Good evening. Such a blessing
to be here with everyone. And I want to thank the ladies
for that lunch today. That was outstanding. It was
wonderful. So and I got a text message from
Brother Jim. He said to greet the saints and
to say hello to you all. They're living in Box City, he
said. So tonight, our text will be found
in Titus chapter three, Titus chapter three. The aim of the message is what
Christ has done for us. What Christ has done for us. Titus 3, verses 4-7, But after that the kindness and
the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of
righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us. By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior. That being justified by His grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Now, these verses before us They reveal unto us the very essence
and the glory of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us
look at some things which these verses reveal, and we pray that
the Holy Spirit will illuminate the Scriptures for us, and point
us to our Savior, and point those who don't know Him, that He be
so pleased that He would draw sinners to Him. And we're looking at what our
glorious God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has done for
us. Done for His people. Done for
sinners. Number one, divine intervention. Divine intervention. Look in
our text. It says, the kindness and love
of God our Savior toward man appeared. Now, one thing is most obvious.
And we know from all the messages We've heard this week, and in
all the messages Brother Jim preached, that we obviously do
not merit God's grace. We are shut out by sin, and on
the fast track to destruction, deserving of God's righteous
wrath. Romans 6.23 says, The wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. But our sovereign God, He intervened,
He intervenes in His people's lives. And He comes to our rescue. He was manifested in our flesh,
manifested in our nature and in the flesh. He was God. But
yet He was man. As I said earlier, imagine the
glory of heaven. Angels are falling down, prostate
before Him. And He becomes a man. There's no greater condescension. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, but yet He was absolutely sinless.
That just means He had our nature. He became a man. But sinless. Perfect. The likeness of sinful
flesh. And for sin, He died in the room
instead of sinners condemned sin and flesh. In Galatians 4,
I love this. But when the fullness of time
was come, when it was the exact moment that Christ was to come
into the world, not a second earlier and not a second later.
But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law. That's us. Under the yoke of
the law with no hope at all. To redeem them. To purchase them.
To pay the price that God demands. To redeem them that were under
the law. Why? That we might receive the adoption
of sons. And he did this. He became a
man to fulfill all righteousness. To make perfect atonement for
our sins. As I said, he was absolutely
seamless. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren. He was thirsty. He was weary. He was tired, just like we get.
Made like unto us. That He might be a merciful.
Oh, He's full of mercy. He's full of mercy. Merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For our sins. For all who would
believe upon Him. For then must ye often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once." When I was a Catholic,
they used to believe that the wafer becomes the actual body
and blood of Christ, like they pull Him down from heaven. No.
Christ offered Himself once for sin. Once, and not only once. Once. But now once in the end
of the world hath He appeared. Beloved, oh beloved, we know
we're sinners. But He appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 9.26. To put away sin. We can rest and trust that our
Savior has put away the price demanded of God for our sins.
And this is why we proclaim the Gospel. Flee the Christ. He put away the sin of His people
by the sacrifice of Himself. A sinless one. The next point I'd like us to
look at is divine salvation. And we see in the text, but after
the kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He saved us. According to His mercy. What
do we justly deserve? Well, we justly deserve to pay
the price for our sins. We justly deserve hell. And see,
this is the difference. When God shows you grace, you
realize. As Paul said, I'm the chief of
sinners. I deserve the wrath of God for
my sins. I like what Brother Scott Richardson
always used to say. We lay down our arms. We lay down our arms
before God and we take sides with God against ourselves. We bow our knee to Christ. It's
according to his mercy that he saved us. Salvation is not by
what we do, but rather according to God's sovereign and everlasting
mercy. Do you remember? He loves his
people with an everlasting love. and everlasting love. Oh, it's wonderful. He's so full
of mercy and so full of grace. It's according to His mercy He
saved us. Romans 9, if you turn there,
we'll look at a portion of Scripture. Oh, it's the mercy of God in
Christ. The only reason we are saved
is because of Christ. because of what He's done. Romans 9, starting in verse 11.
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election, God elected a people and eternity passed. He chose
a people. Might stand not of works. Again,
He says not of works. And we see in our text, too,
he said, not not by works of righteousness, which we have
done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Oh, this is good news. Not of
works, but of him that call us to God, calls his people, he
elects them and he calls his people. It was said unto her,
the elder shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob, have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. And again, as I mentioned this
morning, what shall we then say is there unrighteousness with
God? Well, that's natural man's response. God, and Paul says,
God forbid. In any quotations, for he sayeth
to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy. And there
it is, the mercy of God which saved us. He said, I'll have
mercy on whom I have mercy and I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that willeth,
it's not our will. Nor of him that runneth. But
if you're saved, it's because God showed you mercy. Mercy. It's wonderful. It's free grace. It's free and sovereign grace.
So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. We cannot
please. No sinner can produce, nor can he possess a justifying
righteousness in the energy of the flesh. Those of us who came
out of religion, we tried that. I used to try that. Well, I used
to actually think that if I was having a bad day, that God was
mad at me. That's how warped my thinking was. God's anger and wrath has been
appeased for His people in Christ. He may chasten us, but He loves
us with an everlasting love. An everlasting love. The only reason for grace is
grace. Because God is a merciful God. He's a merciful God. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The Lord saves His people
out of a clear, unmixed, undiluted mercy. It's the mercy of God
in Christ. In redeeming grace for no other
reason than He chooses to have compassion on whom He will have
compassion. It is by the washing of regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost He reveals to us our lost
state. Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians 2. I made mention of this earlier in the week or earlier
in the weekend, I mean. But this is wonderful to look
at. Ephesians chapter two. It's by the pure, free and sovereign
grace of God that we are saved. Chapter two, verse one. And you
have be quickened. And here's man's state. Here's
man's natural state. Who were dead in trespasses and
sins. And dead means graveyard dead.
And in the Greek, it's graveyard dead. It's dead. And a preacher
friend of mine says, religion's the only place where dead doesn't
mean dead in this text here. But no, it means dead. It means
dead. It's dead. No life. No spiritual life. Physically
alive, but absolutely devoid of spiritual life. And that's
our state. That's our natural state when
we come into this world. And then he's going to describe,
Where in times past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among
whom also we all had our conversations in times past, in the lust of
the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind,
whereby nature, the children of wrath, even as others." You
could not tell one of God's saints before he's regenerated from
a lost sinner. You could not tell the difference
according to this Scripture before us. Did any of us know we were one
of God's elect before God chose us? Or before God saved us? Absolutely
not. Look at verse 4. But God, who
is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together. Regenerated. Regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
So we see ruined by the fall in the first verse. And here
we see regenerated by the Holy Spirit. But God, who is rich
in mercy, For His great love wherewith He loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
you are saved." And I love this. In verse 5, a lot of folks will
use the verse 8 where it says, by grace are you saved through
faith. But I've noticed in verse 5, the Lord tells us right there,
by grace are you saved. So right there, it's not by works,
it's by grace. And have raised us up together
and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And
again, he is emphasizing what he said earlier.
For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. It's a gift. It's a free gift. It's a free salvation in Christ
and Him alone. We don't deserve it. But it's according to His mercy
He has saved us. John 1, verses 12 and 13 says,
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God. See, we had no power to become
the sons of God. But to them gave He the power
to become the sons of God. Even to them that believe on
His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." It's free grace
again. It's the pure, free, and sovereign
grace of God in Christ. It's according to His mercy that
He saved us. The Lord saves His people, as
I said, out of a clear, unmixed, undiluted mercy. In 2 Timothy says this, who has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works. Not according to our works. It's what he did. It's his works. It's what he's done. But according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus. Remember, we looked at the everlasting covenant before
the world began. Oh, what a wonderful savior is
Christ. And a new birth is not an option
in salvation, it is a must. Jonathan Edwards was kicked out
of the church he preached in because all he desired and all
he required was a regenerate membership. Regenerate membership that the
folks would be born again. It's not an option. Turn with
me, if you would, to John chapter three. Here's Nicodemus comes
to Christ. And remember, Nicodemus is he's
a he's a master in Israel, he's a teacher in Israel, he's a teacher,
he's read the scriptures and studied the scriptures and. But
unless God reveals Christ. You will never see him. So he comes to the Lord at night,
John chapter three, verse three. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except the man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, Nicodemus is going
to give a natural man's answer here. Nicodemus says unto him,
How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? The Lord's speaking
spiritual things and he's talking natural things. John 3, verse
5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except the man
be born of the water, born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I say unto thee, Ye must be born again. He just laid
it right out. He just laid it right out. Now, he was pretty blunt with
Nicodemus, wasn't he? He was pretty blunt with him. Turn one chapter over. And see our great king with the
women at the well. When therefore the Lord knew
how the Pharisees heard that Jesus made and baptized more
disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his
disciples, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee and
he must need to go through Samaria. Then cometh he to the city of
Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well was there.
Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on
the well. And it was about the sixth hour. Notice it said he
was weary. He's a man. But yet he's God. But he's weary. He's resting. This shows us his humanity. And notice in verse 4 it says
he must, needs go through Samaria. There was a divine appointment.
Some of his sheep were in Samaria. Some of his sheep were there.
Now, Jacob's well that was there, Jesus, therefore, being weary
with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the
sixth hour. Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus
saith unto her, Give me to drink. He's thirsty. For his disciples
had gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman
of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have
no dealings with the Samaritans. So remember how blunt he was
with Nicodemus. He said, You must be born again. And here's
the sinner before him. And this is marvelous. Jesus
answered and said, verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knowest the gift of God, in who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink. Thou wouldst have asked of him,
and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith
unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with. The well is deep. From whence hast thou that living
water?" Again, he's talking spiritual things. She's not safe. She's thinking natural things. But there's going to be a change. Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. The woman said unto him, Sir,
give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Jesus said unto her, Go call thy husband and come hither.
The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said
unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband, for thou hast
had five husbands. And he whom thou now hast is
not thy husband, in that sentest thou truly. And I remember commentators
saying she came to the well later on in the day because she was
probably well known that she's had five husbands. And she's coming in shame to
the well. Because she doesn't want to be mocked, probably.
She doesn't want to go through. In all the compassion of our King,
the woman said unto her, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in
Jerusalem is the place where man ought to worship. Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the
Father. He worshipped ye know not what we know what we worship
for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh and now is
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. See, the Father is seeking. God
is the Spirit. That they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto Him, and
this is beautiful here. The woman saith unto Him, I know
that Messiah cometh which is called Christ. When He has come,
He will tell us all things. And here the Lord will unveil
Himself to her. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. Jesus saith unto her,
I that speak unto thee am He. He unveils himself to her. He
shows... He shows... He's saying, I'm
the Messiah. I'm the God-man mediator. And what does she do? She goes
back to town and tells all kinds of people. And there's not just
her God-sheep there. There's a whole bunch of God-sheep
there. But this is divine intervention,
isn't it? I must needs go to Samaria. I must needs. She had no works. She was lost. She's a sinner. Now she's saved
by the grace of God in Christ. So the new birth is not something
that you do. It's something that God does
in us. being confident of this very
thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Christ, Jesus Christ. The next point for us
to look at is divine blessings. Let's look at again in our text
where it says, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ, our Savior. He shed divine blessings which
He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Every
spiritual blessing the believer enjoys is through and in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all in Him. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places inside of Christ. Outside of
Christ, there's absolutely no blessings. None. There's no salvation. There's no justification. There's
no redemption. There's no sanctification. There's
nothing. In Christ, we have all spiritual
blessings. In Christ, we have a redemption
that has been fully paid. All our sins have been fully
paid for before the law and justice of God, we have full justification
before God only on the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a perfect righteousness,
which we could never we looked at that multiply, we could we
could never. Our works and our righteousness
is like filthy rags before the Lord. But in Christ we have a
perfect righteousness. And that's what God demands.
Perfect holiness to appear before God. And we have that in Christ. Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everlasting life in a full pardon. of all your sins. Everyone. It doesn't matter what you've
done. If you trust Christ, all your sins are fulfilled. This is mercy undeserved. But it's according to His mercy.
According to His mercy that He saves us. Oh, what a glorious God. The love and kindness of God
are in Christ. All the promises of God are in
Christ. For all the promises of God in Him are yea in Him. Amen. Unto the glory of God by
us. Again, He gets all the glory
and all the honor and all the praise. And the love and kindness of
God are in Christ. Romans 8, verses 38 and 39. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I ran into someone. I was on
a job site and they were talking to me and they said, My mom is
one of those once saved, always saved. And I said, so am I. So am I. And she said, well,
you don't believe you can lose your salvation? I said, absolutely
not. I'm in Christ. I'm in Him. He saved me. He's
redeemed me. I'm in Him. And, oh beloved, the scripture
before us that I just read, nothing shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The forgiveness and redemption
from all sin is only found in Christ and him alone. This is
our hope. This is why I can confidently
say, yes, I'm forgiven for all my sins. All of them. Because of what Christ has done. Because He bled and died in my
room instead and for all the elect of all the ages. He cried, it is finished. It's finished. The payment's
done. Nothing else is required. Look
and live. Trust Christ. Thy people shall
be made willing. And when they are, they run,
they flee to Christ. Scripture declares, in whom we
have redemption through his blood, it's through the blood of Christ.
And we have what? The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches, the riches of his grace. See, his mercy and
his grace knows no bounds. The righteousness imputed to
sinners is Christ. The Lord, our righteousness. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch and
the king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and
justice on the earth. The hope of salvation is in Christ. Is our only hope. Colossians 1, 27 and 28. Scripture declares to whom God
would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Whom we preach, warning every
man, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that
we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. See, in ourselves,
we're so imperfect. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our father, which loved us and has given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace. So all spiritual blessings
are in Christ and only in him. There's nowhere else. The next
point for us to look at is divine results. Let's go back to our
text again. In the latter part, it says that
being justified by his grace. We should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. And it's by God's divine grace,
we who, by nature, are children of wrath, are saved. And we looked
at Ephesians 2. We're dead. We come into this
world dead in trespasses and sins, with no hope. By nature,
the children of wrath. But now adopted into God's family
and made heirs of God, in joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.
And that love is an everlasting love. That we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now Are we the sons
of God? And it does not yet appear what
we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him. For we shall be as he is. This
is marvelous. What a wonder of divine condescension
that we who were slaves of Satan and sin and children of disobedience. made the error and we were the
errors of wrath that we should be called the sons of God. It's it's marvelous, it's wondrous
grace. Not just in heaven or when we
come to die, but now in this place, in our pain and in our
sorrow, notwithstanding our imperfections, in our infirmities, beloved,
now are we the sons of God. This gives us great comfort and
great joy. We rest and trust in Christ.
And the hardest thing for us is just to rest in Christ. I
know it is for me. I have to keep reminding myself,
oh Wayne, just rest in Christ. Just rest in Him. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children
and heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that
we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. Beloved, let us marvel at what
God has done for us. Let us just marvel at what He's
done. Here is our Savior, our Redeemer, The Lord Jesus Christ. The appointed One. The Son of
Man. And God has adopted us in Him. God has made us heirs in Him. And this He has done by His pure,
free, and sovereign grace with no merit in us at all. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy..."
Oh, it's grace that knows no bounds. It's mercy that knows
no bounds. You can't pawn it. "...which according to His abundant
mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance..." Now, inheritance
here on earth can crumble and can And I've heard people putting
money in the walls and they find it and the moth have eaten it.
It just turns to dust. But all beloved for the believer
to an inheritance incorruptible. It's not based upon us. It's
based upon Christ. Incorruptible and undefiled. And that fadeth not away. He'll
never leave you nor forsake you. Reserved in heaven for you. You
go to a restaurant and if you've reserved a table, it's waiting
right there for you. Reserved in heaven for you. Who are kept by the power of
God. The believer is kept by the power
of God. We have no power in ourselves
to keep ourselves. But Scripture declares we're
kept by the power of God. Through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time, 1 Peter 1, 3-5. Kept by the power of God. And
we saw that in Jude. Unto him that is able to present
you. Faultless before his throne. And truly, beloved, this is a
blessing beyond all comparison. or all imagination, that we have
been begotten again by the Divine Father into a lively or living
hope. Our first birth bought us into
sin and sorrow. But our second birth brings us
into purity and joy. We were born to die. But now in Christ Jesus, we are
born never to die spiritually. begotten again unto a life that
shall remain in us forevermore. A life which is eternal by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. May this bring
joy to our hearts. May we just rest and repose in
Christ. And it's a glorious inheritance
that's prepared for you, prepared for His people. And it's unsustained by us. Because it's in Christ. It's perfectly pure. And therefore
to last forever. Because the elements which produce decay are not in
it. It is without sin. And therefore
it shall be without end. And Scripture declares it's reserved
for you in heaven. Boundless mercy of God in Christ
for sinners. Kept by the power of God. Why is it that the believer never
quits? That he doesn't fall away Like
some folks come and they profess and they're with you for a while
and they just fall away. But why does the true believer
never fall away? Because he's kept by the power
of God. He's kept by Him. In the text you read, brother,
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. Kept by
the power of God. Kept by Him. Presents you faultless. Sins
obliterated. Gone. Presented faultless. Can you imagine when we get to
heaven and we're sinless? Absolutely, absolutely sinless? We can't fathom that, can we?
Because we struggle so much in this world. But Christ will present
His people faultless. Faultless. Because of what He's done. Because
of what He's done. Before the presence of His glory,
with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, and of course our response
to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and dominion
and power both now and forever. Heaven is kept for us, beloved.
We are kept for heaven. Heaven is prepared for us. And
we are prepared for heaven. There's a double action of God's
grace that's working in us and working for us. He saves us and
then He keeps us. Oh, the matchless grace of God
for His people and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's matchless. Nothing
in this world compares. Nothing. It's boundless. Depthless. Oh, flee to Christ. He's the
only hope. And for those of us who believe and trust in Christ,
may we just rest in Him. May we continuously come to Him
and just rest and just trust in Him. When troubles come, may
we flee to our Savior and find comfort in Him. And troubles
come. And sorrows come. But may we rest in Him. May God grant you faith to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. You have no other hope.