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Lighthouse Baptist Church
God's Amazing Grace
(upbeat music) - Thank you for listening to this message brought to you by the audio ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church. It's connected in New York. For more great content, please visit us at lighthousebaptist.org. Now let's open our hearts and minds to the word of God. (upbeat music) - First of all, what does he say? Exhort servants to be what? Obedient under their own masters. It's necessary for us to understand that slaves, as someone that is under the authority of someone, should be obedient to them. How many of you have a boss? Anybody have a boss? Okay, if you have a boss, guess who you should be? Obedient to your boss. Okay, I know, wow, that's hard. You should be obedient to your boss. Okay, obedience is not just for children. Okay, obedience is for us as well. Obedient to their masters. This pollointing, how many of you ever use a word pollointing this week? Anybody, anybody use pollointing? Nobody, okay. Pollointing means this. It means to take for oneself. Here's the idea. You are to be obedient to your masters, not pollointing, meaning you're not looking for your own gain. The tendency, even when you have a boss, is to kind of do the bare minimum, isn't it? So the boss says, hey, I want you to do whatever. It's kind of like, well, I'll do that, but I'm not going any further than that. What are you doing? You are taking to your own self. You're saying, hey, what I want to do is more important than you want me to do. So when he says this, he says, look, obedient to their own masters and to please them well in all things, not answering again, not pollointing, not taking for oneself. But what did he say? Showing all good fidelity. Living out your Christian faith, of course, is what he's talking about here. That they may adorn the doctrine of God, our savior in all things. Adorning means this, to put in proper order. So when he's talking to servants, he's talking to Christian servants, okay? Servants, slaves that are part of a church. And he says, hey, remember, you're representing something far greater than yourself. In church, here's where we gotta understand this. We are under the authority of our government, right? Yes? Guess what we need to do? We need to represent our God well. Get it? So I get, there's an election coming up. Yay! We get to hear a bunch of political ads. Yay! Represent your God well and how you vote. And by the way, Christians, we need to vote. Well, we live in New York. Our votes are not gonna count. It doesn't matter, vote. Why? You are to represent your God well. Put it in proper order. It's not just about you. It's about your God. And that's what he's saying here to these servants. Hey, obey. Please them well in all things. Not answering them again. Not pollointing, not taking for yourself. But remember to put in proper order the doctrine of God, our savior in all things. I want you to understand, none of us are slaves today. Yay! But here's the truth. All of us are to be servants of our savior. Get what I'm saying? So does this apply to us this morning? Yes, it really does. Look at Ephesians chapter six. Turn your Bible to Ephesians chapter six. We're coming back to Titus two. Ephesians chapter six. I love the book of Ephesians because one of those books that it kind of tells you how to live, especially the later chapters are in Ephesians. Tells us what God expects of us and how we are to live out. How am I to be a husband? How am I to be a father? How am I to be a man of God? But in Ephesians chapter six, what we're looking at right now, it talks about servants. And it brings in kind of a different mindset that we need to understand. Ephesians six verses five through seven. Servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh. Does that sound familiar to anybody? It should because of what Titus said, right? With fear and trembling and singleness of your heart. As unto Christ. Now with I service as men pleasers, but as a servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as the Lord not unto men. Here's what we gotta understand. I am a servant of Jesus Christ. Meaning I am his slave. And we gotta understand this. Meaning when God tells me something, guess what I should do? I should do it. I should obey. Why? Because really in the grand scheme of things, you may not want to. It doesn't matter. You are his slave and he has every right as Christians. Are you ready for us to get this? He has every right to tell you how to live. He has every right to say, hey, I want you to avoid these things. Hey, I want you to do these things, but that's not comfortable. It doesn't matter. He is your master. You are his servant. You are expected to obey. Remember what Titus said? Please, you may obey your own masters and to please them well in all things. That ties over to our relationship with our savior. I am to please him well in all things. Look at verse number eight of Ephesians chapter six. This says this, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free. You know what that means? Hey, God expects you to live right and hey, you know what he's gonna do? He's gonna reward you when you do so. And that's a great thing. My mom and dad are down in Colorado. They're having fun apart from the fact that now my mom has COVID. Be praying for her last time it was not good. Be praying for her that she'll recover well. But they were driving down the road. Dad said he was going 85. Sorry, police officer in Colorado if you're listening. So he was going 85, all of a sudden a bolt came flying up from the road. It hit the front hood of the rental car. He inserted itself into the air condition knocked out the air conditioner. But dad said if it would have gone about just a few inches higher it would hit my mom in the head. Can I tell you something? God blesses us in ways. Sometimes we see and sometimes we don't. I hope this morning that you gave to the Lord. I hope that you did that in worship of him. But I want you to understand, God does not have to give you everything that you gave back. But God does promise us that he will reward us. And sometimes that is things we see, meaning that bolt will hit the front of the hood and kind of get injected into the engine part and take out the air conditioner instead of your head. But it could be something else. Our God is a great God and he has promised us that he will reward us when we do well. Go to Romans chapter six, Romans chapter six, one of my favorite chapters in scripture. I like the book of Romans. Anybody with me, anybody with me that loves book of Romans, I love that book. Romans six talks about really our sanctification, how we are to live for God. Romans goes by the way much more deeply than just salvation. Okay? So if you're like, well, I'm already saved. I don't need to say to the book of Romans, yes you do. Okay? It goes way deeper than just salvation. And salvation included in Romans, absolutely. But it goes way deeper than that. In Romans chapter six, we find this great verse in verse number 19. He says this, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, says this, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of our flesh, for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants of righteousness unto holiness. Romans six talks about this and this is a great concept for us to get. You wanna know what you are a slave to? Look at what you yield to. Look at what you surrender to. If you are surrendering to your flesh, I'm gonna tell you this under the authority of God's word, you are a slave to your sin. But if you are yielding yourself to your savior, guess what you are? You're a slave to righteousness. It's really that simple. The Christian life is not this complicated thing. It really comes down to what you yield to. This first part of this chapter of Titus chapter two or the first part of what we're looking at this morning, it talks to servants. And I think we've kind of taken it now and said, okay, I get it, I'm a servant. But how am I supposed to live pastor? What should I be living? How should I be exhibiting this fact to others? Well, I'm so glad you asked. First of all, we gotta understand that God's grace, God's amazing grace is available for sinners. That's point number two, God's grace for sinners. So this is probably what you think of as a Christian this morning. If you know Christ as your savior, when you hear the word grace, you think about God's grace and salvation. God giving me that which I don't deserve. But God's grace goes much deeper than that. We're gonna get there at the end, okay? So God's grace for sinners. Look at Titus chapter two again. We're going back to our text this morning. Titus two, and we're gonna look at verse number 11, and then we're gonna jump down to verse number 14. There's a reason for this, okay? Oh, you'll get it. We're coming back to 12, 13, and 15, but that'll be later, okay? Titus two, verses 11 and 14. It says this, "For the grace of God that bring in salvation hath appeared to all men." Then jump down to verse number 14. Who gave himself for it, speaking of Jesus, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. First of all, I want you to understand that God's grace, the grace of God that bring in salvation, amen to that, hath appeared, okay, it hath appeared, meaning this, it's already arrived, okay, it's already arrived. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians 15. We're gonna talk about the gospel this morning because we've got to understand this. I know a lot of you, I don't know all of you. And so for me to talk about God's amazing grace, it cannot be just for Christians. It's gotta be for others too, and it is, and I'm grateful for that. But 1 Corinthians 15 is probably the most condensed. Look at the gospel in scripture. What did Christ really do for us? It's found in 1 Corinthians 15 verses one through eight. I wanna look at these verses here. I still hear pages, so you're still working. It's all good, no rush, but kind of a rush. I'm just kidding. 1 Corinthians 15 verses one through eight. This is as more of a brethren. I declare unto you the gospel which I preach unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand. By which also you are saved if you keep in memory what I preach unto you unless you're believed in vain, meaning you had a worthless faith, meaning we place faith and something else, okay? For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received. This is the gospel, okay? How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and then he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the 12. After that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remaining unto this present was some are fallen asleep. By the way, not today, of course, but back then, okay, when he wrote this. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. The gospel has already arrived. Jesus Christ died for what? Sinners. Well, I was very clear that all of us are sinners. Romans 323 says this, for all have sin and come short of the glory of God. You know what that means? You're a sinner. That means I'm a sinner. That means all of us are sinners, and Christ died for sinners. That's an amazing thing. But why did he have to die? 'Cause the Bible tells us this, that the wages of sin is death. Wages, of course, the reward for doing works, okay? Wages. The wages of sin is death. What is the payment for sin? It is death. So Jesus Christ died for sinners. We see that in the verses we just read. Okay, great. But how does that get applied to my life? If I'm a sinner, which the Bible says I am, and by the way, if you've ever lied, guess what, you're a sinner, okay? And you go through the 10 commandments, and you're probably pretty high on that list, okay? And some of it's like, "Well, I've never committed adultery." Well, Jesus says, if you look on a woman to lust after, you committed adultery in your heart, guess what, you're an adulterer. He says, "Hey, if you hate a brother "without a cause, you're a murderer." Oh no, now you're a murderer. So you're a lying, adulterous murderer. That's a problem, okay? Oh wait, I don't commit idolatry, but wait, Jesus says, "Hey, if you covet, "you've committed idolatry." Oh man, so now I'm a lying, adulterous murderer who's committed idolatry. Oh, okay, yeah, we're doing pretty bad, okay? And so all of us are sinners. Christ died for our sins, but how does that get applied to my life, pastor? Well, Ephesians chapter two is a great passage. Go there, okay? Ephesians chapter two is a great passage. If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles in the front of the pew in front of you. So grab one, look it up. Ephesians chapter two, verses eight through nine. Ephesians two, verses eight and nine. This is a great passage because we're talking about God's amazing grace. And here's what we gotta understand, that God's grace is necessary for our salvation, right? God's grace is necessary for our salvation. Ephesians chapter two, verses eight and nine. Still here pages, we'll wait, no rush. It's only 41, so if I keep you late, it's your fault. Ephesians two, verses eight and nine. It says this, for by grace, oh, there's our word. For by grace are ye saved through faith, complete dependence. It's not works plus grace, no, it is grace, coming by faith. And then not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of worship, any man should boast. It's not about the things that you have done. You may have lived a great life. Great, good for you. But James tell us, hey, if you offended one point, you are guilty of all. You are a law breaker before God, and you need his grace this morning. God's grace. Ask him, talk to him, call out to him in faith, and he will save you. I want you to understand that God's grace has arrived. And here's an amazing truth, it has been completed. There's no other work that God needs to do to add to this grace. John 19, 30, I'm just gonna read this verse too. If you wanna go through, that's fine, but John 19, 30 says this. This is Jesus on the cross, the very end of the cross, he says this, the verse says this, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said it is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Here's the truth, when he said it is finished, what that means, it is complete, it is over. There's nothing else that's needed. It's not like Jesus goes, okay, I'm gonna die on the cross, and that covers about 75%, but you gotta come up with that last 25% yourself, that's not reality, that's not biblical. It's not like when you go to buy a car, you gotta put it down payment, and then they'll loan you the rest, but you gotta come up with your part, that's not at all biblical. God has completed it on the cross, it is finished. Go back to Titus chapter two. Go back to Titus chapter two, verse number 11. Let's look at this verse again, it's a simple verse, but we gotta understand what it needs. For the grace of God that bring his salvation, and we've talked about that, half appeared, what are those last three words? It's all men, you know what that means? Everybody guess what all means? It means all, okay? All means all, and it's all that all means, okay, that's really complicated. All means all, and so when he says it has appeared to all men, it means it is available to everyone. It's not about what you've done, or maybe how good you have been, it's not just available to the wealthy, or to the rich, or to a certain skin color, it is available to all men. And we've already looked at this verse, but Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, it is available to anyone that receives it by faith. For by grace are you saved through faith, we've already looked at that verse. It's available to everyone. Now let's look back at our verse again. Look at our verses again, Titus 2, verse 11, and then down, and then verse 14. For the great, so we have to bring a salvation, half appeared to all men, who, speaking of Jesus, gave himself for us. I want everyone to go to first Peter chapter two. First Peter chapter two is a great, great passage. And I love this verse, verse number 24. It is an incredible one. But as it talks about really what Jesus did on the cross, and we've talked about some of it, but look at what it says here in verse number 24, of first Peter chapter number two. I know I'm making y'all work this morning, but it's okay, we'll live, your fingers will survive, I promise. Okay, first Peter chapter two, verse number 24. It says this, who, his own self, bear our sins, and his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live on to righteousness, by new stripes you were healed. When Titus two, verse number 14, talks about he gave himself, he gave himself to bear our sins in his body. That's what he gave himself to do. When Jesus hung on the cross, he was paying the payment that I deserved, that you deserved. He hung on that cross, he took upon himself our sins, and that is a tremendous truth. I'll go back to Titus two, verse number 14. Hopefully you kept your fingers there, hopefully you're getting the idea here. Titus two, 14. It says this, Titus two, verse number 14. Who gave himself for us that he might what? Redeem us from all iniquity. Here's the truth, you don't redeem means, it simply means to buy back. That's what it means, it means to buy back. So you were a servant to sin. Jesus paid the penalty to buy you back to himself, to redeem you. That is a tremendous truth. I've heard it said before that if you want to look at what something is valued, you want you to look at what someone is willing to pay for that item. Houses, cars, their values, they change, we've seen it. We sold our house, we bought our house for much cheaper than we sold it for. Praise the Lord, okay? But here's what we gotta understand. The value of something is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. If you want to look at what the value is of human life, look at what God was willing to pay for it. Do you get what I'm saying? The value of human life goes far deeper than I think what we get sometimes. It goes to the point where God said, "Hey, I love you so much, I'm gonna give you my son to die." That's what he values you at. (breathes deeply) You are of tremendous value to your God, not because of what you can do, but because of what he did for you. You get it? You say, "Well, I'm not an eloquent speaker, so what?" You are valuable not because of what you can do, but because of what he did for you. And that is a tremendous thing. And that should motivate us now to live for him. And that's really what we're gonna get into now in Titus chapter two. So go back to Titus chapter two. Hopefully you're there already. Titus chapter two and verse number 12. Titus two, verse number 12. So where we verse 11 again, okay? Why not? For the grace of God that bring his salvation hath appeared to all men, look at what it says next. What is that next word? Teaching us. What is the thing that is teaching you? What do you think? It's God's grace. It goes back to verse number 11. So point number three this morning. God's grace for saints. For us, who know Christ as our Savior. God's grace doesn't just end at salvation. God's grace goes deeper than that. And God wants his grace to teach you something this morning. So let's look at what God wants to teach us from his grace. Well, look at our verse verse number 12. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. Okay, so denying. That means this, to abnegate, to renounce, to refuse, to a juror, to give up. Christians, God's grace, should teach you that you should give up ungodliness. Oh, oh, you and ungodliness really comes down to. It is a total denial of God's presence to ignore his influence, existence, or expectation. That is what ungodliness is. And sometimes I live my life like I am denying God's presence. Anybody else? I live my life and I act like I'm not a Christian when it's not convenient. Uh-oh. God's grace is to teach me that I should deny, I should give up that kind of thinking. Why? You need an example? 'Cause of that cross. That cross back there is not just something pretty and it's got LED lights on it and it looks gorgeous this morning. It's not just something that we hang around our necks for a necklace or for whatever. It is to teach me that I should deny, I should give up the thought, the way I live my life of denying God's presence like he's not really there, which he is, by the way. So when you're in that dark corner of your room and you think no one knows what you're about to search and what you're about to do, guess what God knows? And God's grace would teach you to deny that kind of thinking. But look at the next part, denying ungodliness and what's the next part? Worldly lusts. This is a desire, a craving, a longing for what is forbidden. I think we all know this, but I think it's kind of good for us to kind of remind ourselves. God's word is very clear how we are to live. What we are to do and what we're not supposed to do, right? Okay, every shake in their heads, you get what I'm saying? I don't think I need to go into a list, do I? I don't think I do. We know what God expects, but here's the truth. I oftentimes, and I know you do too, 'cause you're a heathen just like me, I desire that which is forbidden. Anybody else? Okay, nobody's doing anything. You with me? Yeah? Nobody's raising their hand, but I see a few heads. Okay, y'all making me feel like I'm the only heathen up here. It's not nice, but here's the truth. We all have that, we all desire that which is forbidden. We know God doesn't want us to do it, God doesn't want us to do this, and we're like, but I really want to. My kids do it all the time. We'll go, okay, don't do this, and what do they do? They want to touch it, do what they do something. You know, Michaela's classic at this. She likes to eat stuff all the time. She's a grazer. You would never know, 'cause she's like, you know, really tall and super scrawny, but she eats all the time. So like, last night, long story. Josiah ended up coming out into her bed, and I'm like laying on this much of the bed, and I'm like, I don't fit on this much of the bed, so I'm like, instead of waking up the poor kid, I'll just go sleep on the couch, I'll be fine. So I'm sleeping on the couch, I'm out of my own business, and all of a sudden, I hear KK. Crawling, super loud, across the floor, to look for food at like 4 a.m. Why? She knew that she wasn't supposed to do it, but man, she desired that which was forbidden. And we do that too, don't we? She wanted to go find a donut. We had like those little tiny, you know, awesome donuts. She wanted to have a donut, and she wanted to be all sneaky about it, and so she's crawling, little did she know, she crawls are really loud, and she woke me up, but we desire that which is forbidden. When somebody says don't touch, what do you want to do? Touch. You're at a museum and they're like, don't touch this. They're like, bye. You just want to, you desire that which is forbidden, that is that worldly lust. We are too, as Christians, deny those things, and God's grace is to teach us that we should deny those things. But, you know, this has been, that kind of list is negative, isn't it? Right, it's negative. I'm sure you're glad that God doesn't stop there in verse number 12. He also tells us how we are to live. He says, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. We should live soberly. So we're taking notes, grace for saints, the first point which I didn't tell you this was denying. The second one is live. Okay, little words, they're easy, live. First of all, the first word we see is what? Soberly, it carries this idea with a sound mind. Temporately, meaning under self-control. To live soberly, think biblically. You know, sometimes, you know, we look at things, we're like, wow, that looks really pretty. But, you know, there's a common saying, everything that glitters is not gold. Well, man, but that looks so good, and look at them enjoying everything, and then enjoying life, and, you know, we kind of get in that asymptality from the Old Testament where it's like, well, God, you bless all these heathens, why aren't you blessing me? We kind of get into that, and that's not sound thinking. That is not thinking soberly. That is not living that way. Live soberly with a sound mind. Think biblically. What's the next word? Righteously, it carries this idea to be just agreeable to right properly as is right. That's what it means. It means to live right. So, soberly carries the idea of your mind thinking biblically. Righteously means living biblically. To be just, to be agreeable to right, properly as is right. The next word is what, godly, godly. I want to understand, righteously, is kind of how we live outwardly. Godly is much more internal. Living with consciousness of God's constant presence. This awareness produces Christ's likeness in us is the definition I want you to think of Godly, okay? So living with consciousness of God's constant presence. So what is this? This is directly the opposite of ungodliness. Ta-da! I know, it's so easy. Ungodliness, living like God's not present. Godliness, living like he is, okay? When we think that way, when we live that way, when we are aware of his presence, we will live the way Christ wants us to live. Warren Reusby said this. He says, God's grace not only redeems us, but it also reforms us and rewards us. Isn't that a good quote? God's grace not only redeems us, but it also reforms us and rewards us. Meaning God's grace changes us and is also the great reward for living right. Look at verse number 13. So we are to deny, we are to live, and now we are to look in verse number 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Looking for it means this, to expect. To expect the fulfillment of promise. It is looking with anticipation. It's not looking like, eh, I don't think he's coming today. He hasn't come for a long time. Eh, notice a look with expectation, meaning I fully expect God's gonna come back today. That is the way we are to live. Go to 1st Thessalonians chapter four, 1st Thessalonians chapter four. This is a great, great passage. And when we look for that blessed hope, this is what we're talking about. And I love these verses, by the way. They're really good. 1st Thessalonians four, verses 13 through 18. 1st Thessalonians four, verses 13 through 18. I know it's already 1158. We got a little bit to do still. I still got a whole nother page. No, we're fine. We'll make it. Verse number 13. For I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep that you saw or not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died in rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him? For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God and the dead and Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. It is a blessed hope. When it talks about blessed, I want you to understand, it carries society to be happy. It is a happy hope. Hope in the Bible is not like I hope to be a billionaire. Anybody want to be a billionaire one day? Hopefully you just tithe on it. If you're a billionaire that's great, tithe on it. But you know, man I hope nobody got that joke. If you get it, you're supposed to give a 10. So if you give a 10 for a billion dollars, a whole bunch of money. Nope, nobody got it? Okay, whatever. I hope to be a billionaire. Okay, I hope to be a billionaire. It's not that. It is this, a joyful and confident expectation. A joyful and confident expectation. Meaning you know what? I know God is coming and I'm going to be joyful about it. God's coming is not God like, well, I better make sure that, oh man. Oh, I don't want to, it's supposed to be a joyful thing. But you know how it's going to be joyful? If you're actually living, right? If you're actually doing what God wants you to do. If you're not, it's not going to be joyful, is it? You know, when your mom and dad left, you're like, okay, I want you to do dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And all of a sudden, mom and dad pull in the driveway and you realize you haven't done anything on that list. That was not a joyful reunion with your parents, was it? But when you finally realize, hey, if I actually do the things mom would expect me, which I never learned, but I actually do the things that mom and dad expect me to do, man, it's awful joyful when they come in. And that's what God wants for us. If you are living right, God's coming, Jesus is coming in the rapture, is a joyful thing. It's a joyful thing. The glory is appearing. I mean, that's awesome, isn't it? Little verse number 14, I'm trying to move here, try and give this to verse number 15. So verse number 14 of Titus chapter two. We've already looked at this verse, but we're going to look at it from a little different angle this time. It says this, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. He gave himself, I want you to understand that God did it willingly. That Jesus even told Pilate, he said, hey, no man can take my life unless I lay it down, right? He gave his life willingly. It wasn't that the Romans killed him, they couldn't. He willingly gave up his life. Do you remember when the Jews took up stones to stone him? And all of a sudden Jesus, and like just walks to the midst of him, I've always kind of wondered what happened there. You know, like how do you lose Jesus? I mean, you're about to kill him. How of a sudden did he like go in incognito and like nobody knows where he is? But why did that happen that way? Because that was not the way he was going to die. They could not kill him that way. He gave his life willingly, that he might redeem us. We've already looked at this, buy us back. What else does this say, and purify unto himself? But that means we are uniquely his. Meaning I'm not partially the world, I am fully gods. The next phrase, a peculiar people. That does not mean you're supposed to be weird, by the way. Or peculiar, if you are, fine. If that's how you want to look at it, that's good. Okay, whatever. But it means this, it means special. A special people, one's own. Meaning you are to be different, you are to be special. Is zealous of good works. It means to have warmth or feeling for or against. Of course, this one is for good works. Okay, have you ever heard of a zealot? Yeah, they had warmth of feeling and they would fight against the Romans. But warmth of feeling for or against something means zealous of good work. Something that you should pursue. By which I understand that this is not where this passage ends. Verse number 15 is included and should be included in this message. He says that these things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise the exhort. It means to invite, to invoke, to beseech. You know what we are to do? We are to share the grace of God with others. Church God's grace is an amazing thing, right? How many recognize that God's grace is an amazing thing? Raise your hand seriously, don't shake your hand. Okay, we all get it. God's grace is an amazing thing. We are to invite, we are to invoke, we are to beseech people to know that grace. And that's not always easy, is it? Some nice people will reject you and that's never fun. But we are to invite, to invoke, to beseech these people. The next word here is rebuke. It means to admonish, to convict, to convince, to tell a fault. To basically be like, okay, I'm going to exhort, I'm going to invite you to come and you know what sometimes? I'm going to do it rather intensely because I love you that much. And sometimes we as Christians have thin skin when we should have thick. And they reject us and we're like, okay, have a great day. Sometimes we need to go, hey, I really want you to understand this. This is very important. And it's the most important thing you could ever share with them. And so here's the thing, Church, and I want us to get this. God's grace is truly an amazing thing. And God's grace provides salvation. If you don't know Christ as your savior, you need to ask in faith today for God to save you from your sins. But if you already do know Jesus Christ as your savior, God's grace is to teach you these things. But you are to live differently, that you are to live a godly life, a life that you think right, and all those things you've already looked at. Church, here's what we need to do. We need to do business with God. God's grace is an amazing thing, but God's grace was never just to provide you a warm, fuzzy feeling. God's grace was to change your life. So let's all stand and let's do business with God. Of course, we have the altar, the altar is open. Of course, you can do business with God in your seat. Before we do it though, we're gonna talk to him and ask him to use this message in our life, right? When I pray, I want you to pray in your heart to God. He knows, let's talk to him this morning, let's ask him to use this message in our lives in a very real way. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful for your grace this morning. But if there's anyone under the sound of my voice this morning that does not know you as our personal savior, what I ask for that today would be the day that they finally get that settled. But today they would call out in faith and whether you would change their life. What I ask for all of us who know you as our personal savior, Lord, that this message would impact us. To maybe think of God's grace in a different way, that God's grace is to motivate us to now live for you, or work in our lives in a way that only you can, or help this message to change our lives, or help us to do business with you right now. And we pray this all in the wonderful precious holy name of our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Church, let's do business with God. You can do it there in your seat. You can do it up here at the old fashioned altar. Let's talk to him. Let's do business with him. (gentle music) (upbeat music) - We hope that message was an encouragement to you. To stay up to date with us, please follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook at LBC's Connective. If you would like more information on how heaven can be your home, please visit lighthousepaptist.org/thegospel. (gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)