Introduction:
Roles and Responsibilities in God's Mission:
(Titus 2:11-15)
- God's part: Saving and Changing people. (Titus 2:1-10)
- Justification: I Was saved from the Penalty of sin. (Titus 2:11)
- Justification: I Was saved from the Penalty of sin. (Titus 2:11)
- Sanctification: I Am being saved from the Power of sin. (Titus 2:12)
1 John 3:8-9 - Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God'’'s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
- Glorification: I Will be saved from the Presence of sin. (Titus 2:12)
- Security: I'm Forever saved from the Possesion of sin. (Titus 2:12)
John 10:28 - I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
- Our Part: Preaching and Responding to God's Word. (Titus 2:15)
Matthew 28:18-20 - And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Acts 17:30 - now (God) commands all people everywhere to repent...
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Pastor Jeff:
00:47-00:50
Amen, we're in this series called Church 101.
Pastor Jeff:
00:50-00:51
Like, what are we doing here?
Pastor Jeff:
00:52-00:53
Well, that's why we're in this series.
Pastor Jeff:
00:53-00:55
What is the church supposed to be about?
Pastor Jeff:
00:55-00:59
Today, we are going to talk about mission.
Pastor Jeff:
01:02-01:05
And I'm always fascinated by mission statements.
Pastor Jeff:
01:05-01:17
And I mean like church's mission statements specifically, the other, you know, other businesses, companies not really interesting to me personally, but I'm always fascinated to see what a church's mission statement is.
Pastor Jeff:
01:17-01:19
And here's a few that I found online.
Pastor Jeff:
01:21-01:26
I don't mean this in a overly critical way, but I just, these are ones I found online.
Pastor Jeff:
01:26-01:31
I took the name of the church out, but these were fascinating to me.
Pastor Jeff:
01:31-01:33
And I just wanna share why with you briefly.
Pastor Jeff:
01:33-01:40
This one, this church's mission statement was, "Making new, making great." That's their mission statement.
Pastor Jeff:
01:42-01:46
And I read that, I'm like, "Making new what?" What are we making?
Pastor Jeff:
01:46-01:48
Are we making cinnamon rolls?
Pastor Jeff:
01:48-01:57
Are we making, I don't, and making great, like I think what's not great is that mission statement.
Pastor Jeff:
01:58-02:02
Here's another one, to reach up, reach out and reach in.
Pastor Jeff:
02:04-02:07
I'm not sure about that one either.
Pastor Jeff:
02:07-02:11
I think they're kind of reaching to make that their mission statement.
Pastor Jeff:
02:12-02:12
What else do we got?
Pastor Jeff:
02:13-02:16
We have, we are the voice.
Pastor Jeff:
02:17-02:18
Now this is a church's mission statement, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
02:20-02:23
You're like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, you're so critical." Stay with me for a second.
Pastor Jeff:
02:24-02:30
We are the voice and the hand that encourages people to change their lives with hope, comfort, and peace.
Pastor Jeff:
02:33-02:35
Hope, comfort, and peace are not going to change anybody's lives.
Pastor Jeff:
02:36-02:37
Jesus Christ changes lives.
Pastor Jeff:
02:38-02:42
And with Jesus, you get those things, But those things come from Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
02:43-02:46
Are we changing lives apart from Jesus?
Pastor Jeff:
02:46-02:48
I don't like that one, F.
Pastor Jeff:
02:50-02:51
Okay, sorry, that was too critical.
Pastor Jeff:
02:52-02:52
Yeah, too hot, sorry.
Pastor Jeff:
02:53-02:56
Aaron always tells her, "Coming in too hot, coming in." Okay, sorry.
Pastor Jeff:
02:56-02:57
Gonna back that one up a little bit.
Pastor Jeff:
02:58-03:04
Okay, and here's, I think this one's good because this one's ours.
03:05-03:06
(congregation laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
03:07-03:09
Do you want me to be honest or not?
Pastor Jeff:
03:10-03:12
This is our church's mission statement.
Pastor Jeff:
03:14-03:19
To glorify God by fulfilling the great commission.
Pastor Jeff:
03:22-03:25
We're gonna talk about the great commission in a minute or two.
Pastor Jeff:
03:26-03:29
In the spirit of the great commandment.
Pastor Jeff:
03:30-03:31
What's the great commandment?
Pastor Jeff:
03:31-03:34
Jesus said, it's to love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Pastor Jeff:
03:34-03:37
And he said, the second is like it, it's to love your neighbor as yourself.
Pastor Jeff:
03:37-03:40
So the great commandment is loving God and loving people.
Pastor Jeff:
03:41-03:52
And our church's mission is to fulfill the great commission that's make disciples by loving God and by loving people.
Pastor Jeff:
03:52-03:53
That's our church's mission.
Pastor Jeff:
03:54-03:54
All right?
Pastor Jeff:
03:56-04:00
And do you know why I'm so fascinated by these mission statements for churches?
Pastor Jeff:
04:00-04:01
And I read a lot of them this week.
Pastor Jeff:
04:01-04:02
Do you know why I'm so fascinated?
Pastor Jeff:
04:03-04:10
I just don't, I don't understand why churches think they have to come up with a mission statement because it's been given to us, right?
Pastor Jeff:
04:11-04:17
Are there really a group of Christians sitting around the table going, "What should our church be about?" Do you know God wrote it down?
Pastor Jeff:
04:18-04:19
It's all right here.
Pastor Jeff:
04:19-04:21
He told us exactly what we're supposed to be doing.
Pastor Jeff:
04:22-04:25
Why are we wondering what we're supposed to be doing as a church?
Pastor Jeff:
04:27-04:28
It's so clear.
Pastor Jeff:
04:28-04:33
Our job is to glorify God by fulfilling the great commission.
Pastor Jeff:
04:33-04:38
That's the who and that's the what and here's the how in the spirit of the great commandment.
Pastor Jeff:
04:40-04:46
So we didn't think too hard about it because that's what it is, right?
Pastor Jeff:
04:48-04:49
Let's talk about the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
04:52-05:01
You know, when we're saved, when God saves people, why don't we just immediately go to heaven?
Pastor Jeff:
05:03-05:04
Because ultimately that's where we're gonna be forever.
Pastor Jeff:
05:05-05:12
So wouldn't things just be a lot easier if the minute you receive Jesus Christ, it's just like, whoop, right to heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
05:13-05:14
Wouldn't that be so much easier?
Pastor Jeff:
05:16-05:20
So why doesn't God do that?
Pastor Jeff:
05:24-05:28
Well, he leaves us on the earth for the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
05:30-05:38
He leaves us on the earth to tell the world and like we talked about last week, show the world that God is a saving God.
Pastor Jeff:
05:39-05:40
This is the message.
Pastor Jeff:
05:41-05:42
This is the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
05:44-05:46
Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
05:46-05:50
Now, we're gonna talk about salvation here for a little bit.
Pastor Jeff:
05:51-06:00
Now, when I say salvation, that is a very generic, general catch-all term, honestly.
Pastor Jeff:
06:01-06:03
Salvation, what does that mean?
Pastor Jeff:
06:04-06:06
What does it mean to be saved?
Pastor Jeff:
06:08-06:13
And how exactly does the mission happen if God wants to save people?
Pastor Jeff:
06:13-06:14
Those are the questions we're looking at.
Pastor Jeff:
06:15-06:17
What does it mean and how does that happen?
Pastor Jeff:
06:19-06:27
Well, on your outline, if you're taking notes, and I always encourage that you do, these are roles and responsibilities in God's mission.
Pastor Jeff:
06:27-06:29
Everybody needs to know who do and what now.
Pastor Jeff:
06:29-06:32
And first of all, number one, write this down.
Pastor Jeff:
06:32-06:33
This is God's part of the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
06:35-06:37
God's part is saving and changing people.
Pastor Jeff:
06:38-06:41
Saving people and changing people.
Pastor Jeff:
06:42-06:44
So today, like I said, we're gonna do a little theology.
Pastor Jeff:
06:46-06:54
Because when we talk about salvation, again, it is kind of a generic term, but salvation really has three aspects to it.
Pastor Jeff:
06:57-07:01
past, present, and future.
Pastor Jeff:
07:03-07:07
And those are the fancy theological terms.
Pastor Jeff:
07:07-07:08
Maybe you've heard them.
Pastor Jeff:
07:08-07:09
Maybe this is the first time hearing it.
Pastor Jeff:
07:09-07:10
So you're gonna learn something today.
Pastor Jeff:
07:11-07:17
But it's justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Pastor Jeff:
07:17-07:19
Justification has to do with the past.
Pastor Jeff:
07:20-07:22
Sanctification has to do with the present.
Pastor Jeff:
07:22-07:26
And glorification has to do with the future, right?
Pastor Jeff:
07:26-07:36
And that's exactly what we see in this text as Paul, you know, older preacher telling younger preacher, here's how to conduct business in the church.
Pastor Jeff:
07:36-07:38
You know, now we're getting to the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
07:40-07:43
And he says, here's God's part, it's saving and changing people.
Pastor Jeff:
07:43-07:44
You ready to do a little theology?
Pastor Jeff:
07:44-07:47
First of all, letter A, let's talk about justification.
Pastor Jeff:
07:49-07:50
What does justification mean?
Pastor Jeff:
07:51-07:55
It means this, I was saved from the penalty of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
07:57-08:01
I was saved from the penalty of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
08:01-08:02
Look at verse 11.
Pastor Jeff:
08:05-08:07
After what might be one of the longest introductions ever.
Pastor Jeff:
08:08-08:10
For the grace of God has appeared.
Pastor Jeff:
08:12-08:14
The grace of God has appeared.
Pastor Jeff:
08:14-08:20
Look at this, bringing salvation for all people.
Pastor Jeff:
08:22-08:24
Stop there for a second, let's talk about justification.
Pastor Jeff:
08:25-08:26
Listen, this is the gospel.
Pastor Jeff:
08:27-08:52
Jesus Christ, who we believe is God in the flesh, we're gonna see that very clearly here in this very passage, He came to this earth, not only to teach us about God, about the kingdom of heaven, but He came ultimately to die on the cross for our sins, and to be raised from the dead to give us eternal life.
Pastor Jeff:
08:55-08:58
What makes the death of Jesus so significant?
Pastor Jeff:
08:59-09:06
Because on the cross, Jesus was literally experiencing the wrath of God for your sin.
Pastor Jeff:
09:07-09:14
In other words, when Jesus was on the cross, he was paying the penalty that you deserve and that I deserve.
Pastor Jeff:
09:15-09:17
He was taking that on himself.
Pastor Jeff:
09:19-09:20
You're like, well, what do I deserve?
Pastor Jeff:
09:23-09:26
Honestly, biblically, what we deserve is hell.
Pastor Jeff:
09:27-09:30
Hell is eternal separation from God.
Pastor Jeff:
09:31-09:39
It's a place of eternal, forever, conscious, constant torment because you're cast out of the presence of God.
Pastor Jeff:
09:42-09:50
And you see, when Jesus was on the cross, yes, there was the physical pain, and a lot A lot of people talk about that, but interestingly, the Bible never does.
Pastor Jeff:
09:53-09:59
There was something far worse going on than the physical pain, if you can believe that, and that was the spiritual pain.
Pastor Jeff:
10:02-10:06
Jesus experienced that separation from God when he was on the cross.
Pastor Jeff:
10:06-10:14
In other words, Jesus literally experienced all of the pain and torment of hell while he was hanging on the cross.
Pastor Jeff:
10:15-10:20
"You don't understand what I mean." Like, "Are you saying Jesus was in hell?
Pastor Jeff:
10:20-10:23
"Jesus was on the cross while he was hanging there.
Pastor Jeff:
10:23-10:53
"He was experiencing what hell feels like "because he was experiencing the wrath of God, "not for anything that he did, "but for all the things that I've done "and all the things that you've done." And then he rose from the dead to defeat death, the promise of eternal life. And you, you are commanded to receive Him.
Pastor Jeff:
10:56-11:15
You are commanded to turn from your sin, all this selfish stuff that you've been living your life for, you're commanded to turn from that and say, "I'm done living for my stuff that dishonors God, I'm turning to and receiving Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
11:15-11:19
I'm believing that Jesus Christ died and rose for me.
Pastor Jeff:
11:21-11:29
And when you do that, the Bible says that God justifies you.
Pastor Jeff:
11:30-11:30
What does that mean?
Pastor Jeff:
11:33-11:34
He pronounces you not guilty.
Pastor Jeff:
11:38-11:40
All of the sin that you've committed, God says you're not guilty.
Pastor Jeff:
11:42-11:45
And understand, church, nothing else can do that.
Pastor Jeff:
11:46-11:48
Nothing else can take away the guilt of your sin.
Pastor Jeff:
11:48-11:57
Not your good works, not you trying to be a better person, not your good intentions, nothing can take away the penalty of your sin.
Pastor Jeff:
11:58-12:00
The guilt of your sin, nothing else can do that.
Pastor Jeff:
12:02-12:05
Except for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
12:07-12:14
And when you believe in Jesus, you're no longer God's enemy because of your sin, you are now an adopted child of God.
Pastor Jeff:
12:16-12:19
And I love this, it says the extent of this salvation.
Pastor Jeff:
12:20-12:24
It says bringing salvation for all people.
Pastor Jeff:
12:26-12:27
Like who's the salvation for?
Pastor Jeff:
12:28-12:30
Tell me, who's the salvation for?
Pastor Jeff:
12:31-12:31
All people.
Pastor Jeff:
12:34-12:36
It's for anyone.
Pastor Jeff:
12:38-12:42
You're like, but you don't understand that the horrible things that I've done doesn't matter.
Pastor Jeff:
12:44-12:46
Pastor Jeff, I've made a lot of really terrible mistakes.
Pastor Jeff:
12:47-12:50
Okay, haven't we all?
Pastor Jeff:
12:52-12:57
No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, your sin can be taken away and forgiven.
Pastor Jeff:
13:02-13:06
But there's really only one sin that cannot be forgiven.
Pastor Jeff:
13:09-13:13
And that's the sin of not coming to Jesus to be saved.
Pastor Jeff:
13:15-13:17
Anything else can be forgiven, but that one cannot.
Pastor Jeff:
13:20-13:23
And I mean, that necessarily makes sense, right?
Pastor Jeff:
13:23-13:27
Like if you went to a doctor and the doctor said, "Hey, I got some bad news for you.
Pastor Jeff:
13:28-13:29
"You got a terminal disease.
Pastor Jeff:
13:29-13:33
"It's going to kill you in two weeks, "but I got some good news.
Pastor Jeff:
13:33-13:39
"I got some medication that if you take one of these for a week, it will eradicate the disease.
Pastor Jeff:
13:39-13:40
Here, take these.
Pastor Jeff:
13:41-13:44
These are the only, this is the only medication that'll destroy your disease.
Pastor Jeff:
13:44-13:45
What would you say to the doctor?
Pastor Jeff:
13:46-13:51
Would you say, stop pushing your beliefs about pharmaceuticals on me?
Pastor Jeff:
13:54-13:55
You know what, doctor?
Pastor Jeff:
13:56-14:23
I hear what you're saying, but I really believe that I'm going to conquer this disease myself, because I'm a good person, and I believe, doctor, "that I don't need the medicine, and I don't want it." And you walk out without it, the doctor's like, "You're gonna die, "because you've rejected the only thing "that can cure the disease." And that's how it is with Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
14:24-14:30
Listen, if you got some other plan to deal with your sin, it's not gonna work.
Pastor Jeff:
14:32-14:38
Only Jesus Christ can take away your sin, And when you receive Him, you are justified.
Pastor Jeff:
14:39-14:43
And you can say, because of Jesus, I was saved from the penalty of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
14:44-14:46
Letter B, sanctification.
Pastor Jeff:
14:47-14:48
What's that?
Pastor Jeff:
14:48-14:52
I am being saved from the power of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
14:53-14:57
Okay, justification has to do with the past and we're gonna get to the future.
Pastor Jeff:
14:57-15:05
But understand, when we talk about salvation, I think, honestly, most Christians only think of it in terms of past and future.
Pastor Jeff:
15:06-15:07
Like, are you saved?
Pastor Jeff:
15:07-15:09
I got saved in '95.
Pastor Jeff:
15:11-15:12
Well, are you saved?
Pastor Jeff:
15:12-15:14
Yes, someday I look forward to going to heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
15:16-15:20
But understand salvation has to do with right now, right this minute, today.
Pastor Jeff:
15:24-15:24
Look at verse 12.
Pastor Jeff:
15:25-15:26
This is exactly what he's talking about.
Pastor Jeff:
15:27-15:42
He says, "Training us," talking about the grace of God, it appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
Pastor Jeff:
15:43-15:44
Pretty clear, isn't it?
Pastor Jeff:
15:46-15:56
One of the things that God's grace does, not just saving us from the penalty of sin, but training us.
Pastor Jeff:
15:57-16:00
God's grace becomes a teacher for us.
Pastor Jeff:
16:00-16:05
Specifically, it's God's Holy Spirit living inside you.
Pastor Jeff:
16:05-16:11
The Bible says that when you receive Jesus Christ, God's Spirit comes and indwells you.
Pastor Jeff:
16:11-16:13
You become the temple of God.
Pastor Jeff:
16:14-16:25
And you will never convince me that the God of the universe can come and indwell a person, and that person doesn't change radically.
Pastor Jeff:
16:26-16:34
You'll never convince me that there is not a complete transformation when God shows up in the heart of a person.
Pastor Jeff:
16:35-16:38
And that's exactly what he's talking about here.
Pastor Jeff:
16:39-16:46
You become a new creature with a new nature, and you have new appetites.
Pastor Jeff:
16:48-16:52
You have new appetites, and you're not a slave to your sin anymore.
Pastor Jeff:
16:55-16:56
Look at what John says about this.
Pastor Jeff:
16:57-16:59
This is from 1 John 3, verses 8 and 9.
Pastor Jeff:
17:02-17:09
He says, "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
Pastor Jeff:
17:11-17:25
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy, was to destroy the works of the devil." Look at this, Christians.
Pastor Jeff:
17:27-17:30
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning.
Pastor Jeff:
17:33-17:36
For God's seed abides in him.
Pastor Jeff:
17:36-17:37
That's God's Holy Spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
17:37-17:38
He lives in us.
Pastor Jeff:
17:38-17:42
Look, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
Pastor Jeff:
17:44-17:57
One of the, couple of the biggest evidences that you have truly received Jesus Christ, that you're truly saved, is not only how you feel about Jesus, how you feel about your Savior, but also how you feel about your sin.
Pastor Jeff:
17:59-18:03
Now listen, yes, we struggle with sin sometimes.
Pastor Jeff:
18:05-18:06
Yes, we do, we all do.
Pastor Jeff:
18:08-18:10
But the key word there is struggle.
Pastor Jeff:
18:14-18:16
We don't love our sin like we used to.
Pastor Jeff:
18:17-18:19
We don't live for our sin like we used to.
Pastor Jeff:
18:19-18:22
We don't live in our sin like we used to.
Pastor Jeff:
18:22-18:29
Our sin disgusts us now because God's spirit lives in us and gives us new appetites.
Pastor Jeff:
18:31-18:36
That's exactly what he's talking about here in verse 12 in Titus 2.
Pastor Jeff:
18:36-18:38
We're being reprogrammed.
Pastor Jeff:
18:40-18:50
And he says, when we come to Christ and God's Holy Spirit lives in us, he's teaching us to turn from things in turn, two things.
Pastor Jeff:
18:50-18:50
Do you see that?
Pastor Jeff:
18:50-18:52
There's some negatives.
Pastor Jeff:
18:52-18:53
Look at verse 12 again.
Pastor Jeff:
18:53-18:54
Here's the negatives.
Pastor Jeff:
18:55-19:03
He says, "We renounce," two things here, "ungodliness and worldly passions." Ungodliness, that's lack of reverence for God.
Pastor Jeff:
19:04-19:06
That's what ungodliness is.
Pastor Jeff:
19:06-19:14
We live our lives, we have no reverence for God, no thoughts of God, no thoughts of prayer, no thoughts of my life is accountable to God, nothing.
Pastor Jeff:
19:14-19:18
It's just we live our life as if God's not there because we don't live like that anymore.
Pastor Jeff:
19:19-19:20
We know better.
Pastor Jeff:
19:22-19:28
We renounce that kind of godless living, that practical atheism that we used to, we don't do that anymore.
Pastor Jeff:
19:30-19:35
The other one here, you see, worldly passions, that's just like living the way the world does, right?
Pastor Jeff:
19:36-19:37
Living the way the world does.
Pastor Jeff:
19:39-19:45
You know, I used to just go along, all the sins the world does, yep, I'm just like everybody else.
Pastor Jeff:
19:45-19:46
"No, I'm not anymore.
Pastor Jeff:
19:48-19:54
I don't live like that anymore because that's not who I am." So we renounce those things.
Pastor Jeff:
19:54-19:55
Look at the positive.
Pastor Jeff:
19:56-20:01
He says, "To live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives." Self-controlled.
Pastor Jeff:
20:02-20:04
Self-controlled is something that you have now.
Pastor Jeff:
20:05-20:13
You didn't have that before you came to Christ, but now that you came to Christ, you have self-control because self-control is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
20:15-20:15
You know what that means?
Pastor Jeff:
20:15-20:17
That means you don't have to sin.
Pastor Jeff:
20:17-20:18
You don't have to.
Pastor Jeff:
20:22-20:23
You have self-control.
Pastor Jeff:
20:24-20:29
Upright, that's obeying God's word in a way that makes an impact on those around us.
Pastor Jeff:
20:29-20:31
That was like last week's sermon, right?
Pastor Jeff:
20:32-20:36
And then godly, again, that's the opposite of ungodliness.
Pastor Jeff:
20:37-20:42
It's a life that is constantly aware of the presence of God.
Pastor Jeff:
20:44-20:54
Now, Christians aren't sinless, but we should sin less, because we know why Jesus died.
Pastor Jeff:
20:54-20:57
We have God's Spirit living within us, changing us.
Pastor Jeff:
20:58-21:09
True Christians absolutely must see a growing walk with Jesus Christ in their lives, bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
21:09-21:45
sanctification. I'm being saved from the power of sin. Thirdly, letter C is glorification. I will be saved from the presence of sin. Do you see this? Past, present, and future. Was saved from the penalty. Justification. I am being saved from the power of sin. That's sanctification. Here's glorification. I will be saved from the presence of sin. Look at verse 13 where he says, "Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
21:46-21:48
Notice how he refers to Jesus as God there.
Pastor Jeff:
21:51-21:51
Right?
Pastor Jeff:
21:53-21:53
But this is future.
Pastor Jeff:
21:54-21:57
Someday we will be delivered from the presence of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
21:58-22:04
He says that's in the meantime we're waiting, waiting for the appearing of our God and Savior.
Pastor Jeff:
22:06-22:20
So whether it's by your death or by the return of Jesus Christ, we eagerly anticipate being with Him in glory, where there is no more sin and no more of the pain that comes with sin.
Pastor Jeff:
22:23-22:25
Things are not always going to be as they are now.
Pastor Jeff:
22:29-22:32
Someday we're going to be saved from the very presence of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
22:36-22:41
And then finally, I mean finally under the first point here, don't get excited.
Pastor Jeff:
22:45-22:47
That's one of the things that preachers say just to get people to kind of perk up.
Pastor Jeff:
22:47-22:48
"Oh, finally, okay.
Pastor Jeff:
22:49-22:50
I can listen for the last couple of minutes.
Pastor Jeff:
22:51-22:52
It's a trick.
Pastor Jeff:
22:53-22:58
There's so much more than a couple of minutes." We're honest here, right?
Pastor Jeff:
22:59-23:00
Letter D, security.
Pastor Jeff:
23:04-23:07
I'm forever saved from the possession of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
23:09-23:09
Security.
Pastor Jeff:
23:10-23:17
I had a hard time with this because I write these outlines and I'm like justification, sanctification, glorification, security.
Pastor Jeff:
23:18-23:20
So it's okay if you write on your outline, securification.
Pastor Jeff:
23:22-23:23
Go for it.
Pastor Jeff:
23:24-23:26
That's a word that we will coin here.
Pastor Jeff:
23:28-23:30
The doctrine of securification.
Pastor Jeff:
23:34-23:39
What that means is I'm forever saved from the possession of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
23:39-23:40
Like, what are you talking about?
Pastor Jeff:
23:40-23:41
Look at verse 14.
Pastor Jeff:
23:42-23:49
He's talking again about Jesus Christ, look, who gave himself for us to redeem us.
Pastor Jeff:
23:50-24:04
That's buy us back from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Pastor Jeff:
24:07-24:12
You become the possession of Jesus Christ when you are saved.
Pastor Jeff:
24:13-24:18
And I can't even begin to tell you what that should mean to you.
Pastor Jeff:
24:19-24:21
You literally become his possession.
Pastor Jeff:
24:22-24:25
We went through the gospel of John not too long ago, right?
Pastor Jeff:
24:25-24:27
And I remember John 10, verse 28.
Pastor Jeff:
24:28-24:29
Remember Jesus said this.
Pastor Jeff:
24:30-24:34
He said, "I give them eternal life." We have that verse?
Pastor Jeff:
24:35-24:36
Did I not put it in the notes?
Pastor Jeff:
24:38-24:38
Oh, okay, that's all right.
Pastor Jeff:
24:39-24:39
No, that's all right.
Pastor Jeff:
24:40-24:43
Sometimes I forget to, I go through and edit and I leave them out.
Pastor Jeff:
24:44-24:47
"I give them eternal life." Jesus said, look at this.
Pastor Jeff:
24:48-24:54
"They will never perish "and no one will snatch them out of my hand." When you belong to Jesus, you're in his hand.
Pastor Jeff:
24:55-25:15
And Jesus said, "Nothing can take you from His hand." You can't lose your salvation because whoever could take it or whatever could take it from Jesus would have to be more powerful than Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
25:17-25:20
To be able to rip you from His hand, I don't see that happening.
Pastor Jeff:
25:24-25:33
So you see, we're saved not just from hell, we're saved from being the possession of sin to a life of purity.
Pastor Jeff:
25:35-25:38
A life that, as he says here, is zealous for good works.
Pastor Jeff:
25:40-25:50
That when you know Jesus Christ, I mean like when you know Him, when you're walking with Him, you don't serve Him out of some begrudging obligation.
Pastor Jeff:
25:51-25:56
Like, okay, I'll get involved in one of the ministry teams at the church, okay.
Pastor Jeff:
25:56-26:00
You know, you're passionate about serving Him.
Pastor Jeff:
26:00-26:05
You're like, I belong to Jesus Christ and nothing can ever change that.
Pastor Jeff:
26:05-26:10
What a glorious Savior He is and what amazing love He showed me.
Pastor Jeff:
26:11-26:14
So I'm going to joyfully do whatever He would have me do.
Pastor Jeff:
26:14-26:20
I will gladly do whatever I can to advance His cause because he's awesome.
Pastor Jeff:
26:21-26:23
That's why we should be zealous for good works.
Pastor Jeff:
26:25-26:25
Right?
Pastor Jeff:
26:26-26:32
So, when we talk about salvation, this is what we're talking about.
Pastor Jeff:
26:33-26:39
This is the stuff that God does when he saves people through Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
26:42-26:42
Right?
Pastor Jeff:
26:43-26:47
But, roles and responsibilities, there's our part too.
Pastor Jeff:
26:49-26:51
One more verse, are you with me?
Pastor Jeff:
26:51-26:52
We do one more verse?
Pastor Jeff:
26:54-26:57
Here's our part, preaching and responding to God's word.
Pastor Jeff:
26:59-27:01
Preaching and responding to God's word.
Pastor Jeff:
27:03-27:06
You're like, what would you have done if we all said no?
Pastor Jeff:
27:08-27:10
That's a really good question.
Pastor Jeff:
27:11-27:13
What should we do if they say no, Taylor?
Pastor Jeff:
27:15-27:17
That's a good, we'll have to talk about that this week.
Pastor Jeff:
27:18-27:19
(sniffling)
Pastor Jeff:
27:20-27:23
Our part is preaching and responding to God's word.
Pastor Jeff:
27:24-27:25
Look at verse 15.
Pastor Jeff:
27:27-27:29
He says, "Declare these things.
Pastor Jeff:
27:32-27:35
"Exhort and rebuke with all authority.
Pastor Jeff:
27:37-27:42
"Let no one disregard you." This is our part of the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
27:43-27:46
Our part of the mission is to get the word out, and he tells us exactly how to do it.
Pastor Jeff:
27:48-27:49
It's through preaching.
Pastor Jeff:
27:52-27:52
I get it.
Pastor Jeff:
27:54-28:02
Look, from a earthly perspective, from a purely human perspective, this just doesn't seem like a good idea.
Pastor Jeff:
28:04-28:24
I get up here, Pastor Taylor gets up here, or Mark or one of our other preachers gets up here, Justin, we get up here and we stand and we talk at you for 30 or 50 minutes, about something that was written a couple thousand years ago and like, why do we do that?
Pastor Jeff:
28:26-28:29
All I can tell you is it wasn't my idea.
Pastor Jeff:
28:30-28:31
It just wasn't.
Pastor Jeff:
28:31-28:33
This is what God says to do.
Pastor Jeff:
28:34-28:36
This is the God ordained method.
Pastor Jeff:
28:38-28:42
And to be honest with you, I don't question it because I feel privileged to partner with God.
Pastor Jeff:
28:43-28:46
I'm like, I don't know why he would use me because I am less than nothing.
Pastor Jeff:
28:47-28:52
But what an honor it is to be able to partner with God in this work that he's doing.
Pastor Jeff:
28:53-28:54
So I'm not gonna question it too hard.
Pastor Jeff:
28:56-29:05
And right now somebody's looking at this verse, like okay, I can start packing up and putting my stuff away because I'm not a preacher, so this doesn't really apply to me.
Pastor Jeff:
29:07-29:11
Well yeah, this verse really is about the preacher, but it's also about the listener.
Pastor Jeff:
29:13-29:21
This verse says a lot to you as a listener, as a member of the congregation.
Pastor Jeff:
29:23-29:27
Look at the phrase, all authority.
Pastor Jeff:
29:28-29:29
Declare these things, exhort and rebuke.
Pastor Jeff:
29:29-29:32
Look at this, with all authority.
Pastor Jeff:
29:33-29:36
This is not just opinion, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
29:37-29:45
And woe to the preacher who gets up and spends his time in front of God's people saying this is my opinion about things.
Pastor Jeff:
29:51-29:53
This isn't about opinion, this is about the authority of God.
Pastor Jeff:
29:55-29:58
And that's why he says, "Declare these things." Declare what things?
Pastor Jeff:
30:00-30:02
Messages from the Reader's Digest, right?
Pastor Jeff:
30:03-30:06
Eh, how about preach from that love language book?
Pastor Jeff:
30:07-30:08
Remember when churches were doing that?
Pastor Jeff:
30:08-30:10
Like, we're preaching through the love language book.
Pastor Jeff:
30:10-30:12
I'm like, we're preaching through the Bible.
30:12-30:13
(congregation laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
30:15-30:17
Not that there's anything wrong with a love language book.
Pastor Jeff:
30:17-30:21
I get through that stuff with couples when I do premarital counseling and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
30:21-30:23
But we're not gonna preach that.
Pastor Jeff:
30:25-30:33
We're gonna preach this, because this is what God said to preach, declare these things, right?
Pastor Jeff:
30:35-30:42
And when he says declare, that's a military term for command, a military term.
Pastor Jeff:
30:44-30:51
So if you're a veteran, if you have been in the military, you understand more than anybody the weight that this word has.
Pastor Jeff:
30:54-30:57
That the preacher's job is to command people.
Pastor Jeff:
30:59-31:07
So while we're throwing out woes, woe to the preacher that gets up there and says, "You know what, church?
Pastor Jeff:
31:07-31:10
"God's just asking you to do this.
Pastor Jeff:
31:10-31:16
God's just asking you if you would please, pretty please, with sugar on top, God is asking.
Pastor Jeff:
31:18-31:20
God's not asking anybody to do anything.
Pastor Jeff:
31:23-31:25
God doesn't make requests and He doesn't make suggestions.
Pastor Jeff:
31:28-31:32
God only speaks in one way, and that's with all authority.
Pastor Jeff:
31:34-31:40
So everything He says is a command that we should be deadly serious about.
Pastor Jeff:
31:45-31:48
You know, wouldn't it be nice, church?
Pastor Jeff:
31:49-31:51
Wouldn't it be nice, church, if we all just...
Pastor Jeff:
31:53-31:56
These are commands that God is telling us to repeat.
Pastor Jeff:
31:57-32:04
So listen, if the word of God is being taught, you are obligated to obey it.
Pastor Jeff:
32:04-32:05
That's on you.
Pastor Jeff:
32:06-32:14
You have a God-given command to obey what the preacher says so long as the preacher is communicating the word of God.
Pastor Jeff:
32:19-32:20
It's part of the Great Commission.
Pastor Jeff:
32:22-32:22
You know that?
Pastor Jeff:
32:23-32:29
The Great Commission, Jesus says, "Go command people." Right?
Pastor Jeff:
32:29-32:31
Let's look at the Great Commission since we're talking about mission.
Pastor Jeff:
32:32-32:36
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven." all authority, that sounds familiar.
Pastor Jeff:
32:37-32:40
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Pastor Jeff:
32:41-32:42
Here's the command part.
Pastor Jeff:
32:43-32:54
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Pastor Jeff:
32:55-32:55
Do you see it?
Pastor Jeff:
32:56-32:58
Jesus said, I'm commanding you to do things.
Pastor Jeff:
32:58-33:01
Now you go command other people to do those things.
Pastor Jeff:
33:03-33:07
And here's the glorious promise, behold him with you always to the end of the age.
Pastor Jeff:
33:09-33:10
That's the mission.
Pastor Jeff:
33:11-33:24
And we carry that out not only here, not only through several short-term trips that go on, but if you're new around here, our church is very active in a growing, vibrant ministry in Thailand.
Pastor Jeff:
33:24-33:34
And I asked our missionary in Thailand, Barnabas, my hero, if he would just send us a quick video introducing himself and update, And he sent us a real quick one.
Pastor Jeff:
33:34-33:35
If we could show that, please.
Barnabas:
33:37-33:48
Dear Christian brothers and sisters, this is Barnabas sending greetings from Michigan land, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Barnabas:
33:52-33:58
I've been serving the Lord in the ministry for more than 30 years by now.
Barnabas:
34:00-34:13
I use my multi -language preaching the gospel, especially here in Thailand, Lisu, Aka, Lahu, and Thai.
Barnabas:
34:14-34:23
As I speak, Burmese also preach the gospel, start new churches there in Myanmar.
Barnabas:
34:28-34:34
For all my life, I invest my life in teaching the gospel until today.
Barnabas:
34:36-34:45
I wanted to say thank you for your prayers, for your support until today.
Barnabas:
34:45-34:53
And I would like to ask you to support this ministry in order to reach more people.
Barnabas:
34:55-34:56
Thank you very much.
Pastor Jeff:
34:59-35:05
Now, in that video, Barnabas was talking about a language gift.
Pastor Jeff:
35:05-35:08
And what he means by that is he speaks seven languages fluently.
Pastor Jeff:
35:09-35:12
And he believes that that's a gift from God, and I believe that too.
Pastor Jeff:
35:13-35:22
It allows him to be able to go through, because it's more than just, it's not just one little church, it's 21 churches, and there's more being built right now.
Pastor Jeff:
35:22-35:24
There's four children's homes.
Pastor Jeff:
35:25-35:28
It's all over that area of the world.
Pastor Jeff:
35:30-35:34
What a privilege it is to be able to partner with God in supporting something like that.
Pastor Jeff:
35:37-35:39
So how do we declare these things?
Pastor Jeff:
35:41-35:47
We really are finishing up here, honestly, but I gotta explain a couple more things here.
Pastor Jeff:
35:47-35:48
He says exhort.
Pastor Jeff:
35:49-35:59
Exhort means to preach in an understandable way that anytime the sermon is preached, it should answer questions like, so what?
Pastor Jeff:
35:59-36:02
Like, how does this apply to my life?
Pastor Jeff:
36:02-36:03
What should I do with this?
Pastor Jeff:
36:05-36:08
We need to encourage people, like here's how to reflect this truth in your life.
Pastor Jeff:
36:08-36:11
He also says to rebuke, rebuke.
Pastor Jeff:
36:12-36:14
That's to create conviction.
Pastor Jeff:
36:14-36:17
That's to say, hey, stop doing what you're doing.
Pastor Jeff:
36:17-36:17
It's wrong.
Pastor Jeff:
36:18-36:19
It dishonors God.
Pastor Jeff:
36:20-36:23
You need to change the way that you think about this.
Pastor Jeff:
36:24-36:26
Part of the job is to rebuke people.
Pastor Jeff:
36:27-36:28
Say, knock it off.
Pastor Jeff:
36:29-36:33
If you don't apply this, there's going to be spiritual consequences.
Pastor Jeff:
36:35-36:37
God's going to discipline you for your disobedience.
Pastor Jeff:
36:38-36:41
And you might be shocked to hear this, but people don't like hearing that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:44-36:49
And that's why he says, last phrase here, that's why he says this, let no one disregard you.
Pastor Jeff:
36:53-36:55
That word disregard is so interesting in the Greek.
Pastor Jeff:
36:55-36:56
You know what it is literally?
Pastor Jeff:
36:57-37:06
It means to think around, because that's literally what a lot of people do when the word is preached.
Pastor Jeff:
37:07-37:08
They think around it.
Pastor Jeff:
37:09-37:20
Meaning, yeah, I hear what he's saying, but that doesn't really apply to me, because Pastor Jeff doesn't know my situation.
Pastor Jeff:
37:20-37:27
I know what he's saying about it's wrong to flirt with somebody that's not my wife.
Pastor Jeff:
37:28-37:32
But Pastor Jeff doesn't understand how cold my marriage has become.
Pastor Jeff:
37:35-37:37
You know what you're doing when you're thinking around.
Pastor Jeff:
37:38-37:51
Like I heard what he was saying about when I'm at work I should work hard, but he doesn't understand my job, that there's periods of time that there really isn't, you know, it's okay.
Pastor Jeff:
37:52-38:23
because we start to justify why it's okay for me to be lazy at work. What are you doing? I'm thinking around. That's what we're doing. And that's why Paul says here, "Let no one disregard you." Hey, no one's exempt. No one's exempt. No one gets a pass on any of this. No one can say, "Well, this doesn't apply to me. You Who needs to hear this message?
Pastor Jeff:
38:23-38:25
My sister needs to hear this message.
Pastor Jeff:
38:25-38:25
Nah!
Pastor Jeff:
38:26-38:27
This is for you!
Pastor Jeff:
38:28-38:29
Let no one disregard you.
Pastor Jeff:
38:32-38:34
Can't make it any easier than this.
Pastor Jeff:
38:34-38:49
Acts 17 30 says, "Now God commands all people everywhere to repent." God commands all people everywhere to repent.
Pastor Jeff:
38:49-38:50
Are you a person?
Pastor Jeff:
38:52-38:53
Are you somewhere?
Pastor Jeff:
38:56-38:58
Then God is commanding you to repent.
Pastor Jeff:
39:00-39:03
Turn from your sin and turn to Him.
Pastor Jeff:
39:04-39:07
You know, we have a mission in church.
Pastor Jeff:
39:08-39:13
If we aren't intentionally going after the mission, what are we doing?
Pastor Jeff:
39:14-39:15
What are we doing here?
Pastor Jeff:
39:16-39:19
I'm like some really weird glee club.
Pastor Jeff:
39:23-39:25
And we know what the mission is.
Pastor Jeff:
39:27-39:41
We have our part, it's preaching and responding to God's word and God has his part, which is saving and changing people.
Pastor Jeff:
39:44-39:56
And I really believe that if we're willing to be faithful to do our part, I don't think there's any doubt that God's gonna do his, right?
Pastor Jeff:
39:57-39:58
Let's pray.
Pastor Jeff:
39:58-40:07
Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the gospel.
Pastor Jeff:
40:10-40:39
God, I pray that you would give us understanding Sometimes we have a very hazy view of what salvation means or a very overly simplistic view of what salvation means, but your word's very clear that it means so much about our past, our present, and our future.
Pastor Jeff:
40:42-40:45
Father, we do thank you again for the privilege of partnering with you.
Pastor Jeff:
40:48-40:55
And I pray specifically for us today, because God, we're not in any doubt that you're gonna do your thing.
Pastor Jeff:
40:56-40:57
We have no doubt.
Pastor Jeff:
40:58-41:07
I just ask that you would give us the strength to do our part, to be faithful to preach your word and to be faithful to respond to it.
Pastor Jeff:
41:12-41:21
Your work, with Your Word done Your way, Father, is going to get Your results, and that's what we want. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Titus 2:11-15
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
How is salvation brought for “all people” if some people refuse to come to Christ to be saved (Titus 2:11)?
How does a person’s attitude toward Jesus & their attitude towards sin reveal the condition of the heart? Can a sincere Christian live in unrepentant sin? Read 1 John 3:8-9.
What does it mean to be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14)?
Be real: scale of 1-10, how “zealous” are you for good works? If you are on the low end, how do you restore a zeal for good works?BONUS: What is the mission of Harvest Bible Chapel?
Breakout
Pray for one another, and pray for HBC to stay on mission.