Isn't it thrilling to think that
every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. The common faith. That's what
Paul speaks of in verse four, to Titus, mine own son, after
the common faith. That word is used with regard
to salvation by Jude, the common salvation. And the word means
that which is general to all as opposed to that which is peculiar
to the few. The common faith. The faith which every believer
possesses. The faith which all of God's
elect possess. The common faith, that which
every believer has in common. If we're believers, we believe
the same thing. We don't believe something different.
We believe the same thing. We have the common faith. Now, Paul is addressing Titus,
and he addresses Titus as his own son after the common faith. Obviously, he's not talking about
a biological son, but he is talking about someone who heard the gospel
through him and believed the gospel through him, and he calls
Titus, my known son, after the common faith. I think it's interesting,
Titus is not mentioned in the book of Acts. That gives quite
a history and Titus is not as much as mentioned. But he's prominent
in Galatians chapter 2. You'll remember when Paul refused
to have him circumcised. He was a Gentile and the Jews
were wanting him to be circumcised and Paul said no. And then he
is mentioned several times in the book of 2nd Corinthians as
Paul's traveling companion and he speaks, Titus, you're my son
according to the common faith, the faith that every believer
has in common. And if you and I are believers,
we have this in common. I believe Adam was a believer
And if he was, this is what he believed. He believed according
to the common faith. I know Abel was a believer. And from Abel to the last one
of God's elect that will believe. And I think it's thrilling to
think that it could be that right now on this planet, the last
of God's elect is walking. He hadn't believed yet, but he
will because all of God's elect will believe. And that's a thrilling
thing to think about, but all believers have this common faith
in common. It's called, in verse one, the
faith of God's elect. I love that, don't you? That's
so simple. The faith of God's elect. Jude calls it the faith
once delivered to the saints. You see, because it's been once
delivered, it knows no revisions. It knows no amendments. It knows
no adaptations or no changes. It's that of which Paul said
to the Ephesians, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. It's the faith that the newborn
believer possesses when he's only been born again for one
second. He has this common faith. He believes it all and it's the
same faith that the man who's been a believer for 50 years
has, same faith, the common faith. I'm interested if I have this
common faith. And you and I can know when we
walk out of this room whether we possess what Paul calls the
common faith, common to every believer to ever live. Now, I
love thinking about this. This is the same message. The
common faith believes it's always the same message. The faith which
is to be preached to all men, regardless of their ethnicity,
regardless of their character, there's one message. The faith
once delivered and it's for all men. There's not a message delivered
to the educated and another message delivered to the uneducated.
It's the same message to everybody. It's not to be adapted to the
culture. It's the same message. We don't
adapt this message trying to reach people. It's the message
of God's Word. We feel no need to adapt this
message or revise this message. The same message to the religious
and moral and the irreligious and immoral. The same message. The same message to the old,
the same message to the young. I don't know how many times people
have said to me, well what do you have for young people? Well,
same thing we have for old people, the gospel. The one message,
the common faith, the faith of God's elect, the faith once delivered
to the saints. The same message is for everybody
because the faith is what every believer believes. Now I hope
you listen to this carefully. to see if you have this common
faith being spoken of. The common faith. Now the word
common. Good word. Designated by the Holy Spirit.
Common. That which is common to all.
That which every believer possesses. While people are different, And
we should be thankful for diversity in the human race. There are
different ethnicities. And because of the fall of man
and the sinful nature of man, men have a tendency to think
their ethnicity is better than the other ethnicities, but that's
garbage. We're all of the same blood,
Adam's blood, and we should be thankful for the diversity that
the Lord has given us. But that being said, there's
still only one faith for all ethnicities and all diversities. And there is such a thing as
having stronger faith. There is such a thing as having
weaker faith. There's no question about that, but it's still the
same faith. Still has the same object, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And every believer shares in
this common faith, having by grace been given the gift of
faith. Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9 says,
for by grace are you saved through faith. And that, that faith,
that grace, it's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Now, all who have faith know
this. There was a time when they didn't
have faith. There was a time when they did not believe, did
not know what it meant to believe, and found out that they could
not believe, and then all of a sudden, they found themselves
believing. I know that's my experience.
I found myself believing. Now, the big question. What is the actual content of
the faith that every believer possesses? What is this common
faith? Now, if you have it, God gave
it to you. God the Holy Spirit begat you
through the Word of Truth. This is God's work in you, but
you have this thing called the common faith. Now, what is the
common faith? The best way we can answer that
question is, what does the newborn believer believe? Not what does
the old mature believer believe, but what does the believer believe
who's only been born again for one second? that is what every
believer has in common, this common faith. Now, there are
many examples of newborn believers in Scripture Paul on the road
to Damascus did not believe he was an enemy of Jesus Christ. He was going to kill Christians
and have Christians imprisoned. He did not believe. When God
knocked him off his horse and opened his eyes, he believed.
He was a newborn believer. I love what Ananias said to him, That's so powerful. Brother Saul,
receive thy sight. The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee that thou might know his will. See that just one, hear
the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be his witness to all men
of what you've seen and what you've heard. The Roman centurion,
who presided over the death of Christ when that morning began,
Business as usual. I've got to crucify the enemies
of the state. That's my job. And he began that
presiding over the death and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And by the time it was over,
he said, surely this man is the son of God. Newborn believer. I think of the Ethiopian Munich. He's in his chariot. reading
Isaiah and having no idea what it meant. Philip comes up to
him and says, do you understand what you're reading? He said,
how can I except some man should guide me. And Philip came up
into the chariot and from Isaiah 53, he preached Jesus unto him. And that man believed that day. He's a newborn believer. I think
of the Philippian jailer. I don't know that he'd ever heard
of Jesus Christ, but when he heard Paul and Silas singing
praises and all of a sudden there's an earthquake, he thinks all
the prisoners are fled. And he'd heard them singing the
praises of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he thinks all the prisoners
have fled, he draws a sword to kill himself thinking, I'll be
put to death for this. And Paul said, don't, don't do
it. We're all here. called for a
light and came in to Paul and Silas and said, sirs, what must
I do to be saved? And Paul and Silas said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There we
have a newborn believer. But the newborn believer that
came most powerfully to my mind in considering this thing of
the common faith was the thief on the cross. He's a man who,
when he was first nailed to that cross, he hated Jesus Christ. He was with his buddy, spewing
out venom toward the Lord Jesus Christ, reviling him. He had
no love for Jesus Christ. But something happened. Turn with me for a moment to Luke chapter 23. John Calvin calls this the greatest
instance of saving faith in all of Scripture. Now I don't know
that any man is capable of making that judgment, but I wouldn't
disagree with it. Somebody says, well, what about
where the Lord talked about that Roman centurion? He said, I've
not found for great faith, no, not in Israel. Well, thief on
the cross hadn't been around yet. So I think the thief on
the cross at any rate is equal to this man. Luke chapter 23,
let's begin in verse 32. And there were also two other
malfactors. Criminals led with him to be
put to death. And Mark's account says they
both reviled his name. It wasn't just one. They both were reviling his name,
saying, if you're the Christ, come down, save yourself and
save us too. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and
the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Now, when both of these men were
nailed to a cross, they were not believers. They were criminals. They were enemies of the state.
They were men who deserved to be put to death. Now, they heard
this. Both of them heard this. Faith cometh by hearing. and
hearing by the word of God." They both heard the seven sayings
of the Savior from the cross. Verse 34, then said Jesus, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they watched
as they parted his raiment and cast lots gambling for his seamless
robe. And the people stood beholding
And the rulers also with him derided him. Who is the with him they were
deriding? Well, the two thieves on the cross. And the rulers
also with them derided him, saying, he saved others. Let him save
himself if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers
also mocking him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and
saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And the superscription also was
written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. I love this. The language of
the common man, Greek. The language of the educated,
Latin. the language of the religious,
the Hebrews. Same message for everybody. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. I love the way in John's gospel,
the Pharisee said, don't write King of the Jews, write, he said,
I'm the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I've written
stays written. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. And I think of this man, both
of them, hearing these statements. Father, forgive them. And this is the prayer of divine
authority. This is not some kind of, I hope
you'll do what I'm asking. Listen, everybody the Lord prayed
for was forgiven. Father, forgive them. He speaks to his father. Father,
they heard that. They heard him say to his mother,
Mary, woman, behold my son. Don't you love the way the Lord's
taking care of his mother even then? Woman, behold thy son. And he said to John, behold thy
mother. And the scripture says John took her into his home that
very day. I bet he treated her like a queen,
don't you? Then he heard, I thirst, and I don't. Can't even imagine
what that sounded like. He heard the Lord say to him,
today thou shalt be with me in paradise. He heard that. He heard the Lord cry out, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was in the darkness when
this took place. You reckon they were all filled
with fear as the Lord turned the lights out and the whole
earth was covered with darkness. He heard those words, it is finished. And he heard the Lord say, Father,
into thy hands, I commend thy spirit. Verse 39 of Luke chapter 23, And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering, you
know, we don't even know what his name is. I love that. He's nameless. But the other
answering rebuked him saying, does not thou fear God? Seeing that thou art in the same
condemnation, do you see who you're reviling? You're reviling
God. Don't you fear God? Seeing you're in the same condemnation. Now here's my first point of
the common faith. Every believer believes that
Jesus Christ is God. The believer that's only been
converted for one second believes that Jesus Christ is God. God the Son, the second person
of the Trinity, the creator of the heavens and the earth, God
over all, blessed forever, the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, every believer believes that Jesus Christ is
God Almighty. Now, if you would have asked
this thief, do you know what the Trinity is? Guess what he
would have said? No, I have no idea what you're
talking about. But I also know this, he knew that one hanging
beside him on the middle cross was nobody less than God Almighty. You see, the language of our
text demands that. If he's not God, he can't do
anything for you. For him to save me, for him to
save you, he must be the God of glory. Now, whatever else
you believe, this is where you better begin, this is where I
better begin, who Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ is God. I don't know of anything that
I get more pleasure out of saying than that. Jesus Christ is God,
the God of glory, the God of the Bible. Paul put it this way,
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. All of the attributes
of God are in his body. Jesus Christ is God. Now every believer has that in
common. They all believe that Jesus Christ
is God. And notice what he says in verse
40, But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear
God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we receive the due reward
of our deeds, he believed. in the justice of God in his
condemnation. Now that is a part of the common
faith. You believe in the justice of God. in your personal condemnation. We receive the due reward of
our deeds. We're getting exactly what we
deserve. Now, if you had asked this man
if he believed in the doctrine of total depravity, once again,
he would have said, I don't even know what you're talking about.
but he did believe that he personally deserved to be cut off and damned
by God. Do you believe that about yourself? Is that you? If God did not have
mercy on you, and let you go to hell, would God be just? Would you be getting exactly
what you have deserved and what you have merited? Now, when I hear people question the fairness of God,
how could God be fair to elect some and not elect others? How
could Jesus Christ be fair to love some and not love others
and die for some and not die for everybody? How can be that
fair? How could that be fair? There's one reason behind that.
You don't really believe in the justice of God in your personal
damnation. This man did. This man did. We receive due reward of our
deeds. 40, but the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Does not thou fear God? Seeing thou art in the same
condemnation, and we indeed justly, 40, we receive the due reward
of our deeds. This man believed Jesus Christ
was God. This man believed that God was just in his condemnation. But look what he says next. But
this man hath done nothing amiss. He believed in the humanity of
Jesus Christ. Not only is he God, he's man. Bone of our bones, flesh of our
flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He believed Jesus Christ to be
God. He believed Jesus Christ to be
man. Whoso confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is antichrist if they don't confess
that. Now, when I make that, I love the simplicity of this
confession. When we confess he came in the
flesh, we confess he was before he came. We confess Him as the
eternal God when we make that confession. We confess He came
in the flesh and we confess He did what He came to do. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now this is the
common faith. Every body that has faith believes
that Jesus Christ is God. They believe God would be just
in passing them by and condemning them. You really believe that.
You don't want it to happen, but you know it's so. And you
believe that Jesus Christ is man. But not only do you believe
that Jesus Christ is man, you believe he is the sinless man. Look in our text. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. He believed in the absolute sinlessness,
the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. Now, I've thought before
How does he know Christ has done nothing amiss? He's only known
him for a matter of hours. I mean, the Lord had lived 33
years before this. How does he know he's done nothing
amiss? Because he knew who he was. And
if you know who he is, you know he cannot sin. He lacked the ability to sin. You see, if he's got sin, can't
do anything for you. His death wouldn't do you any
good if he's got sin, but he is the sinless one and that's
the righteousness, that sinless life of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ is the righteousness
that every believer possesses. But with regard to the Lord Jesus
Christ, you know this, He hath done nothing amiss. This is so mysterious, but even
when he was nailed to the cross, when he was made sin, and the
scripture says he was made sin, that doesn't mean he ever committed
a sin. He never sinned. He's always holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. This is the one who's made sin.
You see, wouldn't do it. He couldn't be made sin. He couldn't
take your sin on it, even if he had sin of his own, but he
is the sinless one. And everybody that has the faith
of a one second old believer knows that Jesus Christ has done
nothing amiss. Now let's go on reading. And he said unto Jesus, verse
42, Lord, remember me. When thou comest
into thy kingdom, he believed that Jesus Christ was Lord. Now, when we talk about the Lordship
of Christ, it's not some empty title. That means he's the absolute
dictator. That means His will is always
done. That's what the Lordship of Christ
means. That means He's the one, He's Lord of creation. He's the
one that created the universe. He's Lord of providence. He controls
everything that takes place. Everything that happens is His
will. Most especially, He's the Lord of salvation. That means
if I'm saved, it's up to Him. Lord. And I can't help but think
that there were people standing around the cross when they saw
that man call Him Lord. What's wrong with him? He's nailed
to a cross. He's helpless. He's dying. How
can he call this man seemingly so helpless, Lord? He knew who
he was. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, he is Lord, he is Lord, he
is risen from the dead and he is Lord. Every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He knew he was
Lord. I have heard people talk about
the Lordship issue and I think Since when is that an issue?
He's the Lord. That's not an issue. He's the
Lord. And this man knew this. Lord! I'm sure people laughed at him,
snickered at him, thought he was crazy, but he knew who he
was. Lord! Everybody, even the one second
old believer, knows that Jesus Christ is Lord. And look what he says next. Verse 42, and he said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He believed
that the only way he could be saved is if Jesus Christ represented
him. He knew that. He said, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. The only hope that
I have is that you remember me and that you stand as my representative. That's the only hope I have. He knew that the only way he
could be saved is if the Lord Jesus Christ stood as his representative. He didn't say, Lord, here's what
you need to do. You need to rep. No, he didn't
even say, Lord, I know you will represent me. But he said, Lord,
remember me. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Now this is something a one second
old believer realizes. The only way I'll be saved is
if the Lord Jesus Christ represents me when he comes into his kingdom. I love this, verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He believed
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, remember, he saw
him die. He was still alive. The Lord
was the first one to die. Remember how when they came to
break the thieves' legs and they came up to the Lord and they
saw he was already dead? He saw the Lord expire, but notice
what he says. You're not gonna stay dead. Remember
me when you come back resurrected as a mighty reigning king. Do you believe he was resurrected
from the dead? Do you believe he really died and he was actually
raised from the dead because he accomplished what the Father
gave him to do? Every believer, without exception,
believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And let me tell you what else
they believe. They believe Jesus Christ to be incapable of failure. Lord, I know you, you're gonna
come back as a mighty reigning king of your kingdom. You are incapable of failure. Is the Jesus Christ you believe
incapable of failure? You're relying on one who is
incapable of failure. Everybody that he died for must
be saved. They can't run the risk of being
anything but saved because of who died for them. It's Christ
that died. Who is he that condemns? It's
Christ that died. That's the only answer I need.
They, he believed in one who could not fail. Now, if you believe
in a Christ that under any scenario can fail, you don't have saving
faith. Everyone who believes the son
of God believes in one who cannot fail. This man believed he had only
one ground of assurance, what Jesus Christ said. Today, you'll
be with me in paradise. Now that's the only ground of
assurance that I'll be there because he said it. Today, and
Lord gave him more assurance than he gave anybody else. Today,
thou shalt be with me. in paradise and I'm I'm basing
all my hope on what he said because of what he did he says to everybody
that when they die today you'll be with me in paradise that's
that's the ground of assurance his word not some wishful thinking,
not some pie in the sky, but the very word of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now this is the common faith. This is the faith that's common
to every believer, and you can answer these questions with a
yes or no. And I want to say, I'm not asking
you if you know you're saved. I'm not asking you if you know
that you're a Christian. I'm not asking you if you know
you'll go to heaven when you die. I'm asking you this, do
you believe that Jesus Christ is God? Yes or no? Do you believe that God would
be just in your condemnation? Yes or no? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is man? Yes or no? Do you believe that
Jesus Christ never sinned? Yes or no. Do you believe that
He is Lord? Yes or no. Do you believe that the only
way you can be saved is if He represents you? And your prayer
is, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. You really
believe that, do you? Yes or no. Do you believe that he was raised
from the dead? That God raised him from the
dead? You know why he did it. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. Do you believe that God raised
him from the dead, that he really was dead and he was raised from
the dead? Do you believe he is incapable
of failure? Yes or no? Do you believe you have any other
ground of assurance than what he has said in his word? You're
not looking anywhere else than what he has promised. Today,
you'll be with me in paradise. Yes or no? Now that is the common
faith which every believer, like this thief, and I love the song,
the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And
there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away. Let's pray. Lord, I ask in Christ's blessed
name that you would give us this gift
of the common faith. And Lord, we do by your grace
believe thy son is God. Lord, we believe. You'd be just
in passing us by. We believe he is man. We believe
he is the sinless one. We believe he's Lord. We believe
if he remembers us before you, that's all that needs to be said. We believe he was raised from
the dead, that you raised him from the dead. We believe he's
incapable of failure. And Lord, we're putting all of
our hopes of salvation in what you have said. Bless this Word
for Christ's sake, in His name we pray, amen.