Doing Good - How Doing Good Will Change Your World, Part 2

Have you ever noticed when you do something nice for someone else, when you're kind or generous, that you benefit? There's something that happens inside your heart and your emotions. It's really positive. But did you know that when you act kind and generous to others, it can actually change other people's world forever? That's today. Stay with me.

Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with shipping group ships are Bible teacher on this international discipleship program. I'm Dave Drouet. And in this program, Chip wraps up his series. Doing Good. What happens when Christians live like Christians? We've been studying the instructions the apostle Paul gave to his young friend and protege. Titus, knowing he was a little fish in a very big antique Christian pond.

If you've missed any of the previous messages in this series, let me encourage you to download the Chip Ingram app or go to Living on the Edge dot org and click the broadcasts tab. The entire series is there for you, along with Chip's message notes. Now let's join Chip for part two of his message. How Doing Good Will Change Your World. From the Book of Titus, Chapter three.

God says to me. And he says to you, I want you to treat these people that I have created. And I want you to treat these people that whether they receive the gift or not. I believe that every person on the face of the earth was worthy of the price tag of the blood of my son, Jesus.

And so regardless of their color, regardless of their education, regardless if they're dirty, regardless if they're smelly, regardless if they're rich, regardless of their poor. I want you to treat every person 24/7 like a very important person, whether they have the penthouse or whether they're the elevator operator, whether they're the person in front of McDonald's or the people that owns the McDonald's chain. I want you to treat everyone, regardless of their political views, regardless of their lifestyles, regardless of how they live, regardless of how many tattoos or piercings they have or how many Rolex watches they wear.

I want you to treat them as a very important person. And the apostle Paul said, when we do that, you're change your community. That's what we do.

Christians who live like Christians in our community obey the law, serve their community, guard their tongue, refuse to fight or winsome and forbearing.

And they treat everyone like a VIP.

In the rest of this chapter, he's going to say, why? Why is this a non negotiable got your Bible handy. We're going to pick up the story. Chapter three, verse three. The NIV says at one time, if you have a new American standard, says four, in the original language, there's a little word f o r it means there's a reason. The reason we're to live like that is this for at one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in Mallison envy, being hated and hating one another.

The first reason that we have to live like the apostle Paul filled by the Holy Spirit, shared with us is because of our former life. Our former life.

Demands that we care. Demands that we care.

These words, there's foolish is not intellectual, we think of a fool as someone that this means a moral fool, the foolish senator's heart. There is no God. A fool is someone who doesn't have spiritual discernment. They don't know about spiritual realities. Disobedient means people that are defying authority with their parents, the government, and most of all, God deceived me into actively straying from the course or path that you know is right and following false guides that enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We get that right.

You said, you know, some of us were enslaved with sexual addictions, food addictions, word addictions, alcohol addictions, drug addictions, people pleasing addictions. And then he says what happened is we had no sense of God. We were deceived. We're living like this. And then envy and malice. It means that when other people are doing well, we resent them for it. And then finally, this phrase of being hated and hating. It's literally when our lives get to the point where we continue to generate where we're odious and repulsive and disgusting to other people.

There's stuff in your past and there's stuff in your mind and there's stuff that you've done and there's stuff that you've said and there's closet that you have. Here's the deal. There is no room for judgment. There's only room for compassion apart from the grace of God.

So go. All of us.

And the apostle Paul said, we're going to obey the law. We've got to serve and we've got to care.

And we got to love and got to treat everyone like a VIP, because the only difference between us and them is that we used to be here. And we've received Grace and we're over here. So we need to look back and we need to care the way God cared for us. One of the great delights of ministering in Santa Cruz was the non-religious nature. And I mean, everybody was messed up. It's why and I fit in so well. No, I'm dead serious. I never made it to the back or anything. I would get done. I'd come down and be surrounded by people and people. I mean, out loud. There was just like they didn't know they weren't Christian. These men, you know, this morning, like, you know, last night I was I did a couple things of cocaine and, you know, and I hear you talking about, you know, the sex stuff. I got an addiction. So if someone around here can help me and there's like eight people standing around and I'm thinking.

You know what they knew?

They just knew we're all in this together. And I watched them and they would bring their friends. I mean, they bring their friends were all kind of backgrounds. I remember one particular friend. He was about six four, but in high heels. He was really tall, always wore a bright red dress. And I always made it a point to go shake his hand, let him know I'm really glad you're here and that God loved him. That was one of the great joys. You know what is? There wasn't a sense of judgment there. There wasn't a sense of us. And then there was a sense of we've been forgiven. How do you view? I think some Christians think that those outside of Christ are like the enemy and God saying, what? What? I died for them. I love them. You must treat them with love. Yes, with truth, but with love. Because I need them. And the way we will reach them is the way that you got reached. It's the kindness of God that brings about repentance. But it's not simply because our former life demands that we care. It's because our new life demands that we share.

Follow along and verse for notice. It starts with.

But he talks about the former way that all of us lived. To some degree or another. But when the kindness and the love of God, our savior, appeared, that's that word epiphany. It means at a historical point in time, in space, time, history. Jesus came to the Earth, was born of a virgin. Lived a perfect life. Was killed. Paid for the sins of all men of all time. Rose from the dead. Ascended to the right hand of God.

But at the right time, the kindness and love of our savior appeared, he saved us.

And then he's going to give the basis for it, not because of righteous things we've done, but because of his mercy. He saved us. How do the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our savior purpose clause, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs. Heirs with God having hope of eternal life. And this is a trustworthy statement. And I want to stress these things so that those who have trusted in God may be careful.

To devote themselves. To doing what is good. The divine intervention he saved us. Write that down. Were you? He saved us two key words kindness.

And the love, literally. It's a very interesting compound word. But the motivation here, the divine intervention, kindnesses, pity or concern, and a heart that is moved by someone's condition. God saw your sin in my sin and our broken relationships and our lying and our posing and all of our stuff. And instead of being repulsed, even though he's holy. His heart was. I want to help. The compound word. The love of man is O. You know, like Philadelphia. And we get it. And the other word we get is for mankind.

Like anthropology. And those two words are stuck together.

The God of the universe, totally apart from anything he sees in you or me or any person. His heart and compassion is to save and to love and to care.

And it was an intervention. I saw an intervention. It wasn't done really well. And Dr. Drew didn't show up. And we didn't have a lot of professionals. But my dad's alcoholism went from mild to not mild to extreme to not coming home. And I remember the intervention and I was there. My sister was there and my dad was there. And my mom was like this reb that was his name was Ralph. That called him Reb Reb. He had a decision make. You can have me and the kids and she held up this bottle. US or them? Intervention. You got 24 hours.

My dad was a smart guy. He never took another drink. Now, I wish he would have got counseling or she got help. He later became a Christian. Can you understand that God intervened for you? He came to Earth. He intervened last night.

I was at the door and one of the people that were serving as an usher was just a casual conversation. And another guy's kids are grown.

They had a friend who's a single mom, single mom, had four children and she died in July. No family, no relatives.

This man and his wife went to his kids and said, you know, we feel like we should give generously and we should love extravagantly and they're of a different ethnic background than this man. And we're sensing God wants us to adopt all four for these kids.

And they did.

You know, when we came and we talked and we dreamed and we prayed and we talked about doing good, that's doing good. That's doing good.

That's not like I did a nice little good deed or I brought coffee for someone at work. All that's great. But those are all the training wheels.

When you and I start doing good, where it cost us like that, we will receive grace. And you know what? Can you imagine what all this friends are thinking? You're an idiot, right? What are you thinking?

And then the other thing you're thinking is where in the world do you get something inside of you to make that level of sacrifice? I will tell you this. There are four lives that'll be changed forever and ever and ever and ever. And who knows how many others.

And it's going to look different for all of us. But the question that God is asking you today in me today is what's it look like for you? You know, we talk about change the world. Here's how the world gets changed. It gets change when you change your world and you change your world. When you do good in your home.

When you do good at work. And when you do good in your community.

And so he says he say this, he intervened and now he's kind of going to break down the basis of that salvation. Notice, it's not because you're so wonderful, not by works of righteousness.

What we have done, basically, you can't earn your way to God's favor.

He he's really clear. Doing good is so important. It has nothing to do with being saved. It has nothing to do with being delivered out of your sin and being delivered into relationship not by works of righteousness, but according to his mercy. Mercy means that someone deserves something and you withhold the punishment they deserve. It's God's mercy. It's his kindness. It is love. Salvation is all about what God has done. We receive it by faith. But it's his work. And then notice the means of salvation by the washing of regeneration. Literally, it's a picture of the new birth.

When Jesus was walking upon the earth and he'd done multiple miracles and one very smart moral religious man who is a religious leader came to him by night and he said, We know that you're from God because no one except someone from God could do all the miracles that you do.

And before I could even ask a specific question, Jesus said to him, Nicodemus, unless a man is born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.

And Nicodemus, I mean, this is this brilliant guy had probably most all of the Old Testament memorized, schooled, trained moral, squeaky clean.

And he goes, I don't get it. That's chipps translation.

I don't get it because I'm getting pretty big and I couldn't go back my mother's womb. He said, no, you don't understand. Physical life demands a physical birth.

Spiritual life demands a spiritual birth, that which is born of water, picturing of the birth. The water breaks. Is flesh, that which is born of the spirit. Is Spirit Nicodemus, how can you, a teacher of Israel, not understand that you must have a second birth?

You need to understand that you, despite your religion and your morality, you've sinned against a holy God. And you need to recognize that you fall short of his perfection, repent of your sin and the empty hands of fate. Ask him to forgive you. And the new covenant is the spirit of the living. God will come inside your mortal body, washing your sins away and regenerating you as the spirit takes up presence.

In the early church, baptism was so linked, so linked to salvation because it was so public. Then when you went public, then you might get disowned. When a when a gentile wanted to convert to Judaism, they would have a baptism. He would baptize himself. He would go underwater. My old life has died. And now I'm coming. I'm a Jew. And in the early church, when people would trust in Christ. In fact, notice Housh how closely they trust in Christ, baptism, trust in Christ baptism because they were going public with their faith. And so he uses the washing. That symbolic washing of baptism is the picture of what God has done spiritually. And I think in some circles we've tried to make it so clear that it's not the actual act of being baptized. It saves you. We have hundreds and hundreds of Christians that have not obeyed God and done good in some of the most basic first steps as a follower of Christ.

Being baptized, going public. Recognizing that you're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, you want the world to know.

And so he tells us not only to the means of salvation, but then he talks about the result. The result of our salvation. He says, therefore, having men justify that means we have a new standing with God. Justification, literally the word it's it's a this is a legal perspective. Justification is declaring just as if you hadn't sinned. It would be like if you went before a judge and it had all these things and you owed five billion dollars and you're going to be in jail until you can pay all five billion dollars. And Jesus would show up and say, tell you what, I'll take the debt of five billion dollars on me and I want everything in my account put on her or him. And so God, in a legal action justifies you. And so views you as a son or a daughter just as though you have never sinned. And in your new legal position, the imputed righteousness of Christ, you can never have to earn God's favor. You are the object of his affection. Not because you're wonderful, because Jesus is wonderful.

And so you're covered with a robe of righteousness. The next, he says, not only are you legally declared, but you have a new family relationship. Now you're an heir. What's an air incident? Not what an air is. You're related to someone. So what they have you have access to, right? Your heirs get your money. Your heirs get your house. Your heirs. Get your cars. Your heirs. Get your stuff. Well, what does Jesus have? Every spiritual blessing in heaven if he joins, one says, every spiritual blessing you have. You're seated with him. All God's resources, his power, his love, his spirit. That's now the moment you trust in Christ and forever. And then finally, it's interesting. Not only does he legally declare declare you as a son or daughter and say that you're now an heir with full privileges. But he says there's a new mandate from God. He says be careful to do good work. That's like a new vocation. He says you're never saved by works. But once you are saved, when you at a certain time, on a certain day, turn from your sin and receive the grace of God, he says. Your new job description is you're like an ambassador. You're like an agent of light. An agent of love. It's Jesus living in you by his spirit, directing you through his word, encouraging you through his body. And when you wake up, there's your neighborhood and you're the agent of light. You're at work. You're the agent of light. There's a need. You're an agent of love and the love of Christ and the light of Christ. You do good. And when you do good, they glorify your father who's in heaven and say, why would someone who doesn't know me adopt me? Why would somebody who doesn't care loan me money? Why someone who doesn't care. And I totally disagree with him and treat me with dignity.

Do you get it?

It's not like Jesus has said, I've given you the cure for cancer or I've given you the cure for HIV, and now you're gonna afford it because people are dying. They're dying all around you. Their marriages are dying. Their families are dying. They're struggling in their finances. They're depressed. They drink too much. They take too many pills. They're discouraged. What do they need? They need delivered. They need delivered out of and delivered into. And how are they gonna know that God cares?

When you do good, where you're at with who you know, just the way God made you.

In fact, he gives some final words to Titus in versus nine through fifteen because there's some big enemies of living this way. Notice as we pick it up, he says. But notice again, there's a contrast. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law because these are unprofitable and useless. In other words, don't get distracted. I mean, there's some Christians that get so bent out of shape about minor things and they'd beat that drum and beat that drum and beat that drum. Just don't go there. Life's too short and some things are too important. He goes on worn a divisive person, literally a heretic once and then warning the second time and after that have nothing to do with him. Mean don't don't fight these battles. I know as a Christian growing up, I thought to myself, if Jesus has really real and unity and love, then why are there like seventeen thousand denominations? And all these people that when you talk to this group and this group, they talk so bad about one another. He says, don't put up with that, don't put up with it.

Your small group don't put up with in your church. You've got to be unified around all the things that matter and important. He said you may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful. He self condemned. And then he's gonna just close as a some final remarks. He says, you know, as soon as I send Artemus and Ticketless to you, do your best to come to me at Nikki topolice because I have decided to enter there. Do everything you can to help Zina's that lawyer in Apollos on their way.

They have make sure they have everything they need and then it kind of closes like just in case. Titus, you missed the point of the whole letter. OK. Just just in case you sort of missed something. Are people must learn process to devote themselves to what?

Doing good. Doing good.

God can change your neighborhood, your workplace, your home, your community.

And I believe he will. Now, the question for you is, what are you going to do? The question for some of you is, when I went through what it meant to have a personal relationship with Christ. You realize I either don't know for sure that I have that or I'm pretty sure I don't. You can't do good out of your own strength for any amount of time. God is good.

And when he lives in you, he will do good in you. And then through you.

And so your application is to let God do good for you and receive him today as your savior.

Before we go on today, I think it's extremely important that we don't. Gloss over what you just heard.

There's many people listening right now. The fact of the matter is, is that this is an appointed divine appointment where the living God wants you to know he wants to do good for you. Through Jesus Christ, he's paid for your sin. Jesus has risen from the dead to prove that it's true and grace is the free offer of God to say to you, would you be willing to turn from your sin to admit that you have need? And to say to God you're sorry for what you've done and ask him to right now, at this moment, you can be driving your car and talk to him. You can be on the treadmill and talk to him. You can pull off to the side of the road and the spirit of God, that sense that you had, that something's happening is him probing your heart to say, I love you. I'm for you. I want to do good. I want to give you the greatest gift ever. I want to give you eternal life. My son came. He died in your place. He rose from the dead. And he's asking you, will you receive life and then follow me all the days of your life? If that's your heart's desire, then it's a transfer of trust right now in your mind. Or if you can stop and and even speak out loud, you can pray. Dear God, I come to you in the name of Jesus. And I admit to you that I do fall short of being perfect. I've messed up. I've hurt people. And I'm sorry. I want to ask you right now to forgive me for all my sins. I ask you to come into my life right now, this minute. Fill me with your spirit. And, Lord, will you help me to follow you all the days of my life. Thank you very much for your forgiveness. On this day in Jesus name. And what I want you to know is that God has forgiven you because it's not based on what you can or would do. It's based on what he's already done. He loves you. And as you pray that prayer, you're transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of light and you're now his son or daughter. And so your next step is to call the greatest Christian, you know, or text them or tell someone today I pray to receive Jesus Christ as my savior. Now I need some help. I don't know much about the Bible. I don't know where there's a good Bible teaching church. But I know I'm a brand new baby in Christ and I. I need and want some help. So get a New Testament that you can understand and dig in and just see the great playing God has for you.

If you prayed with Chip, I hope you'll take a minute and call us at one eight eight eight three three three six zero zero three. We'd love to talk with you and get a free resource in your hands that that'll help you understand what you just did and where to go from here. If you'd rather go to Living on the Edge dot org or tap special offers or you'll find that same resource on the new believer's tab. We just want to help you get started on your new journey of faith.

As we close, today's program hits a special day whenever we get to very clearly share the gospel. And with about a million people who listen each week. You know, there's just thousands and thousands of people that this was their divinely appointed day to receive Jesus Christ as their savior. And I know in my life, I'm sure many, many, many of you, it's just it was the complete turning point of everything. And now that turning point is happening in the lives of thousands and thousands of people this day because they heard the gospel on this station at this time. And I just want to say a very special thank you to all of you that pray.

And a special thank you to all of you that financially support, because the reward and the encouragement is for all of us together. Thanks so much. God did a great work today, and you were part of it.

Well, this has been a great run. You know, sometimes listening again helps what you're learning stick a little better. The resources for this series on doing good are still discounted. But this is the last day. Another option that's always free are Chip's message notes. You'll find them in a couple of places online. Just go to Living on the Edge dot o r g and click on the broadcasts tab. Apple listeners will find them by tapping fill in notes. Chips outlines. All of his scripture references and much more are there to help you get the most out of each message.

Well, until next time. This is Dave. Drew is saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.