Titus was serving on the island of Crete, which was famous for courrupt living. The moral conditions in which they lived was not very different from our own. This is a timely text for today. In times of great immoratlity it is imperative for Christians to live distinctive Christian lives, and not let the old ways intrude into the new ways. Let's look at the old and the new.
I. Verse 3 - The old way of life A. We were foolish, senseless and disobedient in regard to God and people. Like many today their lives were their business and what they did was their business, not God's. B. We were enslaved to lust and pleasures. Much like today, pleasure had become an idol, and "if it feels good do it" was the prevailiing philosophy. C. We were malicious, holding grudges against people and intent on doing them harm. The Christian aim should be to do good to people and not say or do things that would do them harm. II. Verses 4-8 - The new way of life A. Vss. 4-7 - Something happened that changed our lives and gave us a new perspective on life. These verses will tell us why we are not the same....... B. Vs. 8 - Our new lives should be characterized by good works. This means that we are to witness to other people, live a life that shows how different Christ can make life, and we should minister to people in the name of Jesus. C. It should be our goal to hate the old way of life and love the new way of life. The devil will certainly try to bring the pleasures of the past life back into our minds and hearts. This will demand staying in the Bible and in prayer. Each of us should ask: "Am I living the new life to the fullest extent? Am I making a difference where I am?" If everybody in the church lived like us, what kind of church would it be? We need to ask ourselves if we are making a difference?
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Jesus does not just save us, but He brings new and good things into our lives that we could not have without Him. Our three texts reveal three of these things.
I. Acts 1:8 - Power A. Power to witness B. Power to live (Abundant Life) C. Power to overcome 1. Satan 2. Sin 3. Self II. John 14:27 - Peace (John 16:33) A. Peace that passes understanding: Philippians 4:7 B. Peace in spite of C. Peace with God and people III. Galatians 2:20 - Purpose A. Purpose for your life. 1. What is His will? 2. What is it that He specifically wants you to do? B. God's purpose becomes our purpose. C. Realize God's purpose for your life! Few people do, they just go on through life doing what they want to do all of all of the times and wonder why life is so unfulfilled. Think of your own life. Has Jesus brought these things into your life? Note: I don't do many acrostic sermons, but have found this one to be meaningful and I hope you can use it for a sermon or a devotional thought.
"Love" is an important word in the New Testament. Verse 40 tells us what is most important. Agape (ah-ga-pay) is the word used here, which is God's kind of love as used in John 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 13. What I want to do today is to look at some components of love that will help us have a greater love for people. I. Listen A. Listen to people's concerns. B. Listen to people's joys and sorrows. C. Listen to people - period. You can hear lot if you listen with ears of love. II. Overlook A. Overlook people's faults. (Do you have any fauts? If you get my drift.) B. Overlook people's personality flaws. C. Overlook your personal hang ups. III. Value A. Value people because they are created in God's image. B. Value people because they need it, just like you do. C. Value people regardless of their status. IV. Encourage A. All people need encouragement. I know I do, and you probably know you do. B. We will be encouragers or discoouragers. Which are you? C. Take time to encourage people. It will do them good and you too. These components are important. Don't we all want them ourselves? There are many forces of influence in our lives: parents, peers, preachers, teachers, coaches, etc. But all of these boil down to two major influences - God and the devil. We experience the pull of both. Let's take a look at how this works.
I. Philippians 3:13-14 - The Upward Pull A. Fact: God is seeking to pull us upward. B. This upward pull is constant. 1. We never grow to the point that Christ says "that's enough." 2. We never reach a point that we do not need more of God. 3. We need the upward pull. C. We tend to resist the upward pull. 1. We resist by becoming smug and complacent. 2. We resist by becoming content in what we consider our achievements. II. 1 Peter 5:8 - The Downward Pull A. Fact: The devil is seeking to pull us downward. 1. The Bible amply illustrates this: Garden of Eden, Job, Peter's denial, etc. 2. The devil is the author of: spiritual complacency, internal conflict, internal conflict, etc. B. We must resisit the downward pull. 1 Peter 5:9 1. We resist by faith in Christ to deliver us. 2. The devil is not afraid of us, but he is afraid of Jesus. C . The downward pull is constant too. It is a fact that the devil never leaves us alone.... III. Matthew 25:40 - The Outward Pull A. Fact: How we react to the upward pull and downward pull will determine how we react to the outward pull. B. Notice the importance of the outward pull in Matthew 25: 40 and 45 1. Serving our fellowman through witness and ministry is the same as serving Christ - when it is done in His name. 2. Every obvious act of ministry slighted is a slight to Christ. C. The outward pull is not just a nice thing for Christians to do; rather, it is kingdom imperative. God and the devil are not equal foes. Through Christ and through our faith in Christ we can win the battle. Which "pull" are you responding to in your life today. In your heart, A lot of people do not see the importance of the Bible. But it is not unmportant to Christians. We believe in it, as the saying goes, "from cover to cover." No matter who thinks that the Bible is unimportant, it is still important. Why?
I. Verse 16a - The Bible is important because it was/is inspired. A. "Inspiration" literally means "God-breathed." (Clarified in 1 Peter 1:20-21) 1. I have no technical knowledge of how the Holy Spirit inspired these men, but He did it. 2. The Holy Spirit does not make mistakes. B. The Bible is a unique gift of God to us of the revelation of Himself. 1. What we really know about God is what has been revealed in scripture. 2. We can't make God be just what we want Him to be C. Hopefully, the Bible that you hold in your hand is in your heart and head. II. Verse 16b - The Bible is important because it is profitable. A. It is profitable for doctrine - What we believe. 1. What we believe must be based on the Bible. 2. We have no choice as to whether or not God is the creator, that Jesus came to save us from our sins, etc. B. It is profitable for reproof and correction. 1. Reproof means that the Bible tells us about right and wrong, and that it reproves us when we do wrong. We base morality on the Bible. 2. Correction means that if an action contradicts the Bible it is to be corrected. C. It is profitable for instruction in righteousness. 1. The Bible tells us that we are not righteous, but that our righteousness is imputed - given through faith in Christ. 2. Imputed righteousness is to be lived out by us and affect our behavior. III. Verse 17 - The Bible is important because it matures us. A. The word "perfect" here means complete or mature. 1. We mature in the faith as we grow in our knowledge of the bible. 2. If we are not growing in the faith, it is because we are not heeding the Bible. B. The Bible thoroughly prepares us to do good works. 1. The Bible prepares us to work for the Lord. 2. The Bible puts us to work for the Lord, witnessing and ministering..... C. If you want to mature in your faith read and study the Bible. There is no substitute for it. The Bible is important for all of these reasons. If we are to be growing, effective Christians, we will have to be familiar with the Bible. We must choose the Bible over Oprah, TV sitcoms, hollywood hotshots and the collected wisdom of the world. According to our text, the devil is forever busy seeking to make us stumble and devour our witness. We need to be vigilant about his work in our lives, recognize his work and resist him. James wrote in James 4:17: "Subtmit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." I want to share three major tools that Satan uses. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed."
I. Discouragement A. This is one of his most effective tools, for it doesn't seem like sin, only an emotional problem. B. Discouragement will cause us to sin before we are aware of it. 1. It will cause us to quit when we should keep going. 2. It will cause us to commit sins that we would not commit if we had not listened to the devil. 3. It will cause us to discourage people around us. It is contagious!!! C. Discouragement in the life of a Christian is most always a work of the devil. II. Doubt A. The problem with too many church members today is that Satan has convinced them to "doubt their beliefs and believe their doubts." (Quote from Dr. Ted Adams) 1. He causes people to doubt the existence of God. 2. He has people doubting that Jesus can save them, will save them, or has saved them. 3. He has people doubting that they can really serve God through witness or ministry. 4. He has people doubting that the Bible is the word of God. B. The Bible warns about the effects of doubt. 1. James 1:5-8: Warns us the devil will keep us from prayer and make us unstable. 2. Romans 14:23: Warns us that whatever is not of faith is sin. C. Do not let Satan put doubt in your mind and heart and kill your witness and service for the Lord. III. Deception A. The devil is the master deceiver for that is what he majors in. 2 Cor. 11:14 (Just go back to the Garden of Eden.) B. He deceives us in many ways. For example: 1. He will tell us that sin is not sin. ("It can't be sin if it feels good is one of his ploys.") 2. He will tell us that our particular sins are not so bad, and are no big deal. 3. Or he will tell us that we are so sinful that we can never be forgiven. 4. Or he will tell us that we are so good that we do not need to repent. C. Don't be deceived by Satan, for he is out to ruin your life. Satan wants to discourage you,cause you to doubt and deceive you. Be aware of his tricks and depend on God to help you overcome. This sermon is to show you how to discover the joy of being a real giver, based on Luke 6:38. Giving is a major biblical theme and is important in living victoriously for Jesus.
I. What are we to give? A. We are to give ourselves and of ourselves as Jesus did. B. We are to give of our money. Why should we be afraid to ask for people's money for the Lord, for He is certainly not afraid to. C. We are to give our best in everything that we do: home, work, church, etc. II. How are we to give? A. We are to give sacrificially as Jesus did. B. We are to give cheerfully. 1 Corinthians 9:7 C. We are to give purposefully. Think of your own life and your own giving. Are you a cheerful giver? Does a sermon like this make you angry. If it does it is probably that you are not giving as you should. One of Satan's main ploys is to take our focus off of Jesus. This is what all of the sects, shuch as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Satan wants our focus on anything or anyone but Jesus. This was happening in Colossae, and Paul called them back to their focus on Jesus and not Mosaic law, ritual, etc. Following are the reasons why Jesus should be first based Verson our text:
I. Verse 13 - He delivered us..... II. Verse 14 - He redeemed us.....Literally bought us back!!!!! III. Verse 15 - He is God...... John 1:14 IV. Verses 16-17 - He created us...... V. Verses 18-19 - He is the boss.... VI. Verse 20 - He reconciled us to the Father..... PUT YOUR FOCUS ON JESUS AND ALL OF LIFE WILL BE BETTER!!!!! Verse 1 is a bold and true statement. It shows that God really cares, for He "searches" and "knows." He is not unconcerned about our lives. One of the fundamental questions in people's lives is: does God really know and does God really care?
I. Verses 2-4 - God knows....What? A. Verse 2a - He knows everything about us...... B. Verse 2b - He knows our thoughts..... C. Verse 3 - He knows our actions...... D. Verse 4 - He knows our words....... II. Verse 5 - God is present. A. Verse 5a - He is all around us and on every side. B. Verse 5b - He close by....not just around the corner but lives in us through the Holy Spirit. 1. for power 2. for protection 3. for perseverancde C. He is present with and within you!!!!! III. Verse 6 - God is deep. A. Verse 6a - "Too wonderful" or "too deep" 1. His knowledge is too great for us to fully understand. 2. His presence is too great for us to comprehend. 3. Mainly what we can do is claim it all by faith. B. Verse 6b - "Not attain unto it..." The good news is that we don't have to, for we just trust all to Him. C. God works deeply within each of us. Make these verses personal. Know that He knows you, that He is present within you, and is too deep and wonderful for you - that's what makes Him God!!!!! |
All of these materials are free of charge. There is no copyright on them and you are free to use them as you see fit. I am happy to be of assitance to you in your preaching/teaching minstry.
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