We thank you for the ability that you've given us to wake up this morning, to get dressed, to have the health that we do and to gather here together as your redeemed body and to worship you. Father, I thank you for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I thank you for all the true churches that are here and for the men and women of God that you have raised up who are faithful followers of you. Father, I specifically pray this morning for First Baptist Church Keller. And I begin by saying thank you so much for that church. Thank you for their pastor, Keith Sanders. having the vision to do a replant here in Ulus. And I thank you for this local body. I thank you for what you have done here in such a short period of time. May we just pause and give you all the praise and all the glory for that. Father, we come to you this morning, acknowledging first and foremost that you are holy and we are in desperate need of wisdom and strength and encouragement from you. And so we say thank you for your holy word that you've given to us. I pray that we would handle it with care and reverence this morning. And I pray that you would help us to apply your word to our life. Show us areas where we are failing you. Show us areas where we can praise your name for what you are doing right now. And may we be quick to give you thanks. Thank you for this morning. Holy Spirit do a great mighty work that can only be explained by you. May we be faithful to praise your name. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. If you would remain standing for the reading of God's word and turn with me to Titus chapter two. Titus chapter two. And for context, I'll be reading the entire chapter this morning. Titus chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith and love, and in steadfastness. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works. And in your teaching, show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned so an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works, declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. Please be seated. So the Lord's desire that we see here, the Lord's desire for every church is that his children have sound doctrine and sound living. not just right thinking, but right living. For example, Sunday morning worship without weekly service is not pleasing to the Lord. Our lives as God's children are to declare that we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, the only savior of the world. So last week, Paul addressed the congregations of those in Crete, The undeniable truth that every age group has a role to play and is a need for the maturity of the local body. Every age group is necessary. Every age group is needed. We need one another as the body of Christ. It says older men are being mature. There to be examples of holiness. Men who take seriously God's word. Men who love the Lord and they love the church. Men who are ready for whatever season. and who are training young men to be self-controlled. Older women, they are to be reverent in behavior. They are to teach what is good, training younger women to love and submit to their husbands, to love their children, to be self-controlled, to be pure, to be working at home, not reviling the word of God with how they live, but honoring the word of God with how they live. Paul even addresses bond servants, emphasizing that no matter our earthly position or status, that we need correct doctrine. And that correct doctrine is to be on display in our lives. So in everything, the doctrine of God, our savior may be adorned. And I was thinking more about this this past week. It's quite interesting to think like the man who is writing this is Paul himself. that even when he was in chains, in prison, he still had the correct living. See, our lives are to image Christ. Our lives are to cause others to be attracted to Christ, to be attracted to the gospel. It's not just something that we believe and we hold on to, but it's something that we live out in everyday life. To live is Christ, to die is gain. In our text today, Paul builds upon the doctrine of salvation. Verse 11, it says, for the grace of God has appeared. Bring salvation for all people. So saints on the island of Crete were not waiting for the Savior of the world to come. Christ had already come. The promised Messiah came. That is past tense. Jesus Christ had already lived a sinless life on earth. He had already been crucified. He had already been raised from the dead. He had already appeared to over 500 people at one time. And he had already given the great commission and descended into heaven. And the promised Holy Spirit had already come. had been received and the charge to go and be witnesses of the Lord's work had already been given. This letter was written approximately 35 years after the ascension of Christ. These saints needed to start living according to the words of their risen Savior. So correct doctrine and correct living is essential among God's elect. It is essential among God's elect. Verse 11 begins with grace and rightly so. The grace of God has appeared. So grace is God's unmerited favor towards wicked sinners, whereby he rescues them from death and he makes them born again. Grace is unworthy sinners receiving a gift from God they did not and could not earn nor deserve. Grace, in this verse, is a divine person. The grace of God has appeared. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the grace that appeared. Has appeared. That which has been brought to light, that which has become visible, that which has become known. Paul already addressed this to young Timothy in second Timothy chapter one, beginning in verse six, he says, for this reason, I remind you to fan into flame, the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands for God gave us a spirit, not a fear, but a power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony. our Lord nor of me his prisoner but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. And what did He do? He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. So grace has come. Christ has come. Salvation has come. Meaning the abolishment of spiritual death and the giving of spiritual life is found for those who are in Christ. In Romans 3, beginning in verse 20, We read, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Oh, the law, the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction. All of sin, all fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he has passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So Christ has come. This is paramount because we have all sinned and we are in all of us are in need of a savior. So you have redemption and you have justification. This is being found in right standing before God, the father being cleansed and presented spotless because of Jesus Christ. And this is only possible by the blood of God, the son. In 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, it says, For there is one God, there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So the question we begin with, as he starts off with in today's verse, it says, For the grace of God has appeared to bring salvation. Do you have faith in Christ? Are you trusting in Christ, who he is and what he has done for your salvation? In Titus chapter three, he expounds upon this in verse four. He says, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior. See, grace has come and as children of God, this truth will transform our minds and lives every day. If every day, this will transform our lives. If we renew our minds and the word and we apply the word. It is both. We must renew our minds every single day, and we must apply the word of God to our lives every day. Otherwise, you and I will not live, transform lives. We will live lives as if declaring with our mouth, God has saved me and redeemed me, but my life says I look just like the rest of the world. That must not be the church. In Romans 12, one and two, Paul talks about this. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. So how is he appealing to them? How is he talking to those, the church in Rome? He says, I want you to remember the mercies of God. When we hear the word mercies of God, that should stir our affections up for the Lord. That should remind us of his great love for us, that he would send his one and only son to die on the cross, to take the punishment that we could not take. He says, I appeal to you, therefore, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and acceptable to Him. He appeals to them by the mercies of God. If our minds are not transformed, our lives will not glorify God. and how quickly we need our minds to be transformed. I know some of you this morning, it was probably really difficult for you to be here on time and maybe you had outside circumstances or possibly you're just not a morning person. But I promise you, your mind needs to be transformed before you get to work. I promise you that you need to meet with the Lord early in the morning and you need to spend time with the Lord. For some of you, maybe that's not possible unless you're driving in the car. Praise be to God. Spend time with the Lord in the car. renew scripture in your mind. We need to be transformed. If our minds are not transformed, our lives will not glorify God. In verse 11, it says, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. Now, this is not implying the salvation of all people. This verse cannot be used for universalism. The proper interpretation of this verse is declaring that Christ appeared and brought salvation for all types of people, every tribe, every tongue, the Jew and the Gentile. There is only one way to be saved, the grace of God, Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy 4, beginning in verse 7, it says, have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is truthworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end, we toil and we strive because we have our hope set on the living God, who is a Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. So there is a Savior for all people, but the saved, they believe and they obey. Salvation has come for male and female, old and young, and for every single class. Salvation has already come, but this is not the end of the story. Verse 12, what do we have? We have the word of God. It says, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. So the Lord's children need to live their redemptive purpose. The Lord's children need to live their redemptive purpose. Salvation has come, Jesus has come, and he has trained us, he has instructed us into what to believe and how to live. The power of God in Christ that redeemed us is now in us, and it is by that power that we can live godly lives, and it is by His power we are to live godly lives. See, it's a very simple thing. We may grasp that intellectually, I know I can live by the power of God, I know I can live this life, but we have to abide in the Word of God and we have to examine our life to make sure that we are living that life, not just knowing that we can live that life. It's the application of the doctrine. John MacArthur said, God's sovereign saving grace not only is a deliverer, but also a teacher, is a guide, is a counselor. When a person is genuinely saved, truly converted and given new life in Jesus Christ, there is a transformation, not only in nature, there is a transformation in living. As saints, we are to be living godly lives by the power of God. Paul uttered these words to the Church of Galatia in Galatians 2.20. He says, I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. In the life, I live in the body. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. See, those in Christ are no longer under the control of Satan, and sin no longer defines us. We have a new heart. The righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us, and God the Father sees Christ when he looks at us. But we must grasp this truth. Our justification is not to be separated from our sanctification. Our justification is not to be separated from our sanctification. It cannot be separated from our lives. Meaning when we are saved, our lives will be different. Our passions, they will change. We will no longer have a pattern for working for our own kingdom. We will work for the Lord and his eternal kingdom. This will be our pattern. We will read the word of God. We will obey, we will work for the Lord. We will hear and understand the word by the Holy Spirit and praise him. We will examine our lives and strive to image Christ more and more in this life. Because it's not just as soon as you are saved. I've seen it many times when you see an individual who's saved that once they become saved, one of their first things they're concerned about is the salvation of souls around them. How often I've seen a man or woman get saved and one of the first things out of their mouth is, oh my gosh, I know someone in my family. I know someone near to me who needs the gospel. This is so good. God promises to conform us into the image of Christ. He is after all, bringing us home. So you see the progression here, but we are called to obey his commands. We are called to abide and God's children want to obey him. If you claim to be a child of God this morning and you have no desire to obey God, you need to examine your life and make sure you are a child of God. His commands are not a burden, they are a joy. But we still battle the flesh in this life, we still sin, so we need to be instructed and we need to continue to train, as the scripture says. John Calvin said, the duty of a good teacher, the duty of a good teacher is rather to exert to a holy living than to occupy the minds of men with useless questions. As I pondered that late last night, thinking through, I mean, that's exactly the job of a pastor. My job is not to entertain you. My job is not to say a bunch of stories or to put forward a bunch of questions for you to think about that is something new that you may never heard before. My job is just to preach the word of God and to point you into holy living. See the word of God combined by the power of the Holy Spirit. It trains us. What's it trained us to do? We'll look at the verse. It trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. We are to deny ungodliness and worldly passions. This begins and continues with God's grace. As Paul began with before gray grace, before grace entered our life, we looked at nothing but the world. And now that the Lord has drawn us to himself, we are to look at the Lord and deny the world. See, our former life, our former way of living is to be denied. Jesus said this in Mark 8, beginning in verse 34. If anyone want to come after me, let him deny himself. Let him take up his cross and let him follow me. We're to say no to the things that we once lived for. As saints, we are to deny things in this life. Not all things are profitable. It says we're to deny ungodliness. This is a lack of reverence to God, a lack of devotion to God. We are to deny that. We are also to deny worldly passions. This is evil and corrupt desires, evil and corrupt desires. I don't know what you immediately think of when I say evil and corrupt desires. Most likely it's probably your common sins that you're battling presently in your own life. That's what I think about when I hear evil and corrupt desires. I think about my own personal sins that I'm battling. It's worldly lust. It's cravings of what should be forbidden for those who are the Lord's children. It is all the affections of the flesh and not being led by the spirit. And verse 12, it says, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. It's not just that we stop doing things and that we don't do things. We stop doing things and we start living. Christ came to set us free that we would live life and live life abundantly. So we are to live sensibly. We are to live with a sound mind. This is the truth of God's word on display in our lives for the glory of God. We do not allow the culture or our present circumstance to dictate what we do because we know truth and we are set on living truth in our lives. And just so you understand how rampant this is, not only in this world, but in all the churches. Look what this church does, what we do as God's children, we gather together for worship on Sunday, how we live throughout the rest of the week. It should not be determined based on what the culture is doing. Please grasp that. As many of the men talked about this morning, we have the freedom to gather here and to worship the Lord, don't we? If we don't have that freedom one day soon in the near future, should that dictate how we live? No. We should still abide in the word of God. We should still pray the word of God. We should still worship the Lord Jesus Christ. It may look differently, but what we do as God's children, because we have been adopted, that does not change. Paul and his circumstances, that didn't change. The apostles, that didn't change. We continue to do what the Lord has called us to do. We deny ungodliness and we deny worldly passions and we live sensibly. See, the self-controlled child also steers clear of what is unproductive and from what is trivial. An increased sober mind is found in the Lord's obedient children. An increased sober mind is found in the Lord's obedient children. We are to live righteously, to live upright and godly lives. We are to live properly as the Lord has taught us to live. We can image the Lord and his children will image him. See, when the Lord's children live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, When will God's children live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives? They are to do so in the present age. In short, our lives reveal if we have a heavenly father. Our lives reveal if we have been purchased and adopted. That's what they're supposed to do. In Matthew 5, verse 13, the words of our Savior, you are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. For example, yesterday, many people came from Foundation, and we served a local apartment complex. And for about the first 40 minutes, there was nobody from that apartment complex outside but us. And slowly and surely, people began trickling out. Like, you're offering free pizza, and you're giving us free things, and, like, you spent part of your day to come over here. And they're like, get to know us and just love on us? Yeah. That's a mark of God's people. And the other mark of God's people is not just doing things that are kind and loving and helping people out with their physical needs, but it's also giving them their spiritual need. It's sharing the gospel with them. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, beginning in verse one. Hopefully you remember this. We walked through this, this book about two years ago. Ephesians chapter two began verse one. And you were dead and the trespasses and sins. And when she once walked following the course of this world, following the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we're by nature, children of wrath by the rest of mankind. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love, which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together. with Christ. By grace, you've been saved and raise us up with him and seed us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, we've been saved through faith. It's not of our own doing, not a result of work so that no one can boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I'm sure that most of you are here. Most of you who are here week after week, you hear me say some things week after week. You probably may even put a star on your sheet of paper and say, well, he says that every week. And rightly so. Like staying in the word of God. preaching the gospel to yourself, praying, abiding. And I do so because this is what we all need to remember. And this is what we all need to be doing. And it's the simplest of things. Many times when we stray, many times when we start living for the things of this world, the flesh, we've just stopped doing the basics. We've stopped the basics. It's lunchtime and we haven't even talked to God. Or it's been two days and we haven't read the word of God. You never get over the basics. Both the congregation and the pastors must abide in the word of God. If we are to walk in good works, as Titus two says, if we are to live worthy lives, we must abide. Verse 13 of our main text, waiting for our blessed hope. The appearing of the glory of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ, our glorious savior, Jesus Christ will return. I mean, if all there was, was us being saved by God's grace and then that's it. And then we all live and we all die. There's no return. There's no being with Christ forever. None of this would make sense. We wouldn't have any good news. But we have good news because Christ is returning and one day our pilgrimage will be through here. And one day we will spend forever with Christ in heaven. And it will be perfect. There'll be no more pain, there'll be no more suffering. See, for those who are saved and working for him as he has commanded us, we are daily waiting for the return of our Lord. We are waiting for our blessed hope. God's children are blessed now and we are blessed and that we know the future. We know what is coming and it is good. We know it's good. It is perfect. It is eternal. We long for his return and we are sure of his return. Just this last week in conversations with other brothers and sisters in Christ, I found myself saying over and over and over again, Lord Jesus come quickly. Come Lord Jesus, I'm ready. And this is true. One of the men I said this to was Pastor Keith Sanders at First Baptist Church Keller. He told me about a visit he made with another member this week that was not doing well health wise. She was 94 years old. He walks into the room, spends time with her, and the first thing she does is grabs Keith's hand. He says, Pastor, I want you to pray for me. She's like, okay, what would you like me to pray? And she said, I want you to pray that the Lord will bring me home. And so Keith looked at her and he said, are you ready? Are you ready to go home? Are you confident of your salvation? Do you know you put your faith and trust in Christ? And they had a conversation and she was completely ready. She was in pain and she was old. So one of the things that we often don't think about, we pray for saints not to enter heaven, but it's okay to pray for saints to enter heaven. He prayed three hours later, he got a phone call and she got home to meet with the Lord. I sat in his office and I heard him tell that story. I was just like, praise God. The Lord took her home. As saints, this is what we are looking forward to. When it's our time, when it's God's sovereign choice, we look forward to being at home. But until then, we are to continue to glorify the Lord with the works that we do. We are eagerly ready for the appearing of Christ, but we are waiting for his manifestation. We, but we are also working for him. We're ready to go home, but our present life, this life is full of suffering and hardships. And that's because we are not home yet. We are on mission, but as we long to be at home, We must also long to be the light while we're here. We are called to rest in him and to be his obedient children. We wait for the appearing of our great God and father and savior, Jesus Christ, but let us remember the simple truth. Our savior and God, Jesus Christ, he is also great now. And he is with us now, and he is watching us now, and we will soon be with them. Let's have our minds on this and live for him now, as long as he tarries. See, our blessed hope, our great God and Savior, who is coming again for us, he has already paid for us. He's already paid for us. Look at verse 14, who gave himself. who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Let us not take apart the zealous for good works. So many of they say, look, we're redeemed where we belong to the Lord and we're just waiting for the return of Christ. God's children just don't wait for the return of Christ. God's children talk about the return of Christ. You're zealous for good works because you're working for the Lord. See, the cost of redemption was the son of God, the incarnate Christ, fully God and fully man. It was God on the cross. Only God, only the sinless one can release wretched sinners. No one is released from the bondage of sin unless the cause of the release is Jesus Christ. Jesus, the son of God, he gave himself for us and his payment satisfied the wrath of God, the father, his payment was sufficient. As Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 11 says, and every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. He sat down because it was done. He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he freely laid down his life to redeem us, to release us from all lawlessness. Every lawless deed that we have done, past, present, we are doing, future, will do, they have been purchased by Christ. And I love verse 14. He says, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify. And to purify. To redeem and to purify. Hebrews 9, 14. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, will purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. It's not just purifying us from our conscience as purifying us for the purpose of service. First John one seven through nine. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus. His son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So Christ releases us from the bondage of sin and he purifies us. He makes his bride clean, ready for his return. We are free from guilt. We are free from sin. We have been set apart, and He continues to make us more pure until we are glorified one day. That only happens if we have confessed. If we have confessed. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just. Look with me at verse 14. I want you to notice some particular words in verse 14 of our main text. It says, excuse me, who gave himself for us to, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who, who are zealous for good works. So we are purified by him and for him and it is for all of eternity. He wanted a people for his own possession. In 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10, it says, But you are a chosen race, you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So the work that Christ did is the greatest work in all of history. And it is by his power, we are to continue to work in this world. His children are to be zealous for good works. One who is eager and burning to serve the Lord. And I understand that as an individual ages, many times that work looks different. As you heard me say a few weeks ago, one of my buddies, Bob Vigoren, he is 69 years old and he continues to go overseas and serve. There will probably come a point when he will not be able to do that. Or when you go and make faithful visits of saints who are members of this church body, I think of Winnie Howard, who's 97 years young. And you spend time with her and you walk in and she already knows some of the questions I'm going to ask her. And so she just gives me the answers before I ask now. Casey, I'm still reading my Bible. Casey, I can't do much, but I'm still praying. And sometimes she'll make the comment, I don't know what the Lord's keeping me alive for. And then I remind her and I let her know God's still using you in my life. God's using you to show me how to finish well. You still have people and you open up your home for family members to come in who don't know the Lord and you're faithful to share with them, aren't you? Well, yeah. Keep going, sister. Keep doing what you're doing. His children are zealous for good works. We have an eager and burning desire to serve the Lord. John Calvin said the fruit of redemption is lost if we are still entangled by the sinful desires of the world. Application point. Many of the reasons why we don't serve the Lord day in and day out is because we're so entangled in our sin that we can't run the race of perseverance looking to Jesus. His children are being excited to proclaim the excellencies of our great God and Savior because he has saved us from the dark depth of hell and brought us into his marvelous light. He's taken away all of our sin and he has given us everything, the righteousness of Christ. See, God's children, they do have evidence of salvation. The gospel is good, and that good work is seen in the present because they love the Lord. So here's some closing questions for us today as we think about this text. Question one, what are some obvious areas of grace in your present life? What are some obvious areas of grace in your present life? Where do you see God working? What do you see God doing? Where do you see God working? What do you see God doing in your life? Identify those things and praise him for those things. Those should be part of your prayers. God, I praise you because I am seeing this. God, I praise you because you're doing this. What are some obvious areas of grace in your life? Question two, is your mind presently focused on the second coming of Christ? Is your mind presently focused on the second coming of Christ? And that is a extremely loaded question. Because if you're going through hardships and trials right now, it's probably really easy for you to want Christ to return. But if you're not going through hardship and trials right now, sometimes you're just living life, forsaking the work of the Lord. Is your mind presently focused on coming to Christ? Are you thinking about eternity in Christ or more about this temporary world? Are you abiding? Question three, are you living a redeemed life, a life of good works? Are you living a redeemed life, a life of good works? What is the present evidence of your salvation? If you went to someone in your own household and you started sharing the glorious gospel with them and they looked at you and they said, how is Christ in your life today? What would you say? Or if they ask you, what have you been thinking about from scripture that supposedly you so much love and care about? What would your response be? Are you denying worldly passions? Are you eager to serve God? Are you being intentionally being intentional and joyfully working for him while at the same time resting in his undeserved sovereign grace? So we never get through resting in God's grace. We never get through abiding, but we also never get through serving. It's both and. We continue to rest and we continue to serve no matter what our present circumstances are. And I really encourage you, if you're going through a difficult season right now in your walk with the Lord, and you're looking over your life the last week and you're saying, I have no work, begin by asking yourself a simple question. Who is a child of God around you who knows and who is praying for you? Because you need that. who knows what you're going through and who is praying for you. And as the local body of Christ here, you can also be asking yourself this question, who do you know who's struggling and who are you praying for those who are struggling? Who do you know who is struggling and who are you presently praying for those who are struggling? You see, it's not just right doctrine, it is also right and holy and righteous living. Father, I thank you for your word. Your word is so good. Thank you so much for sending your son to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for yourself a people for your own possession. And Father, we ask for forgiveness when we are not zealous for good works, when we are not zealous to serve you, that we would much rather just talk about the work that you have done, talk about what you have done in the past, and ignore the present work that is before our eyes. Lord, spur us on through your holy word this morning. Spur us on. So that in everything, people may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. That people may see the love that we have for Christ and the love that we have for others, and they may glorify You. I thought at this time of year, our lives are bombarded with so many different holidays and so many different things. Thanksgiving and spending time with family and being reminded of the fact that you sent your son to this earth to redeem a people for your own possession. But also with those things, it seems like there is a crazy, hectic schedule. And we get through the coming days and we look back and we see our unfaithfulness. Father, I pray that we would not Father, I pray with our schedule, with our life, that we would be about Christ. I pray for times with our family, times with our friends, with our neighbors, with people we've just met for the very first time. they would see a mark of someone who has been redeemed and purchased by the blood of Jesus. I pray that we would be quick to point them and to share and to have compassion about something that we know is the greatest news in all the world, the good news of Christ. Father, I pray that we would be a people that are zealous for good works because we are abiding in your word. We are preaching the gospel to ourself. We are on our knees and our faces before you crying out for you to do a great and mighty work in us and through us for your glory. And Father, I pray for those who are here this morning who are uncertain of their salvation. I pray that you would give them clarity if they are saved. Lord, I pray if they're not saved that you would give them a wrestling spirit within them that they would repent and they would believe upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Thank you for this time this morning. Thank you for the worship that we've been able to have together as a local body of Christ. As we'll get into more next week, thank you for your word that is sufficient for instructing us and teaching us by the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives that are godly before your eyes. Amen. I would ask right now that you take some time of silence. This is our time where you meet with the Lord. Talk to him about what he has revealed through his most holy word. And we'll close this time together here in a little bit with a benediction. And as always, if you have a question about the gospel, good news of Christ. If you're concerned about your salvation, talk to me or find somebody else in this room and talk to them. Don't leave here without asking questions. Spend some time with the Lord right now.