So we're in Titus chapter one,
and we'll take it from the top of the chapter, although our
verses today are five through nine. But this is what the Apostle
Paul wrote and what the Holy Spirit has left for us. 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 godliness, 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, which is committed
unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour. To Titus,
mine own son after the common faith, grace, mercy and peace
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. For
this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should set in order
the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city,
as I had appointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband
of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot
or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless
as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to
wine, no striker, not given to filthy looker. but a lover of
hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate,
holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that
he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince
the gainsayers. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. So when we come to think about
this passage once again, the Apostle Paul has completed his
greeting, as it were, to the recipient Titus, and now he immediately
reminds Titus about why he had been left on Crete. I'm sure
Titus hadn't forgotten, but the apostle wanted to send this letter
to Titus concerning his role there on the island. And this
probably implies that Paul's letter was written very soon
after the apostle left the island and while I'm sure that it did
supply Titus with a reminder of his task, Perhaps it also
served as written confirmation should anyone press the younger
man about his responsibilities and the delegated authority that
he had. The young man, Titus, would be
able to literally show them the apostle's letter and say, this
is my delegated authority and responsibility. And it seems
likely that there had been a great response to the Apostle Paul's
preaching because Titus is being tasked with ordaining elders
in every city. which kind of implies that there
was at least a church in every major city so that there were
many churches had been established or were establishable there on
the island. Crete, as I'm sure many of us,
most of us will know, is one of the largest islands in the
Mediterranean. It's about 140 miles long and
about 35 miles broad. It's kind of shaped in a generally
in a sort of rectangular shape with little inlets and bays and
everything all the way along. But it was at one time a very
prosperous and populous island. And it is said, at least at some
stage in its history, to have had 100 cities on that little
island. So we are expressly told that
there were contacts between the island of Crete and the country
of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. So it appears that there was
a movement back and forward. And probably that implies that
there were quite a number of Jewish people lived and worked
on the island of Crete. For example, we know that there
were people from Crete in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when
Peter preached his sermon and 3,000 souls were saved. Now, Cretans were amongst those
who said on that occasion in Acts chapter 2 and verse 11,
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of
God. Now, if you think to yourself,
huh, that's familiar, I've heard that verse recently, that's because
I quoted it on Sunday because we learned on Sunday that part
of the empowering that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to his disciples
when he gave them the Great Commission was that they would be able to
speak in foreign languages. And that was what they Well the
verse in Acts chapter 2 verse 11 speaks about the Christians
and the Arabians. And the Christians and Arabians
both said to one another, we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God. So there were Christians present
in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. And I'm going to suggest to you
that since they were there, since they're quoted, since they're
particularly identified that we may very well imagine and
believe that they were amongst those 3,000 converts and afterwards
they would have returned home to Crete with Christ in their
hearts and the gospel from the lips of the apostles in their
hearing. And they would have conveyed
what they had seen and heard to those people back on the island. It's even possible that some
of these Christian converts were still alive when the apostle
Paul visited the island many years later. And if those Christians
were converted at Pentecost, I'm sure that when they returned
home, they would speak to their countrymen and women back on
the island about the gospel that they had heard and the transformation
and the change and the conversion which they had experienced. They
would give witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ just as they
had heard that witness made by the apostles. And just depending
on when Paul's visit was to Crete, because we can't be absolutely
sure. Some of the old writers think
that it was about 20 years after Pentecost. Others think that
it may have been as many as 30 years after Peter's sermon was
preached. So we're not exactly sure when
Paul visited Crete and therefore when this letter to Titus was
written. But in that time, those two or
three decades, it's quite possible that there was quite a solid
gospel understanding and a solid testimony and foundation laid
by the Holy Spirit there back on the island. As it were, simply
waiting the apostles visit with Titus. And I don't imagine that
Paul personally established all the churches, yet it's clear
that Paul's gospel had a big impact on the people there. And
as well as preaching Christ for the conversion of sinners, Paul
realized that there was a job to be done, there was a need.
to instruct the believers more thoroughly in the doctrines of
the gospel and to direct them in their Christian living and
in their public testimony, both with respect to their faith and
their practice. And this he left Titus to accomplish
by forming the young converts, and maybe some of them not so
young, into gospel churches, establishing a proper discipline
amongst them, setting in place a government of elders and bishops. Those two offices appear to be
the same office within the churches there on the island. And it's
the qualifications of these elders that Paul goes on to describe
in the passage before us today. Now, I'm not going to take each
of these qualifications individually. They're really quite straightforward
when you read them, and I'm sure that we can all think about them
and understand what's being talked about. I will mention just one
or two perhaps questionable things a little later, but let me make
this point if I may. I think a little thought soon
makes clear what the Apostle is saying, but I wish most of
all to stress the fact that Paul leaving Titus to perform this
function that he was given stresses for us several important points. And it's these points that I
just want to touch upon now. The first one is this, that the
principal purpose that Paul left Titus on the island to perform
was to make sure that there was a structure for gospel preaching
and for the work of the ministry. And what the apostle says is
that he instructs Titus to set in order the things that are
wanting or the things that are lacking. And I think that this
is really the jewel in this little passage. because it wasn't Titus's
role personally to install the elders in the sense that he would
go around and he would say, you and you and you and you are going
to be the elders, but rather to set in place the structure
that the congregations would then be able to identify on an
ongoing basis the people that would serve them in the preaching
of the gospel and in the leading of their churches. How to identify
and a point from amongst themselves, men who knew the gospel, who
lived according to the gospel, who were faithful to the word
that they had been taught, and who were able by sound doctrine
to bring others into the same knowledge of the truth. So that
there was this broader view that the apostle had of establishing
principles by which there would be an ongoing awareness in the
churches of a proper structure that could be employed and used. So there was this overarching
principle of church leadership. Does a man know and stand by
the gospel of free and sovereign grace? The apostle is not saying
that faithfulness to the gospel is one qualification among many,
along with being, for example, the husband of one wife, or the
father of faithful children, or being holy, or given to hospitality. Rather, if faithfulness to the
true gospel is present, then the implication is that the grace
that establishes the one will draw with it the desire to honour
God and serve the Lord Jesus Christ with a meekness and humility
and a love for the good and growth and well-being of the Church.
Faithfulness to the Gospel brings with it the aspiration and ambition
for all these qualities, that a man might live a godly life
to the glory of God and the benefit of those that are put in his
care. Because these are what are conducive
to the gospel ministry. So the apostle is not here, as
it were, putting down a checklist or a CV or a resume. but rather
he is showing that these are the evidences of God's grace
and love in the individuals who have a knowledge of the gospel
of Christ. So, let me just make a couple
of examples in that case. It's not possible for any man
to be truly, objectively blameless But it ought to be the desire
of every preacher to live in a way that honors the gospel
that he preaches, that there be a consistency of profession
in word and deed, and nothing immoral or openly outrageous
that will do harm to the testimony of the congregation or the fellowship. And I understand verse 6, for
example, to mean that a man does not have multiple wives, rather
than that he must necessarily be married. I just think that
that's a better understanding of that little phrase, although
I know some people have argued differently. I think that when
we talk about the children, that they are to be children that
are the offspring of a faithful relationship, rather than this
man having children with lots of different women. I think that
the implication of their conduct is not that the children must
be honourable and upright in all their ways, but that they
were taught under gospel direction. How they act when they become
adults isn't relevant to this particular situation. A man may
indeed be an elder or a bishop, even although his children of
a grown up age were not following in the practices that he had
taught them as they grew up. And that ought to be our continuing
principle today, so that let our preachers, let our leaders,
let our guides, our elders, our bishops, our deacons, all indeed
who've got any responsibility, any official capacity in the
body of Christ, show themselves to be sound in doctrine, faithful
to the word that they've been taught, And equally, because
this is a sword that cuts both ways, let us follow and honour
and highly esteem such men and hear those who preach that self-same
gospel and are faithful to the word. Church isn't in its essence
about structure and hierarchy and offices and roles. It's about
proclaiming and perpetuating the truth through the faithful
and genuine and thankful worship of the people. And that's the
first point that I want to make. I'm watching my time here. Thereafter,
these things are practical guidelines for us. Many Christians identify
themselves by their denominations as if being a Presbyterian or
a Baptist or an Anglican is the epitome of being a true Christian
and being a member of a true Christian church. And for such
people, the appropriate layers of church government with its
courts and its roles and its officers and maybe its pomp and
its ceremony and traditions and rituals, the hats and the gowns
and the collars, all become important and all become distinguishing.
Personally, I'm happy to be rid of all that. And some people
who do take those things to be important, they might look on
our little congregation here this evening, or the little church
that gathers on the Lord's Day, and say to themselves, and maybe
say to us, well, you're not a real church for one reason or another. But I believe that we are as
much a congregation of the Lord's people as are any, and more so
than most who claim to be. Because it isn't the capacity
of a building or the height of the pulpit or the date that's
chiseled above the door that makes a congregation of the Lord's
people, but the spiritual state of the flock and the ministry
of the true gospel among them. And if there are practical issues,
then we deal with them. And let as many as are able,
as needs demand, serve the congregation out of love for the cause of
Christ and the good of the people. But let the true gospel always
be the criteria by which our actions are motivated and our
eligibility to serve is measured. So let me just, in closing, return
to the apostle's words, and I want to just emphasize this point
that he makes about put in place what is lacking. To me, that
means let local need, as it is recognized, be the criteria
for what is put in place, not some antiquated tradition that
is to serve our purpose. generation after generation after
generation so that we discover 500 years after our denomination
was formed that we're still dressing the same way, we're still following
after the same patterns and rituals and thinking that in some way
we are holding on to something that is inherently blessed because
it's what we've always done. But let us recognise that the
great motivation for all that we do is to be the glory of God
through the preaching of this gospel that has been delivered
to us. So that let every preacher and
elder and bishop and pastor hold fast the faithful word as he
has been taught. That's the gospel of grace, the
gospel of God's gracious purpose and sovereign mercy. That's the
faithful word to which we are to hold onto. Now let me just
be a little bit personal with us here this evening. For some
of us, this might be the last congregation that we are ever
connected with. Now, some of you might, for one
reason or another, move on in time to feed elsewhere in a different
pasture. But I say this to you, wherever
you go, always hold fast the faithful word you have been taught. Hold it fast because there will
be someone who will try to take it from your hand. Hold it fast,
that means hold it secure, because it will be diluted, it will be
tempered, it will be compromised. And if there is a greener field
somewhere else, Just make sure that it isn't artificial grass
that they're feeding you. Every minister of the gospel
must be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince. And that doesn't mean to say
that he has to know the answer to every problem or that he's
got to be able to out-argue and out-debate every gainsayer. But
it does mean that by declaring the truth and speaking God's
word, he leaves the wicked without excuse while feeding the souls
of the Lord's little flock with the pure gospel of grace and
truth. Remember when we spoke about
those two disciples that were walking, that the Lord visited
on that resurrection day, those two disciples, that were walking
on the road to Emmaus, what was it they said after they had spent
time in the company of the Lord? Did not our hearts burn within
us when he spoke with us by the way? Do our hearts burn within
us when we hear the gospel of free grace preached? Does our
hearts burn within us when we hear about imputed righteousness? Do we feel our consciences eased
when the full forgiveness of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ
is preached to our hearts? Do we get excited at the prospect
of spending eternity with the One who is altogether lovely
and rejoice each time He's lifted up in our hearing? Does God's
sovereign rule and everlasting dominion comfort us in the trials
of our lives? That's the message that saves,
and it's the message that supports and nourishes the Lord's people.
An elder, a bishop, a minister, a preacher must preach the truth
and must be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convince the
gainsayer. So may we learn from these things
that the Apostle taught Titus and that Titus taught the Christians
and may we all be the inheritors of such wisdom from the pen of
Paul. Thank you once again for your
attention.