having a hard time finding food because of your belief in the gospel? Worship God. Have you been disowned by your family because of your allegiance to Christ? Declare the glory of God. Are you suffering physical abuse, is your life being threatened at the hands of God’s enemies? Bless the One in whose name you’re beaten and threatened.

Whatever your circumstances, Grace, praise God. Praise him first and praise him most. In other words, praise him before you do anything else and praise him more than you do anything else, no matter what type of situation you find yourself in.

But why would we do this? Or how does this make sense? Or for what reasons is this the right response? Peter gives two reasons. The first is implicit and the second is explicit.

First,

1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

INTRODUCTION

Last week I began preaching through 1 Peter by describing the big picture of the letter. As you may remember, 1 Peter was written by the apostle Peter to a group of Christians who had been exiled and dispersed because of their faith in Jesus. The primary goal the letter is to describe what God-honoring faithfulness in the midst of such persecution looks like, and to call the scattered believers to put it into practice.

Beginning this morning we’re going to zoom in and work our way, verse-by-verse, through this remarkable letter in order to grasp all that God has for us in it. We’ll begin at the beginning with Peter’s introduction in the first two verses.

What we have here in Peter’s introduction (1:1-2) is the introduction of someone who is absolutely earnest. It is exceptionally loving, but it is also exceptionally serious. There is a welcoming quality to it, but there is also deep doctrine in it as well. There is an approachable feel about it, but there is also a no-nonsense feel about it too.

Peter’s introduction is one from a man taking the commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) as it was meant to be taken, who feels deeply for the exiled, persecuted recipients, and who realizes that only the God of the bible is able to rescue mankind from his sin and is worthy of trusting through such peril.

This morning, from this introduction, we’re going to catch a significant, initial glimpse of Peter, the recipients of his letter, and the God who reigns sovereignly over all things.

Grace, it is my prayer that at the end of this sermon, Peter’s introduction would have awakened us all to the relative and irrational and inappropriate flippancy of our lives, to the need for genuinely sound doctrine, and to the glory of the blessed Trinity. That, of course, is no small goal. Indeed, it is impossible apart from the working of the Spirit. Let’s pray, then, that according to the foreknowledge of the Father, the Spirit would come in sanctifying power because of the obedience of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and accomplish all of this and more.

PETER

I’ve always found it interesting to observe how people introduce themselves. I’m particularly interested in how people define themselves in their introductions.

It’s fairly rare in my experience for people to be very existentially precise in their self-identification. You don’t hear many, “Hi, I’m Bill, the product of countless billions of years of random mutation,” or, “I’m Sky, a spirit being, delighting in my oneness with the universe,” or “My name is James, a child of God, created in the image of God, for the glory of God.” In other words, people don’t generally define themselves according to their actual understanding of their essence when they introduce themselves.

Instead, we get a lot of…

“Hi, my name is David VanAcker, I’m Gerri’s husband, ” or “Good afternoon, my name is Sue. I’m an attorney,” or “I’m Emily, a mechanical engineer sophomore at UM,” or “I’m Archie Manning. Two of my sons have won the Super bowl and claimed the MVP trophy.”

We tend to define ourselves in terms of our career or our relationships or our accomplishments. That is, we tend to define ourselves by that which we value most and then introduce ourselves accordingly.

Peter seems to transcend these categories and accomplish both in his simple introduction; ...

INTRODUCTION

With no further delay, we are going to look at 1 Peter this morning and for the foreseeable future. It’s a remarkable letter in many ways, many of which I hope to highlight for you today. First, though, I’d like to offer a bit of background.

1 Peter, as you might have guessed, was written by Peter. This finds greatest confirmation, perhaps, in the facts that 1:1 makes that claim (“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ”), that Peter’s authorship wasn’t questioned by the early church (even though other letters claiming to be written by Peter were), and that Peter seemingly referenced it in 3:1 of his second letter (“This is now the second letter that I am writing to you…”).

Peter’s birth name was Simon (Matthew 4:18). It was later changed to Peter by Jesus (John 1:42). Peter was a fisherman by trade (Matthew 4:18). Peter was married and owned a house (Matthew 8:14).

Peter, along with his brother Andrew, were the first of the twelve disciples called by Jesus (Matthew 4:18; Mark 3:16; Juke 5:12; John 1:40-42). In addition to being called first, Peter was among Jesus’ closest disciples. He was granted the ability to walk on water by Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29). He was given the keys of the kingdom for his profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ (Matthew 16:13-19; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-22).

He was one of the three (or four) disciples allowed by Jesus to join him at his transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36), when he raised the ruler’s daughter from the dead (Mark 5:35-43; Luke 8:49-56), when he foretold the destruction of the temple (Mark 13), and further in to Gethsemane while Jesus prayed before his crucifixion (Mark 14:33-42). Though he denied Jesus when questioned prior to the crucifixion, he was the first disciple to run to the empty tomb (Luke 24:12) and the one who became most bold in proclaiming Jesus after his death and resurrection.

According to 5:13, this short letter was written by Peter from “Babylon” (likely Rome) in the company of Mark (5:13), was delivered by Silvanus (5:12), and is addressed “to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…” (1:1)—most likely predominately gentile Christians.

This letter was likely written shortly before the great Christian persecution of Nero began in 64 A.D..

The main point of this letter, which Peter himself makes plain in 5:12, is that his persecution-dispersed audience would “stand firm” in the grace of God in the face of the persecution they were already enduring, and that which all could see coming in even greater measure.

This morning I’m going to share with you all the message of 1 Peter so that we’re better prepared to understand the individual passages contained within it. Specifically I want to show you from the text the main theme of the letter (faithfulness in persecution), what faithfulness in persecution looks like in real life, the power and motivation for faithfulness in persecution, and a few reasons why God allows his people to be persecuted.

With that, let’s pray that God would use 1 Peter to rescue us from the false belief that Christian faithfulness even allows for (much less guarantees) comfort and ease, to equip us to suffer persecution well, and awaken us to a greater longing for eternal glory in Christ.

THE MESSAGE OF 1 PETER

As I mentioned in the introduction, the simple message of 1 Peter is faithfulness in persecution. We see this right away in the first verse of the letter when Peter identifies his audience as “the elect exiles”. The elect had been exiled because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and Peter wanted to help them understand how to honor God in their thoughts and actions in the midst of their persecution.

2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning. This morning’s sermon is part two of a two-part sermon series on expository preaching. In the way of a reminder for those of you who were here last week, and to quickly bring up to speed those who weren’t, here’s my conclusion from last week:

Expository preaching is preaching that makes the main point [and emphasis] of a biblical text the main point [and emphasis] of the sermon. It has been and will continue to be the main preaching diet at Grace Church. We saw three reasons for this [last week]: 1) the bible is God’s word and expository preaching seems to be the most natural outworking of this; 2) the bible is living and powerful and expository preaching uniquely acknowledges, highlights, and depends on this; and 3) we need to know what God has told us more than what we think we need to know and expository preaching is most inherently committed to this.

In simplest terms, at Grace Church we primarily preach through books of the bible, verse by verse. Our aim is to explain what the biblical text means within its original context, within the context of the entire bible (particularly the gospel), and for us today. We’re committed to this type of preaching because we believe it is most consistent with the nature of God’s word and most necessary for our souls.

Again, last week we looked at three reasons for this conviction. This week we’ll look at four assumptions behind the conviction. Please pray with me that God would impress them upon us such that we’d all be able to joyfully and eagerly continue in what we have learned and firmly believed…the entire counsel of God, which is able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

ASSUMPTIONS OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING

Once again, last week we considered the following three reasons for expository preaching. That is, we’re committed to primarily preaching expository sermons at Grace because…

The bible is God’s Word.

The bible as God’s word has life and power from the Holy Spirit.

We need to know what God has told us more than what we think we need to know.

And again, this week we’ll look at four assumptions behind the conviction that expository preaching ought to be the main preaching diet of God’s people.

Faithfulness to the biblical text, not numerical growth, is the charge of the preacher.

Anecdotally, it seems to me that pastors and churches avoid expository preaching for two main reasons: 1) it’s hard; and 2) it isn’t as effective as other kinds of preaching. We’ll get to the first of these (it’s hard) next. Here, however, I want to address the second (that it isn’t as effective).

In a certain sense this critique is correct. Expository preaching often isn’t as effective as other types of preaching at drawing a crowd, grabbing people’s attention,

2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, Grace. I want you to consider two simple questions. First, what types of things do you tend to want to listen to? In other words, what do you seek out to hear? And second, why do you want to listen to those things? Or, what is it about them that makes you want to hear them?

If you like to listen to music, what type of music and why? If you like to listen to audio books, what type and why? If you like to listen to debates, what topics and why? You get the idea.

In my experience most people primarily choose to listen to things they find entertaining and/or novel. The music we listen to keeps our attention and engages us. The stories we take in stir our imaginations and give us an escape. The “debates” we choose to observe are often more about the potential train wreck they promise than a genuine search for knowledge.

Further, for many of us we listen to the things we listen to passively, demanding that the voice speaking or singing keep our attention or we’ll quickly check out and move on to someone who will. Consequently, there’s often very little patience and appetite for things that take work on our part or go more than an inch deep.

If my observations are accurate, we should not be surprised to find that this shallowness has leaked into the Church as well. Indeed it has. Even a simple browsing of the average sermon today quickly reveals that rather than fighting against the demand for entertainment and novelty, many churches are embracing it. Many things offered as sermons today have more of a feel of story time or a coffee shop chat than a serious attempt to engage the will of God. They are designed to entertain the listener, assuming little to nothing from him or her. In fact, this is even a point of advertisement for many churches.

As a listener and as a preacher, I can certainly understand the temptation to this. As a listener I like to hear good, engaging stories. I like to listen to catchy music. I like to be entertained. I like to have someone else do all the heavy lifting for me. I don’t want to be board. And as a preacher, I want people to stay engaged. I want people to remember the message. I want people to like my preaching. I don’t want to bore people.

And yet, Grace, when it comes to preaching and listening to sermons, I believe that God’s Word calls us to something more. I believe God’s Word tells us we need something more. And I believe God’s Word offers something more, much more. That’s the point of this sermon—to describe for you what our sermon diet ought to be: God’s word, all of it.

Let’s pray, then, that God would help us understand the nature of his word such that, that sentence would make sense. Let’s also pray that our appetite for God’s word would increase to the point where our souls can only find satisfaction in it.

Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

INTRODUCTION

Having finished Titus I’m going to preach on Matthew 6:19-24 (money) this week and expository preaching next week before beginning to work our way through 1 Peter on May 29th. For different reasons I’m eagerly looking forward to each. To help explain why I’m excited to preach on money consider the following silly analogy.

What would you think if I told you that I had a tool that would allow all of us (legal) unlimited access to every vending machine in the world? For most of us, that’d be really good news. We might start a parade or name a day after that tool. Food. Drinks. Cool toys for kids. Best Buy has technology vending machines. That’d be a pretty remarkable tool, one we’d probably all want to have.

Before you go all in, though, you should know that there’s another aspect of this tool that’s not quite so appealing: if used incorrectly it will cause you to lose the use of all of your limbs—you’ll quickly become paralyzed.

Now the instructions will be clear. It’s not as if you’ll have to wonder whether or not you’re using the tool rightly or wrongly. You won’t need to play around with it in order to figure it out. You’ll know exactly how to use the tool for unlimited vending machine withdraws and exactly what type of misuse would cause paralysis.

So who wants the tool?

You may be surprised to find out that the bible talks about just such a tool and that we’re all already using it (either rightly for our benefit or wrongly for our destruction). That is, the bible is clear on the fact that God has created a tool that, if used correctly, blesses us by allowing us to know for certain the condition of our hearts, be a blessing to the entire world in amazing ways, and best yet worship God in glorious and everlasting bliss. The bible is also clear that on the other hand, though, if used wrongly, this tool curses us by leading us to counterfeit happiness, exclusively empty pursuits and worse yet, to the eternal destruction of our souls.

The tool I’m talking about is money. While many people think of money in atheological terms (not really having anything to do with God or faith in him), it is one of the most significant theological tools given to us by God.

I’m excited to preach this sermon because it gets right to the heart of the Christian life in a very tangible way. Our view and use of money is one of those things that can’t easily be faked (at least not to ourselves), and as such reveals as clearly as anything the authenticity (or lack thereof) of our professions of faith in Jesus.

This week, then, I want to share with you (from Matthew 6:19-24) several things not to do with money and then several to do with money. Please pray with me that God’s word would be clear to us in its meaning and application regarding money. And please pray with me that we’d all use it as God intended: to gain everlasting treasure.

HOW TO USE MONEY FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR SOUL

Let’s start by considering how to use money if you want it to lead you to counterfeit happiness,

Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you- 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Titus 3:1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy,

Titus 3:12-15 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

INTRODUCTION

Having finished with pressing matters (almost…he just couldn’t help himself one more time in v.14), Paul concludes this letter to Titus with some personal remarks. Two things in particular stand out to me from this passage. First, I love that this paragraph reminds us of the real, human side of Scripture. And second, I love that it puts on display several biblical principles in action. While the rest of the letter taught on the gospel, the gospel in principle, and the necessary effects of the gospel, this paragraph shows what it looks like to apply these things in real life. Please pray with me that the practical and personal nature of these verses wouldn’t cause us to miss the glory that is in them.

EXPLANATION OF THE PASSAGE

In these last few verses of Paul’s letter to Titus, Paul gets to some very practical matters. In terms of its overall meaning, it’s a straight forward passage. Paul intends to send some gospel-helpers to Titus (men named Artemas and Tychicus)—presumably to relieve Titus of his responsibilities so that Titus can visit Paul in Nicopolis over the winter. At the same time he asks Titus to quickly equip and send Zenas and Apollos to help Paul.

We know very little about the men mentioned in these verses. This is the only time Artemas and Zenas are mentioned in the bible. Tychicus shows up in Acts (20:4), Ephesians (6:21), Colossians (4:7), and 2 Timothy (4:12) as Paul’s traveling companion on his final missionary journey, in a very similar messenger capacity two other times, and ultimately as “beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord”. Apollos gets the most NT press and he is mentioned as a Christian leader and one who traveled wherever gospel help was needed. Nevertheless his role was fairly obscure. Most notably Luke writes,

Acts 18:24-28 A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

Additionally, Paul reminds Titus once again that the Christians in his church are to devote themselves to good works, and that they are to do so in order that they would have a significant impact in spreading the gospel and care for those who had serious needs. Beyond that Paul lets Titus know that he and the Christians under his charge are loved and thought of well by all who are with Paul; even as Paul acknowledges the fact that he knows the feeling is mutual (that he and those with him are loved by Titus and those with him). That’s it.

Again, the context and meaning of this passage are fairly straight forward. This is a letter shared by two men who loved Jesus Christ above all else and had given everything to the cause of making the good news of the significance of his life, death, and resurrection known to the world. There is mutual faith, respect, purpose, dependence,

Titus 3:8-11 The 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. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

 

INTRODUCTION

This morning we get to hear Paul’s last words of pastoral and apostolic encouragement before his closing, practical remarks to Titus. They are both assuring and challenging. They are assuring in that they remind us of God’s love for His people in providing us with trustworthy, excellent, and profitable words of life. And they are assuring in that they remind us of the goodness and effectiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they are also challenging. They are challenging in that they remind us of the continual presence of sin and the war it’s constantly waging against the kingdom and people of God. And they are challenging in that call us to seriousness and intensity and uncomfortablity when confronted with sin (inside us and outside of us).

The simple message of this passage is this: look to Jesus and encourage others to look to Jesus, and be quick to avoid people who would seek to distract from or destroy the gospel. In other words, Paul commands Titus to insist that those who claim the name of Jesus take both the gospel and its effects and those who oppose it and their effects seriously.

With that, then, let’s pray. Father, please overcome our desire for worldly comfort and ease. Crush our sinful tendency to trust in ourselves and our sensibilities rather than you and yours. Make us earnest in our desire for his name to be duly honored among his people. God, thank you that the gospel is certain in its effects. We’re grateful that your Word is the path of righteousness and eternal joy. Make it so that within us without ceasing to live is Christ and to die is gain.

 

THE TRUSTWORTHY SAYING

Our passage for this morning begins with the words, “The saying is trustworthy…”. The obvious question is, “What saying?”. The general consensus is that Paul is referring to 3:4-7. This was evidently something that Christians had put to memory to remember the gospel.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We’ve already spent quite a few weeks on this passage so I’m not going to go back over everything in it, but I do want to plead with you one more time to fight to see the glory here (because that’s why I think Paul says what he says here—”this is a trustworthy saying”).

Though we were sinners, dead in our sin, hopeless and helpless, deserving only condemnation, God’s goodness and loving kindness and mercy came in the flesh, in the God-man Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, to rescue us, to regenerate us, to wash us, to justify us, to save us, to redeem us, to restore us, and to make us his children and heirs.

This world is filled with things calling us to trust in them (insurance and retirement accounts and health care systems and government and friends and advertisers), but, inevitably, all of them are incapable of delivering the security we need most. None of them can rescue and preserve our souls.

History is filled with examples of people and nati...

Titus 3:1-2  Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

INTRODUCTION

This morning we’re in the second of a two-part sermon series on the Church and the State. Last week we saw the first three of six biblical principles which flow from Titus 3, Genesis 9, Matthew 22, Romans 13, and 1 Timothy 2. Specifically, we saw that God established civil government and reigns over it, that for his glory and the good of His people God established government to punish evil and promote good, and that God granted the use of physical force (the sword) to the government to carry out its purpose. This means, of course, that we have three more principles to look at this morning.

Before I pray and before we get to the remaining principles I want to remind you of something that I hope I don’t need to remind you of: God is not just the God of Sunday morning worship services, or of your “spiritual life,” or of the times you are consciously thinking of God, or of the areas of your life you have chosen to submit to God. He is certainly the God of those things but he is also the God of everything else in your life, in the lives of your family, friends, neighbors, and strangers, of the living and the dead, of angels and demons, or plants and animals, of everything on the earth and in the heavens, of all time and space, or all relationships and orientations, of all organizations and institutions; indeed, God is the God of all things. Therefore, God is the God of government. Government too belongs to God.

I say all of this here because I’ve seen too many Christians live and think and feel as if God were (at best) in charge of a sliver of their lives (or even a larger chunk), rather than all of it and everything else. People like that (which is all of us to one degree or another at different times) tend think of God a lot when they are sick or needy or hurting and in overtly spiritual matters, but not so much when things are going well or when things are less obviously spiritual in nature.

One of my favorite church mission statements is: All of Christ for All of Life for All the World. I like it because it captures so well the true heartbeat of Christianity. Jesus Christ is glorious beyond measure. His glory is to be found and delighted in and praised and shared in every area of life (in art and grasshoppers and math and lawn-mowing and shopping and athletics and reading and government). And the good news of the gospel is the fact that God has given us new life and new eyes and new appetites to see and delight in all of Christ in all of life along with all the world.

My point in all of this…don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a sermon on biblical principles of government is any less “Christian” or significant or important, and therefore any less worship-producing, than a sermon on the glory of God or the gospel of Jesus. Rightly preached, a sermon on what God’s Word has to say about the government is a sermon about the glory of God (as a manifestation of God’s creativity and love and wisdom) and about the gospel of Jesus (as an expression of the gospel’s effects and primacy in every realm).

With that, let’s pray. Father, to whom all things belong and for whom all things exist, renew our minds. God, the earth yours and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for You have founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Grant that we might see you in all your glory and the glory of your Son, Jesus in all of life. Grant us trust in your wisdom and love and promises. Let us be a people of your Word and a people of your gospel. In Jesus’ name we pray these things, amen.

 

Biblical Principles concerning the state

Again,