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your Bibles to the book of Titus. 
Titus chapter 3, our focus will be on verses 4 to 8. Titus chapter 3, Paul's letter 
to a young ministerial colleague who was on the island of Crete, 
which was a sort of a pioneer missionary setting for that young 
man. And so the apostle writes to 
encourage him to emphasize gospel truth and to continue to Give 
glory to God in the gospel of His beloved Son. Well, I want 
to read the entirety of the chapter, Titus chapter 3, and then, as 
I said, our focus will be on verses 4 to 8. So beginning in 
verse 1, remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to 
obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, 
to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For 
we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving 
various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful 
and hating one another. But when the kindness and the 
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He 
saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing 
of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through 
Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His 
grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal 
life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to 
affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should 
be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable 
to men. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, 
contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable 
and useless. Reject a divisive man after the 
first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is 
warped and sinning, being self-condemned. When I send Artemis to you or 
Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have 
decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenos, the lawyer, and Apollos 
on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And 
let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet 
urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with 
me greet you. Greet those who love us in the 
faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you for this beautiful 
day. We certainly recognize the righteousness and the glory and 
the majesty of God revealed in the created order. We thank you 
for your handiwork. We thank you as well for your 
sovereign providence that you govern all your creatures and 
all their actions. And as we gather here in the 
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Lord's Day, we rejoice 
in the doctrine of salvation. We know, God, it's not we who 
have saved ourselves, it's not we who have helped you, or assisted 
you in that undertaking, but salvation is by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. And we thank you 
for the privilege today to witness the baptism of two trophies of 
your sovereign grace. We pray that you would encourage 
each of our hearts and build us up in our most holy faith. 
And God, for any and all who are here dead in their trespasses 
and sins, we pray, that your Holy Spirit would come, that 
they would know something of that regeneration and that renewal 
and that justification by God's grace through the redeeming work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgive us now for all sin and 
unrighteousness. Cleanse us in His precious blood 
and guide us by the Holy Spirit. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as I said, Titus was stationed 
on the island of Crete to set in order the things that were 
lacking. If you notice in Titus 1 at verse 5, Paul expresses 
that particular concern. For this reason I left you in 
Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking 
and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. And then 
in our text, if you look at chapter 3, specifically at verse 8, he 
says, this is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to 
affirm constantly. I think the connection is simple. 
God calls men to function as elders in the capacity of the 
local church. We call them ministers of the 
gospel. And Paul's emphasis in verse 8 in chapter 3 is that 
ministers of the gospel need to minister the gospel. That's 
the primary calling, that's the primary emphasis, that's what 
God is concerned with in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The proclamation of His truth, the law, so that men may see 
their misery and their deadness before a holy God, and the gospel, 
that redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue needy 
sinners. So as we focus on this particular 
passage this morning in verses 4 to 8, the word washing there 
at verse 5 does not refer to baptism. So I'm not going to 
preach baptismal regeneration this morning, but what we have 
in the waters of baptism is an external communication of what 
God does internally recorded here specifically in verse 5. 
We'll see that in a few moments. But as we map out our passage 
in verses 4 to 8, there's three emphases I want to look at. First, 
the appearance of the love of God in verse 4. Secondly, the 
application of the grace of God in verses 5 to 7. And then thirdly, 
the affirmation of the word of God in verse 8. So let's look 
first at the appearance of the love of God in verse 4. Notice, 
Paul tells Titus what the people of God in Crete are supposed 
to do. So in verse 1 he says, "...remind 
them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to 
be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be 
peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." And then 
he highlights what he and they had been prior to their conversion 
to Jesus Christ. Notice in verse three, four, 
we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving 
various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful 
and hating one another. In other words, there was a time 
when we could have never imbibed what God calls us to in verses 
one and two. We were that, that's sort of 
a before scene relative to the Christian life. And when we read 
that God pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, keep verse three in your mind. If you ever had those seasons 
or occasions in your life where you realize that you've made 
a mess of things, that you're not what you ought to be, that 
you've got all kinds of sins and all kinds of issues and all 
kinds of problems? Well, verse 3 pretty much encapsulates 
what is the problem with man prior to his coming to our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Again, notice what he says. And 
Paul here includes Paul. He doesn't say, you guys, you 
wretches on the island of Crete, all of you heathen out there, 
No, the apostle includes himself, which we would expect. 1 Timothy 
1, he says, this is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation 
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom 
I am chief. So Paul never forgot the rock 
from whence he was hewn. Paul never forgot the before 
picture relative to his spiritual state. And so Paul includes himself 
in verse three and says, for we ourselves were also once foolish, 
disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, 
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." In other 
words, that's a description of man outside of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. There is that reality. When you 
look at the world around us, that's the problem. We try to 
blame politics, and I'm not suggesting there's no blame in politics. 
We try to blame economics. We try to blame, you know, social 
status. We try to blame gender or race. It's a sin problem. That's what 
affects the world today. And that's what makes what Paul 
says in verses 4 to 8 so wonderful. If all we had was verse three 
and no redeeming work and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, if 
we had no gospel, we would be of all men the most miserable. 
But it's in the context of verse three that God does the redeeming 
work in verses four to eight. So he introduces this love of 
God in verse four. He says, when the kindness and 
the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, So what he wants 
to do is to show us that though we were verse 3, we by God's 
grace are now redeemed so that we have the power and the ability 
by the Spirit who lives and dwells in us to do verses 1 and 2. And again, that's the emphasis 
in verse 8. Notice, I want you to affirm 
constantly the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ so that those 
who have believed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in God 
should be careful to maintain good works. In other words, so 
that they may be the kinds of people that are described in 
verses one and two. But back to this statement, when 
the kindness and the love of God our Savior appeared, He highlights 
the perfections of God there. Now, the perfections of God are 
those things which we speak about concerning God. God reveals himself 
in the Bible in a whole host of ways. He does so through his 
names, but as well through his perfections, or sometimes we 
call them attributes. God is spirit, he's infinite, 
he's eternal, he's unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, 
holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Those are his perfections. But when the kindness of God, 
or rather when the love of God appeared, what does Paul highlight 
here specifically is that. He says, when the kindness and 
the love of God our Savior, the perfection of God's goodness, 
the perfection of God's love, it wasn't our goodness and it 
wasn't our capacity to love that brought God's saving favor down 
upon us. That's not it at all. It's God's 
love, it's God's goodness, it's God's mercy, it's God's kindness 
that brings sinners out of death and darkness and depravity. Now, 
if you hear that this morning and you're not a believer in 
Jesus Christ, may I encourage you to listen, to pay attention, 
and to understand that God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten son, that God demonstrates his own love toward 
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
In other words, the gospel reveals to us the love and the kindness 
of God toward needy sinners. So if your condition this morning 
is described or summarized in verse 3, don't throw up your 
hands in hopelessness, but rather flee to the Lord Jesus Christ 
in faith, because that's the purpose for which the Son of 
Man came into this world, to seek and to save that which was 
lost. So Paul highlights that love of God that has appeared. 
But specifically when he speaks in verse four, I think he's referring 
to the Father. But when the kindness and the 
love of God, the Father, our Savior. Notice the way that Paul 
uses this language interchangeably. Look at 2.13, looking for the 
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, 
Jesus Christ. He uses that terminology synonymously 
because every work outside of God is done by the one true and 
living God. But there are times and instances 
in scripture where certain works are applied to certain persons 
of the Trinity. Again, it's not like 33 and a 
third percent is taken up by the Father, 33 and a third percent 
is taken up by the Son, 33 and a third percent is taken up by 
the Spirit. No, the works of God are done by the true and 
living God. The Bible at times appropriates 
specific works to one of the persons to demonstrate something 
to us about the glory of God Most High. So here when he speaks 
about the love and kindness of God our Savior appearing, I believe 
he's referring to the Father. We see similarity in that statement 
I've already referred to in John 3.16. God so loved the world 
that He gave. Romans 5, 8, God demonstrates 
his own love toward us. As well, we see that reality 
in Ephesians chapter 2. Paul paints the picture in verses 
1 to 3, what we looked like before we came to a saving knowledge 
of Christ. And then he says, but God, who 
is rich in mercy, Brethren, friend, that's the God that we have to 
do with. He's not just a little bit merciful, 
a little bit kind, a little bit benevolent. He so loved the world. Now, the glory of that statement 
isn't seen in how good the world is. The glory of that statement 
is seen in how bad the world is. He so loved this mass of 
humanity that in the midst of it, he calls out of darkness 
into marvelous light those whom he has set his love upon. And 
so Paul is rehearsing that here. But then notice the time that 
this love appears. But when the kindness and the 
love of God our Savior toward man appeared. If you think about 
God's works in the Bible, it's good to sort of categorize them 
in three heads. First, He creates. Just look 
at the world around you today. You ever met an atheist? Well, 
where's the evidence for the existence of God? Just do like 
that. The sun, the moon, the stars, 
the globe, the earth, the universe, mankind, the human hand. Where's 
the evidence for the existence of God? Where isn't the evidence 
for the existence of God? So creation, God's sovereignty, 
God's power, God's wisdom, God's glory is manifested in the created 
order. Then we speak about providence. 
This world is not haphazard. It's not chance. Justin Trudeau's 
prime minister because God is sovereign. That may be tough 
to square with us at times, but we recognize that. God was sovereign 
over Ahab. God was sovereign over Manasseh. 
He governs all his creatures and all their actions. God was 
sovereign over Nero. But the reality is, is that in 
that providence, he again demonstrates his wisdom and his power and 
his goodness. But it's in redemption. It's in salvation. Again, we 
see power, we see wisdom, we see goodness, but we can subset 
goodness in terms of grace and mercy. So when does this love 
and kindness of God most vividly appear? It's at the incarnation 
of the Son of God. What Paul speaks of in Galatians 
4.4, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his Son, born 
of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under 
the law. So when does God's kindness and love most manifestly appear? It's in the babe in the manger. 
It's in the word became flesh. It's in the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of the world. You want to see the love of God? 
Creation teaches. Providence teaches. But redemption 
teaches in a way that those other works don't get at. Love is seen 
in the sacrifice of our blessed Savior. Love is seen in this 
mission of recovery and rescue and redemption that He undertook 
on our behalf. Love is seen in His life of perfect 
obedience. He was a man of sorrows. He was 
acquainted with grief. He says to one in his earthly 
ministry, the foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but 
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. In fact, prophesying 
prior to his coming, Isaiah says, he has no form, no comeliness. 
There's nothing about him that draws the eye, the physical eye. He didn't walk around with a 
halo. He didn't walk around with 18-inch biceps. He didn't walk 
around with an armament on him. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. Why? Because of love. Why does 
he go to the cross? He has love for his friends. He has love for his people, and 
he lays down his life for them. He says, no greater love is there 
than this, that I lay down my life for the sheep. And then 
that resurrection and current accession at the right hand of 
God. Scripture says, with reference 
to our beloved Jesus, that he ever lives to make intercession 
for us. Why is that? Because of great love. He is 
our advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. 
Why? Because of that great love. So the love of God, the kindness 
of God is manifested in creation, in providence, but supremely 
and superlatively in the doctrine of redemption, in the gospel 
of our salvation, in that empty tomb, in that risen Lord, in 
that blessed Redeemer, in that advocate with the Father. And 
that love is not just minuscule. It's not just a little bit. It's 
not just a few people that may experience. The Scriptures tell 
us that there's a great multitude in the age to come that praise 
God Most High for the salvation that they enjoy. So don't vote 
yourself out or don't consider yourself, well, I'm unreachable. I'm an abundant sinner. Well, 
bless God, there's abundant grace to be had in the Savior. So the 
apostle contrasts what we were, verse 3, and he now demonstrates 
what we are, and he predicates this or states this as connected 
to the love of God. But then notice the application 
of God's grace. So we ask the question, well, 
God's love was manifest. God's love appeared specifically 
and supremely in the incarnation. But let's just kind of flesh 
it out a bit. Sometimes husbands or wives, 
they might say something like, do you love me? And I don't know 
that that's necessarily calling into question their credibility, 
but it's nice to hear once in a while. And then if they're 
a bit even more ambitious, well, why? Again, maybe it's that inner 
desire to be praised for something. I don't think that's always a 
good thing. But, well, I love you because 
you take out the trash. I love you because you cook delicious 
meals. Those aren't bad things, brethren. 
I mean, it's good to have some schlub to take out the trash 
and somebody good to cook a good meal. But we kind of like to 
know the answers or reasons or rather the descriptions or the 
demonstrations of that love. Again, generally, God so loved 
the world that he gave his only begotten son. Romans 5.8, God 
demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were at 
sinners, Christ died for us. So what Paul is doing now, he 
speaks of the love of God having made its appearance in the incarnation 
of the son. And now in verses five to seven, 
he gives us the details. He sort of, draws it out, he 
applies it for us so that we can stand in awe that what we 
were, verse three, has been overcome by the love of God in a particular 
and concrete way through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. So that's what he does. Now notice 
specifically three things here in verses five to seven. I wanna 
look at the fact of salvation, secondly, the basis of salvation, 
and then the means involved in salvation. But note the fact. Verse 5, not by works of righteousness, 
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. Now, verses 4 to 7 are one sentence. Now, they're not, I don't think, 
in the English version, but in the Greek it's one sentence. What's the simple sentence, taking 
all of you back to grammar school? Talking to kids who probably 
already know this. When you look at a big long sentence, 
what's the first task in trying to understand the big long sentence? 
Find the simple sentence. Because oftentimes you have a 
simple sentence and you have a bunch of words around it just 
describing that simple sentence a little bit more. And that's 
what Paul is doing here, specifically in verse 5. The simple sentence 
is right about the middle of verse 5. Those three words, he 
saved us. That's Paul's emphasis. The love 
and kindness of God appeared at the incarnation. The first 
concrete way that we know that he loves us is that he saved 
us, which in light of verse 3 is truly mind-blowing, isn't it? Remember, Jesus says, I didn't 
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 15, 
all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to hear him. It's almost as if God has in 
his mind the salvation of horrible people. Yeah, that's exactly 
right. Ask anybody you're sitting around 
this morning that has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Describe 
yourself prior to your conversion in one word. Horrible would probably 
be right at the top. They might even say, it's that 
way now, but by the grace of God, he deals with my sin, he 
supplies the spirit, and he keeps me on track. So the verse 3 backdrop 
is the context in which He saved us. Now, this is a common refrain 
in Scripture. It's always intrigued me that 
people come to the Bible for some of the weirdest things. 
I remember years ago, there was a famous preacher, and not Reformed, 
but sort of, you know, in the broader evangelical world, and 
I think he wrote a book on the Daniel Diet. You know, Daniel, 
the prophet, was given a specified diet when he was there in Nebuchadnezzar. Now, I'm not suggesting we can't 
learn something from what Daniel imbibed, but I would suggest 
that if you're getting diets out of the book of Daniel, you're 
missing the point. or you've probably heard David 
at the Valley of Elah facing Goliath. Well, there's a story 
calculated for you to overcome your personal giants. No, it's 
not. or we want the Bible to speak 
to quantum physics, or we want the Bible to speak to auto mechanics, 
or we want the Bible to speak to just about everything. You 
know what the constant refrain of Holy Scripture is? He saved 
us. The Bible is a book about the 
redemption of God through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to 
bring glory to him. That's what the Bible, again, 
we can learn things about math and history and science and all 
those sorts of things, but if we're searching the scripture 
for non-redemptive ends, we're missing the entirety of God's 
Word. So this simple sentence is all 
over scripture. Remember Jonah, chapter 2, verse 
9, he says, salvation is of the Lord. or Jesus at the time when 
he calls Zacchaeus down from the tree. And everybody grumbles 
and they murmurs. Why? Because sinners were no 
different then than they are today. We hear about a notorious 
sinner getting saved. Well, that doesn't seem right. 
He's a pretty bad guy. He's a horrible specimen of a 
human being. Well, that's how they responded 
with Zacchaeus. So Jesus seizes upon the opportunity and says, 
the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. 
I didn't come for the righteous. Doctors don't visit the healthy. They rather go to the sick. Jesus 
comes to the dead. The mission of God, the love 
of God is demonstrated in that wondrous work. Ephesians 2.8, 
for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of 
yourselves. Revelation chapters 5 and 7, 
you've got these scenes where the saints of Christ are before 
the throne of God, and they shout out antiphonally praise to God. And specifically in Revelation 
7, they say, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne 
and to the Lamb. They don't say, thank you for 
the Daniel diet. I was really able to curb my 
appetite and lose a few nasty inches. That's not the point. 
The point is the salvation of God most high through Jesus Christ 
our Lord for the glory of God most high, Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit. The Bible is a redemptive book. 
The Bible has a specific focus. The Bible is about the doing 
and the dying and the rising of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Old Testament. promises and anticipates, the 
New Testament brings the Savior and shows us what He does, shows 
us how He did it, and shows us His glory in the having done 
it. So Paul says, He saved us. But then notice those words around 
it now become very necessary to understand. He first gives 
a denial and then an affirmation. So remember the simple sentence 
is he saved us. Well, how did he save us? Did 
he do it because we were savable? Did he do it because we had a 
lot of good works accruing? Did he do it just to kind of 
meet us halfway? No, there's a denial at the first 
part of verse five. Notice not by works of righteousness, 
which we have done. It's not by works of righteousness 
which we have done. There's no sort of cooperation 
in the matter of salvation. Well, if I do 50 good works in 
19 or 2024, 19, wow, where'd that come from? 2024, well, then God will reward 
me in December with this great salvation. We treat God as if 
he's a, you know, a bartering agent. We treat God as if, you 
know, we'll do, and then you do, and we'll sort of meet at 
the table here, we'll write it on the note, we'll pass it back 
and forth, and we'll come to the terms. No, He saved us not 
according to our works of righteousness. Well, the first and most obvious 
reason is because there were no works of righteousness. There 
were none. Nada, zip, zilch. We were described very effectively 
in verse 3. For we ourselves were also once 
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, 
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. What 
part of that do we bring to the table to barter with God? None 
of it. There's no good works. Simple 
sentence, He saved us. Denial, not by works of righteousness, 
which we have done. It's not the good that we bring 
to the table. It's not the contribution that 
we give. There is none. There is none 
righteous. No, not one. Speak of Paul in 
Romans chapter 3. There's none who seeks after 
God. There's no fear of God before their eyes. What does the prophet 
Isaiah say in chapter 53? All we like sheep have gone astray. We all have pursued these various 
lusts. We've all pursued those things 
that are contrary to God, that are rebellious in His sight, 
that break and transgress His law and lack conformity unto 
it. So you've got to understand, 
He saved us not according to our works of righteousness, not 
according to any good thing that we bring, not by works of righteousness, 
which we have done. But then notice this affirmation 
that He gives, or an affirmation. So after this, not by works of 
righteousness, which we have done, he goes on to say, but 
according to his mercy, according to his mercy, just highlighting 
once again, the love and kindness of God that appeared in the incarnation 
according to verse four. So it's not our works, but it's 
God's mercy. It's not our efforts, but it's 
God's kindness. It's not our attempts, but it's 
God's efficacy. Again, there is great hope in 
this passage. Perhaps you've grown up in a 
church. Perhaps you've heard the gospel all your life. Perhaps 
you still sit dead in your trespasses and sins and contemplating this 
idea that, well, there's just no hope for me. There might be 
hope for everybody else in here, but there's no hope for me. Well, 
I would encourage you to reconsider that. Consider the fact that 
the apostle celebrates God's love, God's kindness, God's mercy, 
and God's grace. Now, he doesn't, just as I mentioned 
earlier, just, you know, apportion it out in little bits. Well, 
you know, here's your little bit. In verse five, he's gonna 
talk about pouring out the Spirit abundantly. I was reminded of 
John Newton. He says, I'm a great sinner, 
but I serve a great Savior. Or again, Paul in 1 Timothy 1, 
trustworthy, faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of what? Of whom 
I am chief. Brethren, friend, there is hope 
to be had in this God. There is mercy, there is grace, 
there is an abundance of it. In fact, you can't tap it out. 
You can't exhaust it. You can't use it up. Turn over 
to Ephesians chapter one for just a moment and something of 
a parallel passage, just to see how Paul celebrates the abundance 
of God's grace. Ephesians chapter one. He says, 
in him, Christ, we have redemption through his blood. And then he 
goes on to explain that in a particular way, the forgiveness of sins. 
And then note that next clause, according to the riches of his 
grace. Not just a little bit of grace, 
not just a little bit of mercy, not just a little bit of kindness. 
But as the apostle says in many places in his writings, and here 
as well in Titus 2.5, but according to his mercy, he saved us. There's 
a passage in the prophet Micah, and the name Micah basically 
means, who is a God like you? And it's interesting because 
Micah ends his prophecy on that note. He asks the question, who 
is a God like you? And then he fills in the response. And the response is a bit contrary 
to what we might expect. I think we might expect, who 
is a God like you who visits the wicked with punishment, who 
visits the ungodly with judgment, who visits the unrighteous with 
eternal hell? That's not a perplexing question, 
is it? In a moral universe governed 
by a good God who is altogether just and righteous and holy, 
the punishment of sinful offenders doesn't evoke question, does 
it? I mean, Romans 6, for the wages of sin is death. Is anybody 
shocked by that? Wait a minute, I can't believe 
that. No, that's perfectly acceptable. You commit the crime. This used 
to be a principle in modern Western jurisprudence. You commit a crime 
and you do the time. I realize that's not always the 
case now, but in a moral universe, that is the way it's supposed 
to be. So when we come to this question by Micah, using his 
own name, Micah, who is a god like you, here's what comes from 
his lips. Who is a god like you, pardoning 
iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant 
of his heritage? He does not retain his anger 
forever because he what? He delights in mercy. So again, 
if you're sitting there and you've not come to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
you might have this weird thing going, oh, I can't come, I don't 
wanna come, I shouldn't come, or I've always been told I'm 
not supposed to come, but he's rich in mercy. In fact, he delights 
in mercy. There's no wanting or lacking 
or absence of it in the divine essence. There's not a bit where 
he comes up short. Everybody in the room believed 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not going to say, well, 
you know what? I got to get back to y'all because I got to go 
find some more mercy and grace. God is mercy and grace. He is his perfections. He is 
all that he is. And it's most wondrous and glorious. And so the apostle tells us, 
he saved us. He makes a denial. It's not by 
works of righteousness, which we have done, but then he makes 
this affirmation, but according to his mercy. And then notice 
the specific means involved. He speaks there of the act of 
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Again, this 
isn't water baptism. The ladies that go into the tank 
this morning, they're not coming through that to Jesus. They're 
going through that because they've come to Jesus. It's an external 
display. It's an external sacrament of 
an internal reality. And the internal reality demonstrates, 
or rather the external reality demonstrates passages like this. So when we see these sisters 
go through the waters of baptism, this is the message we ought 
to hear preached. Not owing to them. Congratulations, 
Sherelle and Becca, you've done it. You've really sided with 
Christ. No, no, no, no. The one celebrated today is the 
God of Titus 3, 4-8. It's the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who sent the Son of His love into this world 
to live, to die, and to be raised again. So as we look at these 
particulars, notice in verse 6, at the end of verse 5, through 
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. 
Now, regeneration means what we often hear in common Christian 
parlance, the new birth, or to be born again. Remember in John 
3, Nicodemus comes by night to the Lord Jesus Christ And he 
says, teacher, we know that you're a man from God. We know that 
no one can do these great things unless God sends him. Jesus cuts 
right to the quick and he says, unless a man is born again, he 
shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. It's just not going to 
happen. Why? Because we're dead in our trespasses 
and sins. We're the kinds of people that 
traffic in the muck of verse three in Titus 3.3. In order 
to get between A and B, we've got to have something happen 
to us from outside of us. And the apostle indicates that 
here. The love of God is manifested 
in the regeneration of dead sinners, in the making of them alive. 
And it's not just John 3, because as Jesus continues with Nicodemus, 
Nicodemus starts to ask some odd questions and Jesus chides 
him. He says, are you a teacher in 
Israel and you don't know these things? Why does Jesus do that? Because there was a promise in 
the prophet Ezekiel about the new covenant era. And God the 
Lord says, then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall 
be clean. I will cleanse you from all your 
filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new 
heart and a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of 
stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will 
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes 
and you will keep my judgments and do them. The washing of regeneration 
and renewal by the Holy Spirit points to that divine work of 
God, wherein He causes a man, a woman, a boy or girl to be 
born again, so that they may pass from death unto life. And when they, by grace, are 
born again, they're granted the graces of faith and repentance. 
And you see that movement in our very text. The renewing or 
the regenerating and renewing power of the Holy Spirit is then 
seen in justification by God's grace. Notice what the Apostle 
says there. So we've got the Holy Spirit 
who regenerates us. We've got the Holy Spirit who 
renews us. He makes us alive. And then in 
verse six, he says, whom he poured out on us abundantly through 
Jesus Christ, our savior, that having been justified by his 
grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal 
life. So we receive the spirit. We're made alive. We have now 
the ability by God's grace to believe the gospel. So when these 
ladies go into the baptistry, that's what's being declared. 
That's what's being evidenced. And that God gives these good 
gifts shows His love. That God gives these good gifts 
prolifically shows His love. That God will station a great 
multitude on that day that no man can number argues there is 
hope for the most notorious sinner who hears the gospel of Jesus 
Christ our Lord. That bit in Luke 15, when all 
the sinners and the tax collectors draw near to him to hear him. 
How do the Pharisees respond to that? The Pharisees, they 
look down their big noses and they say, this man receives sinners 
and eats with them. That's their complaint. They 
don't like the thought that all the tax collectors and the sinners 
are drawing near to hear him. Well, I've often thought about 
myself being one of those tax collectors and sinners. I'd want 
to know how Jesus responds, wouldn't you? If he's accused of receiving 
to himself sinners and tax collectors, as a sinner, not a tax collector, 
but a sinner, I'd want to know what's his response. What's he 
going to say? Is he gonna disown that claim? 
No, I don't. I don't receive sinners. I don't 
receive tax collectors. I'm just like you Pharisees. 
They're filthy, vile scum, and I want them far, far from me. 
Is that how he responds? No, Jesus responds threefold. He says, he's like a shepherd 
who loses one of his sheep and leaves the 99 grazing in the 
meadow to go find that one. If I was a sinner or tax collector, 
I'd say, wow, that sounds good. And when he finds that sheep, 
what does he do? Does he give it a few in the 
side just to teach it that it never does that again? Does he? Does he pinch it? Does he hobble 
it? Does he cut off a little sheep 
foot so that sheep can never wander astray? He puts it on 
his shoulders and he returns to his fold rejoicing. And then Jesus says, he's like 
a woman who loses a coin. What does she do? Does she say, 
well, I've got nine others? No. She moves the furniture. 
She gets the broom out of the closet. She starts looking for 
that coin. Why? Because that which was lost, 
I want to find. And when she does it, she tells 
her friends. And what's the response? There's 
great rejoicing. And then Jesus says he's like 
a father who had two sons. And one of the sons says, Father, 
give me my share of the inheritance right now. I want to go do my 
thing. I want to go out and sow my oats. I want to go. I want 
to do my thing. He's basically saying to the 
father, you're better off to me dead than alive. Isn't that 
when an inheritance typically comes? So the father gives him 
that share of the inheritance. So what does the son do? Oh, 
he goes out and he invests, he does good deeds, and he, no, 
he squanders it through wretched living, vile, wicked living. And he's at the point where he's, 
you know, with pigs and slopping the pigs and wanting to eat the 
pig's slop. Thankfully, I've not been at 
that point, but I think it's a point I want to avoid as far 
as I'm able, because pigs will eat anything, and I'm sure the 
smells emitting from that bucket were enough to suggest, I don't 
want to eat that, but if I was hungry enough, I guess it would 
look tasty. So what happens? The boy comes 
to himself, not to Christ. The way he comes to his senses, 
not to God, and he reasons, as we often do. Well, first he goes 
to try to find some help that's not God. And then he says, I 
know what I'll do. And typically we refer this as 
to his conversion. I don't think he's converted 
at this point. I know what I'll do. I'll go back to my father's 
house, I'll cast myself on his mercy, and I'll become one of 
the day laborers. That way I get three hots and 
a cot. I'll at least be looked after. I don't have to, you know, 
crave or covet pig slop. So I'll just go cast myself on 
his mercy. Again, not savingly, not salvificly, 
not because he's seen the error of his ways. No, his belly's 
pinched and he wants good food. So what happens? You know the 
story. If you've been in our church, 
you know this story a lot. The father on the porch sees 
the son when he's a long way off. As Spurgeon says, he looks 
through the telescope of love. And what does the father do? 
The father runs to him. Does he run to him to hobble 
him, to punch him in the stomach, to chide him for the public scandal 
that he's created in their little village? That's not what he does. 
He falls on the boy, he kisses the boy, he brings the boy home. This is his conversion, and it's 
symbolized in that coat that he places upon him, that ring 
he puts on his finger. And then the other boy, the other 
son, he's the Pharisee in the story. What's his response? Well, 
I never got that. I never got a fatted calf. I never got all these benefits. 
How does God the Father respond to him? It is right that we make 
merry. My son who was lost is found. My son who was dead is now alive. This idea that God really isn't 
about saving sinners is unbiblical. God really is about saving sinners. That love of God made its grand 
appearance in the incarnation of the Son of His love. That 
love of God is demonstrated every step of the way in the Messiah's 
life. We see it come to its pinnacle. 
It is death and resurrection. So there's hope. That's the point. 
And justification is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, 
in Christ alone. And that's what Paul is highlighting 
here. We've got the love of God, and 
it is absolutely applied or concreted in this work of redemption. And 
then notice, he says that having been justified by his grace, 
we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 
So what we were, Titus 2.3, for we ourselves were also once foolish, 
disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, 
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. And now 
what we receive, the promise of eternal life, again, it's 
not owing to our moral behavioral change, it's not owing to what 
we've accomplished, it's not owing to how we've performed, 
but it's through the washing of regeneration and the renewal 
by the Holy Spirit, who has poured out abundantly through Jesus 
Christ, so that being justified by His grace, we have this blessed 
hope of eternal life. So when these sisters go into 
that water, that's the message that's communicated. Not kudos 
to you for deciding for Jesus and now going to get baptized, 
but glory to God most high, from whom all blessings flow. Namely, 
the powerful redeeming work of God seen and affected by the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And then notice the affirmation 
of God's word on the heels of this statement. So verse 8, this 
is a faithful saying. There are several faithful sayings 
in what we call the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and 
Titus. And some suggest that this is 
a faithful saying applies to what follows. This is a faithful 
saying constantly affirmed people to do good words. I don't think 
that's the faithful saying. I think the faithful saying is 
verses 4 to 7. The faithful saying is the gospel of our salvation. 
The faithful saying is that He saved us, not according to our 
works of righteousness, but rather according to the riches of His 
mercy. That's the faithful saying that needs to be proclaimed by 
faithful ministers. That gospel of Jesus Christ ought 
to occupy center place in any church of the Lord Jesus. Again, 
the Bible is a big book. It does speak to a lot of things. 
There are principles of Christian ethics. There are practical applications 
of the gospel. We're working through that in 
our studies in the book of Ephesians there in chapters five and six, 
husbands and wives, children and parents. I'm not suggesting 
those things are absent. but the central focal point of 
God's book is God's son and his life, death, and resurrection. 
So Paul says, this is a faithful saying, and these things I want 
you to affirm constantly. I've heard people before say, 
you know, at my church, I don't ever preach the gospel. Why is 
that your church? It's like, I take my car to the 
mechanic, but he doesn't fix it. I go to the lawyer and all 
he ever tells me is, you're guilty. I go to the doctor and he diagnoses 
me and then says, well, too bad for you, which I understand is 
pretty much the case for lots of medicine today. Why would 
we go back? The gospel is to be maintained 
constantly, not just for unbelievers such that they'll get saved. 
But brethren, is there anything more needy for you, needful in 
your life, than a good dose of Jesus Christ and his life and 
his death and his resurrection? Is there anything calculated 
out there to promote what Paul then goes on to say than that? And again, notice the specific 
order. This is a faithful saying, the truths of verses four to 
seven, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, the 
truths of verses four to seven, so that those who have believed 
in God should be careful to maintain good works. Notice, not the inverse, 
go do good works and then you experience the love of God. Now, 
the gospel is you experience the love of God by God's grace 
through the regeneration and renewing power of the Holy Spirit. 
You're justified freely by God's grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ. That is the condition. The consequent is then engaging 
in good works. See, man's religion puts good 
works as the condition. If I do such and such, if I go 
to such and such, if I stop engaging in such and such, then God will 
reward me with eternal life. That's the religion of the devil 
and man. The religion of God's grace is, I save dead sinners, 
not me, God saves dead sinners according to the riches of His 
mercy, His grace, His kindness, through the effective power, 
or the work rather, of His Son, through the power of the Holy 
Spirit, He saves us, so that now we'll be careful to maintain 
good works. It's a consequent. It's a fruit. It issues from the fact that 
we have been justified by God's grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ. So if you're a verse 3 kind of 
guy or girl right now, the answer isn't get better. Fix it. Stop doing this. Stop going here. Stop seeing that. No, the answer 
is to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. to, with the 
open hand of faith, receive redemptive benefit in all of its blessed 
profuseness. This God of love and mercy and 
grace runs from the porch, falls on sinners, kisses them, puts 
rings on their fingers, robes on their backs, and orders the 
slaying of the fatted calf. There is everything in the scripture 
this morning to argue that you come to Jesus, you believe on 
Jesus, and you will be forgiven. You will receive a righteousness 
by which you may stand in the presence of God. Paul's order 
is conspicuous, justified by God's grace so that those who 
have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable 
to men. I take the these things back 
to verses 4 and 4 to 7. We don't need to be told that 
our good works done to men are good for them. No, if I hand 
you a bag of money, you don't need me to say, this is a good 
thing. Well, of course, I'm holding a bag of money. No, the things 
are the things of verses 4 to 7. So this is the emphasis. These things are good and profitable 
to men. the fact that they hear of Christ, 
the fact that by God's grace they believe in Christ, and the 
fact that they now are inheritors of eternal life. In conclusion, 
we ought to appreciate God's perfections, we ought to appreciate 
God's triunity, the Father, the love of God the Father appears 
in the sending of the Holy Spirit, based on the work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. All of the works outside of God 
are attributed to that one true and living God. But there are 
times that the Bible appropriates to persons in the Trinity specific 
things so we can stand in awe and marvel and be amazed at our 
great God. And then as far as the doctrine 
of baptism, I want to make sure I'm sensitive to the occasion 
and to the young ladies that are identifying. I sometimes 
say ladies, I didn't want to call you girls, but as I've said 
in the past, and bless God, we've had a few baptisms recently, 
it is a privilege of the ministry in the church to be able to speak 
with converts, to talk to them about their testimony, to be 
encouraged in my own heart about that testimony, and then to hear 
them want to identify publicly with our Lord in the waters of 
baptism. It is a real blessed privilege. 
With reference to baptism, As I said, when they go into that 
water, it's not so that they may receive the benefits of verses 
4 to 7. They go into that water because 
they have received the benefits of verses 4 to 7. They have been 
regenerated. They have been renewed by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, and that because of the work of Jesus 
Christ. They have been justified by God's grace through faith 
in that blessed Savior King. But the baptism of believers 
represents, in the language of our confession, the sorts of 
realities that we see here in verses four to seven. So our 
confession at chapter 29, paragraph one says, baptism is an ordinance 
of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the 
party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death 
and resurrection, of his being engrafted into him, of remission 
of sins, and of giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ to 
live and walk in newness of life. So in other words, baptism is 
the external emblem or symbol or picture of what God does internally. He has saved them. They did not 
save themselves. I didn't go and talk to them 
or hear from them and say, you know, I cleaned up my act. I 
started going to church. I started reading my Bible. I 
started doing the right things. I stopped doing the wrong things. 
And lo and behold, God rewarded me with something. No, that wasn't 
it at all. Grace alone, through faith alone, 
in Christ alone, which is good news. If you're not a believer 
here this morning, God does it. He's doing it. He's manifesting 
this power, this glory, this majesty in the saving of guilty, 
vile, helpless sinners. And remember this day, young 
ladies, now it's young ladies, with reference to the baptism 
and public identification with our triune God. Walk in that 
newness of life. Follow the trajectory of the 
apostle's words. You've been justified by his 
grace. Now engage in those good words. 
Now engage in those things that are pleasing in his sight. Now 
bring glory to him. That language of the Lord Jesus, 
let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your 
father in heaven. It's not, oh, what a wonderful 
person you are. No, you become a vehicle by which 
to shine the light of God's glory upon the object of that glory. So, when we see the baptism, 
think Titus 3, 4 to 7. When you girls think baptism, 
think about the day that you identified as having died, been 
buried, and raised again for everlasting life. Well, let us 
pray, and then we'll move to the water. Our God and Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity 
of Titus 3, 4 to 8 specifically, and what it teaches concerning 
the doctrine of salvation. And our heart's desire and earnest 
plea is that more and more people would come to a saving knowledge 
of our Redeemer. We thank you for your work in 
Shirel and for Becca. We thank you for their confession 
of faith in the living and true God, their confession in the 
life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. for 
their testimony and their consistency. We pray that you would bless 
them and their time at our church. May you encourage them, may you 
build them up in their most holy faith. And as well, may they 
be prayerful and seek as well to encourage the brothers and 
the sisters around them. And may you indeed continue to 
be pleased to add such as should be saved to your churches throughout 
this world. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen.