Titus 02:11-12 Strength to Say No

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Text: Titus 2:11-12

(How We Get the Strength to Say No)

Introduction

A. God gave mankind a free will with which to choose between good and evil – Deuteronomy 30:19

B. God requires us to say No to some things – Titus 2:11-12

C. Yet, we do not always say No when we should. Deeply ingrained habits are especially hard to break.

D. We all can identify with Paul’s words – Romans 7:15; Romans 7:19

E. How can we learn to say No more consistently? Where do we get the power to resist temptation?

Body

I. THE BRUTE FORCE OF SHEER WILL POWER CAN CARRY US ONLY SO FAR.

A. There is much to be said for determining or purposing that we will not do wrong – Daniel 1:8

1. We are not decisive enough in our resistance to sin. Often, our decision is little more than a maybe. We do not fully make up our minds not to sin.

2. We need to say a more emphatic No to sin.

B. But will power alone is not enough to fight against the attractive power of sin.

II. THE POWER OF POSITIVE EMOTION

A. We all recognize the tremendous power of what we want to do emotionally.

1. In a battle between the heart and the head, the heart almost always wins.

2. When there is something we deeply want to do, almost nothing can stand in our way.

B. We almost take it for granted that our emotions are going to influence negatively our decision-making. We assume that the best decisions are those that are made on a rational, rather than emotional, basis.

C. But God gave us a three-part mind: intellect, emotions, and will. Our emotions are just as much a part of our thinking apparatus as our intellect and will.

1. We are not (and should not expect ourselves to be) pure reasoning machines.

2. We will never be (and should not want to be) emotion-free logicians like Mr. Spock on Star Trek.

D. Have we considered the possibility of enlisting our emotions in the cause of doing what is right?

1. Instead of seeing our feelings as the culprit, why cannot we see them as our friend?

2. Is there any reason we cannot employ the God-given ability to feel to help us say No to sin?

III. THE DANGER OF OUR DE-EMPHASIS OF EMOTION IN RELIGION

A. In the religious world at large, many people determine what is the right thing to do solely by consulting what they feel is right. Anything that is sincere is thought to be acceptable to God.

B. Not only that, but many people are persuaded to make commitments to God totally on the basis of emotions. Some preachers manipulate audiences with appeals that are nothing more than emotional. But if the intellect is not involved, as soon as the emotional high passes the commitment will vanish.

C. We have rightly taught against these abuses of emotion.

1. Emotion, by itself, is no way to determine what is the right thing to do.

2. Commitments to God must be deeper and more lasting than the emotion of the moment.

3. Preachers must not play on the emotions unethically.

D. But have we not gone to the opposite extreme? Have we not all but eliminated feeling from our service to God?

1. We have largely reduced religion to a matter of rational argument and raw will power.

2. Is it any wonder that so many Christians are falling to the power of temptation?

3. The fact is, intellect and will power alone, unaided by emotion, are no match for the devil.

4. The prevalence of sin among us today, even among gospel preachers, is evidence of the limitations of an approach to religion that emphasizes the head so completely that the heart is all but left out.

5. We are paying a heavy price for having diminished the rightful role of our emotions!

E. We cannot leave out one-third of the mind God gave us and expect to succeed against the forces of evil.

F. The devil attacks the whole person. We had better fight back with the whole person.

IV. BRINGING FEELING BACK INTO OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD

A. The Scriptures consistently emphasize that the motivation to resist temptation has as much to do with the heart as the head.

1. We are to obey from the heart the teaching of the gospel – Romans 6:17

2. It is hope that purifies us – 1 John 3:3

3. It is the grace of God that teaches us to deny ungodliness – Titus 2:11-12

a. It is not merely the rational understanding of God’s law that keeps us doing what is right.

b. It is also the heartfelt appreciation for God’s grace!

4. Our failure to be properly motivated by God’s grace stems from self-righteousness.

a. We fail to see the hideous ugliness of our own sins against God, sins that will condemn us forever if we do not devoutly throw ourselves upon the mercy of God.

b. We would not have any trouble living our love for God if we understood how fortunate we are to be loved by Him! Godly zeal is the product of gratitude.

5. This principle is illustrated poignantly in Luke 7:36-50

a. There Jesus rebuked the self-righteous ingratitude of Simon, a Pharisee who had criticized a sinful woman who lovingly approached the Lord.

b. Jesus pointed out that she loved Him more than Simon – Luke 7:46-47

c. Is it not obvious that this woman loved the Lord with a love that had a deep emotional element?

d. If our love for the Lord is lukewarm, it is because we do not see that we have anything very serious to be forgiven. A passionate pursuit of God is only generated when we face the horror of where we are without His grace.

6. The most powerful motive force in the world is a deeply felt appreciation for the forgiveness God mercifully offers us – 1 CO 15:9, 10. The following things should flow in a very natural sequence:

a. Humility, recognition of one’s emptiness and helplessness, genuine penitence – Matthew 5:3-6

b. The reality of God’s forgiveness – Luke 15:18-19

c. Gratitude, heartfelt relief and thankfulness – 1 Timothy 1:12-15

d. Deep love for God based on our gratitude for His grace – Luke 7:47

e. Serious devotion, lifelong obedience and service – 1 Corinthians 15:9-10

B. The Scriptures consistently point to love as the primary ingredient in our relationship to God.

1. Jesus pointed to the central importance of love – Matthew 22:34-40

2. Jesus taught that we will keep His commandments if we love Him – John 14:15

3. It is love that fulfills the law – Romans 13:8-10. Cf.; Galatians 5:13-14

4. Nothing we do in service to God matters if we do not have love – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

5. Love is the goal or purpose of all gospel teaching – 1 Timothy 1:5

6. Love is the greatest of these three: love, hope, and faith – 1 Corinthians 13:13

7. Mutual edification among Christians is for the purpose of stirring up love and good works – Hebrews 10:24

8. The commandments of God are not burdensome when we love Him – 1 John 5:3; Matthew 11:28-30

9. It is the love of Christ that constrains or compels us to live for Him – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

C. It is certainly true that biblical love involves far more than the emotions. Agape love is a benevolent goodwill that will do the right thing even if one does not feel like it. But feelings are an important part of our love for God and man, a part we have downplayed so long that we have practically eliminated it from our teaching and practice.

D. To leave out love, however, is to miss the personal element that ought to be at the heart of our relationship to God.

1. Joseph’s firm No to Potiphar’s wife was not merely a rational decision. He refused to sin against a God who meant something to him personally – Genesis 39:9

2. It was joy that held Paul steady in the face of death for the Lord – Acts 20:24

3. We will make few sacrifices for God if the love we have for Him is not real love for a real Person! – Philemon 3:7-11; 2 Timothy 1:12

4. The thing that most powerfully motivates us ought to be prospect of pleasing God – 2 Corinthians 5:9

V. THE BURNING YES

A. We will find ourselves able to say No to certain things when there is a bigger Yes burning deep within us: a love for God that is as deeply felt as it is rationally reasoned

1. Reason comes to the foot of the mountain; it is the industrious will urged by the passionate heart which climbs the slope (Evelyn Underhill).

2. Another metaphor is that of a train: Reason is the track, and will is the locomotive; but it is emotion that fuels the locomotive.

B. The God who is the object of our vision must be a God we intensely love at the emotional, as well as the rational, level – Hebrews 12:1-2

Conclusion

A. We fight a losing battle trying to do the first works if we have left our first love – Revelation 2:4-5

B. We will have the strength to say No to the devil when we can sincerely say Yes to God – Psalm 40:8