God's Amazing Grace Explained Through Biblical Examples

Titus 3:1-11
Living To Do
August 25, 2019
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA
What’s the number one thing?
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1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.
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August Memory Verse:
Matthew 6:33 NKJV
33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you.”
Father,
Teach us Thy statutes,
Open our eyes,
Stir our hearts and
Enlighten our minds. (Psalm 119)
Titus 3:7 NJKV
7 that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life.
Inheritance

Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing
that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve
the Lord Christ.
heir:
1. One who receives his allotted possession by right of sonship.
2. One who has acquired or obtained the portion allotted to him.
We have the down payment right now, but the full legacy is coming later.
We are heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have an inheritance!
1 Peter 1:3-4 NKJV
A Heavenly Inheritance
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
Most folks dream about some rich uncle dying somewhere and leaving them
something, but Romans 8:17 says that we are joint heirs with Jesus!

In Genesis 24 (the longest chapter in Genesis), think of how Eleazar, Abraham’s
servant, was sent by Abraham (137 years old) to seek a bride for Isaac.
Why does the Holy Spirit devote so much space in the Bible to a description of
the matchmaking mission of Abraham’s servant Eleazer between Isaac and
Abraham's grandniece, Rebekah?
It's a wonderful picture of God the Father sending the Holy Spirit to seek a bride
for Jesus, His resurrected Son (see Rev. 19:6-8), and that's the picture in the Old
Testament concealed which later was in the New Testament revealed.
Genesis 24:40 NKJV
40 But Abraham (Sarah had died) said to Eleazar, ‘The Lord, before Whom I walk,
will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for
my son from my family and from my father’s house
Through divine providence, Eleazar was led to Rebekah.
Genesis 24:45 NKJV
45 “But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming
out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew
water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

Rebekah was a beautiful girl and Eleazar went into Rebekah’s home in a land
three to four weeks away (in Mesopotamia) and told her about Isaac.
He told her how charming Isaac was, how wise Isaac was, how rich Isaac was,
and how loving Isaac was.
Then Eleazar said, "Now, Isaac needs a bride, so will you come with me and be
his bride?"
Talk about a salesman —he had to convince a woman to go with him, a man
she'd never met to meet a man she’d never seen, and she did it! (“I will go.”,
much as Abraham did over sixty years before.)
Genesis 24:57-58 NKJV
57 So they (her brother and mother) said, “We will call the young woman and ask
her personally.” 58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with
this man?”
And she said, “I will go.”

That's really what the Holy Spirit has done for
us. We've never seen Jesus; but the Holy
Spirit has convinced us about how wonderful
our Heavenly Isaac is!
So, when Eleazar went to seek a bride, Abraham just loaded him down with
wealth.
Genesis 24:10 NKJV
10 Then the servant (also “Eliezer of Damascus” - serving Abraham for over sixty-
two years!) took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s
goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of
Nahor.
Genesis 24:53 NKJV
53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing,
and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to
her mother.
It was a token of Isaac's wealth.
He had a little box of jewels there; and, as they were riding along, you can
imagine Rebekah—how she must've felt.
Did I make a mistake?
Is there really an Isaac?

Is he really as wealthy as Eleazar says that he is?
Should I be leaving father, mother, houses, and land for this Isaac I've never
seen?
Perhaps her chin would start to quiver, and a tear would puddle up in her eye.
Old Eleazar would look over there and see that; he'd just open that little box of
jewels, and take out a necklace, and put it around her neck, and say, "This is
from Isaac; he just wanted you to have it. You'll love Isaac," pat her hand, and
they would go on.
Genesis 24:63-65 NKJV
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his
eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her
eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had
said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.
When Rebekah finally saw Isaac, he was standing at the edge of the field, and
she lighted down off the camel and ran to meet her future husband, her
bridegroom.

Friend, one of these days, Jesus is going to appear on the edge of the field;
we’re going to run to meet our Heavenly Isaac!
I'm so grateful that all along the way the Holy Spirit sees that sometimes we have
those little doubts; we have those little second thoughts.
And He will just take some gift, and say, “This is from Jesus” —the Holy Spirit will
do that — "This is from Jesus, just a token of His love."
And, all along the way there are tokens of His love.
One of the tokens of His love for me.

The woodpecker pecked out a little round hole
and made him a house in the telephone pole.
One day when I watched he poked out his head,
and he had on a hood and a collar of red!
When the streams of rain pour out of the sky,
and the sparkles of lightning go flashing by,
and the big, big wheels of thunder roll,
he can snuggle back in the telephone pole.
Elizabeth Madox Roberts
Born: 10/30/1881 in Perryville, KY
Died: 1941 in Orlando, FL

The tokens of His love are only an indication of the inheritance that will be ours,
one of these days.
The passage in Titus 3 that we will study this morning speaks of our past guilt—
what we were; speaks of God’s present grace—how God has loved us, God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and, it speaks of our future glory:
one of these days, we're going to have the full inheritance, and we're going to
reign with Jesus forever and ever!
Titus 3:1-11
Living To Do
Titus 3:1-11 NKJV
Graces of the Heirs of Grace
1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for
every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all
humility to all men.

3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that
having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the
hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that
those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable to men.
Avoid Dissension
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the
law; for they are unprofitable and useless. 10 Reject a divisive man after the first
and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped (perverted)
and sinning, being self-condemned.
Titus 3:1-11 NKJV

This sermon from the Adrian Rogers Legacy Library © 2010 Rogers Family Trust.
Used by permission.
God's Amazing Grace
Words are so very meaningful and one of the most beautiful words in the English
language is grace.
Grace is a wonderful word and today we're going to be talking and thinking
about God's amazing grace.
Grace is the unmerited love and favor of God toward undeserving sinners such
as we are, and grace is absolutely, totally contrary to the wisdom of this world
and the human nature.
Complete these sentences:
There ain’t no such thing as a ____ _____.
It is easy to finish these sentences:
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. (Tanstaafl)
When somebody says, "I want to buy your lunch"—look out!
Sentence number two:
We make money the old-fashioned way; we ______.
We make money the old-fashioned way; we earn it.
Sentence number three:
According to this world, nobody's going to give you any money.
God helps those who _______________.
God helps those who help themselves.
By the way, lots of people think that's in the Bible. (Wrong!)

Sentence number four:
You get what you _______.
You get what you pay for.
So, those things are just in us —that's human nature.
Grace is absolutely contrary to human nature.
But we think that, somehow, it’s still up to us.
• Militarism says that we're to fight our way out.
• Politics says that we're going to legislate our way out.
• Materialism says we're going to buy our way out.
• Industry says we're going to work our way out.
• Philosophy says we're going to think our way out.
• There's only one way out, and His name is Jesus.
Now, let's look at Titus 3:1.
Paul is writing to Titus after he's left him at Crete; and, Paul says, "Titus, here's
what I want you to do for the folks at Crete. Number one": “Remind them to be
subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready for every
good work" (Titus 3:1).

When we become Christians, we are to become good citizens.
The scandal of our day is the bad citizenship of so-called good people.
We are citizens here, on this Earth, but we are also strangers.
A stranger is someone who is away from home.
Hebrews 11:9 NIV
9 By faith Abraham made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a
foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with
him of the same promise.
We're not vagabonds — a vagabond has no home.
We are pilgrims — citizens on our way home to Heaven!
At first it appeared to the world that Abram was leaving home to go to a strange
land when in reality, he was actually leaving a foreign land and going home – to
the Promised Land.

When we die, it appears to the world that we are leaving home to go to a
strange land while in reality, we are leaving a strange land (Earth) and going
home – to Heaven!
Then, Paul wrote to Titus and told him how to teach the people how to live.
So, Paul deals in three things:
Paul deals, first of all, with our past guilt; then, he deals with God's present grace;
and then with prospective glory.
I. Our Past Guilt (Titus 3:3) – Justification.
II. God’s Present Grace (Titus 3:4-6) – Sanctification.
III. Our Future Glory (Titus 3:7) – Glorification.
I. Our Past Guilt Titus 3:3
A. Notice What You Were Intellectually: Foolish.
B. Notice What You Were Morally: Disobedient.
C. Notice What You Were Intellectually: Deceived.
D. Notice What You Were Morally: Slaves.
E. Notice What You Were Socially: Hateful.

Titus 3:3 NKJV
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving (slave
to) various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one
another.
II. God’s Present Grace Titus 3:4-6
Now, let's move on and think not only about our past guilt, but think about
God’s present grace.
Titus 3:4-5 NKJV
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man
appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
• Now, this is God's present grace.
• This is why we're here today, brothers and sisters, this is why we can
sing and why we can celebrate; this is why we can be so full of joy!
A. The Sovereign Love of God. (Titus 3:4)
B. The Supernatural Work of the Spirit. (Titus 3:5)
C. The Sacrificial Death of the Savior. (Titus 3:6)
First of all, there's the sovereign love of God.
Titus 3:4 NKJV
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man
appeared,
We can hardly take it in that God would love
us, that the sovereign God of the universe
loves us by His sheer grace.

Dr. Pollard told about an ad in a newspaper concerning a man that had lost his
dog, and the ad said:
Lost dog, mixed breed, blind in left eye, missing right ear, limps due to
missing one leg, broken tail, recently neutered and answers to the name
“Lucky.”
That man loved that dog enough—mangy, crippled, blind, deaf dog to search
for him and to rescue him.
Well, we’re not lucky dogs, we’re blessed children of God because Somebody
loves us!
Luke 19:10 NKJV
10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
God loves us but God doesn't love us because we're valuable; we're valuable
because God loves us.
It's just in the love of God — that's what grace is.

How are the lost going to save themselves?
Are they going to save themselves by subtraction, by stopping doing things?
• Think that's going to save them?
• Suppose they're a drunkard and stop drinking.
• Is that going to save them?
• No, they just go to Hell sober.
Are they going to save themselves by addition?
• Are they going to start doing good things?
• What about all the bad things they've already done?
No, only the love of God, the grace of God, is what saves us.
• That's the reason there's not going to be any boasters in Heaven.
• The Bible says:
Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Adrian Rogers was playing football against Daytona Mainland when he was in
high school on a rainy night -both teams were sloshing around on the field.
He had a big, slow tackle that was a friend of his and this guy was so slow that
when he tried to run, he would have to say, "Right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg”
— big old Richard.
Richard intercepted a pass; well he didn't really intercept it; it just came up in
the air and fell into his huge hands.
He looked down and saw that he had the ball and began to lumber toward the
goal line.
Richard was so slow that they blocked every man on the field three times for him
to run the ball back and he actually scored!
It was Adrian’s fortune to room in the hotel with that guy that night and all-night
long Richard was talking about how he ran that ball back, and, in the most
stellar performance you've ever heard, how he intercepted a pass and ran it
back to score through that rain and through that mud.
Adrian said that he was just glad that we don't have to go to Heaven to hear a
bunch of braggarts, bragging all through Heaven about what they did to get to
Heaven.
It is by the sheer grace of God that we are His blessed children, not lucky dogs;
God loves us by His grace and that is the only way that we will get there!

So, there's the sovereign love of God but then there’s also the supernatural
work of the Spirit.
Titus 3:5 NKJV
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit,
Don’t you love that:
He regenerates and renews us!
Titus 3:5 NLT
5 He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of
His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through
the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5 TLB
5 then He saved us—not because we were good enough to be saved but
because of His kindness and pity—by washing away our sins and giving us the
new joy of the indwelling Holy Spirit,

Titus 3:5-8 MSG
3-8 It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin,
ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our
shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior
God, stepped in, He saved us from all that. It was all His doing; we had nothing
to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people,
washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so
generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with Him and given us back
our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on
this.
1. He Regenerates Us Once and for All.
2. He Renews Us Day by Day.
1. He Regenerates Us Once and For All.
The Bible calls this the washing of regeneration.
Some of our friends, who think that you have to be baptized in order to be
saved, use this verse—that we wash in the baptistery, and that's what saved us.
No, it's the washing—not of water; it is the washing of regeneration.
Here are five Scriptures, right in a row concerning cleansing:
Zechariah 13:1—God speaks of a time when the nation of Israel is going to come
to faith:
Zechariah 13:1 NKJV
1 “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”
He's talking, there, about when they come to Christ as their Savior.
That's the Fountain—not filled with water drawn from the city main, but a fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins.

Revelation 1:5 NKJV
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the
ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
• That's the washing of regeneration, not baptism.
You say, "Well, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Baptist."
You better be a washed-in-the-blood Baptist.
A dyed-in-the-wool Baptist can go to Hell.
Revelation 7:14 NKJV
14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
If I've done those things, does that mean I can't go to Heaven?
No, look in 1 Corinthians 6:11.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified,
but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
• That's the washing of regeneration.
You're washed, and you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God.
Iris: Trophy of Grace:
The miraculous story of Iris Urrey Blue, the "incorrigible" who encountered the
irresistible force of God's transforming power.

She's a grand lady named Iris Blue, who was a prostitute; and, Iris Blue gave her
heart to Jesus, and she gives her testimony and says: "I got down on my knees a
filthy prostitute and got up a pure virgin."
We have to understand, "such were some of you," (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Friend, thank God for the precious blood of Jesus!
This is the wonderful grace of God!
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners
plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
1. He Regenerates Us Once and for All.
And so, He regenerates us once for all; He renews us day by day.
Titus 3:5 NKJV
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit,

Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
We wake up in the morning and say, "Lord, thank You that You have given
Yourself for me. I thank You, Lord, that this is a brand-new day. I do not have to
carry any baggage into today. I can be absolutely perfectly renewed today."
He regenerates, and He renews—thank God for that!
But now, watch this: There's the sovereign love of God; there's the sanctifying
work of the Spirit; and then, there's the sacrificial death of the Savior.
Titus 3:6 NKJV
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

And so, Jesus suffered, bled, and died and when you receive Jesus, that's when
you receive the salvation.
III. Our Future Glory Titus 3:7
So, it talks about our past guilt; it talks about God’s present grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and in Almighty God the Father Who
loves us; and then, it talks about our future glory.
Titus 3:7 NKJV
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
It's not over yet.
You see, when we come to the Lord's Table, we look back to what we used to
be; we remember what we are now; and then, we begin to think about what
we're going to be when Jesus comes again.
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death till He comes.
Remember what Jesus said when He was talking to Nicodemus.
John 3:14-15 NKJV
14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life.”

This sermon from the Adrian Rogers Legacy Library © 2010 Rogers Family Trust.
Used by permission.
www.pastortraining.com | www.adrianrogerslibrary.com
The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection - The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection –
Sermons.
The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.”
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to
pay the penalty for our sins.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death explained in
Revelation 21:8.
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8,
will experience the “second death” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn
away from sin and to come to Jesus.
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.

7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

God's Amazing Grace Explained Through Biblical Examples

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