Join us as Adrian Rogers unfolds the timeless message of grace as depicted in the book of Titus. He explores the apostle Paul’s influence on Titus, presenting him as a trophy of grace, and delves into historical examples highlighting the ripple effect of grace from figures like Dwight L. Moody to Billy Graham. This episode offers an insightful exploration of how grace can transform lives, liberate us from legalism, and bring us into a deeper relationship with Christ.
Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here’s Adrian Rogers.
SPEAKER 01 :
Would you take God’s Word and find the book of Titus, follow 2 Timothy, the book of Titus, small book, big, big message. Now, it is really a letter. It was a letter written to a man named Titus by the apostle Paul. Have you ever gotten a letter, a long letter, and you don’t know who wrote it? And you start to read a little while and you read a little while and then you just stop and you turn over to the back and see who signed it. And then you go to read it again. We in America and in the Western world generally begin our letters without saying who is writing them. Now, the Apostle Paul had better sense than that. So he just introduces himself right here at the very beginning of this letter. Look at it. Titus verse 1, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after God in us in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began, but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching and which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior. So that’s who’s writing the letter, Paul. And he says some things about himself and gives his testimony. Then he tells to whom he’s writing the letter. To Titus, mine own son after the common faith. Now, what did he mean by that? Well, he didn’t mean he was his literal son. Paul had led this young Greek to Christ. He was Paul’s spiritual son. Paul was his spiritual daddy. To Titus, mine own son after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Savior. So it’s a letter from Paul to Titus. And the very first thing that he says to Titus is grace. There’s so much in this book about grace. You see grace there in chapter 1 verse 4. Look in chapter 2 verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Look in chapter 3 in verse 7. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Look in chapter 3, verse 15. Grace be with you all. Amen. This is a book that is full of grace. And I’ve chosen it to talk to you today on this subject. God’s grace. Amazing grace. Paul was so grateful for his son in the faith, Titus. As a matter of fact, Titus was to Paul a trophy of grace. And I’ve chosen that word carefully because when there was a conference in Jerusalem, And the conference subject was this. Can the Gentiles be saved without keeping the Jewish law? Paul took his young convert Titus to Jerusalem and put him on display as a trophy of grace. You can read about it in Galatians chapter 2. And here’s this young man who comes all the way to Jerusalem, a Greek. And Paul says, look at him. There is a trophy of the grace of God, which brings me to a question right out. What kind of a trophy of grace are you? I mean, could I just reach out and take you and say, this is what we are talking about. This is a trophy of grace. You see, not only should we be witnesses, we ought to be part of the evidence. Amen. We ought to be part of the evidence. This young man was so saved by the grace of God that Paul could take him all the way to Jerusalem and say, just look at Titus. That brings me to another question also. Paul called Titus his son. his son in the faith do you have any children in the faith can you look at someone and say there is somebody i have led to jesus christ there is my son There is my daughter. I am their spiritual father. I am their spiritual mother. This is somebody that I have led to Christ. As a matter of fact, not only did Paul have sons and daughters in the faith, he had grandchildren because he’d led Titus to Christ and Titus had led others who had led others. Paul was a great, great, great grandfather. And you know, I’m kind of a great, great, great grandfather also because I have people that I’ve led to Christ who’ve led others to Christ or leading others to Christ. Won’t it be a day when we get to heaven and see those whose lives we’ve touched by bringing souls to Jesus Christ? In 1885, on July the 1st, there was a man named Kimball, Mr. Kimball. He had on his heart A young man who was a shoe salesman who was 19 years of age. Mr. Kimball felt that he ought to tell this shoe salesman about Jesus Christ. So he went to where the shoe salesman worked and went back there in the shoe racks. He laid a trembling hand on the shoulder of this young man whose name was Dwight and told Dwight of the grace of God. And Dwight bowed his head back there in the shoe racks. And was saved. Now Dwight was so saved that he wanted to share his salvation. And so the only way he knew to do it, he wasn’t educated. He didn’t have a college degree, certainly not been to seminary. But he felt that he could tell boys and girls about Jesus Christ. So he began there in the city of Chicago some Sunday schools. And he was very proficient, very well organized and very convictional. And children by the hundreds and the thousands began to come and get saved. this man began to preach. And he would preach around Chicago and around America. His name, Dwight L. Moody. Oh, he was a powerful man for God. So powerful that they invited him to England to preach. And so Dwight L. Moody went to England and he was invited into the church pastored by a man named F.B. Meyer. The man had an imposing name, really, Frederick Brotherton Meyer. And he was a very erudite and cultured Britisher and Englishman. He thought it would be nice to have the American to come. But when the American got there and began to speak, Meyer felt he’d made a tragic mistake. Because Dwight Moody was very unreserved. He wasn’t cultured at all and he murdered the King’s English. Now he didn’t disappoint the King of Kings, but he murdered the King’s English. It was said of Dwight L. Moody that he was the only man living who could pronounce Jerusalem in two syllables. But he was full of fire and he told what we would call today a tear-jerking story about a Sunday school teacher who learned that he was going to die and And that teacher, before he died, led all of his pupils in his class to Jesus Christ. Meyer was sitting on the platform thinking, oh, oh, when will this end? When will he be finished? What a mistake I’ve made. It was an ordeal for Meyer to listen to Moody. But finally, Moody finished. Later, F.B. Meyer was having tea with one of the church ladies. And he said to her, and how goes it with you today, madam? She said, wonderful, Brother Meyer. Since Moody has been here, I have won every girl in my class to Jesus Christ. That stung F.B. Meyer. He said, I learned that day something of the language of the soul. And my life was touched by that American, Dwight L. Moody. He said, I have never been the same because of what Moody did in our church. F.B. Meyer, with a heart aflame for God, came to the United States. And he was preaching in a college in the United States. And in that college were some ministerial students. And F.B. Meyer was talking about making a full surrender to God, giving God everything. And then he said this poignant thing. He said, there’s some of you who are ready to quit. There’s some of you who are not willing to give everything to Jesus Christ. You don’t seem to have the strength to live for Him. But he said, if you cannot tell God that you’re willing to give Him everything… Would you tell God this? Oh, God, I am not willing, but I am willing to be made willing. That’s interesting. I’m not willing, but I’m willing to be made willing. That is, God, start with me where I am. I’m weak, yes, Lord, but start with me. And you know, that’s scriptural. For the Bible says it is God that works enough both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Oh, God, I want to be willing. I give you my will. Work in me, oh, God. Sitting out there was a young man. His name was Wilbur Chapman. Wilbur Chapman said, Oh God, that’s me. I’ve been ready to quit. But God, I am willing to be made willing. Work in my heart. And God began to work in the heart of Wilbur Chapman. And Wilbur Chapman was touched by God and anointed, became a mighty evangelist, used of God across America throughout the land. Wilbur Chapman needed a helper. And he looked around and he found a young ex-professional baseball player who was now a YMCA clerk. His name, William A. Sunday. Billy Sunday, one of the world-renowned evangelists who was to his day what Billy Graham is to our day. And he asked Sunday to come help him. Sunday would help put up and take down the tent, put out the chairs, sometimes do the counseling. And on occasion, Sunday would give his testimony about how God had saved him from alcohol and God had saved him from vice. And Sunday would testify as to what God had done for him because Sunday was gloriously saved. After Chapman was old, he said, Billy, I’m going to turn this ministry over to you. And he turned it all over to Billy Sunday. That’s how Billy Sunday got his start. And Billy Sunday preached across America. And God so anointed Billy Sunday, it is said that he brought over a million souls to Jesus Christ. Greatly anointed. Billy Sunday would do all kinds of weird and strange things, but God had his hand on him. In 1924, Billy Sunday came to Charlotte, North Carolina. And there he preached a great revival crusade. And heaven came down and God blessed. And there was true, real revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. Out of that revival meeting, there came a group of men who banded together to pray for the world. It was called the Charlotte Prayer Meeting. They met regularly to pray for Charlotte and to pray for the world. And the focus of their prayer was this. Oh God, send another revival to Charlotte that will shake Charlotte and shake the world for Jesus Christ. They prayed faithfully for a decade. And God sent another evangelist. to Charlotte, North Carolina. His name, Mordecai Hamm. An evangelist with long, white, flowing hair came and preached in Charlotte in 1934. And many came to Christ. Sitting out there in the audience when Mordecai Hamm was preaching was a young, lanky, 15-year-old farm boy, North Carolina farm boy. That bony finger of Mordecai Ham pointing out like that made that farm boy a little uncomfortable. So he thought maybe I’ll get in the choir. It won’t be as bad up there. This boy got up there in the choir. But the finger of God found him up there. His name was Billy also. Billy Graham. Billy Graham gave his heart to Jesus Christ in that revival crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina preached by Mordecai Ham. And only eternity will be able to measure the souls and the lives that have been impacted by this wonderful and marvelous grand man of God, Billy Graham. But if you think there’s an unbroken thread that goes all the way from Graham to Mordecai Ham to Billy Sunday to Wilbur Chapman to F.B. Meyer to Dwight L. Moody to who? Do you still remember his name? Mr. Kimball. Now we’ve heard of Graham and we’ve heard of Meyer and we’ve heard of Sunday and we’ve heard of Ham and we’ve heard of Chapman. Few of us have heard of this man named Kimball, but I’ll tell you, heaven has his name. Heaven has his name. Friend, you never know what you start in motion when you win somebody to Jesus Christ and you may never be heard of but think about who you may be leading to faith in Jesus Christ Paul said you are my son you’re my son and hear this boy he didn’t know when he won this little old Greek boy to faith in Christ that he would be Titus the man that he would leave there to take care of the whole island of Crete and to supervise the work of God there we never know who it is that we’re bringing to Jesus Christ So again, those two questions. If you were a trophy of grace, what kind of trophy would you be? Number two, do you have any trophies of grace? In your spiritual hallway, are there some trophies of grace? Are there some people that you could say, yes, I led him to Jesus Christ. Yes, I had the joy of bringing that person to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. With what joy, with what joy the Apostle Paul wrote this letter To Titus, mine own son in the faith. Now he’s talking about the grace of God in this book. It was grace. That’s his first word to Titus. Grace. Amazing grace. What is grace? Grace is the unmerited grace. Unearned favor and love of God that is freely bestowed upon us where there is no merit whatsoever. Grace, we put it this way, G-R-A-C-E grace. Here’s an acrostic, God’s riches at Christ’s expense. G-R-A-C-E. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. Three things I want us to learn about grace today. First of all, I want us to think of the delight of grace. And then I want us to think of the denial of grace and then the distortion of grace. But first of all, let’s talk about the delight of grace. And do you know what the delight of grace is? It’s liberty. Oh, when you understand grace. When you understand the grace of God, then you begin to live in liberty and freedom. There is nothing that will set you free like the grace of God. For Jesus Christ came to set you free. And the Bible says, if the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed. And the Apostle Paul says, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And so what is the delight of grace? It is liberty. Now let’s just study this grace and see what kind of grace it is that liberates us. First of all, it’s sovereign grace. Look, if you will, in verse 1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect. God’s elect. It is God who elects us, who chooses us, who sets us apart for salvation. Did you know that God had his eye on you a long time before you had your eye on him? Did you know that? Did you know that if you’re saved, it is because God has chosen you to be saved? You say, well, now that brings up a problem. I’m not yet saved. What if God hasn’t chosen me? Can I be saved if I’m not one of the elect? Well, I’ve got wonderful news for you. In John chapter 6, Jesus says this, All that the Father hath given me will come to me. That’s sovereign election. All that the Father hath given to me will come to me. Hallelujah, they will come. And then he said, And him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. Do you want to be one of the elect? Just come on. Isn’t that neat? Just come on. If you want to come, just come. I can stand up here and I can preach today that whosoever will may come. Isn’t that wonderful? So you want to find out whether you’re the elect? You want to be saved? Just come on. Don’t let election keep you out. Let it bring you in. But know this, that God set his heart, his mind upon you. The omniscient, all-knowing God. It is sovereign grace. Grace that saves us. And not only is it sovereign grace, because it’s sovereign grace, it must be seeking grace. You see, we love him because he loved us first. The Bible says in the book of Romans, there’s none that seeketh after God. You say, well, I sought him. The only reason you sought him is because he first sought you. When I was in the sixth grade, I looked over at a little girl. As I remember, it was two rows of desks over her. And about six seats up. And I saw her sitting over there. I was sitting back over here. I liked what I saw. And I wrote a love note to Joyce Louise Gentry. Walked past her desk and dropped it. She’s now Joyce Louise Rogers. She is my bride and my beloved. I wrote that note and dropped it. Do you know we still have that note? She still has it. It made an impression. It must have been good. She still has that note. But you know, from that time on, she began to take interest in me. Do you know why she loves me? I first loved her. Did you know what the Bible is? It’s God’s love letter to you. It is God saying to you, I have set my eye upon you. I love you. It is seeking grace. This message is God seeking you. That stirring that you feel in your heart, that’s God seeking you. It is sovereign grace. It is seeking grace. And it is saving grace. Look in chapter 2, verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation. Do you see it? Look in verse 7. That being justified by His grace. It is saving grace. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. You’re not saved by doing good works. You’re not saved by joining a church. You’re not saved by giving your money. You are saved by the grace of God. God just saved you when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, every now and then there will come along some legalist who will try to mix in grace and works. You can’t mix grace and works. We are saved by grace, grace alone, by faith only, plus nothing. Romans 11, verse 6, and if by grace it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. And if by works it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What does that verse say? It means you can’t mix grace and works. You just can’t do it. You are saved by grace, by grace, by grace, by grace. Say amen. Get it in your heart. It is sovereign grace. It is seeking grace. It is saving grace. Don’t ever try to mix grace and works. Don’t ever think that you’re saved by His grace and your works. That is impossible. You’re saved by the grace of God, and therefore you’ll never be able to boast, but for eternity you will praise. You will praise Him that He has saved you by His grace. And since it is saving grace, it is securing grace. You see, how do I keep saved? Well, if I got saved by works, I’d have to keep saved by works, wouldn’t I? But if I’m saved by grace, then I’m kept by grace. Look in verse 2. In the hope of what kind of life? Eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Did I read that right? Before the world began? Yes. Talk about old time religion. Now, folks, that is old time religion. Before the world began, eternal life, which God who cannot lie has promised. Now, God gave me eternal life. If I ever lose it, whatever I had wasn’t eternal. Suppose I was saved for 10 years and then I lost it. What did I have? Ten-year life. Suppose I kept it 50 years and then lost it. What did I have? 50-year life. But God cannot lie. And God says eternal life. You say, well, Pastor Rogers, you get eternal life when you die. No, I got it when I believed. Listen. The Bible says, Jesus speaking verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath. everlasting life, not will get, has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but it’s passed from death unto life. This grace, it’s sovereign grace. This grace, it is seeking grace. This grace, it is saving grace. This grace, it is securing grace. You’re saved by grace. You’re kept by grace. God cannot lie. And it is satisfying grace. Look, if you will, again here in verse 4. He says here to young Titus, to Titus, mine own son in the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus our Savior. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you want? Grace, mercy. mercy and peace isn’t that a trinity of blessings do you know what grace is grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve that’s eternal life do you know what mercy is mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve that’s judgment and hell do you know what peace is Peace is the result of receiving what we don’t deserve and not receiving what we do deserve. That’s peace. See, that’s it. Grace, mercy, and peace. Where are you going to find peace? Where is peace? You think it’s in a pill? You think you’re going to divorce your wife and marry somebody else? You think if you can get another car, bigger house? Do you think maybe you can find peace at the bottom of a bottle? No. You think you can drown your problems? Your problems can swim, mister. Where’s peace? It’s in the grace of God. Where’s mercy? It’s in the grace of God. Have you ever noticed the order? Grace, mercy, and peace. Not peace, mercy, and grace. Grace always comes first. The Bible never says peace and grace. Always grace and peace. You will never know peace until you know the grace of God. You will never have satisfaction apart from the grace of God. Friends all around me are trying to find what the heart yearns for. By sin undermined, I have the secret. I know where it is found. Only true pleasures in Jesus abound. It is the grace of God that your heart needs. It is delightful. It is liberating when you understand, oh God, I am not saved by works. I am not saved by being good. I don’t deserve it, but I receive it. Hallelujah. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be. Now that’s the delight of grace. But the devil doesn’t want you to have trophies of grace or to be a trophy of grace. So what the devil will try to do is to steal the trophy or tarnish the trophy. So there’s A, the delight of grace, that’s liberty. But there is B, the denial of grace, and that is legalism. Anytime the devil sees anybody celebrating grace, he’ll move in to break up the party. Anytime the devil sees a trophy of grace… He will breathe his foul breath on it to tarnish the trophy. So look, if you will, in verse 5, Paul says, For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting. There was a problem in Crete. What was the problem in Crete? Well, there were some legalizers who came in there, some Judaizers who came in there. Look in verse 10. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision. Now, what does he mean by that? Well, there were certain people who said these Gentiles cannot be saved forever. Unless they began to keep the Old Testament laws… And unless they obey the rules and the rituals of the Old Testament, they cannot be saved. They were called the circumcision because they required all to be circumcised if they wanted to come into Judaism, if they wanted to come into the legalism of the law and the Mosaic system. And this was the initiation, so they called them the circumcision. And what it was, was legalism. Now, the devil would like to get you away from grace and he’d like to get you into legalism. And there’s so many people today who once enjoyed grace and now they have been pulled off into legalism. Do you know what happens? A person like myself can stand up here and preach the grace of God and preach that we’re justified freely by His grace as this book clearly teaches us. And there’s some who just can’t handle that much liberty. I mean to be free in the Lord Jesus Christ. They just can’t handle it. And so there will come in some teacher. And this verse says, verses 10 and 11, they subvert whole households. What they do is they say, now look, Pastor Rogers over there, He hasn’t told you about these rules. He hasn’t told you about these rituals. He hasn’t told you about these regulations. He just hasn’t, he hasn’t cut it sharply enough. You need to come over here and listen to me. Let me put you under bondage. And I will be the authority. I will be the ruler in your life. And I will tell you A and B and C and D. I will tell you do this and don’t do that. And I will lay down laws for you. And you can leave your liberty in Christ and crawl back into the playpen. Fall away from grace. And you know that’s attractive to some people. They put themselves under the bondage of legalism. Don’t you ever let anybody steal your joy in Jesus. Listen, it’s worth fighting for. Paul says, rebuke them sharply. It’s worth fighting for your liberty. It’s worth fighting for, standing for. You read Galatians chapter 5 and Verse 1, Paul says, Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set us free. Don’t let anybody take away your liberty in Christ. Don’t let anybody get you out from underneath this amazing grace. It’s amazing grace. And so, there is the delight of grace. And then there is the denial of grace over here on the right-hand side. the denial of grace, that’s legalism. Then there is over here on the left-hand side, the distortion of grace, and that is license. Liberty, legalism, Now there’s some who are listening to me say, you know, pastor, I’ve been waiting to hear a message like you preach for a long time. Thank God I’m not saved by works. Thank God I’m not saved by giving. Thank God I’m not saved by straight living. Hallelujah, wonderful. Now I’ll just go down there, get saved, get baptized, and I’ll just live any way I like. I’ve got it made. I can go to heaven and live like the devil. Isn’t grace wonderful? Some people believe that. That’s a distortion of grace. People say, well, you know, if I believed in grace like you preach it, preacher, I’d just get saved and sin all I want to. I want to tell you something. I sin all I want to. I sin more than I want to. I don’t want to. I’m not perfect. But I’ll tell you one thing, when I gave my heart to Jesus, that old man died. And from the moment I gave my heart to Jesus, there’s a desire to live for him. Verse 1 tells us that it is godliness. Verse 1 or 2, is it? That tells us that it is godliness. Yes, verse 1, the truth which is after godliness. You see, when God saves you, He changes you on the inside by His grace. And the Bible and the grace of God teaches that we will be changed. Look, if you will, in Titus chapter 2 and verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. And the Apostle Paul, dealing with the subject, says in Romans chapter 6, verses 1 and 2, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin continue any longer therein? That’s license. Salvation by grace is not a license to sin. It’s not saying, well, I’m saved now. I’ll live it up, live any way I want. Because the grace of God, when it comes into your heart, changes you from the inside. There’s an easy believism, a cheap grace that says, well, I just believe in Jesus. I’ll live however I want and I’ll go to heaven. There are people who are living in adultery and you’ve challenged them about it and they say, oh, well, the grace of God, the grace of God. Friend, those folks just need to get saved. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate shall inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you, not such are some of you. Such were some of you. What is the difference between cheap grace and true grace? Cheap grace justifies the sin. True grace justifies the sinner. That’s the difference. True grace, true grace just changes you. On the inside. The difference is not primarily in what you do. The difference is primarily why you do it. Because of the grace of God, I cannot work my soul to save that work my Lord has done, but I will work like any slave for the love of God’s dear Son. And see, there’s the liberty that’s in Christ. On the right-hand side, there’s the ditch of legalism. On the left-hand side, there’s the ditch of license. But on the highway of holiness, there is liberty in Christ, the delight of liberty, the denial of legalism, the distortion of license. But oh, the glory of the grace of God. Do you know what my message for you today is this? That God’s grace is simply amazing. He will save you today as a sheer gift. There’s nothing you can earn. You just receive the gift of God and He will save you. An old Indian had lived a wicked and ungodly life. He was a pagan. And a missionary came and led him to Christ. And the old Indian was truly saved. He didn’t know a lot of theology. But brother, he knew God. Somebody asked the old Indian, describe what happened to you. You know what he did? He got a pile of dry leaves and piled them together. Then found a worm there. and put that worm in the middle of those dry leaves and then with a match he set those leaves on fire all around that worm and the fire and the smoke began to burn toward that worm and then the old Indian reached in with his big hand and tenderly lifted that worm out of the fire and pointed to it and said me Worm. Oh, that’s the grace of God. Friend, we’re the ones that deserved judgment and the fires of hell, but God in his hand of grace and love with tender mercies, he lifted me. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a worm like me and a worm like you. And he’ll save you today by his wonderful grace. wonderful, amazing grace. And you can be, for his glory, a trophy of grace. Father, seal the message to our hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
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