The Lord’s Supper

                                              

Titus 3:3-8

Intro: You can celebrate the Lord’s Supper at home today, remembering  the things God has done for you through the gift of His Son, our wonderful Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Get you some grape juice and crackers or unleavened bread and after you read this, serve yourself remembering to thank Jesus Christ for the sacrifice of His body and blood for you!

I. Remember your former way of life before Christ. Titus 3:3 (NKJV) For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

 a. Without God, all of us were unbelievers enslaved to our passions and desires. Left alone, all human nature can only go from bad to worse. Instead of living for God, our lives were full of evil and envy before Christ. No matter how much “love” we tried to create without God, the overriding power of our sin produced a greater amount of hatred. Thus there was no hope for us apart from the intervention of the holy God, the Creator and Savior.

II. You were saved from your former way of life by God our Savior.  Titus 3:4-6 (NKJV)
⁴ But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, ⁵ 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, ⁶ whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

 a. All of our former ways changed when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared. His love is for all mankind as well as us! The contrast of our lives was startling. In verse 3 man is the actor, but in verses 4-7 man is merely the recipient, and God becomes the actor.

     What we could in no wise do for ourselves, God did for us through Jesus Christ His Son.

     God saved us in His kindness, love, and mercy. God in His grace saves those who believe, not because of any righteousness in them, but because of His mercy, love, and kindness. The three words, “kindness,” “love,” and “mercy” all represent aspects of God’s grace. Grace is the unmerited favor and mercy of God. The dual means of grace through which He accomplished this salvation are (1) the rebirth spoken of as a washing from the filth of our sins, past, present, and future. (2) We were renewed by the Holy Spirit ( 2 Cor. 5:17). The moment we believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord we were washed clean from the filth of our sins and we were given new birth and new life by the power of the Holy Spirit which God generously poured out on us Paul says in verse 6.

   III. You have been justified by God’s grace. Titus 3:7 (NKJV) that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

      a. From Adam we inherited a sinful nature (the tendency to sin), and we were under God’s wrath and due His punishment. Because Jesus took the punishment we deserved for sin and made us right before God, we can trade punishment for forgiveness. We have been declared not guilty. We can trade our sin for Jesus’ righteousness. When we do that, we know that we will inherit eternal life. Colossians 1:12 – 14 (NKJV) ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Eternal life began the moment we gave our life to Christ, but there is more to come! Our experience now is only a foretaste of what God has guaranteed to us in the future! Praise Him.

IV. You are to devote yourself to good works. Titus 3:8 (NKJV) 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.

  a. The things Paul wrote were true so we ought to constantly be reminded of them. Believers must show their beliefs through their conduct. We must be careful to do good deeds all the time, wherever we are. Sound doctrine must manifest itself in good works. Such teaching and action profits all believers as well as the unbelievers to whom the church witnesses.

Invitation: We are told in the bible to examine ourselves before we partake of the Lord’s Super. Allow the Holy Spirit to look into your heart and tell you whether you are a child of God or not. If God’s Spirit points out you are not His child, you need to correct that.  Do it now. Don’t wait! Simply confess your sins to Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive you and save you for Heaven when this life is over. We will all die and we must be prepared for our eternity.