Separating the True Gospel from False Ones

Welcome back from a church from the from the Christmas break and from the holidays couplings about getting the knowledge or the beginning. First of all, yes I do have somewhat of a black eye tissue, reducing that zoom up rural was a missing zip I have to acknowledge that, because I know otherwise what you would spend the entire time wondering did. Veronica does not like her Christmas presents or is January mascara now know I'm actually the truth is, I ran into a pole coming outside of a restaurant. I know even when I say that it sounds like I'm making that out but I promise you I'm not.

I was at Longhorn steakhouse and I was I thought, added my five-year-old son was about to walk on the road and so I was like I yelled at him and took off after him. And lo and behold, there's a pole Expo this feeling better now and I can see fine vibe anyway because you get is that now you know exactly where it comes from.

Just think of this is wound from me heroically trying to save my son. Although the situation ended with me doubled over and him saying you okay daddy. So anyway, I'm also want to acknowledge that many of you were part of something that I just never want to rented the extraordinary event at the Durham performing arts center on the 23rd and 24th. How there were hundreds of you that volunteered to help make that a thank you but also want to acknowledge that our worship ministry does things that are so consistently awesome that I feel like we just sort of taken for granted and get used to the awesomeness is the new normal, and I think it would be fitting for us all over campus is just to let them know how much we appreciate the work that they do to put that together we are we are beginning today a short series of the book of Titus of your Bible and might you take it out an opening to the items which is about halfway through the New Testament. It is what we call a pastoral epistle which means a letter that Paul wrote to another pastor. This is one from Paul to Titus, who was a church planter in Crete. Incidentally, by the way, the book of Titus is the only book written specifically to a church planter. Now, if you know your Bible you like what about Timothy when he a church planter actually know Timothy worked in already established churches. Titus is a church planter on the gates of hell Crete which is where Titus was assigned was one of the most immoral places in the ancient world.

Crete was like nothing of it as the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean. Except it was an island in the Mediterranean and also the hub for piracy in the Mediterranean, which was actually pretty pretty bad problem to think of it like the first century, Tortuga, or maybe basically Titus is trying to plant churches among the cast of the Pirates of the Caribbean.

That's his assignment. Historians say that the people there stayed drunk all the time lying was a celebrated artform. In fact, in the Greek language. Crete was slang for lying. So if you said you created or what her yours and you live your who created stop reading that's meant you were lying that's that's how synonymous it was a culture there. The historian Polybius said that nowhere in the ancient world were politicians more corrupt and was even public policy and the walls bent toward the protection of the rich and the powerful men in Crete, even the apostle Paul would say the Titus look in your Bible. Chapter 1 verse 12 Paul says even one of their own profits and said Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons miss testimony is true to say what's rude Paul what happened all that on the Chico center's golf balls like hey there guy said it. I'm just saying he was onto something. Some of your like liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons up like you're describing my fraternity like you're describing my workplace. Some of you, having just gotten back from a holiday say like you're describing my family, which makes the book of Titus incredibly relevant. How do you live out the faith in a really difficult immoral place like Crete hi honey. How do you handle it when you're what you believe is is despised and belittled constantly were most people find what you believe at best irrelevant, at worst, they find it just downright silly. Paul writes the book of Titus to answer those questions. Paul has one concern for Titus in this book and it is and I quote the truth that leads to godliness. The truth always to godliness in the very first verse of chapter 1 verse one.

Paul says that Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the everybody together.

Truth that leads us everybody together be like everybody right this is the audience participation part of the program so again for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness that phrase. Truthfully, to godliness, or at least that concept is going to come up over and over throughout this book, you see God's purpose in the gospel was to create for himself a God loving and godlike people.

That's what godliness means. That was the point when he did when God saved us he saved us for himself. So the new Exodus movie recently gods and teens with Christian Bale all that and I don't hate on it was actually pretty good. It's just that it took a lot of liberties, meaning that a lot of things are one in the story they put in a lot of things that were in the store they left out. For example, Moses is more of a gladiator style general who is doing hand-to-hand combat with Pharaoh in the base of the Red Sea. When that that whole incident goes down and that didn't happen in the actual account, one of things that they left out that I was most disappointed they left out is Moses has one line that is famous more right one line he's famous for. Down through history, what is it let my people go. Not one time in the movie did Moses say that but but what people always leave out even the accounts that are more biblically faithful and I've never seen a movie that included the second part of what Moses said and that's the most important part of what he said. Moses said let my people go, God says that they might serve me.

That's the more important part of what Moses said because the Exodus lesson was not about what God was delivering them from. It was about what God was delivering them to what God Lewis delivering them to was to himself. He was calling out for himself a people that would worship him and know him.

That's his point in the gospel with Christian talk a lot about what we are saved from sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. But what were saved from is not nearly as important as what we say to say to godliness, what godliness is the love of God is learning to love the things that God loves. Therefore, Paul says one of the ways you can authenticate true religion from false religion is by how well it cultivates godliness in your heart that make sense if that's been the whole point. Then you want to be able to tell the one of the characteristics of the true gospel is that it actually cultivates godliness in your heart, not busyness. By the way, in religion, that's different religions. Every religion will make you insanely busy religions, the list of things to add to your calendar a list of things you should do would not do say it not say drink or not drink not smoke not do this… Is all kind of things that will make you crazy busy pulses. Godliness is different. Godliness is something that goes down to the passions of your heart. It affects what you love. It affects it affects that the attitudes of your heart.

There are all kinds of false teachers in Crete just like there are all kinds of false teachers today and uses these false religions are to get you busy but they're not actually going to cultivate godliness.

So what I want to do today show you how the apostle Paul explains why the gospel produces godliness in a way that nothing else can then want to show you why I every other religious approach won't work and then I want to have you asked some evaluation questions about your church and about your faith, namely this is your faith producing godliness is your faith producing godliness. Incidentally, for those of you who made a New Year's resolution. I think you'll find out here in this very first chapter of Titus one. Most of them do not work while they never make it out of the month of January so let's get started. Here's number one. How the gospel produces godliness how the gospel produces godliness. Paul introduces this in the first verse, but he really unpacks it in chapter 2 chapter 2 verse 11, Paul says, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say no. Here's a question unanswered allowed what is it refer to that is the most important question in the whole book. What is that it it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions go self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

What produces the ability to say no to ungodliness to live self-controlled and upright what is it that created the matching we had just read that text and I were to say to you explain to me how you can become more self-controlled, more upright live a better godly life. What would you say most of you would be well and greater willpower. Some of you would say I need greater knowledge I need to learn the Bible better. Some of you would say having an accountability partner. I need to get in a small group because they're going to be able to help me me finish strong. I need to start a quiet top. Maybe if judgment felt more real to me of hell with more real maybe I would act right more. Paul's answer not one of those things Paul said. Listen look at it the grace of God teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly guys to live self-controlled the grace of God. According to this text focuses our attention in three different directions. This is really important. The first place. The grace of God directs her attention is upward. He says you'll see in their verse 13 we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ upward look upward to the glorious God that has called us to himself. Verse 14, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness. We look backwards to the price he paid to save us and then he continues on, that he might purify for himself a people that are his very own.

Looking forward to the words we look upward to the God who has saved this. We look backward to the price that he paid to redeem us.

We look forward into the beautiful thing that he is making us into and those three looks upward, backward and forward is what produces godly passion in your heart. Now here's the question why why does this produce godliness in us. Let's take these apart one at a time upward upward.

The gospel redirects our worship. It redirects our worship same problems as I've often explained to you start as worship problems in the original sin.

Paul says in Romans chapter 1 pulses.

There are two components to the original sin followed component number one is false worship.

Romans 123. We gave the glory of God to created things. Glory in Hebrew the word cut bowed and means literally weight or importance. We gave the weight or the importance that we were supposed to get the God alone.

We gave that weight to something else.

By the way the New Testament word for glory is the word brilliance or beauty. If you put those two concepts together you'll come up with a good understanding of what the Bible means what it means glory minutes of glory glory is whenever you give something incredible weight in your life. Incredible importance and when you find great beauty in it that's giving it glory the original sin was we took glory. The importance and the beauty that we ought to have given to God and we begin to assign it to lesser things. Not bad things.

Sometimes things like monies like romance, like family, like status to me. Good things, but they become so important guys that we just could not imagine life being good without them because they represent ultimate beauty to us. Matt Poppel, one of our worship leaders in his book look… That sin is simply worship misdirected. We never begin to worship he said were born worshipers. We don't start worship any anymore than we start breathing is that we just misdirect our worship and that's where sin begins. As we assign weight and beauty to something more than we give it to God on their some list of things that you have in your heart because you are an idolater to center that you give more weight and more beauty to than you give the guy what is that for you reputation of others. Is it achieving something as a sexual pleasure.

I don't know what it is for you, but that's what it means to begin to sin, to change sin of the heart level. Therefore, which is where God wants to change it. He's got a change which worship because until that happens every change you make is superficial, like the guy who dutifully serves his wife was actually in love with another woman. His actions externally may be correct, but his heart belongs to someone else. God doesn't want people who act one way on the outside but whose heart belongs somewhere else God wants us to love him and to pursue him because we desire him. So Paul Tripp says it this way if we worshiped our way into sin and we gotta worship our way out and so how do we change what we worship the gospel. The gospel alone does that the gospel redirects our worship because it shows us the use Paul's word the glorious God. Verse 13 to save us a God that is more glorious, more beautiful, more weighty, more important than our idols. And until the gospel does that every change you make in religion is a superficial it's it's what I explained. He was what Martin Luther called the dilemma of the great commandment the great commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Here's a limb of that commandment.

If you love something you don't need to be commanded to love it right, you never have to command me to eat a steak kiss my wife or take a nap. I love this thing so this is naturally understood, but on the flipside, if you don't love something that cannot be fixed by command. I hate Brussels sprouts you commandment all day long so I Brussels sprouts and a bright note, maybe rabbit bacon or chocolate maybe, but otherwise hate Brussels sprouts. Luther said this is the dilemma. The dilemma is that God is commanding us to do something that we can never actually be commanded to do if we don't love and we can be commanded to love and if we do love we don't need to be commanded to love noise that it was this what the law requires a freedom from all the great commandment is asking something of you that you can never be produced. If you don't already do it like your parent your parents see you when you were in high school said love this person we want you to marry this person you can't be commanded to love you as lover you don't match the dilemma so the gospel actually redirects it really ignites our worship is the second thing the backward look.

The gospel restores gratefulness in that passage of the surgeon Romans, Paul identifies a second component of the original sin, one that most people would never guess in the thousand years like if I do say what are the original components of the original sin you maybe would come up with full source, you would never come up with his next and all pride are lost or read to greater earth look like that's the original corruption now. Possibly this.

Romans 121, they neither glorified God, there's a worship what's this, nor gave thanks, how many of you would put thankless mess as the core sin. I'm big and nobody why would thankless Ms. be the core sin will think about when you're thankless.

Not only are you robbing somebody else of the credit belongs to them when you're thankless you convince yourself that you could've gotten on fine without whatever that person gave you are really desperate for what they gave you which is why you don't feel incredibly thankful because you thought what unit they had given it to me. I would've been fine.

Think of it, one author said. Think of it like plagiarism. Plagiarism we take somebody else's ideas be put in your mouth or your vitamins your own. There really is two problems with plagiarism. Number one, you rob somebody else of the credit that they argue for their words never to be you delude yourself and others in the thinking that you can come up with that level of ideas all the time to make sense to think of it like like the fair had a relatively lived in England and I went over to visit mailman remedy to their attic and as a remedy to their attic. Lo and behold, I find a manuscript by Jane Austen who wrote pride and prejudice manuscript for a new book. She never published and nobody knew about this is called malice and misery are bluster and loneliness, anger and anal-retentive notes or something like that you not do that all day but so here it is malice and misery. Nobody nobody nobody in the world knows about this with me. I discovered so I dusted all take off her name put my name on it to get a publisher say here's my new novel published. Reason says this is fantastic publishers. It any goes crazy. I got two problems. One national credit from Jane Austen when I should've given it to her. Number two publisher think that I can come up with this kind of stuff all the time so he comes back to me and says I need a second book and then I am in deep water. When we are thankless toward God. We have two problems. Number one, we rob God the glory belonging to him.

Number two, we delude ourselves in the thinking of or self-sufficient.

We forget that every single breath we take come from God.

Every blessing on earth we have is a gift from him. That's what I tell my kids a thankful spirit is not just about politeness.

I thankful spirit is life-giving because in it. You understand that you are dependent on God, like the moon any like that I have that shines off of me as a borrowed light a reflected light that come from the sun. You remove the sun and I will go dark.

That lack of gratefulness that self-sufficiency leads independence which leads to more sin will how does the gospel transform us. It points us backwards to the gospel to our complete inability to save ourselves. We were hopeless. Jesus had to do it all. We receive it as a gift and that posture gratefulness is the fountain from which godliness springs forward. Here's your third book the gospel raises expectations the regular expectations of the gospel we get a glimpse of what God is making us. We get a glimpse of the future he has for us. He puts into us a taste or a hunger for that future and it begins to shape what we love and what we pursue, not John Piper who I'm so cured our church couple years ago your nap or so ago was speaking recently the conference of my wife was attending and she said that he's about 70 years old now and is not in poor health or anything but he says you're just me and 70 think a lot more about my death and I used to. He said in any small I said he just made this offhand comment just to the side. He said he said he said soon I will be in eternity. And then he said, sinlessness is that I can almost taste. Here's the question.

When you look forward to eternity is that what you most long for that. What you're looking forward sinlessness when I no longer am I under the bondage of this lust, jealousy, and private just eats away my heart it there. I'm going to be like God. If you've experienced the gospel. That's down in their because what you are looking forward here's all John set up her charge of the three. We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is all those who have this hope in them, purify themselves, just like he is your using these three looks the upper look to the glory of God the backward look at the price you paid before look to what is making us deliver us from sin.

At the heart level and then you become verse 14 a person that is eager zealous for you to translate that excited to do good works. It's not that you have to do good works are not gonna punish you excited about doing and you get to do good works will, by contrast, Paul says religion. False religion can do none of those things go back to chapter 1 and chapter in verses 10 to 16 of chapter 1. Pausing to go out for some false teachers are working Crete patent to this, the particulars of what these Jewish teachers believed is not the same as what false teachers in Raleigh-Durham teach. I don't know anybody run around the same thing. We got the thought teach, to teach taught that when everything I'm the point. What watches the point is all false religion has a couple of characteristics and any false religion in any generation in any time is going to have these characteristics that define treatment of the particulars are not the same. The essence behind it is right verse 10 slips for their many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group that was the false teachers use whenever they must be silenced because they are ruining whole households by teaching things out not to teach in that the sake of dishonest gain. Rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. They claim to know God by their actions. They denied him they are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good tell us how you really feel.

All I number two why religion cannot produce godliness. Why cannot produce godliness to be a couple things here. It emphasizes adherence to rules rather than internal transformation that you see that verse 10 mere words verse 13 Jewish rituals and commands. It's it is concerned with what you say and how you act, not what you are. Here's the other thing it uses God uses God's yellow phrase in verse 11. For the sake of dishonest gain God for these people and godliness becomes a means to another in these the means to houses or cars or a better life now, or even eternity in heaven did not always bad things that you're using him forces that God is not ultimately the point ultimately God is a useful means to this other in religion.

In fact, Paul explains leads to lesson the opposite of godliness. Religion acts like it's promoting godliness, but the effect it has is it produces ungodliness. She will mean they cannot shut us down instead of gratefulness.

Religion produces pride gratefulness. It produces pride.

Those who excel religion say, well, look at all that I've accomplished. I'm better than other people. I displeased the more sin I could. Pride is the mother of a lot of sense. So if I ask you right now why God to let you into heaven, why he accept you and you tell me anything about you LOL United church and numbed a person or kill anybody in number to dad on been even it seems innocuous but what you're basically saying to yourself is because I am better than this group of people over here. That's why God accepts me, and that leads to pride which leads to you. Looking down on people with these all kinds of sin or the flipside, if you don't do well in religion leads to despair you give up you get frustrated you like. I had terrible this religion may not try not fail so I might as well indulge in pornography. I might as well drink a lot because you know I'm terrible religion. I'm terrible at life, so at least the stuff feels good instead of producing godliness. Religion produces pride and despair which both lead to more sin. Their second and set a full surrender. Religion calls for only partial commandment set a full surrender. Religion only asked for a part of your life.

You see, if salvation is a negotiation. If you got a do a lot a certain amount of things or forgot to let you into heaven after you fulfill those things you feel like the rest of your life belongs to you. However, if Jesus saved you when you had nothing if you were desperate and hopeless when he saved you, then there is not 1 ounce of your life that does not belong to him as well. Paul use the word rebellious. These people are not led to full surrender their lead to negotiation, which is got a page your part. Now you owe me eternal life. Instead of worshiping God and using things you worship things and use God.

That's a characteristic set of worshiping God use image worship things and use God.

God becomes like a set a means to an end up told to destroy that before. I think about a guy college that was notorious on campus for his sexual prowess was a Playboy for him sleeping with girls was not just about lost it was about power. It's how he felt like a man.

It's got what set him above the other guys because he had the ability to get all these girls sleep with them. While this guy undergoes this religious awakening. This conversion becomes like you know this leader on campus Christian leader in its yes, the customer, you must be excited about right, but people who got close to the sky, said it was something just off about him where if you ever discussing theology with him.

He had to show you why he was smarter about the issue that you were if you're in a Bible study together. It's his opinion that he wants to be seen as the most disciple he wants to be the president of the group. It's always about him. His faith lasted for 34 years and then he kind of drifted away because what's this, his faith was never about God is faithful is about finding a new way to get what he really wanted which of power sexual prowess was once a way for power that he force for that so that he could have God, which was an even better means the power he was using God to get what he really wanted. Here's here's another one instead of this goes along with that one.

Instead of hating Sandy negotiate with it, you're always asking like how close can I get an early not be sin. Your concern was Santos to avoid punishment my CRs I how close can I get and still be okay. People who love God hate sin not concern you hate something you not try to figure out how much you can have of it trying to figure how far you can stay away from it that I got a friend who lives up in Richmond Virginia until my wife and I the stories about our RAG said it to his wife one morning at 230 the morning to the hot emergency room because she been bitten by a black widow in their bed. Now she's okay. I gave her the you know whatever, the antidote but you know she and the antivenom my wife listen to storytelling that really she says I just want you to know if that ever happens in our house. We will have to move and I don't even mean Sue a different house coming to a different state. My wife hates spiders right. I don't have because of that we will have one in the cage is a pet if we could defang a tarantula.

She's great back this summer where our families always nature science center, places and they had a tarantula. They defanged and that you can hold it made with and so my kids are all like I was holding Veronica's in the other room like a look at that. I tried to explain her unlikely. Isaiah says in the new heavens and new earth blindly. Now the Lamb, which means there's gotta be a redeemed version of the spider. She said not my heaven Mary to be that I she hates it.

So the question is not how close can we get the spiders and not get hurt. The question is how far can we keep ourselves from any version of the spider. That's how people who love God feel about.

They hate what it does to him. His glory is creation what he did to Jesus on the cross as you not like how close can I get still be okay if I want to go as far away from that as I can get Richard systems the Puritan listen to this after being transformed by the gospel. This sin itself becomes more loathsome to you and the punishment you feel about sin. You hate the sin itself more than you hate the punishment because if godliness is growing in you. That's how you begin to feel God has always been after a group of people who were godly feel that way about sin that he feels who love his glory, the way that he loves it.

He loves what he loved to do righteousness, not because they fear punishment but cannot because they love righteousness.

The illustration on a given you guys with this is some people hate it when I uses illustration, but it makes a point is why use it. I told you if like him right before the service started on like seconds before the service started. Somebody just threw up right here in the middle floor right right on your disturbing big steaming pile of vomit and it happened right will serve started the service got going on.

There's not a single one of you in here. Not one that would need me to stand up here and say now is against the rules of the summit church for you cannot hear look at this vomit. This vomit is off-limits. You're not allowed.

Look it up even if applicable. You came into my lip and I will put guards on either side of baseball bats to make sure that when I'm out looking you know that you're looking at this vomit. There nobody here that needs to hear me say that is there right now. Nope, nobody now is your German Shepherd listening to me right now. You do need to hear that and you do need the guys were bats beside the vomit because you like oh warm vomit half digested hot dog. Awesome. You know God does not want spiritual dogs in heaven who only avoid sin, because they're afraid God can walk him with a baseball bat.

If they do what God wants his people who have a taste for righteousness who don't need to be threatened with punishment or blessing who just pursue holiness and righteousness because they love it. Like God loves it.

Religion keeps you busy with rituals commands a mere words. But religion can never curb sin of anything religion just encourages it. You do not analogy of use is told you it's like religion is something like it to take a very like a bar that you used to lift weights with very hard metal but kinda brittle to if I would have it up here and I will strong enough to bend it just a little bit to put all my weight into it and bend it now.

Again, I could never been a very far I'm one of two things would happen because I'm not that strong. It would eventually like to know because I lose my strength and I let it go in and just snap back to the original shape right or I would put so much pressure on it.

If I were strong enough that I would snap the bar and I've explained that religious pressure produces one of those two reactions and you religious pressure will cause you to conform for a little while when the right pressures are there peer pressure, your parents, your friends or whatever, but the moment there's pressure the gongs go back to the way that your heart wants to be.

Sometimes fear is that pressure every year about this time we have somebody that's gotten scared and so you get scared you circumvent the church and in that there was a way and you go back to church because you never really love God you use. Gotta get are your favorite color was pressure or this second reaction we put so much pressure on it that you snap spiritually. I see this happen with high school students all the time. Like I hate my parents rules. I feel like I'm in captivity you always drag me to church and masonry my Bible and so they just snap spiritually walk away from the faith. If I were to take a blow torch though and I were to heat the metal men I could take the ends of the bar and shape it in the whatever shape I wanted to be because now the Constitution of the metal was different. What Paul is saying is that the gospel fires the heart so that it can be read shape according to godliness and religion can never do that because it's words and external pressures but cannot reshape the heart. John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim's progress is this great little hump or at least that's attributed to him that I've loved over the years Ron John run the law commands gives me neither feet nor hands far better news the gospel brings it bids me fly and gives me wings. The gospel does what religious law can never do.

So Paul says is a lot of religious people that claim to know God with their words and with their actions, but the shape of their hearts makes them did not him, even though their lives are crazy busy, religiously speaking the shape of their hearts is detestable, disobedient and unfit for every good work. But the gospel changes that the kindness of God. Paul says leads us to true repentance by redirecting our worship by restoring gratefulness and by raising our expectations. Charles Spurgeon said it this way when I thought God was hard.

I found it easy to sin, but when I found God so fine, so good, so overflowing with compassion. It was then I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against one who loved me so and sought my good Christianity is not turning over a new leaf. With the power of a new life. It's not a resolve to do better. It's a resurrection to new life in Christ. You don't need New Year's resolutions. You need a new heart and you need the power of the Holy Spirit and that comes not by exhortation me yelling at you, it comes by narration of a beautiful event which is God your prints, your bridegroom, your mighty warrior, the glorious God appearing for you coming to take on sin on your behalf giving up his life to redeem you, purifying you for himself rising again for you promising you. He's going to come back and when you look upwards to the glory of that God backward to the price we pay them forward to what is offering you godliness grows up in your heart and righteousness brings out you don't need me yelling you what you need. All you need anything. You just need this gospel that just flows out of you because it's new life flowing in you. Religion says this is in this contest are religion to Patrick and Chester religion says you should not sleep with her boyfriend.

You should read your Bible every day. You should not get drunk. You should witness to your friends. You should not lose your temper, but none of those are good news to someone struggling with those issues to them all the should and should not feel like condemnation, but what the gospel says is this not you should not but you need not, you need not get drunk because Jesus offers a better refuge and alcohol. You need not lose your temper because God is in control the situation. You need not give yourself away the money because God is a better treasurer and security. The money is. You need not make yourself a slope to romance because God is your fulfillment in your companion sin, says Tim Chesser is always making promises of the gospel exposes those promises as false promises, and points to God is bigger and better and more glorious than anything. Sin offers that is good news like I often tell you guys the gospel that we preach here is not fundamentally good advice, not leadership lessons from uncle JD ways to live your life better. The gospel is not good advice is good news is good news, not about what you should do but about what God did so in light of that, Paul urges us to do two things will urges us urges essay to evaluate the religious teaching you receive. What are the teachers that you listen to what I emphasize, emphasize things you should do ways that you should be where they emphasize the grace of God and the power of new life that comes from what he did know. Listen, every religious tradition tends to lose the thread of the grace of God. Every single one, just in different ways. If you came out of a ritualistic tradition. You probably had church attendance, the prayers, a code of ethics that was emphasize to you go to church, light the candles and the prayers for the sins godliness was if you came out of a Baptist tradition like I did what was emphasize work the standards of behavior. This is how Christians look like talk about address right or early activity you know a good Christians are busy Christians have told you that when high on one of the churches I'd with that. When I was growing up was we had to use a course and in the pew in front of us with little blue envelope that your service we offer and in every way anybody tried with this yet will offer you put it in on it. The front of it were a list of things that good Christians are to do every week like read your Bible, pray witness and you have told you that used to be again for my sister and me to see if we could start and complete all the activities on that front of that omelette. By the time he often started when I got to us. So was like you to read the Bible check. I pray God's I have a check and recheck and share Christ with somebody I share Christ with my sister witness to her every single week, check put the money there in the offering, you know, but it was great. We just do this you what you do this if you're busy, you know, sometimes what's got emphasize on if you came out of a prosperity tradition. Oh, it's realizing your potential. That's how you begin to live for and I causes visionary evangelism, the way God changes us is by showing us a vision of what we could be in the future showing us what he wants us to have our best life out here and then that change is it's not the thought of your best life that is going to change you his understanding that the best life ever lived, was given for you as a sacrifice if you came out of a Pentecostal tradition was emphasize the spirit baptism yet. Listen, I'm in the fullness of the spirit. I wrote a book on the spirit of God is there to point you to the beauty of the gospel that the whole point is that is the grace of God appears in your heart. That's what teaches you to deny ungodliness from the spirit of God comes in your heart what he does is he makes the grace of God appear larger to you if you came out of a reformed or a Bible tradition that was all about learning learning facts. You can go to church. You can class you brought a notebook and you brought peers of godly people take notes we call transformation. My education is not transformation my education through transformation, revelation of the beauty of God. You came out of a more liberal tradition it was all about activism, all good Christians care about the social injustice in good Christians try to fix this in their community and that's awesome. But it is not what I do for my community. It's not what I discipline myself to do that produces godliness. What brings the power of new life is the blood of Jesus. Would you be free from your passion and pride is power in the blood come to come for a cleansing the Calvary's time. There is wonderful power in the blood. It was in the cross listen that you were released first from the penalty of sin which were released also from the power of sin from the penalty of sin. In the past when the power of sin in the present.

If you want to know how to say the note ungodliness and worldly lusts in the grace of God has to appear to your heart. Satan loves to promote religion that is divested of the power of the blood stains find you want to church he actually prefer it because then you can keep yourself deluded into thinking that your sufficient Satan is into religion, but he wants you to be a place where the blood of Jesus is not emphasized.

So Paul tells the Cretan believers I say to you, listen churches and pulpits that do not centralize the gospel and the grace of God should be avoided at all costs that sound harsh now calendar families been around how many friends you got there. You need to avoid them. And if that sounds harsh then read the book of Titus because Paul tells them have nothing to do with counterfeit Gospels because all they do is promote rebellion and sin in the heart is only the gospel gives life to you and your family. If you care about life in yourself and your family and you will get yourself in place for the grace of God is talk about it, celebrated in worship and soaked in every single week and he says there's a second thing last thing you need to evaluate your sincerity as a believer that is Lance you see evidence of this faith in you producing godliness is also safe, you'll see that evidence and that you cannot encounter the real thing you got a form of religion into mere words. What you don't know the power one last illustration.

I've used the cannot help you see this is like if I came in here late sermon youstart light come on me up here three minutes later, Nana monograph buyers all messed up like I'm and I'm like yeah you would not believe what just happened on the way over here and have a flat tire and so I stopped change hired in a blog, not the lug nuts rolled out across the interstate Interstate 40 and and brother pick up lug knot and pick it up and looked often right is on picking it up I will go. Here's this tractor-trailer company at 75 miles an hour and not hundred yards then you know trying to slow down the runs over been trying to figure out what manner was we backed up again. I got up and I lug nuts not been a change in the tire and came on over here but I finally like a lifetime. You're listening to me and you're like no if you got hit by tractor-trailer going 35 miles an hour, that you would be little different. You were taught different. You want different every thing about you be different. You can it would get hit with that kind of forces they the same but Paul says it is the grace of God has appeared to you of his glory has unfolded itself. You. You will be the same.

I'm not talking about perfection, you're listening.

I I am more sensitive to my sin. Now that I've ever been. I thought I get prouder quicker but I was my temper.

Gregor, I feel like the lust of the flesh or they're not getting any better, talk about perfection, but I'm saying in me. There is this hunger that is growing because sinlessness is there and I know it's what God has for me and I want to see his face, and I want to be sinless, and I'm not there now but I want to be so badly and although my body has all this Santa keeps tempted me. There's a thing brought me this is yes one day one day I will see God. That change is happening in the you you have never seen the grace of God. If you can say that you know God and go on to live in sin and does not really care if you're sleeping with your girlfriend or boyfriend you're cheating on your spouse. You're a dishonest person is really don't care about the passions of the lust of the flesh and what they're doing to you that I'm telling you, you have never encountered the grace of God is your faith as a producing godliness is a real much about your headroom. If you would never receive the gospel lesson is a gift, the grace of God.

Grace means that God did it for you the gift you have to receive the gospel is that Jesus is Lord, if you will surrender yourself to him, repent of your sins that Jesus you're the Lord, not me, will receive the death that he died for you in your place on the cross of Satan.

Right now in this moment right now they say Lord Jesus, I received this grace as a gift is mine, surrender, and I received your believer, you know you only receive the grace of God. Maybe this year instead of megabucks or New Year's resolutions.

Maybe what you should ask for his revelation from God to see grace more clearly this year so the godliness will not be something we have to yell at you about, but some of it just grows as naturally as roses on the rosebush but I pray that as our church, behold now, this grace in these next few moments even you would open the eyes of our heart and give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that this grace would appear to us beautiful and glorious as it is. Pray in Jesus name