Well, good morning. It's good to see you all this morning. We're going to get started in just a moment. And before we do, I thought it would be good to maybe mention a few things. First of all, there are some cards in the back of the pew in front of you. The first card is a prayer request card. And if you're here this morning and there's something that you would like to see prayed for, someone that you would want to pray for that thing or those things, then you can grab one of those cards, as many as you need, and jot down the nature of that prayer request or those prayer requests. And then at the end of the service, there's a box right out there in the foyer. You could just slip that prayer card in that box and Carl and Freddie and I, we use those. It helps us to know how to best pray for you guys and what's going on. And if you check a box there, we'll also publish that prayer request in our midweek prayer sheet. Several of us gather as a church on Wednesday nights and pray for our church and pray for whatever you give us direction to pray for as well. And so if you don't check that box, it won't wind up in the midweek sheet. Carl and Freddie and I will just see that ourselves. But anyway, we'd count it a joy to pray for you and for that need. Also on the back of the pew in front of you is another card that may be pertinent to you, and that is a visitor card. If you're here and you're visiting with us this morning, We're glad that you're here. If you would like to leave a record of your visit, it's not required, but if you would like to, then take one of those visitor cards and fill out some things about yourself there. If you want us to contact you, indicate how you'd want us to do that. And then you can put that in the box there in the foyer as well, so. A couple other announcements. Next Sunday morning, after the morning service, will be our monthly churchwide fellowship, and so we would invite you to plan to stay afterwards. Everything's provided, and it'll be a wonderful time once again to fellowship around a meal. And so you're invited immediately after the service next Sunday. Tonight, we meet as a small group. If you're in small groups, then tonight is our next small group time, and that meets at five o'clock here, either at the church or in someone's house. And so if you're not in a small group and would wish to be, if you'll let me know, We maybe still have some places to put you for a Sunday evening small group. And then this Thursday at 11.30 is our next men's luncheon. We're meeting at Cyberg's. at 1130, that address should be in your bulletin there somewhere. But maybe if you don't know where that's at, you let us know. But it's primarily for retired men. And we say that because that's mostly the retired men can make it for that luncheon. But if you're not retired and want to eat lunch with a couple of old guys, then we'd love to have you. We need someone to pick on. So you come and enjoy our luncheon together. Well, several other things. I think there's a shower, baby shower coming up maybe this weekend as well. And so other things are printed there in your bulletin. Just encourage you to be aware of those things, other ways to plug into the life of our church. But we've gathered in this room at this hour that we might worship the Lord. Worshiping the Lord is the Lord's idea. In fact, you and I do not summon each other to worship. It's the Lord who summons us to worship Him, invites us, if you would, to worship Him. And so our call to worship reflects that. This is God directing us to worship Him this morning. Psalm 47 verses 6 through 8 say this, Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our king. Sing praises. For God is the king of all of the earth. Sing praises with the psalm. God rules over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. So, Father, It is a joy to address the King of the universe, the one seated upon his throne. It is a joy, a privilege to address such a one as our Father. But we do. You are our father in heaven. And we know you as father through the blood of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we gather in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to worship you as our God. And to that end, we would pray for the presence of your spirit with us this morning. So as we sing, as we pray, as we participate in the Lord's Supper, as Your Word is preached, that You would be honored and glorified. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're willing, if you're able, we'd invite you to stand as we begin singing to the Lord. ♪♪ He crowns the Lamb upon His throne. Hark how the heav'nly anthem drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee. ♪ Hail Him as the majesty through all eternity ♪ ♪ We'll crown Him Lord of life ♪ ♪ We'll triumph o'er the grave ♪ There rose victorious in the strife For those He came to save His glories now we sing Who died and rose on high Were died eternal life to breathe Heavens and earth may die Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways, from pole to pole that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise. His reign shall overwhelm, and round His crucified Their flowers of paradise extend, their fragrance Lord of love, behold His hands and side. Rich moon, shed His heav'n above, His beauty glorified. All hail, Redeemer, Him the Thou hast found. Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity. O Hail, Redeemer, Hail, for Thou hast died for me. Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity. A lesson did my Savior bleed And did my Sovereign die Would he devote that sacred head for such a woman as I? Was it for sins that I had done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. My God. Why would you shed your blood so pure and undefiled to make us sin for what might be your chosen precious child? Oh, might the sun in darkness hide And shut His glories in When Christ, our mighty King I hide, I hide my blushing face Why God, why would you shed your blood so pure and undefiled to make a sinful one like me your chosen, precious child? You're chosen, precious child. Please be seated. As we come to this next portion, you'll see in your bulletin, it's called the Lord's Supper. And here on the table down on the front of the area here, we have a The elements that we talk about when we have the Lord's Supper, it talks about doing this in remembrance of me. That's what the Lord said. In fact, I want to read a little bit further from the scriptures what he said, what the Lord said when he talked about doing this in remembrance of him, using these elements. The Apostle Paul recounting the night in which the Lord introduced this supper and said, do this in remembrance of me, was with his disciples. And he said to them, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Now it is important to discern who it was to whom he was speaking when he said to do this. Because he was speaking that night to a gathering between the Lord and his followers, his disciples. It was the night before he died. He would be arrested later that night, would be taken before the authorities, and then would be crucified the next day. So that night he gathered with those who were his followers. So this morning as we gather here, this also is a table that is set aside for the followers of Jesus. So if you're a believer in Jesus, you have trusted that he is your savior, he is the way to be made right with God, you've repented, turning to God from sin to God. You expressed this by following him and if you are a baptized believer, then you are invited because that night the followers of Jesus were invited and the same are invited today, the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Which implies that there are some who are not the followers of Jesus. In fact, it's important to note that everyone who is a follower of Jesus was at one time not a follower of Jesus. That in fact, every one of us who is born into this world is not born by default a follower of Jesus. We are born by default sinners. Scripture teaches us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That all is every one of us. The only exception to that rule was Jesus himself. We are sinners because of our very nature. When we are born from the womb, even as David would write, you know, I was conceived in sin. And even in his very womb existence, there was a sin nature developing. And that shows itself not only by the description of scripture that we are sinners, but by our conduct and the choices we make in life as we go on. We grow up and we make sinful choices. That's borne out that we are all sinners. And yet there are some who are followers of Jesus. And that makes a huge difference. Because Jesus did not come and live a life merely to be a good teacher. He didn't come and just want to give a good example to people that we might emulate him and live better lives. Because when we come to celebrate this meal, we remember that he died. And he didn't just die, it wasn't just happenstance. It wasn't that he had an auto accident or he became sick and died. He died as was planned. It was foretold in the scripture centuries before he died. And the scripture talks about how in the fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that the wages or the outcome, what that condition earns is death. Our earliest ancestors died, but there's more than just physical death that's involved in that promise. There is a spiritual component to that death. In fact, the scripture shows that in one respect that all of us, though we will die bodily, we will all have an eternal existence of some kind. But only one of those conditions of eternal existence is called life. The other one is eternal death. Oh, it's conscious, which is an interesting thing, a scary thing. Scripture shows this, that when the Lord Jesus came, he lived a perfect life. He did not sin. And though he was without sin, something remarkable happened. He went to the cross. not merely because human beings hated him, though that was part of the equation, that's part of what God used, but he went to the cross because, as Isaiah tells us, it was the Father's plan that he go to the cross. It was the Father's purpose that he would be crucified or crushed, as it is described in the book of Isaiah. And he did so because of his desire to rescue, to bring rescue to sinful people. And he did that by absorbing upon himself on the cross the wrath of God. Now, while he died a horrible physical death, there was more going on than, I hate to even use the word merely, but I will, merely the physical pain that he suffered. The nails in his hands and feet and the spear in his side and the anguish and the beating that he had undergone, as horrible as that was, There was a greater torment that he suffered on the cross. That is he absorbed the wrath of God. He took upon himself the punishment that would have been otherwise poured out on the people he was rescuing. But because Jesus intervened on the cross, he was crushed, his blood was poured out. He absorbed that wrath in full. You may recall, if you're familiar with what the Lord Jesus said later on this night, when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane and was praying, he said, Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not I will, but as you will. And he was talking about the cup there, the cup of God's wrath. It's a theme that is mentioned throughout scriptures in the Old Testament, particularly how God was preparing a cup of wrath that would be poured out and drained to the dregs upon those who were to receive his judgment. Jesus took that cup on behalf of those who would be his people, and he drained it to the dregs. So that today, because of what Jesus did on the cross, if you're a follower of Jesus, you're trusting in him, there no longer remains even a drop of wrath to be poured out on you because it was poured out to full satisfaction on Jesus. No more wrath remains for those who are in Christ. That's why we call this a celebration of the Lord's Supper. Not because we rejoice at Jesus' sufferings, but we're grateful for God's great love and mercy and the fulfillment of God's purpose in sending Jesus and having him die on the cross. Jesus rose from the grave, having accomplished the Father's purpose. He ascended into heaven and will one day come again. And those who are his followers will be with him eternally. That is worth celebrating. So this morning we come to remember what he did in the shedding of his blood, in the breaking of his body, and the elements will portray that. If you are a follower of Jesus, you're welcome to this table, because he paid a great price that you could be his. As we prepare, though, it's important to take this in the right spirit. One is joyful, one is being glad, but also being careful to examine ourselves, that we're not doing this flippantly or inadvisedly. In fact, the Apostle Paul, writing to a church, not just the world in general, but even to the church in Corinth, said this. Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. So let's take these next moments. We're going to have a song and the first verse will be played shortly. It would be a good time to prepare our hearts to make sure that we are not taking this in an unworthy manner. And again. We don't take this because we of ourselves are worthy. The Lord's grace makes us worthy to take this, but we need to be careful we don't do this in a flippant manner. So prepare our hearts, and as we do, musicians, would you please lead us in song? Beneath the cross of Jesus I find a place to stand and wonder at such mercy that calls me as I am. that should discard me, hold ones which tell me come. Beneath the cross of Jesus, my unworthy soul is won. would the men come forward at this time who will be distributing the elements of the Lord's Supper. And as they come, just a word about our process. We will first pass around the elements of the bread, representing the body of the Lord Jesus. And we would ask that if you're going to participate, that as it is passed down the pew, you just take one and hold it, and everyone will be served who wants to take it. And then we'll all take it together at the same time, and the same later on with the cup. So as we prepare now to distribute the bread, reminding us, doing this in remembrance of the breaking of the Lord's body, would you join me in prayer? Father, we are grateful that we can come and remember the Lord Jesus, for we do this in remembrance of him. We thank you for the fact that he did come and live a perfect life, that he did go to the cross and that his body was broken for us. And in that breaking, that he fulfilled your requirement of justice, that the punishment due sinners was poured out on him. And we thank you that it was poured out in full. So this morning, as we come as your people, we thank you that his body was broken for us. and grant us grace, therefore, Lord, as we take this, help us to do so with grateful hearts, glorifying your Son, our Lord Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen. Let's now distribute the bread, reminding us of the body of our Lord Jesus. ♪ Beneath the cross Chasing selfish dreams Now on through grace alone How could I not dishonor The ones that you have loved? Praise the Lord, for the scripture tells us, I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Amen. As we prepare now to take the cup, reminding us of the Lord Jesus shedding his blood, let's pray once again. Father, we are grateful, for we remember that your word tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. And we look back, remembering the Lord Jesus and what he did on the cross, that he did shed his blood, And in so doing, he established a new covenant, a new basis of relationship with you that is founded on grace and not on works. And we thank you that therefore we come to you not because we were worthy people, but because a worthy Savior intervened for us and rescued us with his worthiness by his sacrifice. We thank you for the shed blood of our Lord Jesus. And today, Lord, as we take this, we are grateful. We pray that you will help us even now, that we would do so with hearts of gratitude, with spirits of worship. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Let's now distribute the cup, reminding us of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. Beneath the cross of Jesus Blue. The Apostle Paul went further to recount what happened that night in that room where the Lord shared this last supper with his disciples. He went on to say and do this. In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Thank you, brothers. You can return to your seats. Scripture tells us that on the night that the Lord shared this, that when they were complete with the meal, they sang a hymn and then they went out to the Mount of Olives where the Lord would be arrested and then go onto the cross. So it's fitting that we would also sing after the supper today. So if you're able to, we invite you to stand as we continue to sing in the honor and glory of our Lord. ♪ Holds me as I am ♪ ♪ Poor hands that should discard thee ♪ ♪ Holds wounds which shall be healed ♪ The joy before our eyes. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great high priest whose name is love Whoever lives and bleeds for me. My name is graven on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart. No tongue can bid me thence depart. Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within. Upward I look and see Him there. who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, for rather just and satisfied. Look on Him and pardon me. Behold Him there, the risen Lamb, My perfect, spotless righteousness The great, unchangeable I am The King of glory and of grace One with Himself, I cannot die My soul is purchased by His love With Christ my Savior and my God. With Christ my Savior and my God. With Christ my Savior and my God. With Christ my Savior and my God. With Christ my Savior and my God. Thank you guys for helping us to sing to the Lord. I would invite you, if you'd like to, remain standing just for a bit longer. Either way, take your Bibles, and let's look at Titus chapter one, verses 10 through 16. That's on page 998. If you'd like to use a Bible from the pew, you can grab that, turn to page 998, or Titus chapter one, verses 10 through 16. This is God's word for us this morning. And here's what God says. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced. since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth, to the pure. All things are pure. But to the defiled and unbelieving, Nothing is pure. Both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. You may be seated. Oh, Father, thank you for your word, even a hard word like this. We count it a privilege to be able to see these words and to read them, and we would pray now that, by the power of Your Spirit, You would help us to understand them, and even moreover, by Your Spirit, that You would change us, that our lives would accord with what is spoken of here. So help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, Titus 1, verses 10 through 16, is about false teachers. As you can tell from the tone, Paul is not a bit happy with the comings and goings of the false teachers among the churches up on the island of Crete. And in so many ways, you remember last week, he said there, In verse 5, this is why I left you in Crete, that Titus, you're still in Crete. Why? So that you might put what remains in order and appoint elders in every town. A part of what remains in order to be attended to is the installation of elders to deal with these false teachers. One of the things I want us to take away from our time in this passage this morning, one of the things I think that Paul is holding out for us, that it's important for us to take away in this discussion about false teachers is not simply that false teachers promote what's not true, it's not true. But in a bigger sense, what's even more problematic, if there could be such a description, more problematic than these false teachers offering error is that they are wrong, they are untrue, but that these false teachers are bringing about great harm in people's lives. They are not a bit helpful, no matter how nice of a guy that they might be, no matter how big their heart is or how inclined their intention might be to do good. Good never comes from error. Help never arrives through that which is false. Now, two things I want us to think about this morning. First of all, I want us to see something of what I'm going to call a portrait of defilement. And then I want us to make note of the person of purity. Now, where do I get these terms, defilement and purity? Well, to kind of begin then, we've got to kind of start toward the end of our reading. Look at verse 15. There's our two terms, defilement and purity. He says there, verse 15, to the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. And speaking of their works, they are detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work. So do you see the two terms that we're playing with here? We're dealing with defilement, and we're looking into purity. And the false teachers are bringing a system to bear that is, in their mind, a word for the defiled, a word to create purity. It's not true. It's not a true word as to how defiled people become pure people. During the Lord's Supper, the Apostle Paul talked about...not the Apostle Paul. He's not the Apostle Paul. Carl talked about... Okay, he's as smart as the Apostle Paul, but still, he's not the Apostle Paul, okay? Yeah. Carl talked about how we are all sinful from the get-go. We are all sinful by nature, and we certainly prove that out in terms of our actions. If I could add insult to injury, he's already offended you, so you get mad at him, but not only are we all sinful from birth, that before God, we are each and every one of us defiled before God. There's no exceptions. Now, certainly, some of us may have perfected defilement worse than others. Maybe there is a spectrum and there's variations, but in terms of the absolute purity of God, All of us fall short of that. All of us are defiled before God. And the question before us as we look at the danger, the damnability of these false teachers is that they are going to offer to us, they are going to float the idea of, hey, I know how someone defiled like you can become pure before God. He says in verse 10, there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. In a sense, he's now given us some sort of category or some sort of description as to who these guys are that are offering the promise, hey, you defiled people, I have a surefire way that you could be pure before God. Follow my program. Follow my easy steps. Follow my method. And you, too, though formerly defiled, can make yourself pure before a holy God. Now, this circumcision group that he's addressing here, they are promoting a false gospel. They are false teachers. This is not the first time in the Scriptures that we are alerted to this group or gang or cartel or party, if you would. Acts 15, just about the whole first part of the chapter of Acts 15, describes a council that happened in the early church. And this council in the early church was really a serious discussion and a need for important clarification as it pertained to this same group of false teachers, this circumcision party. For instance, in the The circumcision group or party, as the name suggests, taught that Gentiles, and Titus would be a poster child of this one here, Titus was a Gentile, that Gentiles must be circumcised before they could be regarded as followers of Christ. Circumcision, in their mind, would be a requirement for salvation. And of course, in their frame of mind, it's a much deeper agenda among the circumcision group than just a concern for the physical cutting that is entailed in circumcision. They really taught that circumcision is the starting point of salvation, and that is, once you are circumcised, then you must observe the entire Old Covenant, the Mosaic law, and that sort of law-keeping is what is required for salvation. And so essentially, the message of the circumcision group or circumcision party, actually, it's not a party I'd wanna go to, but the circumcision group is essentially, it's a message of salvation by works. How do you get rid of that defilement that is in your conscience and soul and heart? You work yourself out of it. You comply with the Mosaic Code of the Old Covenant, which, on the one hand, there's nothing wrong with the Mosaic Code of the Old Covenant. These guys are wrongly using it. It was never meant to be a method by which one climbed the ladder to earn God's favor and merit. They are proposing a wrong use of the Mosaic Law, that their obedience to the law would earn or merit their salvation, that their obedience to the law would move them from defilement to purity. Acts 15 verse 1. It says, but some men came from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And then in verse five of chapter 15 of Acts, it goes on, but some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, it is necessary to circumcise them and order them to keep the law of Moses. You say, what was at stake? Acts 15, what's at stake in other issues of false teachers in the New Testament, what's at stake here among the churches in the island of Crete was, at its core, it was a message of the Gospel. These false teachers were promoting and offering a false Gospel. They were promoting the notion that by the adherence of good works, which, ironically, good works done out of a heart of self-reliance are, guess what, they're not good works. At least as far as God is concerned, they're certainly not pleasing to the Lord. Whatever religious ritual, whatever religious duty, whatever moral observation that you and I do, if it's done without a heart of reliance upon the Lord, it is filthy. It is defiled before a holy God. In so many ways, that's part of the tragedy, that the people on the island of Crete, they need real change. And that's just no different from any other island or continent or whatever. On the one hand, the Bible says, all men are liars. And yet, if I would suggest, Paul kind of goes stereotypical on us. He kind of does what would get him cancelled today. He suggests that not all cultures are the same. In other words, while all men are liars, the people on the island of Crete are particularly good at that. He says, I'll quote one of your own folks who says, "'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.' That's how they were known." Well, sure, that's the way they were. Because you know what? Before a holy God, they were fundamentally defiled before a holy God. And along comes the circumcision group that says, We have a wonderful plan for your life. That if you would just take the Old Testament law, and if you would just start with circumcision, and if you would just then perfectly adhere to the Old Testament law, then your defilement would be removed. But you know what? That is not gonna help the people on the island of Crete to erase their defilement. Because as it turns out, that message is not even helping the people who are communicating that message. Look at how they are morally described. They are insubordinate. They are empty talkers. They are deceivers. They are upsetting whole families. They are teaching what they're teaching for shameful gain. In other words, they are believing things and holding on to things that are not true, and that's affecting their life. They're not living a pure life. They are living a defiled life. Because no false gospel will ever purify our hearts and consciences before the God who made us. External rituals, external commands, cannot, will not, is always weak and ineffective to address the true problem. What's the true problem? The true problem is that there is ne'er a one of us who does not have a defiled interior. There is not a one of us that does not have a defiled heart. There is not a one of us that natively, from the start, has a heart that is not right with God, a heart and a life that is unacceptable to God, a heart that lives a life that is unapproachable before God. And what Paul would say elsewhere is that no works of the law will justify a sinner in the sight of God. You and I have an interior problem. You and I have a systemic heart problem. And you and I cannot remedy that by an external ritual or by an attempt to comply with an external moral code. Because you and I, fundamentally, if we are going to live a different way, we must, first of all, have a right relationship with the God who made us. And to have that right relationship with the God who made us, then we must have an interior cleansing, we must have a pure heart and conscience, a heart that is made right with God, a heart and therefore a life that is acceptable to God, a heart and a life that is thus approved before God. How do we do that? We each start with a defiled interior, a defiled heart, And we don't clean up the inside by starting on the outside. In fact, it's just the truth. Here's the word of the gospel. The way that the outside begins to start cleaning up is that there's first a cleaning up of the inside. The circumcision group, they targeted adherence to Mosaic law, that if you folks would just do that, then you would purify your hearts, you would merit a relationship with God, and God would declare you pure in his sight because you have earned it. Not only is that untrue, That will be the sure, surest way to damn you. So you see why Paul would say, they must be silenced. Notice what he says about these people, back to verse 15 again. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving." See how he links being defiled with being someone who is unbelieving. I take that to mean, and we'll see in the next verse, he means that one who believes in and one who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he'll say in the next verse, though they profess to know God, they deny him by their works. Which begs the question, and we've already touched on this in some way because of the Lord's Supper, but what's so special about Jesus? Well, he's the great exception on so many fronts. But while each and every one of us are natively defiled before God and impure before God, Jesus is the glorious exception. He lived a life that was flawless and righteous. He lived a life, he thought and he felt. Everything about him was pure. There was no defilement in Jesus whatsoever. And then Jesus went to the cross, and at the cross, he willingly laid down his life for people like us, people who are defiled and impure. But the pure one took upon himself our defilement, and he bore up under the curse, the condemnation, the penalty of our defilement, even though he had none his own self, but he bore the brunt of the strokes of justice that's reserved for defiled people. The pure one took our defilement. And here's the only way out of this. The only way to escape our native defilement is to get up and run to Jesus. Trust only in Him. As long as you are not trusting in Jesus, you are defiled. I don't care how religious you are. I don't care how moral you see yourself to be. Before a holy God, you are still cut off from relationship with the God who made you. You are defiled before a holy God. You must rely upon the true, pure one to take away your defilement. And he does that. Any and all who turn to Jesus are cleansed. Our consciences are cleansed. Our hearts are made pure. Our life is established in an eternal relationship with God. And I want you to notice then that out of that, out of that comes a different trajectory to life. Once you and I are made pure in terms of our status before a holy God through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, then we begin to be a kind of people who live a different kind of life. That's huge. That the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ purifies a defiled people, and then he begins the process of making us pure in our actual conduct and way of life. Why? In part, beyond what we can cover right now, but the grace of his spirit moves into us and begins to slowly but surely change us. The false teachers were offering a method of change. Hey, if you'll just live right, you will make yourself pure. You will rid yourself of your defilement. But what the gospel says is if you know that you're defiled and unable to make yourself pure, come to Jesus, and Jesus will take you where He finds you, but He will not leave you there. He will not leave you there. The one who will declare you pure and no longer defiled is the one who will get inside of you and begin to create in you an actual practice and trajectory of life that looks more and more pure in its actual way of living. It'll look less and less defiled in its actual way of living. Here's what I mean by that. In part, I think there's this interesting interplay in terms of what we've just read in 10 through 16, a description, some of the key descriptors of these false teachers and the outcome of their false teaching. And I think he uses some of the same terms in verses 5 through 9 that we... Remember, I said we were gonna gloss over the character traits in 5 through 9 last week? Hope to come back and pick those up. What's interesting is that the things to look for in an elder are actually quite ordinary. Ordinary in the sense that if the gospel is at work, if Jesus is living inside of you, then you should be in the process of becoming this kind of person. So for instance, Verse 6, he talks about some of the character traits of an elder. He says, "'If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers, and not giving over to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.'" Insubordination. It's interesting that that term is used to describe the false teachers that are in 110. There are many who are insubordinate. Or look at... what he would say in terms of there in 1.6, again, he's describing an elder, an elder's husband and one wife, his children are believers. In other words, this person is someone who manages his household, whereas in 1.11, what's the description of the false teachers? They are house-upsetters. They wreak havoc in houses, whereas the person who qualifies for an elder, the person in whom the gospel is alive and well, is not a house-upsetter but a house-manager. Or in 1 7, He gives a whole list of qualifications there. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered. And he contrasts that, I think, in 112, when he labels Cretans evil beasts. An evil beast is a wild animal that flies off the handle, whereas when the gospel takes root in someone's heart and life, their temper begins to get under control. In 1.7, again, the qualification, someone who is not greedy, whereas in 1.11, false teachers do what they do for shameful gain. They're greedy. We could go on and we could see that there's two contrasting lists here, a list of virtues and a list of vices. And the vice list is descriptive of anyone by default setting, and if they try to work their way out of that, they will simply stay in that default setting. You and I will never cure our vices. You and I will never cultivate true virtue apart from the grace of Christ." In fact, The plan as of this moment is next week we're going to skip over chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 and come back to that, Lord willing, because we're going to run right to 2.11 next week as we notice then that, as he doubles down and clarifies, for it is the grace of God that trains us. In other words, how do you and I become people who rid ourselves of our remaining vestiges of vice? How do we become people who cultivate the character traits of virtue that are pleasing to the Lord? We don't do that on our own. We don't do that by simply some sort of external religious ritual or some sort of external adherence or attempt of external adherence to some sort of law code. You and I must belong to Jesus. Because Jesus, first of all, takes our defiled, impure heart, and He cleanses it. And you know what? It just stands to reason that a person whose heart is no longer defiled, a heart that is now pure, well, that person should live differently. For it's out of the heart that we live life. You see, the beauty of the gospel, it doesn't start out there and give us a scheme by which we could start out there and and clean up the inside, no, it just radically jumps in the middle of us and radically cleans up the inside. And out of that, then that new life, that purity that Jesus gifts to us begins to evidence itself in the way that we carry and conduct ourselves. Even related to that, the other thing that we'll see played out in the book of Titus is that, again, on the one hand, at verse 16, he says, they profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They say, I know God, but the way they live their life is not consistent with what their mouth has just said. That's all that a false gospel can do. A false gospel can give you the ability to say something out loud, but it will never give you the ability to demonstrate the validity of what you've just said out loud. But come to Jesus, truly know Him, truly rely upon His life, His death, His resurrection, and you and I will not remain the same. We will be a different kind of people, and we will therefore be a kind of people whose works demonstrate that we are a different kind of people, that we say that we belong to Jesus, and we begin to show that we belong to Jesus. So come to Jesus. Trust only in Christ. Dump the religious ritual dump the moral self-effort, walk away from all of that, and trust in Christ. He will move in and clean us up. He will move in and He will begin to show His life in and through our life by the way that we live. Thank you, Father, for Your Word. Thank you for what Your Word tells us about the true gospel. Thank you for the cleansing power of the gospel that would take defiled people such as us and cleanse and purify us. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that pardons us of all of our sin. And thank you for the new life of divine grace and the indwelling Holy Spirit that comes to those who trust in Jesus. May we live this week in such a way that we show whose we are. where we ask this in Christ's name, amen. Let's stand and sing this song together. ♪♪ Jesus, friend of sinners, loved me ere I knew Him. Drew me with His cords of love, tightly bound me to Him. Round my heart still closely twined, the ties that now can sever. ♪ For I am His and He is mine ♪ Forever and forever ♪ Jesus, friend of sinners ♪ Crown of thorns you are Transgressions, tears from my iniquities. The wrath of God that I deserve was poured out on the innocent. He took my place, my soul to save. Jesus, friend of sinners, I love to tell the story. Redeeming love has been my theme. But death, no life, nor anything can ever separate me. A love that will not let me go. Yes, I am His forever. A path for life, for many things, and ever celebrating. A love that will not let me go. Yes, I am His forever. I am his forever. Before I read our benediction, I want to mention this may be, may not, Josh and Beth Porch are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. So I know he's here this morning. We don't know how many more Sundays that they'll be here. So do you? Their last Sunday is next week. Okay, all right. So they're moving to Charlotte and we will miss them and we're thankful to the Lord for them. But we're happy for your move and for what the Lord has next for you guys. And so you always have a church family back here who loves you and is praying for you guys. So Lord's blessing upon your move. And then we'll see you next week. People will say next week, I thought you were moving. 2 Corinthians 13 verse 14 says this, this is our word, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Go in that word, you're dismissed. you