1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:01,720 Amen. 2 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:03,320 Well, that was a blessing this evening. 3 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,760 I don't know about you, that was awesome. 4 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,720 I personally vote that between her and Ms. 5 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:10,960 Haley, we just let them take care of the specials from now on. 6 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:11,280 Right. 7 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,440 Well, if you have your Bibles this evening, turn to Titus, chapter 8 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:14,920 number two. 9 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:16,399 Titus, chapter number two. 10 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,920 It's hidden right there in the New Testament, right, With the other 11 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:26,320 books that start with the letter T. 12 00:00:32,750 --> 00:00:36,870 I want to do something that is a little bit new to me before we 13 00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:40,590 really dive into it, but I think it'll help understand the context 14 00:00:40,590 --> 00:00:43,150 and the point of the passage that we're going to be looking at 15 00:00:43,150 --> 00:00:43,630 tonight. 16 00:00:44,110 --> 00:00:46,790 And so if you'll bear with me for just a second, I'm going to try 17 00:00:46,790 --> 00:00:50,470 to explain some of the context behind the Book of Titus for just 18 00:00:50,470 --> 00:00:52,350 a minute before we get to chapter number two. 19 00:00:53,370 --> 00:00:56,770 Titus was of course written by Paul and it's addressed to a man 20 00:00:56,770 --> 00:00:57,690 named Titus. 21 00:00:58,090 --> 00:00:59,690 Real groundbreaking stuff there, right? 22 00:01:00,010 --> 00:01:04,410 Titus was a trusted co worker and co laborer with Paul. 23 00:01:04,570 --> 00:01:07,770 And Paul gives him a very, very important assignment. 24 00:01:08,090 --> 00:01:11,170 Paul says, hey, there's a church over there in Crete and there 25 00:01:11,170 --> 00:01:15,010 is some bad stuff going on and I need you to go and I need you to 26 00:01:15,010 --> 00:01:17,610 help work on that church and help straighten it all out. 27 00:01:17,770 --> 00:01:22,200 And so Paul sends him with a big, big task. 28 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,200 It's important to look at this book as a book that builds upon itself 29 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,240 because it really does not one chapter is independent of the other. 30 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,400 It's all one logical thought all the way through the first chapter. 31 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,200 Paul introduces the book and then he starts laying out Titus instructions. 32 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,800 He says, hey, go to this church, get you some faithful men 33 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,440 and start to work on that church there. 34 00:01:46,210 --> 00:01:47,490 He sends them, of course, to Crete. 35 00:01:47,490 --> 00:01:53,010 And it's important to know for us tonight that Crete is the, I don't 36 00:01:53,010 --> 00:01:55,970 know the right way to put it, a very bad place. 37 00:01:57,570 --> 00:02:03,170 In fact, Crete is known for being a den of liars and a place 38 00:02:03,170 --> 00:02:08,250 of violence and promiscuity and all sorts of stuff that's going 39 00:02:08,250 --> 00:02:08,770 on there. 40 00:02:08,930 --> 00:02:10,210 Witchcraft, just. 41 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:12,080 They're in the thick of it. 42 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,960 In fact, the Cretes believed very heavily in Greek mythology to 43 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,320 the point where they believed that Zeus was born on their island. 44 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,840 And so they decided to pattern their whole life after him. 45 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,000 Not a good guy to pattern your life after, right? 46 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,200 I find this interesting as I was looking through it. 47 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:34,080 In Greek, the word kratizo literally means to be a liar. 48 00:02:36,170 --> 00:02:37,530 What a great place to be from, right? 49 00:02:37,930 --> 00:02:40,850 So Paul sends Titus here and he gives him, in chapter one, he 50 00:02:40,850 --> 00:02:43,690 gives him all the layout of what he should do there. 51 00:02:43,930 --> 00:02:46,650 And of course, we see some of the repeats from first and second 52 00:02:46,650 --> 00:02:50,050 Timothy about the offices of a bishop and a deacon and some of the 53 00:02:50,050 --> 00:02:51,690 ways that the church should be set in order. 54 00:02:51,929 --> 00:02:54,930 And then in chapter number two, Paul opens up and he starts 55 00:02:54,930 --> 00:02:57,530 talking about what it means to have a Christian household. 56 00:02:57,850 --> 00:03:00,690 What does it mean to be a godly husband, what does it mean 57 00:03:00,690 --> 00:03:04,330 to be a godly wife, a godly elder in the church, a godly young 58 00:03:04,330 --> 00:03:05,110 woman, a. 59 00:03:05,260 --> 00:03:06,540 A godly slave, Right? 60 00:03:06,700 --> 00:03:12,340 And he starts to begin to flip on its head, if you will, the way 61 00:03:12,340 --> 00:03:15,620 that Christian culture works versus the way that Christianity 62 00:03:15,620 --> 00:03:16,540 culture should work. 63 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:19,900 And we get all the way down to verse number 11, which is where we'll 64 00:03:19,900 --> 00:03:20,540 start tonight. 65 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:25,420 The Bible says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath 66 00:03:25,420 --> 00:03:27,820 appeared to all men. 67 00:03:28,220 --> 00:03:30,140 Let's pray and then we'll get started this evening. 68 00:03:30,380 --> 00:03:32,820 Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight, Lord. 69 00:03:32,820 --> 00:03:34,300 It's not something that I take lightly. 70 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,920 I pray that you would hide me behind the cross, Lord. 71 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:38,280 I pray that you'll give me the words to say. 72 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:40,280 I pray that I'll only say the words you want me to say. 73 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,880 I pray that you would help me as we dig into this passage. 74 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,760 I pray that you'll help me expose the truth that's within it, 75 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,080 Lord, and communicate it clearly. 76 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:48,280 In Jesus name I pray. 77 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:49,320 Amen. 78 00:03:50,519 --> 00:03:52,960 God's grace is evident in all of our lives. 79 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,400 That's a statement we would probably all agree with. 80 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,080 We know that mercy is giving us some or not giving us something 81 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:01,960 we do deserve. 82 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,680 And grace is giving us something that we do not deserve. 83 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,680 And as I sat down trying to think of a few illustrations about 84 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,640 this, I realized that every illustration I could think of, every 85 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,440 personal story I could think of in my life, just about was mercy. 86 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,160 It was my parents not giving me the beating I deserved, right? 87 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,760 It was my boss not firing me when I probably should have been, 88 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:28,400 right? 89 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,920 Whatever the situation may be, most of the things I came up with 90 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:33,320 were mercy. 91 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:34,080 They weren't grace. 92 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,680 And it kind of got me to thinking that grace isn't as memorable 93 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:39,520 as mercy is. 94 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:41,840 Because we don't do anything for it, right? 95 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,440 Sort of the old principle, if you don't do anything for it, you're 96 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:46,640 not going to take care of it, right? 97 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,120 And so anyways, my mind was brought to a story that I remember 98 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:57,160 from my like 3 or 4 year old age, real young. 99 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,920 And we had taken me and my parents, we took a weekend trip to 100 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,520 Las Vegas, best place to go as A four year old, right? 101 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,240 And we got to, I'm pretty sure we stayed at Circus Circus, which 102 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:10,920 by the way is an awesome hotel. 103 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:12,640 And we stayed there in Circus Circus. 104 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,080 And I think that first night we stayed there and like went to 105 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,040 like the little shows and stuff they have downstairs. 106 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,720 They had like, you know, trick dogs and other stuff that 4 year 107 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:23,600 olds find awesome and very memorable. 108 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,000 And we got back to the hotel room that night and my parents were 109 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,000 like, hey, we have a few things to do tomorrow, but we're 110 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,400 gonna let you choose the last activity for our trip. 111 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,400 So I was ecstatic, like, yeah, what we got? 112 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:41,840 And they said, you can either go see Santa in the mall, you can 113 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,880 go to the racetrack and see Jeff Gordon, he's doing like a little 114 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:51,050 fan event there, or you can go back down to the circus downstairs 115 00:05:51,050 --> 00:05:52,330 and we'll play some arcade games. 116 00:05:54,010 --> 00:05:57,050 So me being the four year old, when we got to the mall to see Santa, 117 00:05:57,930 --> 00:06:00,090 I was just figuring it'd be the best return on investment. 118 00:06:00,170 --> 00:06:06,250 You know, we get in line and remember the time period. 119 00:06:06,410 --> 00:06:09,450 It's 2000 sharp, 2001 sharp. 120 00:06:09,770 --> 00:06:11,930 So every man in the mall is wearing a pair of jeans. 121 00:06:13,060 --> 00:06:17,220 And we get up there and the line is, I don't know how long. 122 00:06:17,460 --> 00:06:18,700 Unbelievably long. 123 00:06:18,700 --> 00:06:22,100 To my little mind, I thought I was going to die. 124 00:06:22,740 --> 00:06:26,900 And we get up there and I grab my dad's leg and I'm off. 125 00:06:27,060 --> 00:06:27,940 I'm in oblivion. 126 00:06:27,940 --> 00:06:29,140 I don't know what's going on. 127 00:06:29,700 --> 00:06:31,420 I can't tell you what I was thinking about. 128 00:06:31,420 --> 00:06:32,820 I don't know what I was looking at. 129 00:06:33,540 --> 00:06:34,260 I don't know. 130 00:06:34,740 --> 00:06:37,620 Well, apparently I overestimated how fast that line 131 00:06:37,620 --> 00:06:41,090 was moving because I would let go of my dad's leg, take a few steps 132 00:06:41,090 --> 00:06:44,090 forward as the line was moving, and then reach up and grab 133 00:06:44,090 --> 00:06:44,890 the jean again. 134 00:06:45,530 --> 00:06:46,290 Important detail. 135 00:06:46,290 --> 00:06:48,770 Like I said, every man within a hundred mile radius is wearing 136 00:06:48,770 --> 00:06:49,450 a pair of jeans. 137 00:06:51,210 --> 00:06:55,050 After a few minutes of this, I really can't tell you how long because 138 00:06:55,210 --> 00:06:57,610 as you will see, this story quickly goes downhill. 139 00:06:57,770 --> 00:07:02,650 After a few minutes of this, I walk forward and I grab the jeans 140 00:07:02,650 --> 00:07:05,770 and I look around and all of a sudden I hear hello there. 141 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:14,400 And I proceed to efficiently and effectively lose it in the line. 142 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:15,920 I mean, it's gone. 143 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,080 I'm screaming, I'm hollering, I'm crying, I'm swinging for my life, 144 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:20,280 man. 145 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:21,040 I don't know this guy. 146 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:22,399 I grabbed onto your leg, but I'm. 147 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:24,160 Time to fight, right? 148 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,120 So I'm throwing a massive fit and all of A sudden, my parents step 149 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:30,680 up, seemingly out of nowhere. 150 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,020 Of course, you know how, how your early memories work, right? 151 00:07:33,020 --> 00:07:34,980 I'm sure they were right behind me watching the whole thing, 152 00:07:34,980 --> 00:07:35,380 laughing. 153 00:07:35,860 --> 00:07:40,540 We didn't have camera phones, thankfully, but no doubt that would 154 00:07:40,540 --> 00:07:41,220 have been on video. 155 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:44,100 And so they step up and they start to console me. 156 00:07:44,340 --> 00:07:51,700 And my crying of panic and scaredness turns immediately into 157 00:07:51,700 --> 00:07:56,700 fury and rage and embarrassment in a tantrum of catastrophic 158 00:07:56,700 --> 00:07:57,380 proportions. 159 00:07:58,380 --> 00:08:01,300 And I remember my parents saying, if you don't stop, we're 160 00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:01,900 going to leave. 161 00:08:01,900 --> 00:08:02,700 I didn't stop. 162 00:08:02,940 --> 00:08:04,220 It's not a threat, right? 163 00:08:04,940 --> 00:08:09,180 And so they sure enough got out of line, marched me to the restroom, 164 00:08:09,660 --> 00:08:12,380 had a little bit of correction, marched out to the car, 165 00:08:12,700 --> 00:08:15,740 got in the car, and then this is when it got real. 166 00:08:15,820 --> 00:08:17,420 The parents got in the car. 167 00:08:18,380 --> 00:08:19,580 We're actually leaving. 168 00:08:20,140 --> 00:08:24,740 So now my tears of embarrassment and rage and sadness 169 00:08:24,740 --> 00:08:27,100 and everything else is now full blown sadness. 170 00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:28,540 I mean, I'm weepy. 171 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:31,400 This was my thing. 172 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,720 I was supposed to do it the whole way, right? 173 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,120 And we get in the car and we start driving. 174 00:08:38,680 --> 00:08:42,280 And I'm sure I had lost my voice because I don't remember saying 175 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:42,680 anything. 176 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,160 And I just remember sitting there crying. 177 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:48,120 Just. 178 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:49,200 I'm done yelling. 179 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:50,320 There's nothing to yell about. 180 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,680 I'm just going to cry until someone gives me something that is 181 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,000 worth not crying about, right? 182 00:08:55,710 --> 00:08:58,350 And sure enough, a few miles down the road, my dad pulls into 183 00:08:58,350 --> 00:09:00,910 McDonald's and stops and gets me an ice cream. 184 00:09:02,350 --> 00:09:07,230 And as I thought about that story and I was reminded of it, that 185 00:09:07,230 --> 00:09:10,350 is really the way God's grace works in our life. 186 00:09:13,070 --> 00:09:16,750 No matter how bad our behavior, no matter how bad our attitude, 187 00:09:16,910 --> 00:09:20,510 God's grace is there to give us exactly what we don't deserve, 188 00:09:20,590 --> 00:09:20,990 right? 189 00:09:21,500 --> 00:09:25,140 It gives us the forgiveness and the restoration and the power 190 00:09:25,140 --> 00:09:26,020 to live a Christian life. 191 00:09:26,020 --> 00:09:29,060 And we don't deserve any of that, but there it is to give it 192 00:09:29,060 --> 00:09:29,660 to us, right? 193 00:09:31,340 --> 00:09:34,580 Tonight I wanted to look at three elements of grace as we see 194 00:09:34,580 --> 00:09:35,500 here in Titus. 195 00:09:35,980 --> 00:09:39,420 And the first element I see here is the whosoever will salvation. 196 00:09:39,980 --> 00:09:43,900 In verse 11 here it says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation 197 00:09:44,140 --> 00:09:46,460 hath appeared to all men. 198 00:09:46,700 --> 00:09:48,900 I want you to notice the author of salvation. 199 00:09:48,900 --> 00:09:50,780 It's interesting when you look at the wording here. 200 00:09:51,110 --> 00:09:54,150 It says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation. 201 00:09:54,470 --> 00:09:57,430 What's funny is you think of grace as a thing or as an action 202 00:09:58,070 --> 00:09:59,790 that doesn't bring you anything. 203 00:09:59,790 --> 00:10:01,030 A person does. 204 00:10:01,750 --> 00:10:06,110 This reference here, I believe it's talking about Christ, the literal 205 00:10:06,110 --> 00:10:07,910 embodiment of God's grace, right? 206 00:10:08,070 --> 00:10:13,270 The grace of God Jesus Christ bringeth salvation and gives it to 207 00:10:13,670 --> 00:10:14,870 all men here, right? 208 00:10:16,150 --> 00:10:19,240 Romans, chapter number five, verse 15, put it this way, but not 209 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:20,000 as the offense. 210 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:21,680 So also is the free gift. 211 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:27,160 For if through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the 212 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:27,800 grace of God. 213 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:33,240 And the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ hath 214 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,440 abounded unto many the author of salvation. 215 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,920 I'm thankful tonight that I know the author of salvation, and 216 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:40,080 I hope that you do too. 217 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,600 Not only do we see the author of salvation, we see the achievement 218 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:44,320 of salvation. 219 00:10:45,060 --> 00:10:48,460 It bringeth salvation and it hath appeared to all men. 220 00:10:48,460 --> 00:10:52,100 The achievement of salvation is simply provision for our sins 221 00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:55,540 through his Son, plain and simple, right? 222 00:10:58,500 --> 00:11:05,020 The word appeared here is a word that you will miss if you just 223 00:11:05,020 --> 00:11:05,860 skim over it. 224 00:11:06,180 --> 00:11:08,660 And it's really a really cool word. 225 00:11:10,510 --> 00:11:16,110 The word here means to give light, to shine upon, to become clearly 226 00:11:16,110 --> 00:11:17,870 known and show oneself. 227 00:11:18,990 --> 00:11:23,670 I'm reminded in my brain right now of the little minion screaming, 228 00:11:23,670 --> 00:11:24,910 illumination, right? 229 00:11:25,070 --> 00:11:26,830 Illumination, right? 230 00:11:27,150 --> 00:11:29,390 He hath appeared to all men. 231 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,600 You know, Jesus made his purpose and his identity known to 232 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:39,560 all that were here. 233 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:45,120 It wasn't something that he had to like later on, after he was 234 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,760 off the earth, he didn't reveal it then to the disciples. 235 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,600 He was very clear and upfront about it when he was here on earth, 236 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:50,920 right? 237 00:11:51,479 --> 00:11:55,400 You remember him saying to the disciples in John 14, he. 238 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,680 He said, I am the way, the truth and the life, right? 239 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,000 No man can come unto the Father but by me. 240 00:12:01,530 --> 00:12:05,610 In other words, I'm the Messiah. 241 00:12:05,770 --> 00:12:07,130 Look at me, right? 242 00:12:07,450 --> 00:12:10,170 He's revealing himself to the disciples there. 243 00:12:10,810 --> 00:12:13,930 You know, it's funny if you look at this in context of having 244 00:12:13,930 --> 00:12:17,650 a Christian home, having Christian mothers and fathers in 245 00:12:17,650 --> 00:12:21,770 a Christian home, it's impossible to have that without salvation. 246 00:12:22,090 --> 00:12:25,130 This is the key element that makes all of chapter two work. 247 00:12:25,370 --> 00:12:28,570 And having the godly society that he's trying to bring about, 248 00:12:28,570 --> 00:12:30,890 the godly culture he's trying to bring about there in the church 249 00:12:31,290 --> 00:12:32,010 in Crete. 250 00:12:32,290 --> 00:12:34,450 It can't possibly happen without salvation. 251 00:12:34,450 --> 00:12:36,130 So that's why it's mentioned here first. 252 00:12:37,570 --> 00:12:39,010 It's the first step. 253 00:12:39,010 --> 00:12:42,210 You have to be saved or else you can't understand it. 254 00:12:42,610 --> 00:12:47,450 You can't live the life that we're asking you to live if you're 255 00:12:47,450 --> 00:12:51,490 not knowing the salvation that hath appeared to all men, right? 256 00:12:54,770 --> 00:12:57,410 Not only do we see the whosoever will salvation, but I want 257 00:12:57,410 --> 00:13:01,780 you to notice verse 12, the work of sanctification, teaching 258 00:13:01,780 --> 00:13:05,580 us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. 259 00:13:05,820 --> 00:13:10,780 We should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present 260 00:13:11,020 --> 00:13:11,420 world. 261 00:13:12,300 --> 00:13:15,340 The word they're teaching us is the Greek word padeo. 262 00:13:15,900 --> 00:13:21,420 It's a fun word to say, and it literally means teaching us. 263 00:13:25,420 --> 00:13:29,020 But get this, it's the same word used in the Septuagint in Proverbs 264 00:13:29,180 --> 00:13:32,380 when it says, train up a child in the way that he should go. 265 00:13:33,380 --> 00:13:35,500 In fact, if you wanted to look at it quite literally, you could 266 00:13:35,500 --> 00:13:41,660 say teaching us and training us to deny ungodliness and worldly 267 00:13:41,660 --> 00:13:42,020 living. 268 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:47,980 I find the aspect of teaching and training very interesting to 269 00:13:47,980 --> 00:13:48,980 me, right? 270 00:13:49,620 --> 00:13:54,740 If you teach something, you say it many times, right? 271 00:13:55,540 --> 00:13:57,580 Repetition is the key to good teaching, right? 272 00:13:57,580 --> 00:13:58,940 So you repeat something. 273 00:13:58,940 --> 00:14:01,420 Maybe you have a textbook and you're reading from the textbook 274 00:14:01,420 --> 00:14:04,820 and then maybe you'll give an illustration or something to help 275 00:14:05,380 --> 00:14:08,260 understand and illuminate what you're teaching about so that they 276 00:14:08,260 --> 00:14:09,300 understand, right? 277 00:14:09,540 --> 00:14:13,380 Training brings about the idea of correction with it, right? 278 00:14:14,500 --> 00:14:17,460 When you train up a child, there's a little bit of correction 279 00:14:17,460 --> 00:14:17,780 there. 280 00:14:18,180 --> 00:14:21,300 As mentioned in my story beforehand, I learned that firsthand, 281 00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:21,700 right? 282 00:14:22,900 --> 00:14:25,140 There's a little bit of correction that's involved in training. 283 00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:29,980 The training here very specific. 284 00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:36,580 It's training us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, ungodliness. 285 00:14:37,220 --> 00:14:39,260 So grace guides us here from ungodliness. 286 00:14:39,260 --> 00:14:42,060 And a lot of times you'll hear verse 12 here preached pretty much 287 00:14:42,060 --> 00:14:44,980 on its own because it really can be right. 288 00:14:45,060 --> 00:14:48,940 You can sit here for weeks and talk about ungodliness and worldly 289 00:14:48,940 --> 00:14:51,700 lust because that's kind of a broad category. 290 00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:54,420 You can kind of fit a whole lot of stuff in there. 291 00:14:57,430 --> 00:15:03,430 Specifically, this evening, I'm reminded of First John 2:15. 292 00:15:04,550 --> 00:15:07,670 Love not the world, neither the things in the world. 293 00:15:08,150 --> 00:15:11,070 For if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in 294 00:15:11,070 --> 00:15:11,270 him. 295 00:15:11,270 --> 00:15:13,830 For he that is first, excuse me, for all that is in the world, 296 00:15:13,830 --> 00:15:16,750 the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of 297 00:15:16,750 --> 00:15:19,590 life is not of the Father, but is of the world. 298 00:15:20,150 --> 00:15:22,030 You see, I have a feeling. 299 00:15:22,030 --> 00:15:24,710 I love the way the scripture comes together and harmonizes together. 300 00:15:24,710 --> 00:15:28,690 Because here you see that word to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. 301 00:15:28,690 --> 00:15:30,090 And you're like, well, what is that? 302 00:15:30,090 --> 00:15:32,490 Well, one John answers it, what is it? 303 00:15:32,490 --> 00:15:34,450 It's all summarized into three things. 304 00:15:34,770 --> 00:15:39,810 It is simply the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the 305 00:15:39,810 --> 00:15:40,450 pride of life. 306 00:15:41,330 --> 00:15:44,130 And that's something that we all deal with in one aspect or another 307 00:15:44,130 --> 00:15:45,170 because again, that's pretty broad. 308 00:15:45,170 --> 00:15:46,130 Categories Right. 309 00:15:46,530 --> 00:15:50,130 When you think of the lust of flesh, you think of what a fleshly 310 00:15:50,130 --> 00:15:52,860 society we live in now, right? 311 00:15:53,740 --> 00:15:59,460 Think about the things you see on tv, the things you see people 312 00:15:59,460 --> 00:16:00,700 talking about on tv. 313 00:16:02,060 --> 00:16:05,260 Me and Brother Wiggins went to the hospital to see Brother Gross 314 00:16:05,260 --> 00:16:07,300 this morning, and he had Fox News on the tv. 315 00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:10,820 And you see them reading a graphic book that they found in a 316 00:16:10,820 --> 00:16:12,140 school library, in a courtroom. 317 00:16:13,580 --> 00:16:14,380 What are we doing? 318 00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:16,060 It's fleshly. 319 00:16:16,860 --> 00:16:18,540 It's a pride of the flesh, right? 320 00:16:21,030 --> 00:16:22,310 The lust of the eyes. 321 00:16:22,950 --> 00:16:24,950 Satan knows that one gets us a lot, doesn't it? 322 00:16:26,390 --> 00:16:28,950 All you have to do is make something look enticing enough. 323 00:16:30,150 --> 00:16:33,030 And we're in, especially with food. 324 00:16:33,830 --> 00:16:37,470 I got in trouble yesterday with my wife because Instagram has 325 00:16:37,470 --> 00:16:40,630 this thing now, and it's like three tabs over where if you just. 326 00:16:41,510 --> 00:16:45,780 It's the reels, and they go forever, and they cover the time 327 00:16:45,780 --> 00:16:47,620 on your phone, so you don't know how much time you've been on 328 00:16:47,620 --> 00:16:47,900 them. 329 00:16:48,220 --> 00:16:49,340 And they go forever. 330 00:16:49,580 --> 00:16:52,020 And it's based upon the stuff that you like and the stuff that 331 00:16:52,020 --> 00:16:53,580 you'll watch, right? 332 00:16:54,060 --> 00:16:57,180 So in that way, social media is really a mirror of your life. 333 00:16:57,500 --> 00:17:00,700 And I don't like my mirror right now because I sent my wife 334 00:17:00,700 --> 00:17:04,460 yesterday while she was teaching in class, no joke, probably 335 00:17:04,540 --> 00:17:08,340 40 in a roll, that were just people showing how to cook food or 336 00:17:08,340 --> 00:17:09,820 showing off the food that they cooked. 337 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:15,440 But they make it look good, don't they? 338 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:18,640 Then you send one, you're like, can we make this? 339 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:20,240 Can we go get this? 340 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:21,520 Can we go buy this? 341 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:21,760 Right? 342 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:22,680 Because they make it look good. 343 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:23,600 That's why they do it. 344 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,680 They know that if you can see that food and you already like fried 345 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:32,120 chicken, and they show you a really good fried chicken, ooh, guess 346 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:32,720 where we're going? 347 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:35,120 We're going to go get fried chicken, right? 348 00:17:36,100 --> 00:17:38,500 The lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 349 00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:39,380 Pride is a. 350 00:17:41,620 --> 00:17:43,220 It's a nasty booger, isn't it? 351 00:17:44,420 --> 00:17:47,180 As soon as you think that you're done with pride, you're right 352 00:17:47,180 --> 00:17:47,860 back in it. 353 00:17:48,740 --> 00:17:53,620 Pride is one of those aspects of life that really, really, it affects 354 00:17:53,620 --> 00:17:54,500 every single person. 355 00:17:55,700 --> 00:17:58,460 Partly because we don't want others to think negatively of us, 356 00:17:58,460 --> 00:18:01,140 and partly because we don't want to think negatively of ourselves. 357 00:18:01,140 --> 00:18:01,540 Right? 358 00:18:01,750 --> 00:18:03,190 You have the power and you can do good. 359 00:18:03,270 --> 00:18:04,390 Yeah, right? 360 00:18:04,630 --> 00:18:06,590 That's what we like to think of ourselves, but that's not the 361 00:18:06,590 --> 00:18:07,110 reality. 362 00:18:07,830 --> 00:18:13,950 Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we 363 00:18:13,950 --> 00:18:17,430 should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 364 00:18:17,430 --> 00:18:17,750 world. 365 00:18:17,990 --> 00:18:21,670 It teaches us and guides us towards godliness. 366 00:18:21,670 --> 00:18:22,470 Grace does. 367 00:18:22,710 --> 00:18:26,230 If you think about the first part of the verse, teaching us what 368 00:18:26,230 --> 00:18:28,150 teaches us, who teaches us grace? 369 00:18:28,860 --> 00:18:30,300 That's the context of this verse. 370 00:18:30,300 --> 00:18:34,820 Grace teaches us that we should deny ungodliness and cling 371 00:18:34,820 --> 00:18:36,060 to godliness. 372 00:18:37,500 --> 00:18:39,180 It gives us two thoughts here. 373 00:18:39,180 --> 00:18:41,220 To be sober or of a sound mind. 374 00:18:41,220 --> 00:18:41,540 Right. 375 00:18:41,540 --> 00:18:45,180 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and 376 00:18:45,180 --> 00:18:47,260 love and of a sound mind. 377 00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:48,740 So we should live soberly. 378 00:18:48,740 --> 00:18:53,420 We should have that sound mind in us and righteously, which means 379 00:18:53,420 --> 00:18:55,820 to live uprightly and to do right. 380 00:18:57,870 --> 00:19:00,350 Again, pretty broad categories, but it's applicable in 381 00:19:00,350 --> 00:19:02,030 almost every single area of our life. 382 00:19:02,910 --> 00:19:06,590 I like the way the great late theologian Patch the Pirate put it, 383 00:19:08,830 --> 00:19:13,870 do right till the stars fall, do right till the last call. 384 00:19:14,350 --> 00:19:14,950 Do right. 385 00:19:14,950 --> 00:19:18,190 When there's no one else to stand by you, do right. 386 00:19:18,430 --> 00:19:21,070 When you're all alone, do right. 387 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:23,960 Though it's never known, do right. 388 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,440 Since you love the Lord, do right. 389 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:28,040 Do right. 390 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:34,040 You see, Patch the Pirate understood this thing called integrity 391 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,440 in our lives, and it's doing right when there's no one else around 392 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,360 and there's no one else looking. 393 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,200 And that's the sort of Christianity that Paul is advocating 394 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:45,320 here in the church in Crete. 395 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,240 He's saying, look, if you're going to live a Christian household, 396 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,960 if you're going to have this Christian family that I am portraying 397 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,740 here in the church, this is what you're going to do. 398 00:19:55,740 --> 00:19:56,500 You're going to do right. 399 00:19:56,500 --> 00:19:57,740 You're going to live with integrity. 400 00:19:57,740 --> 00:20:01,500 You're going to be different than the others, right? 401 00:20:02,220 --> 00:20:04,220 Looking for that blessed hope, verse 13. 402 00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:07,860 And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus 403 00:20:07,860 --> 00:20:08,100 Christ. 404 00:20:08,100 --> 00:20:11,620 I'd be amiss if I didn't at least mention, aren't you thankful 405 00:20:11,620 --> 00:20:13,260 that we have that blessed hope this evening? 406 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:16,260 When you think about. 407 00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:20,430 I've always heard this verse as a proof text for the premillennial 408 00:20:20,430 --> 00:20:25,350 rapture, and it absolutely is, because there's no preconditions 409 00:20:25,590 --> 00:20:27,190 given here, right? 410 00:20:27,990 --> 00:20:32,390 It's not saying, well, if you're denying ungodliness and you're 411 00:20:32,470 --> 00:20:36,310 denying worldly lust, and if you are doing this, then you can 412 00:20:36,310 --> 00:20:40,350 possibly, you know, if it's a good day, then you can look forward 413 00:20:40,350 --> 00:20:41,350 to that blessed hope. 414 00:20:41,670 --> 00:20:43,270 No, it says, no. 415 00:20:43,830 --> 00:20:48,920 Looking forward actively to that blessed hope, the glorious appearing 416 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,320 of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 417 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:51,640 Right? 418 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,160 It's important when you look at that in context, because that 419 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,000 is the end goal of any Christian home, of any Christian 420 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,360 family, of any Christian person. 421 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,800 The end goal is not death, although if it is, it is. 422 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:12,840 The end goal should be that we are living and working and striving 423 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:14,400 together for the sake of the gospel. 424 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,730 When Jesus returns, that should be the hope and prayer of 425 00:21:16,730 --> 00:21:17,890 every Christian here tonight. 426 00:21:19,490 --> 00:21:23,250 Not only do we see a whosoever will salvation, we see the work of 427 00:21:23,250 --> 00:21:24,130 sanctification. 428 00:21:24,530 --> 00:21:26,210 We see a wonderful separation. 429 00:21:26,210 --> 00:21:27,250 Look at verse number 14. 430 00:21:28,530 --> 00:21:34,130 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity 431 00:21:34,770 --> 00:21:39,050 and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 432 00:21:39,050 --> 00:21:39,490 works. 433 00:21:43,980 --> 00:21:45,100 This is a passage. 434 00:21:46,300 --> 00:21:50,060 To be honest, I've misunderstood my whole entire life. 435 00:21:50,780 --> 00:21:54,580 My whole entire life I have read this, and the first thing my 436 00:21:54,580 --> 00:21:56,460 mind went to was not what it was meant to be. 437 00:21:57,980 --> 00:22:00,980 I read this verse or I have read this verse in the past, and 438 00:22:00,980 --> 00:22:04,060 I would say, okay, he would redeem us from iniquity and purify 439 00:22:04,060 --> 00:22:05,820 unto himself peculiar people. 440 00:22:05,820 --> 00:22:08,820 All right, so that means we have to be so different from the 441 00:22:08,820 --> 00:22:11,870 world that people look at us and think we're weird. 442 00:22:12,990 --> 00:22:13,390 Done. 443 00:22:14,510 --> 00:22:16,590 That was easy, right? 444 00:22:16,910 --> 00:22:18,670 Easier for some of us than others, right? 445 00:22:20,350 --> 00:22:22,110 Not necessarily what's going on here? 446 00:22:22,750 --> 00:22:25,350 Not necessarily the thought that's coming through, although there 447 00:22:25,350 --> 00:22:26,389 is a little bit of that. 448 00:22:26,389 --> 00:22:26,590 Right. 449 00:22:26,590 --> 00:22:28,750 Remember, in context, he's talking about a church in Crete. 450 00:22:28,750 --> 00:22:32,430 This is a culture that is known and literally has the word 451 00:22:32,430 --> 00:22:33,710 liar named after them. 452 00:22:34,750 --> 00:22:36,750 This is a bad place to live. 453 00:22:38,950 --> 00:22:43,590 Paul is essentially saying, in one sense of the word, if you do 454 00:22:43,670 --> 00:22:47,030 right, just barely, you're going to be super weird to those 455 00:22:47,030 --> 00:22:53,230 people in the Cretan culture in the time there was lots of slavery. 456 00:22:53,230 --> 00:22:56,950 He addresses how a master is to treat their slave as equals. 457 00:22:58,950 --> 00:23:01,830 That's a radical idea 2,000 years ago. 458 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:06,640 And what was happening in the church here is the people were living 459 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,640 in the same way that they were before they were saved. 460 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,880 And it was making the gospel unappealing to those in their community 461 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:15,120 because there was no difference. 462 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:21,960 He said, if you are going to live a godly life, if you're going 463 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,480 to have that Christian household that I am advocating for 464 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,080 here, you're going to be different. 465 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:31,360 That doesn't mean you have to try to be different. 466 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:32,320 You're going to be different enough. 467 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:32,720 Right? 468 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:42,960 There is not much in the Bible that uses the word peculiar. 469 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:44,519 It's a peculiar word. 470 00:23:44,519 --> 00:23:45,680 It's only used a few times. 471 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,520 However, the root word is used a few times, and my favorite is in 472 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,400 Exodus, chapter 19. 473 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:54,280 You don't have to turn there. 474 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:54,960 I'll read it. 475 00:23:55,730 --> 00:23:57,170 Exodus, chapter 19, verse 5. 476 00:23:57,890 --> 00:24:00,330 God says, and I want you to listen to the similarities in this 477 00:24:00,330 --> 00:24:00,770 passage. 478 00:24:00,770 --> 00:24:05,090 It's interesting as we know, Paul is a very educated man when 479 00:24:05,090 --> 00:24:06,250 it comes to the Old Testament. 480 00:24:06,250 --> 00:24:09,050 And I just can't help but think that maybe he had this verse 481 00:24:09,050 --> 00:24:10,370 on his mind when he wrote this. 482 00:24:11,730 --> 00:24:17,090 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, 483 00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:23,350 then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, 484 00:24:23,590 --> 00:24:25,750 for all the earth is mine. 485 00:24:26,470 --> 00:24:29,150 That same root word there is translated as a phrase. 486 00:24:29,150 --> 00:24:30,550 Peculiar treasure. 487 00:24:33,110 --> 00:24:34,790 That's an interesting way to look at it. 488 00:24:35,910 --> 00:24:40,710 Not sure if that's a title I'd wear with honor, but think about 489 00:24:40,710 --> 00:24:41,430 that for a minute. 490 00:24:44,550 --> 00:24:48,760 Grace appeared and brought salvation to all men through Jesus. 491 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:56,320 That grace now trains us to live a life that denies ungodliness 492 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,360 and worldly lusts and trains us to live soberly and righteously, 493 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,560 looking forward to that great and glorious appearing of Jesus. 494 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:11,560 Verse 14, who gave Himself for us that he might redeem us from all 495 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:17,730 iniquity, from all sin, from all that unto Himself. 496 00:25:18,450 --> 00:25:22,050 You see, the separation, this wonderful separation is not necessarily 497 00:25:22,050 --> 00:25:23,170 a separation from. 498 00:25:23,250 --> 00:25:25,010 It's rather a separation to. 499 00:25:26,290 --> 00:25:29,650 You're not necessarily separating yourself from the world. 500 00:25:29,970 --> 00:25:34,290 Separation from the world is a byproduct by separating unto Christ. 501 00:25:34,930 --> 00:25:35,290 Right? 502 00:25:35,290 --> 00:25:38,210 In other words, the closer you get to Christ, the further you get 503 00:25:38,210 --> 00:25:39,090 away from the world. 504 00:25:39,570 --> 00:25:41,090 And that shows. 505 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:42,040 Amen. 506 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:47,200 When you think of the Word here as a peculiar treasure, he says 507 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:54,520 he redeemed them from all iniquity and purify unto Himself. 508 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:01,120 You don't ever really think of Christ having any sort of self motive 509 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,640 when he died on the cross for our sins. 510 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:11,710 But there was in that the self motive was that he might redeem us 511 00:26:11,790 --> 00:26:12,830 unto himself. 512 00:26:14,030 --> 00:26:14,430 Right? 513 00:26:14,430 --> 00:26:20,830 To restore that fellowship that was lost in the fall, he might 514 00:26:20,830 --> 00:26:28,190 purify unto Himself a peculiar people, a peculiar treasure. 515 00:26:31,550 --> 00:26:36,510 When we live a godly life and we have godly homes as redeemed individuals, 516 00:26:37,310 --> 00:26:42,110 it makes us a peculiar treasure to God. 517 00:26:43,710 --> 00:26:49,110 Something special, something unique, something different than 518 00:26:49,110 --> 00:26:51,790 what he could find 7 billion of elsewhere in the world. 519 00:26:54,270 --> 00:26:58,990 It's someone who knows and loves him and lives like it. 520 00:27:04,710 --> 00:27:09,990 In closing, I have an illustration that, as I was thinking 521 00:27:09,990 --> 00:27:16,310 through it, helped me realize this on kind of a personal level. 522 00:27:16,310 --> 00:27:19,590 And I'm sure it's one that most everyone in this room will probably 523 00:27:19,590 --> 00:27:22,390 understand and relate to in some form or fashion. 524 00:27:23,190 --> 00:27:25,350 I was super close to my grandpa growing up. 525 00:27:25,660 --> 00:27:26,220 Super close. 526 00:27:27,020 --> 00:27:30,060 In my mind, there is nobody cooler than my grandpa. 527 00:27:31,020 --> 00:27:32,860 He always had a cowboy hat on. 528 00:27:32,860 --> 00:27:36,140 He had a big black cowboy hat and he had a big old heavy leather 529 00:27:36,140 --> 00:27:36,540 vest. 530 00:27:36,700 --> 00:27:39,500 Come to find out later on, it's because he liked to carry a 531 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:40,220 few guns in it. 532 00:27:40,300 --> 00:27:41,659 That's why it was always so heavy. 533 00:27:41,659 --> 00:27:43,820 It's also why he didn't let me carry it and go get it for him for 534 00:27:43,820 --> 00:27:44,860 the first few years of his life. 535 00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:47,740 First few years of my life. 536 00:27:47,820 --> 00:27:48,740 But he was super cool. 537 00:27:48,740 --> 00:27:51,380 He had a big old leather vest on, and he had the hat and he had 538 00:27:51,380 --> 00:27:51,740 the boots. 539 00:27:51,740 --> 00:27:54,660 And he was the whole cowboy garb through and through, man. 540 00:27:54,660 --> 00:27:55,340 He loved it. 541 00:27:55,980 --> 00:27:57,580 He lived for it. 542 00:27:57,580 --> 00:27:58,460 He loved it. 543 00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:02,060 And he competed in cowboy shooting, if any of you know what 544 00:28:02,060 --> 00:28:02,460 that is. 545 00:28:02,540 --> 00:28:04,940 You have a six shooter, and you shoot six shots, and then you 546 00:28:04,940 --> 00:28:07,900 do the bolt action, and then you do the six shooter again. 547 00:28:07,900 --> 00:28:09,980 And it's a speed and an accuracy thing. 548 00:28:10,060 --> 00:28:13,180 And I guess he was pretty good to me, he was the best, right? 549 00:28:14,140 --> 00:28:18,700 My grandpa was the coolest person that I knew for a long time. 550 00:28:20,300 --> 00:28:22,930 And we were super close for a while. 551 00:28:22,930 --> 00:28:24,050 We lived in the same town. 552 00:28:24,050 --> 00:28:25,290 We lived pretty close to each other. 553 00:28:25,290 --> 00:28:28,690 And I remember literally begging my parents to go see grandpa. 554 00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:30,770 Like, what are we doing today? 555 00:28:30,770 --> 00:28:31,250 Nothing. 556 00:28:31,330 --> 00:28:31,730 Cool. 557 00:28:31,730 --> 00:28:33,570 Let's go get in the car, right? 558 00:28:33,650 --> 00:28:35,010 We're gonna go see grandpa. 559 00:28:35,010 --> 00:28:37,090 He did some gunsmithing and stuff like that. 560 00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:38,970 So he had all the big machinery in his shop. 561 00:28:38,970 --> 00:28:43,210 And I like to go out there and he would show off and come to realize 562 00:28:43,210 --> 00:28:46,610 now all he would do is shape an empty bullet casing. 563 00:28:46,770 --> 00:28:49,460 But to me, I'm like, my grandpa made this. 564 00:28:49,460 --> 00:28:50,220 You don't understand. 565 00:28:50,380 --> 00:28:52,300 He made this with his own hands, right? 566 00:28:52,860 --> 00:28:54,540 It was super, super cool to me. 567 00:28:56,300 --> 00:28:59,900 He passed away last summer, I believe. 568 00:29:00,380 --> 00:29:01,740 Maybe the summer before that. 569 00:29:01,740 --> 00:29:02,620 Last summer, I believe. 570 00:29:02,940 --> 00:29:07,020 And he let a lot of that stuff go. 571 00:29:07,020 --> 00:29:11,620 He moved into an RV after my grandma died and spent the next several 572 00:29:11,620 --> 00:29:15,290 years with him and, like, 500 guns in his RV and his dog. 573 00:29:15,290 --> 00:29:17,450 And that's the way he was happy with it. 574 00:29:18,650 --> 00:29:23,290 Before he died, he set aside a few items to give to me as an inheritance 575 00:29:23,450 --> 00:29:24,810 before he passed away. 576 00:29:25,850 --> 00:29:31,450 And he gave me a set of knives that he won in a competition, and 577 00:29:31,450 --> 00:29:35,530 he gave me a toy train that his dad had built. 578 00:29:35,530 --> 00:29:36,090 Super old. 579 00:29:36,250 --> 00:29:37,050 Pretty cool, actually. 580 00:29:38,890 --> 00:29:43,120 The point being, it's just a few things of his stuff. 581 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:44,880 And it is just stuff. 582 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,360 And to most of you, it's junky stuff. 583 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,240 It's a knife set with a broken case. 584 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,800 Maybe the pawn shop will take 50 bucks for it, right? 585 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:58,080 If that's most of you. 586 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,600 The difference being, because of my relationship with my grandpa, 587 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,240 that is a treasured possession to me. 588 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,160 Man, I love Those things, I think they're so cool, right? 589 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,000 I open up and I look at the little knife and open it. 590 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:11,680 It says, Colton. 591 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:12,880 And I'm like, man, that's cool. 592 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:13,440 Put it back. 593 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:14,800 Put it back in the case, right? 594 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,440 I look at the little toy train that my great grandfather built, 595 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,320 and I'm like, that's cool. 596 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:21,000 I could never do that. 597 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,080 But that's cool, right? 598 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:24,720 It's treasured possessions to me. 599 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:26,920 Why not? 600 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:28,560 Because it has any sort of value. 601 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:31,040 Maybe. 602 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:32,160 Maybe we should look into that. 603 00:30:32,870 --> 00:30:34,310 No, it doesn't have any sort of value. 604 00:30:34,870 --> 00:30:37,510 The difference being why it's important to me, why it has value 605 00:30:37,510 --> 00:30:41,350 to me is because before my grandpa died, he took all of his 606 00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:43,110 stuff and he said, boom. 607 00:30:43,110 --> 00:30:46,430 And he took these three items or these four items, and he separated 608 00:30:46,430 --> 00:30:47,510 them from the rest. 609 00:30:48,310 --> 00:30:51,510 For me, that's pretty cool. 610 00:30:52,950 --> 00:30:54,950 That's what Jesus does for us. 611 00:30:56,230 --> 00:31:02,360 To purify and redeem unto himself a peculiar people separated 612 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,360 unto himself. 613 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:05,640 Right? 614 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:13,280 As I close, I have four questions to ask, and I'll ask if 615 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:17,600 the musicians want to make their way up, and we'll stand and 616 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:18,680 pray here in just a second. 617 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,800 Four questions, and I really want you to take a few minutes and 618 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,400 a few seconds or, you know, just take some thought, and I want 619 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,730 you to really digest and think through these questions because it 620 00:31:29,730 --> 00:31:34,770 really walks through each statement of the message tonight 621 00:31:34,770 --> 00:31:36,490 and brings it down to a practical level. 622 00:31:37,290 --> 00:31:38,250 Question number one. 623 00:31:39,130 --> 00:31:41,050 Do I have a relationship with the Lord? 624 00:31:41,850 --> 00:31:45,050 Can I point to a time and place that I accepted the free gift 625 00:31:45,050 --> 00:31:45,690 of salvation? 626 00:31:48,730 --> 00:31:52,090 Am I training to live righteously in this world? 627 00:31:52,810 --> 00:31:55,050 Or am I simply living to please myself? 628 00:31:57,960 --> 00:31:59,640 Do I look forward to that blessed hope? 629 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:06,880 If not, is it because I am not living right or because I love the 630 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:07,480 present world? 631 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:11,720 Am I zealous of good works? 632 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:17,880 This is the mark of being a separated, peculiar person. 633 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:24,710 Do you love good works and the good work with heads bowed and eyes 634 00:32:24,710 --> 00:32:24,950 closed? 635 00:32:24,950 --> 00:32:26,110 Let's all stand and we'll pray. 636 00:32:26,110 --> 00:32:31,310 And we'll have a verse of invitation after we pray. 637 00:32:31,310 --> 00:32:32,550 Dear Lord, thank you for this day. 638 00:32:32,550 --> 00:32:34,510 Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. 639 00:32:34,510 --> 00:32:36,630 God, I pray that you would have helped me, said something that 640 00:32:36,630 --> 00:32:39,030 was some value to someone here tonight. 641 00:32:39,030 --> 00:32:45,710 Lord, I pray that you would help us to be a peculiar treasure 642 00:32:45,790 --> 00:32:46,350 for you. 643 00:32:46,350 --> 00:32:49,530 Lord, I pray that you'll help us to live separated lives. 644 00:32:49,530 --> 00:32:52,810 Unto you, in Jesus name, I pray Amen.