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This is day five of our look through Titus chapter two, and I want to begin
today by reading verses 11 to 15, verses that I know as you hear them will
encourage your heart. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared
to all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait
for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify
for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.

These then are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all
authority, and do not let anyone despise you. " These are words, verses 11 to
15, all about grace.

As you read through it, it's about grace the Savior and grace the teacher. Paul
personifies grace in some ways. He says, "The grace of God that brings salvation
has appeared to all men.

" That's saving grace. And it has appeared to all. All are invited into the
grace of God.

Now I understand that some will choose the grace of God, others will not choose
the grace of God based on their heart, based on their mind, but never mistake
the teaching of Scripture that all are invited. And the truth of the matter is,
I don't know who's going to choose and not going to choose, so I'm going to
treat everyone as somebody who is invited. Whatever they're doing, however
they're acting, you can't tell by how they're acting.

I'm going to treat everyone as someone who is invited, because they are, and I'm
going to treat everyone as someone who's eventually going to choose, because I
believe that they can by the power of God in Jesus Christ, by the grace of God.
Grace invites us all. Saving grace.

It's appeared to all. It's appeared to you. And saving grace is teaching grace.

Verse 12, "Grace then teaches us. " First grace saves us, and then it teaches
us. Saving grace, sanctifying grace.

It teaches us. And what does it teach us? I love the way Paul just simplifies it
here.

It teaches us to say no, and it teaches us to say yes. Grace teaches us to say
no to ungodliness and worldly passions. It teaches us to say no to those
temptations within me, within myself that says I want to live selfishly, and it
teaches us to say no to those temptations that come from outside of me.

Worldly passions. The things of this world, the things that everybody else is
chasing after. I need grace to teach me to say no to those things, otherwise
I'll spend my life chasing after the wrong thing.

Even as a believer, you can do this. Even as a believer, you can get caught up
in your selfishness, you can get caught up in this world. Grace teaches you to
say no to that.

That's the power of grace. The power of grace is even greater. It teaches you
not only to say no, it teaches you to say yes.

It teaches you to say yes to a self-controlled life. There it is again. We've
been talking about it again and again and again.

And if you've been wondering, how do I become a more self-controlled person?
Here is the answer. I've been talking about the power of Jesus all the way
through, but here's the answer.

Self-control comes through the gift of God's grace in your life. That's what you
rely on. That's what you lean on.

You say yes to living godly lives in the present age. That means that the
character of God, what does it mean to live a godly life? That means that the
character of God is lived out in your life.

Many people, many people want to reduce godliness to a set of rules, and it's
usually rules they get to make. Rules that are easier for them to keep so they
can feel like they're somehow morally superior to you. That's called legalism.

And a lot of people, that's what they want to call godliness, my set of rules.
Godliness is not a set of rules. It is a commitment to live the character of God
in such a way that it rules your life.

It's not a set of rules, but God's character ruling your life. As you get close
to God, as you spend time in God's word, as you spend time with God's people who
are trying to get close to God, then his character makes its way into your life.
That's how your life changes.

That is teaching grace, sanctifying grace. Grace saves you, and then it teaches
you. You don't get saved by grace, and then you're taught you're sanctified by
your works, by what you learn.

No, it's grace all the way through. You get saved by grace, you get taught by
grace, you get sanctified by grace, you get taken to heaven by grace. All the
way through.

You get self-control by grace. You get godliness by grace. You get uprightness
by grace.

It's all by grace all the way through. That's what you lean on. You lean on the
grace of God to save you, and then you lean on the grace of God to grow you.

And Paul says to Titus, "Do this, encourage and rebuke that this will happen in
people's lives. " He says, "Encourage and rebuke with all authority. " Now, the
authority doesn't come from you.

Sometimes people think that rebuking means you somehow speak with a louder
voice. You just say it again, louder. I encourage you, but I rebuke you.

You say it louder and you get deeper. No, that's not rebuking. Rebuking and
encouraging both come from the same source, God's Word.

I'm encouraged when I'm wanting to live in the right direction. I'm rebuked when
I'm trying to head in the wrong direction. And it comes from God's Word.

And it comes from my humility to trust God's Word in my life, and then the
courage to speak it into somebody else's life. What he's talking about here is
what he began with in talking about himself as a slave and as apostle of Jesus
Christ. Paul said that in the very first verse.

He's talking about humility plus authority. It takes both. Humility plus
authority in your life.

And so he says to Titus, "Don't let anybody despise you. " Now, you might ask,
"How do you do that? " I mean, I can't control their feelings.

I can't keep them from not liking me because I'm living my life for Christ.
Maybe they won't like me because they feel somehow convicted. He's not saying
that you control their feelings.

More he's saying, "Don't let their feelings control you. " That's what he's
talking about here. Don't let them despise you.

Don't let their feelings control you to the point where you stop speaking the
truth. Don't let them put you down to the point where you feel like, "I've got
to be silent. " Just keep speaking the truth out of a spirit of love, out of a
spirit of grace.

Now, before we leave these verses, I want you to notice something. I want you to
notice the two times the word "appear" appear in this verse. In verse 11, the
grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

And then down in verse 12, we're saying no, we're saying yes, to live godly
lives in this present age. And then verse 13, while we wait for the blessed
hope, the glorious appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. So the grace of
God has appeared to all men to bring salvation.

And then the glory of God will appear in the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. It's a very powerful picture. That Greek word "appear" is epiphania.

We use the word epiphany. Epiphany is an appearing. There's something that it
strikes me in a way that I see it for the first time.

And these verses talk about an epiphany of grace and an epiphany of glory. And
they say to us, they say to you as a believer in Jesus Christ, as you follow
him, once you've had an epiphany of grace, you will have an epiphany of glory.
It's guaranteed.

Now, that sounds big. That sounds so big. It sounds so above my life.

An epiphany of grace. Those are beautiful words. And somehow I'm drawn to those
beautiful words.

But how do they happen in my life? One name, one person. Jesus Christ.

Remember, the word epiphany here means appearing. It's the appearing of Jesus
Christ the first time. The fact that he lived his life for us, he died for us on
a cross, he was resurrected.

That's what brought grace into our lives. And it's the appearing of Jesus Christ
for the second time that we look forward to. The appearing in glory.

It's all about Jesus in the end. You focus on Jesus. These verses, in verse 13,
we focus on our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He is Savior and he is God. This is one of the most powerful verses in all
scripture about Jesus being God. There's no doubt in the scripture that Jesus
Christ is God.

I know some struggle with it for various reasons. But there's no doubt as you
read scripture closely that Jesus is God. God is our creator in Isaiah 44.

Jesus is our creator in Colossians 1. God is our Savior in Isaiah 43. Jesus is
our Savior in Titus 2.

God is the great I Am in Exodus 3. Jesus is the great I Am in John chapter 8.
What's said of God is said of Jesus.

And here, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the God of the
universe. And I get to live, you get to live in daily relationship with him.

That is the grace that saves us. That is the grace that grows us. And that is
the grace to which we look forward to in glory.

So my question, as we come to the end of this, this epiphany of glory, this
epiphany of grace, is just to get personal. Your life, are you leaning on rules
or are you depending on grace? Are you depending on willpower or are you asking
for his power in your life?

Are you looking forward just to what you want in life? Are you looking forward
to his glory? As you and I begin to more and more live on grace, grace that
saves, grace that grows, grace that glorifies, you're going to see your life
changing in ways that you never would have imagined.

It's all founded on the grace of God. Let's pray it again. Jesus, we are
overwhelmed by your grace.

It leaves us almost without words. We did not deserve your love, but you gave it
to us, that's grace. We struggle so much in our lives even as believers, but
you're patient with us and you keep growing us, that's grace.

Sometimes we think about ourselves and not you, but you keep drawing us back to
your word, that's grace. We struggle in this world and sometimes all we see is
our failures, but one day we will stand before you blameless in glory because of
your glory. That is grace.

Thank you Jesus for your grace. In your name we pray, amen. Next week, chapter
three of the book of Titus, we finish this short book with a look at how we
choose our life message by that which we choose to devote ourselves to in our
lives.