Turn with me to the book of Titus. Titus. We finished our study through
2 Timothy last Sunday morning. And it was my intention to move
on to a completely different portion of scripture, a completely
different type of teaching, because we had been in Second Timothy
for quite a while. It's the instruction to a pastor
on preaching. And we finished that, and I was
gonna move on somewhere else, but I opened my Bible, and my
ribbon was right here. And pretty much all of the book
of Titus is right here. It's only three chapters. And
I read it because it was open, and I believe the Lord really
blessed it to me, really opened up this book to me. So we're gonna be in Titus this
morning, and we'll see if the Lord would have us to go through
the book. I wanna read the first sentence. And then I want to
hopefully, over the next few messages, break it down and study
the details of it because there is a lot, not only in this book
and in this first chapter, but in the first sentence. There
is a lot in this first sentence, okay? It's four verses. The first
four verses is the first sentence. 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 Savior to Titus my own son after
the common faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. There's a lot in that.
There's a lot in that. I want to give you a little background
information this morning, and then I wanna focus on Paul's
opening words right here. This is gonna be, we're gonna
study the Bible for just a second. We're gonna have an actual Sunday
school, okay? I just wanna prepare you for
this. It's gonna be a Sunday school. The apostle Paul wrote this letter
to a young man named Titus. He was a man who Paul loved very,
very much. If you look at verse four, he
said to Titus, my own son, after the common faith, he said, Titus,
you're like a son to me, a son in the gospel, just like Timothy. That's the same thing he said
about Timothy. Paul wrote this letter to Titus.
About seven or eight, you know, when you do the research on it,
it's differing numbers. But, and they base it on, you
know, who was in control in the book of Acts and, you know, they
have their ways, I don't know. But according to those in the
know, Paul wrote this letter to Titus about seven or eight
years before he wrote his first letter to Timothy. which would
be about eight or nine, nine or 10 years before the second
letter to Timothy, which we just finished. That one was finished
around the year 64 AD. And this letter to Titus was
written around the year 55. So Paul wrote to Titus before
he wrote to Timothy. I did a little studying on Titus
and I learned a few things that I didn't know. None of them of
grave importance. I want to make this very clear.
The only thing that is of grave importance in here is Jesus Christ
crucified. That's the only thing of grave
importance. That's our mission every time
we open the word of God, to see Christ in it. That's our mission,
every single time, to see Christ in it. Our focus is not on any
man. We're not here to just study
a man. No other man than the God man,
Jesus Christ, all right? With that being said, I learned
some things that were very interesting to me. They may be interesting
to you. I'm gonna share them with you, okay? Just give me
one minute this morning, and then we'll move on. Titus
is one who I've never paid a lot of attention to. That may be
a strange thing to say, but I know he exists, but I've never paid
a lot of attention to him. I've had it in my mind that he
was even younger than Timothy. You always hear talk about Timothy
and young Timothy and then there's Titus, you know, in my brain
as though he came along after Timothy. Maybe that's because
his epistle is after Timothy and there's only one of his and
two epistles to Timothy, maybe that's the reason why. But neither
one of those things are true, okay? Titus is considered by
the commentary writers to be the longest-running companion
of Paul in the ministry. He's older than Timothy. And
that includes all the brethren that Paul traveled with. Of all
the brethren, Titus was with Paul before Timothy was with
Paul. Turn with me over to Galatians
chapter two. Paul is given a timeline of the
Lord's dealings with him right here. And in Galatians 2 verse,
he started the timeline in chapter 1 and now in chapter 2 verse
1, he said, then 14 years after, I went up again to Jerusalem
with Barnabas and took Titus with me also. And I went up by
revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preached
among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation,
lest by any means I should run or had run in vain. But neither
Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be
circumcised, And that because of false brethren unawares brought
in who came in privately to spy out our liberty, which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, to whom
we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the
truth of the gospel might continue with you. But of these who seemed
to be somewhat Whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to
me. God accepteth no man's person. For they who seem to be somewhat
in conference added nothing to me. But contrary wise, when they
saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the
gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, For he that wrought
effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, or the Jews,
the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James,
Cephas, and that's Peter, and John, who seemed to be pillars,
perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me
and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should
go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision. Only they
would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also
was forward to do. Paul is given the account of
when some religious legalists came in and said, if you are
not circumcised, you can't be saved. And Paul said, that's
hogwash. That is absolute hogwash. Salvation
is of the Lord. If anyone tells you that you
have to do something or not do something to be saved, that's
hogwash. That's a lie. That is false religion. That's
false religion. Salvation is not in being circumcised. It is not in being baptized. It is not in being catechized. It's not in anything that's eyes. If it has eyes on it, salvation
is not of that. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's of the will and the purpose
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is by His life
and His death. His burial and His resurrection. His body and His blood. Salvation is of the Lord. Period. Salvation is of the Lord. All
right, that's what Paul told those self-righteous Pharisees. And Paul went to Jerusalem to
confirm that with the apostles. And he said right here, I took
Barnabas and Titus with me. That happened in Acts chapter
15. Turn with me over there to Acts 15. Acts 15 verse 1, and certain
men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said,
except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot
be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain other, that's Titus, he was at
least one of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles
and elders about this question. Verse six, and the apostles and
elders came together for to consider of this matter. They told them
what was going on and the apostles and the elders came together
to consider this matter and this was their conclusion. Look at
verse 10. Peter said, now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear? But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they. They said, the law is a yoke
of bondage that no man or woman is able to bear. No man or woman
is able to bear. Christ is it. It is grace alone. That's what they were saying. Salvation is the free gift from
God alone. Look at verse 22. then pleased it the
apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men
of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely
Judas, surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren."
That's where this man Silas came into the picture. This is the moment that Silas,
you've heard of Paul and Silas. Well, this is the moment that
Silas started traveling with Paul. But Titus was with Paul
before they ever even came to Jerusalem. He was there in the
beginning. So all of these men right here went back to Antioch
and look with me at verse 33. After they had tarried there
a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto
the apostles. All the men that went from Jerusalem
with Paul and Barnabas and Titus to confirm the message they were
preaching, the time had come, it was confirmed, and they went
back to Jerusalem except for Silas. Look at verse 34. Notwithstanding,
it pleased Silas to abide there still. And then the remaining
verses here in this chapter say that Paul and Barnabas had a
disagreement over this man Mark, over this fellow John Mark. And it led to a division. It
led to a separation between Barnabas and Paul. Barnabas took Mark
and he went one way. Paul took Silas. And probably
Titus, possibly Titus, I don't know. If I did more studying,
I could probably find a scripture that tells us the answer. But
it says that he and Silas went one way, Barnabas and Mark went
the other way. And then chapter 16, verse 1
says, then came he to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain
disciple was there named Timotheus. This is where Timothy comes into
the picture. So, I know this is a lot of information,
but I show you this to point out that Titus was a longtime
companion of Paul. He was involved very early on
in the ministry. Barnabas was the first man involved
with Paul. He was the one who went and got
Saul of Tarsus and brought him to the brethren. He would have
been the longest running companion of Paul, but they separated. It's possible that Titus could
have been with Paul for 10 or 15 years before Timothy came
along. So he had a lot of confidence. Paul had a lot of confidence
in Titus. He had a lot of affection for
Titus. It was very comforting and very
strengthening to Paul to have this man, Titus, with him in
the ministry. Titus' fellowship was a real
encouragement to Paul. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 2.
2 Corinthians 2 verse 12, it says, furthermore, and this is Paul
speaking, furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel
and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit because
I found not Titus my brother. But taking my leave of them,
I went from thence into Macedonia." He said, I was very disturbed
by the fact that I thought I was going to see Titus there, but
he wasn't there. Look at 2 Corinthians 7, verse
4. great is my boldness of speech
toward you, great is my glorying of you. I am filled with comfort,
I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation for, because
when we were come into Macedonia, Our flesh had no rest, but we
were troubled on every side. Without were fightings, within
were fears. Listen, put yourself right there.
The Apostle Paul was a regular man. He was a man of light passions. He said, I was so afraid. We
were traveling through these places and there was so much
fighting going on and so much trouble going on. And he said,
I had so much fear inside. You think of him as just being
like, you know, We think of these men a little too highly. We lift them up on pedestals
just a little too highly. They were men of like passions,
just like us. He says, I went into Macedonia. You know, how many times did
he escape? Men were let down by baskets,
and then the gospel went here and there. He says, I was afraid, I was so
afraid. Verse six, nevertheless, God
that comforteth those that are cast down comforted us by the
coming of Titus. And not by his coming only, but
by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you when
he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind
toward me, so that I rejoiced the more. He said, Titus is such
an encouragement to me. And his report of the brethren
he'd been preaching to, that was such an encouragement to
me. Look at verse 13. Therefore, we were comforted
in your comfort. Yea, and exceedingly, the more
joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed
by you all. He was so happy it made us happy. Verse 14, for if I have boasted
anything to him of you, I'm not ashamed. He said, I told Titus
before we went there just what a wonderful group you were. Titus,
you're going to love them. Verse 14, if I've boasted anything
to him of you, I'm not ashamed. But as we spake all things to
you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is
found a truth. and his inward affection is more
abundant toward you whilst he remembereth the obedience of
you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. I rejoice therefore
that I have confidence in you in all things." Paul said Titus
is a real peer, a real equal fellow laborer in the ministry. Look at 2nd Corinthians 8 verse
1 right here. Moreover brethren we do you to
wit, we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia. How that in great trial of affliction
the abundance of their joy in the deep poverty abounded unto
the riches of their liberality. They were so poor but they gave
everything they had For to their power I bear record, yea, and
beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying
us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take
upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And
this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves
to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. They did more than
we even hoped they would do. Verse six, in so much that we
desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish
in you the same grace also. Titus was the one who started
the labor, the labor of the ministry. We told Titus, you just continue
on. Look at verse 14. but by an equality that now at
this time your abundance may be a supply for their want. He's
teaching them of being givers and supplying where there is
lack. by an equality that now at this
time your abundance may be a supply for their lack, that their abundance
also may be a supply for your want or lack, that there may
be equality as it is written, he that had gathered much had
nothing over and he that had gathered little had no lack.
But thanks be to God which put the same earnest care into the
heart of Titus for you. For indeed he accepted the exhortation,
but being more forward of his own accord, he went unto you. Verse 23, whether any do inquire
of Titus, he's my partner and fellow helper concerning you. or our brethren be inquired of,
they are the messengers of the churches in the glory of Christ.
Wherefore, show ye to them and before the churches the proof
of your love and of our boasting on your behalf. Paul said, Titus
is my partner. And again, apparently he was
younger, but that didn't matter one bit. That didn't matter one
bit to Paul. He had a deep respect and confidence
in this man. In chapter 12, Paul said, Titus
and I walk in the same spirit and in the same steps. And this was that spirit, and
these were those steps. All right, go to Titus 1. Give me just a couple minutes
here. Titus became the pastor of the
church that was on the island of Crete, an island off of Greece
in the Mediterranean Sea. And as a newly made pastor, Paul
wrote this letter to him, and these were Paul's first words
to him. All right, Titus 1 verse 1. Paul, a servant. Paul said, Titus, that's what
we are. Don't ever forget that. We're
servants. I looked for a letter. I have
it somewhere. I'll find it. When we moved from
the old building to this new building, it's in a box somewhere.
I was going to read a letter that Brother Henry Mahan wrote
to Brother Todd Nybert in the 80s when Todd was feeling led
to leave his employment and go full-time into the ministry.
And Henry gave really good, it's like this kind of letter almost.
It's some good advice. And I was going to read a section
where Henry told Todd, you know, when you go into the ministry,
you be among the people. We're not above the people. We
stand up on this platform so everybody can see. He said, a pastor is not one
who lives up in an ivory tower and comes down to grace the people
with his presence and then resorts back up to the ivory tower. He
said, we're servants of the people. God's people are the kings and
priests who come and dine. And we're the servants. That's
what we are. We're the servants. And that's what he said right
here. Paul, a servant. Don't ever forget that. That's
all that we are. Servants. That's the spirit that Paul and
Titus ministered in. Those were the steps that they
walked in, the steps of a servant, the spirit of a servant. Paul
gave himself the title of servant before he acknowledged his God-given
title of apostle. Verse 1, he said, Paul, a servant
of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. He said, I'm a servant
first. Why would he say that? Why would
he say that? Here's the reason why. It's because
the one who Paul and Titus served, the one who Paul and Titus ministered
of, The one who their whole ministry
was about, the one who was their message, made himself to be a
servant. How glorious is that? A servant
of his father, a servant of a particular work that was laid on him, and
his service was their gospel. His service is our gospel. The service of the servant. That's the gospel we preach.
And Paul and Titus, they were not above their master. And none
of God's people are, and they don't want to be. They don't
desire to be. As He is, that's what they want to be. Jesus Christ
was their gospel. God the Father declared it. This was the gospel record he
gave concerning his son. In Isaiah 42, he said, behold,
my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth, I've put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Don't you thank God for that?
If any man had reason to be discouraged, it would be him. But he said,
he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the
earth. He will do it. He will accomplish
the work of saving his people and he's not going to fail. Paul's ministry, Titus's ministry,
and our ministry is now in service to his command of us going out
into the world, telling men and women he did it. He did not fail,
as the father said. He accomplished the work on the
cross of Calvary that his father sent him to do. Paul said, I
am a servant of God. and an apostle of Jesus Christ. The word apostle means a messenger. That's all it means. Just like
angel, that's what angel means, a messenger. An apostle means
a messenger, one that is sent with a message, an ambassador. One that brings the word of another.
Have you ever wondered what an ambassador is? You know, he's
an ambassador to this country, an ambassador. It's one who brings
the word of another. Paul said, my calling is to bring
the word of Jesus Christ to you. And he said, I'm happy to do
it. So thankful for this service that's been laid on me. It's
a great work. And Paul wrote this letter to
Titus to encourage him in the work. Titus, you've been called
to be a pastor now. And he wrote it to encourage
him in the work. And if the Lord is willing, We'll get the opportunity
to go through this and see what he said. I hope we can. It's
only three short verses, but I would love to go through it.
So, all right, you're dismissed.