Please turn with me to Titus 2 - starting at verse 11.

First - a quiz.  Who remembers what the Greek verb “orego” means?  “To aspire” - stretching one’s arms out - heart - soul - body - mind - in passionate desire - even lusting after - extending - reaching - longing - grasping - pursuing - aspiring after what it means to be God’s man. (1 Timothy 3:1)

Think Oregano.  You all seem surprised.  As a snack food of choice - how many would prefer Oreos over Oregano?  Point being that in life we have choices to make as to what we aspire towards.  We need to choose wisely.

Over the last few Sundays - looking at Paul’s letter to Titus - we’ve seen that a Godly man pursues God from the heart.  Being a Godly man isn’t about what we achieve or set out to do for God - being a Godly man means surrender to God - giving God the freedom to transform us into the Godly man that He created us to be.  From that surrender - in that process of transformation - we become examples to those around us - make a powerful positive impact in the lives of those around us - family - work - school - church - community - for God.

What were coming to - starting here in verse 11 - are the choices we need to make - if we’re going to surrender ourselves to God - to pursue God from the heart.

Titus 2 - starting at verse 11.  Walk with me through these verses and we’ll look at applying what Paul writes to our lives today.

Paul begins:  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

Let’s pause there and make sure we’re clear on what Paul’s saying.

Grace - Greek word “charis” - by definition grace means being given something we don’t deserve.  God’s kindness - His blessing - His goodwill.  There are two types of Grace.  Common grace and saving grace. 

Common grace is pretty easy to get our minds around.  Happens every time we take a breath.   Common grace is God taking care of His creation.    Having air to breath and being able to breath it.  We see grace happening all the time around here - plants growing and producing food.  That’s God’s grace.  Water to irrigate and drink.  That’s grace.

Grace happens even if we don’t realize it.  Tragic accidents that were no more than near misses.  Disasters that never happened.  All that is God’s common grace - His favor poured out on His creation simply because He chooses to do so.

Saving grace is more specific.

When I was 4 years old I went to a 5 day club - like VBS - at the home of a lady in our church.  Heard the gospel.  I was told I needed to invite Jesus into my heart - into my life.  At the age of 4 - that night - I knelt down beside my bed and asked Jesus into my heart.

Saving grace is more specific.  It gets personally applied to our lives.  Maybe you’ve heard this?   Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

God so loving His creation - each one of us - that He gave His only Son - Jesus - to die horribly on a cross - to take the penalty for our sin - our disobedience against God - for all those things that - because of those things - we deserve to be separated from God forever in eternal punishment.  Jesus - God’s Son - taking our penalty in our place - dying on the cross.

So that whichever one of us - should believe in Jesus - that we need Him and that He is our Savior - whenever anyone of us gives our lives to God - God’s grace is applied to our lives.  Not that we could ever earn God’s grace - or ever deserve Him being gracious to us - like God owes us something.  But when we trust Jesus as our Savior - God - by grace saves us - blesses us with salvation - so that we know we have life eternal with Him - that begins even now.  (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-10)

Grab this:   Grace is not a commodity or a substance.  Can’t package it or sell it.  Some try.  Can’t do it.  Grace is not a commodity or a substance.   Grace is an action of God - an outpouring of His character.  Therefore it has a result.

That’s what Paul is writing here in verse 11.  The Grace of God has appeared - in the coming of Jesus - the incarnation - the crucifixion - the resurrection - and that appeared grace has a result - it produces salvation - in those who choose to trust God with their lives.

To be a Godly man we need to respond favorably to God’s grace.  Say that with me, “We need to respond favorably to God’s grace.”

Coming to verses 12 to 14 - Paul is going to show us God’s grace - how it applies to our lives - what God - by His grace - does for us - as we  choose to trust Him.

Verse 12:  God’s grace - instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.  These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.  Let no one disregard you.

Two key words we need to latch on to.  What God - by His grace - does for us - as we choose to trust Him.  First - verse 12 - “Instructing”  God’s Grace Instructs us.  Say that with me, “God’s grace instructs us.”

Imagine a child growing up in the world with no clue as to how to live in that world.  That happens.  Doesn’t it?  Parents aren’t there.  They’ve abdicated.  Kids are growing up trying to figure out life with no one to show them what’s right and what’s wrong - where the mines are in the mine field.  How are they suppose to know what’s up?  More often than not - the results are - what?  disastrous - lifelong tragedy. 

Instructing has the idea - in Greek - of training children - correcting them - instructing them.  What a parent does for a child.  God tells us we need to come to Him as a child - in humility - innocence - so we’re at the place in our hearts where we can learn from Him about how to do life.  God doesn’t just kick us out there into life with no clue as to what’s going on.  “Good luck.  Have a nice life.”

If God wasn’t gracious we’d have no clue about anything.  God is gracious He instructs us.

Paul focuses on four specifics that God - by His grace - instructs in.

First -  God’s grace instructs us to deny worldly desires.

What’s a worldly desire?  Doesn’t take much to think of one.  Does it? 

The word “desire” has the idea of passion.  What are people passionately pursing in life?

Sex.  How much stuff - audio and visual - printed - how much is devoted to sex.  Just going to the grocery store is all about sex.  The music in the background - the gauntlet of magazines at the check-out.  Sex sells.

42% of top-selling CDs contain sexual content that is “pretty explicit” or “very explicit.”  Most of the stuff blaring from boomboxes or coming out of iPods or the car stereo that’s rockin’ your car from the car next to yours - is pure porn. 

Every year a teenager absorbs nearly 15,000 sexual references - with less than 170 referring to abstinence, birth control, or sexually transmitted disease.  Every day I get at least 20 emails - spam - related to sex.  The message we’re bombarded with is that sex - whenever - whatever - with whoever - its all okay.

We know this because its where we live our lives.

People are passionate about stuff - lots of stuff - more stuff and better stuff than the other guy.  More toys.  The endless pursuit of accumulating what cannot satisfy.

People are passionate about power.  Which also includes money.  The deceptive idea that we can control the circumstances of our lives.

The bottom line passion of this world?  Self.  Me, myself, and I.  Doing whatever I perceive is to my advantage.  Using whatever - sex - stuff - power - whatever.  People trying to check-out of life like Frank Sinatra.  “I did it my way.”

We are constantly bombarded with what is orchestrated or distorted by our Adversary - Satan - to suck us into believing that passion for self - the passions of this world - are the only reality.  And - let’s be honest - its hard not to buy into what Satan is peddling as reality.

God’s grace appears in the midst of all that - breaks in to instruct us - that there’s a completely different reality - an absolute truth - that life is about God - and living life pursuing Him.  Praise God for His grace.

To deny is to “just say no.”  To refuse to go there - to not get sucked in - to not get caught up in the passion of pursing anything but God.

God’s grace - Paul writes -  instructs us in how to live sensibly - literally - sane.  To pursue the self-destructive passions of the world is insanity.  To pursue God is sanity.  Pursuing God is what makes for a healthy mind - healthy thinking in the midst of the moral - cultural - spiritual - decay of this world.  By God’s grace we learn how to approach life prudently - soberly - with self-control rather than impulsively following after every idea - the philosophies and opinions and suggestions and values and religious ideas of this world - that seems to make so much sense at the time.

God’s grace instructs us in how to live righteously - living out life with the living God in the way that pleases Him.  Living life as God has designed life to be lived.  Living a Godly lifestyle.  Safely - securely - following God through the mine fields.  Living Godly - devoted to God - set apart for Him.

Fourth -  God’s grace instructs us in how to live with hope.

Two words:  Global Warming.  Looking at what’s going on today - hurricanes and tornados and floods and earthquakes and drought - all kinds of catastrophes - serious stuff.  The planet may be heating up.  The economy is tanking.  The price of gas is going through the roof.  There’s some huge political and economic paradigm shifts going on.  This country - the world - is shifting more anti-God.  The Middle East seems to be coming apart at the seams - again.  Maybe even more explosively.

There’s some serious fear out there.  Maybe even in here.  What will happen?  How will we survive?  Is this the end?  The answer is… we don’t know.

Paul writes to the Thessalonian church - words we often remind ourselves of at funerals.  Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4 - starting at verse 14:  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again - and we do - even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.  (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17)

Isn’t that a great reality?  A great hope we share?  God’s got our future covered.

Because God is gracious to us we know that life isn’t some vain cosmic freak accident of some primordial ooze getting zapped.  That we just sort of happen to be here and once we live out our lives that’s it.

God graciously tells us that we don’t need to live fearing what may come tomorrow - even death - what many fear most - even death isn’t the end. 

God graciously tells us there are choices to be made about what comes next.  Based on how we’ve responded to God’s gracious offer of salvation - trusting in Jesus or not - will determine what happens to us after death.

Jesus came the first time - born in a stable - lived - died - lived - ascended back to heaven.  Paul reminds us that when Jesus returns next time He’s coming in all His glory - God Himself - at the head of the armies of heaven - the Potentate of Creation - the revealed King of Kings and Lord of Lords - coming to take the church - those who’ve chosen to trust Him as their savior - He’s coming to take us to be with Him.

Those who’ve rejected Him - blasphemed - mocked Him - done it their way - will be judged and sent to eternal punishment.  We either go up - heaven - eternity with God.  Which is a really great thing.  Or we go down - to that other place - hell - with its eternal punishment and torment.

God - by His grace - instructs us so that the appearing of Jesus in His glory is something that we can look forward to - without fear - with great hope. 

Bottom line - God by His grace instructs us how to live sensibly in a hopeless world that’s lost its mind. 

The second key word that we need to latch onto comes in verse 14.  The grace of God has appeared to “Redeem” us.  God’s Grace Redeems Us.  Say that with me, “God’s grace redeems us.”

How many of you remember these? (Blue Chip Stamps) 

Remember how this worked?  When we bought something they gave us stamps based on how much we paid for what we bought.  Buy a toaster  for $9.95 - get 1,000 stamps.  All kinds of places - even mortuaries - gave out stamps.  Stamps got pasted in books.  When the book was filled - actually several books - we took the books to a redemption center where they could be redeemed - emphasis redeemed - for all kinds of stuff - more toasters - dishes - pogo sticks - all kinds of stuff.

This was big time stuff.  In 1970 - at the height of all this stamping and redeeming - Blue Chip had sales of $126 million.  About 60 billion stamps were licked.  Redeeming stamps was a way of life.

Grab that - redemption is a way of life.  Say that with me, “Redemption is a way of life.”

To redeem is the Greek verb “lutrao” - which has the idea of paying a ransom - setting something free.  The stamps get paid and the value of the stamps redeems the merchandise from the redemption center.  Sets the merchandise free from being held captive in the warehouse.

In a crude way of comparison - Jesus pays for our lives with His - by dying on the redemption center cross - and so we’re set free from the penalty for our sins.

That’s the initial part of redemption.  But, we need to understand that Paul has more in mind here than the transaction in Jesus’ blood that redeems us from the penalty for our sins.  Paul’s focus is on a lifestyle of redemption - living out a redeemed life.  When we put our lives in God’s hands - trusting in Jesus and His work of redemption on the cross for us - God redeems our whole life.

God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us - indwells us.  The Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us - strengthens us - to live the Christian life - to resist the temptations thrown at us by Satan and this world.  When we struggle with the stuff of this world - when we come to God in prayer - sometimes too deep for words - the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray.  When we really mess up in life - even as a follower of Jesus - and we turn to God and ask forgiveness - He does - again - and again.  That’s grace. 

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us - works within us to set us apart -  - so that how we live brings glory to God.  So that we become useful to Him in serving Him - producing good deeds - testifying of Him.

God graciously gives us His word - the Bible.  The Holy Spirit - the author of the Bible - helps us to understand His word - applies it to our lives - guides us in understanding how we’re to live.

God the Holy Spirit gives to us the gifts of the spirit - like mercy, wisdom, faith, knowledge, evangelism - gifts of service which are our unique roles of service within the body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit develops within us the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Changing our hearts and minds and so our actions into what is inconformity to God’s character.

All that is part of what Paul writes when he says that God graciously redeems us from every lawless deed - from living under the control of Satan - living in sin - living lives contrary to God’s will.  That God graciously redeems us in order to purify us - to cleanse us - to clean out the disease of sin from our hearts - redeems us so that we can really be God’s people - Godly men and women - uniquely God’s.

Point being:   God - by His grace - redeems our whole lives - giving us the freedom and ability to live our lives as He desires for us to live that life.

Verse 15:  These things - what things?  God’s grace appearing to bring us salvation - a choice in how to live life.  God’s grace instructing us in how to live life.  God’s grace redeeming us for life.  These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.  Let no one disregard you.

Stay with me.  To speak is to chatter incessantly - obnoxiously - like a little bird:  Chirp.  Chirp.  Chirp.  Chirp.  Chirp.  On and on and on.  To exhort is to passionately call on someone to change - to encourage and challenge people to live differently.  To reprove is to point out where change needs to be made - that there is a better choice than the one being made.  Authority means that we have the - God by His grace given - right to say these things because we know that there is a choice to be made.

Do you see what Paul is getting at?   A Godly man - and a Godly woman - as Godly men we must speak incessantly about what we know to be true.  To let people know about God’s grace and what God offers us in Jesus Christ.  Nothing should hold us back from that purpose.

People may laugh at us - disregard us - despise us - marginalize us - fire us - turn away from us - seek to humiliate us.  It may be like continually banging our heads against a titanium wall.  We may become the loneliest people on earth.  But, man of God - we must speak the truth to our families - our community - to the places where we work - even here in the body of Christ.  To challenge others to become followers of Jesus - recipients of His grace.

The movie The Matrix - is about a man who begins to realize that what he sees around him isn’t the real world.  What he assumes is reality is really an image placed in his mind - a deception - generated by machines - a computer image so real that its indistinguishable from reality.  But this man - Neo - realizes that something is drastically wrong.

In the scene you’re about to see - Neo is offered a choice by Morpheus - to leave the pseudo world generated by the computer - given the choice to enter the real world.  

(VIDEO)

How encompassing is sin?  In a world under the domination of Satan?  We need to understand this.  We are born into a world dominated by Satan.  We’re born into slavery to sin.  Born into a prison that we can smell, hear, taste, touch.  A deception that calls us to passionately pursue everything that it offers.  To aspire to be something far different than what God intends for us to be.

But God - by His grace - breaks into all that deception and offers us a choice.   To live in the truth.   To aspire to be who God has created us to be.

To be saved by God - to be instructed in life - to be empowered for life - before we can speak boldly for Him - to live real life - requires choosing to give our lives totally to Him.

As those who’ve been confronted with God’s grace we cannot sit on the fence.  Maybe that’s where you are today.  Trying to live holding on to the passions of this world - and yet aspiring to live for God.  There is no way to be successful in life - effective as a Godly man - a Godly father or husband - to be God’s man - while you’re trying to balance on the fence between realities. 

Remember the Oregano?  God’s grace appearing is God giving us a choice.  A choice of what we aspire to.  To aspire to what is in this world or what God offers us in Jesus.  Oreos are not Oregano.   Man of God - which will you choose?

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.