Amen. Turn with me if you would to
Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. I was led to this book and I don't believe I have ever
preached a message from this book. And I don't know if the
Lord would lead us to go through it or not. We'll see how he leads
us. But if he does, this will be
an intro to the book of Titus. I always personally enjoy an
intro message to a book. I enjoy seeing the background
information of a given situation, who all are involved in it and
how it came to be. And I want to see a little bit
of that with Titus, the man, the person, and why Paul is writing
him this letter. Paul is writing a letter to this
young man. It's a relatively short letter. It's only three chapters long.
But Paul has a lot to say in this letter, and this morning
we're going to look at And then we're going to look at the greeting,
the salutation that Paul gives to him in this letter. Paul,
we all know that he went everywhere preaching the gospel. He did
the work of an apostle. That's what he was called to
do. He was an apostle. And he traveled and he confirmed
the word of God with signs and miracles. That's how the gospel
was originally established. God gave the apostles and whoever
they transferred the gifts of the spirit to, he gave them the
ability to do miracles. Paul raised a man from the dead.
Who can do that but God? Paul didn't do it. God did it
through him. But those gifts are over. So
when the gospel was being established, Paul went around with signs and
miracles and he confirmed the word. And according to God's
will and purpose, men and women believed the word. And that's
so relieving to me. God is going to call out his
sheep. It does not matter how well the
delivery boy does. The message is the message. If
it's from God and handed to his people, it's God's message and
it's still God's message. And I can trip and fumble and
roll and crawl and do everything but as long as I deliver the
message. That's all that matters. God will take care of everything.
And Paul went around and he established this word and then as he went
on he would set men in these places to preach to those people. and also to spread the gospel
to the cities around that place. We're on the radio here, we're
on the radio in Johnson City, we're on the radio in Bristol,
and I hope we're on the radio in every city God will let us
be on. I hope somehow He'll let us spread
the gospel everywhere we can. We see that in verse 5. If you
look with me at Titus 1 verse 5 says, For this cause left I
thee in Crete. that thou shouldest set in order
the things which are wanting or lacking, which is the truth,
and ordain elders, and those are pastors, in every city as
I had appointed thee. So Paul left Titus in Crete to
pastor that church and to spread the gospel as far as he could.
Paul did not choose Titus to do this. God chose Titus to do
this. Paul did not just select this
man and say I'm going to make you the pastor of this church.
That's not how it works. God chose Titus to do this and
then God laid it on Paul's heart to know this is the man I've
chosen. And that's how he operates. In
any work that a man is called to do, if it's of God, it's of
God. God does it. And I'm going to
try to move forward. I was going to have us go to
Acts 13, where it's the Holy Spirit said, separate unto me
Saul and Barnabas for the work that I have called them to do.
That's how a man is called into any ministry of the Lord. Titus
was a very dear man to Paul. He was a man who, if you want
to envision this man in your mind, he was very committed to
the ministry. He was extremely, it was in the
front of his mind. Very, very committed. And Paul
sent him all over the place to preach. He was a right-hand man
to Paul. He sent him to preach and encourage. And look with me quickly at 2
Corinthians chapter 2. We're going to go through a few
chapters here. I want to show you a few verses
in 2 Corinthians here. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 13 says,
Paul said, I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus
my brother. He said, this is my brother.
I love him. Look at 2 Corinthians 7 verse
6. He said, nevertheless, God that
comforteth those that are cast down comforted us by the coming
of Titus. Paul sent Titus out to preach.
Titus came back and he told us how you all are doing and it
has truly comforted our hearts. That's what he's saying. In verse
13, he said, 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 thrilled, just thrilled
by you all. Look at second Corinthians eight,
verse 16, it says. But thanks be to God, which put
the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. He loves you just as much as
I do. Same as me. Verse 23 says, whether
any do inquire of Titus, if you're asking about Titus, he is my
partner and he's my fellow helper concerning you. And in chapter
12, 2 Corinthians 12, verse 18 says, I desired Titus, and with him
I sent a brother." And he said, did Titus make a gain of you?
Did he come to see what he could get out of you? Walked we not
in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps? Paul said, the same God that
called me has called him. He's been called of God. Same
spirit, same motive. So Paul had a lot of confidence
in him. Much confidence. Titus was a Gentile. We're all Gentiles. If you're
not a Jew, you're a Gentile. Titus was not a Jew. He was an
uncircumcised man. And that proves to us that the
work of God The work of God is not dependent on any ceremony. No ceremony. I put an article
in our bulletin today that says baptism is not salvation. Why
do we do it? God said so. That's the only
reason we have. God said so. The minute we make
any ordinance a conditional component of salvation. You know, you can preach the
truth of God's word and see how this word says, do,
do, do, do, do, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, but
until you see that Christ has done it for us, we don't see
the gospel. And as soon as you make anything
a conditional component, people say, well, he can't be saved.
He hasn't been baptized. How could he be saved? He's never
even gone in water. As soon as we do that, that's when we renounce
it. We totally renounce it. And again,
I'm not going to have you go to Galatians 2, two pages over.
We were just there a few months ago. You know what it says. Paul
brought Titus with him to Jerusalem about this issue of being circumcised. And Paul said, we're not going
to do it because these false brethren came in to spy out our
liberty. Our liberty is in the blood of
Christ alone. We're set free in the blood of
Christ alone. And as soon as they said, you're
going to have to do this in order to be saved. Paul said, we're
just not going to do it. We're not going to do it. And
even though Titus had not been circumcised outwardly in the
flesh, God had circumcised his heart. That's what baptism is. The baptism outwardly in the
flesh is that evidence of God baptizing the heart, immersing
us into the blood of Christ, the spirit of God's work, not
ours. And so Titus was one of God's
particular people. He was chosen by God to be a
minister, a pastor, to the saints that were at Crete, and Paul
wrote him a letter. All right, now that's where we
are. Go with me, if you would, back to Titus chapter 1. Titus 1, I want us to look at
the first four verses and we're going to see what Paul has to
say here in the greeting of his letter. And I will say, these
things, the things that Paul has written in this letter, he
deals with a lot of important things. A lot of important things. And he deals with some very vital
things in these first four verses. I pray the Lord will let us really
enter into them. Verse 1, he said, Paul, a servant
of God. That's what all the apostles
said they were. While this world believes God
is a servant of man. Isn't that right? I need you to do this for me.
Paul said, I'm the servant of God. And all the apostles said
that, and Titus was the servant of God, and that's what we all
are, every single one of us. We are the servants of God. We're
here for the purpose of serving Him in whatever way that He would
have us to do that. Verse 1 says, Paul, a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Everything that is about
to be said is on the authority of God Almighty. This Word is
God's Word. It's not Paul's Word. It's not
Titus' Word. It's not my Word. So when we
see it, we must believe it. We must. It's not up for debate. Yeah, well, uh-uh. This is God's Word. It's all
on the authority of God. Verse 1, he said, according to
the faith of God's elect. That tells us two things. Number
one, faith is of God. What must I do to be saved? Do
we know what the answer is? What must I do? Is there something
that I must do to be saved? Did you know the answer is yes? I thought you just said the message
is not due. What must I do to be saved? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that faith to believe
is not of myself, it is the gift, it is the work of God done by
Him. I will do it, but only because
He has already done it. So that faith is up God. The
second thing we see in that is God has an elect. What does that mean? That means
God chose some people on purpose. We had an election not too long
ago. Most of the people in this country went into a booth and
made a choice. They didn't choose every name
on the ballot. They didn't literally rake them
all down and hit submit. They made a choice. We had an
election. I chose who I wanted to choose. And so did God. God chose some
people on purpose. God saved those people on purpose. And God calls those people on
purpose. There are no accidents with God. At some point in time, God in
mercy brings his rebellious, sinful child to the gospel. He pierces the heart through
the preaching we're about to see, if I get there. And that
child believes. Faith comes by hearing. And he
believes God. And it's all on purpose. It's
all on purpose. Verse 1 says, 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. This is important. This is important. And the reason I tell you that
is because Every child of God goes through the same stages
of being a child of God. Alright? They start out rebels
against God. We all were. Sinners against
God. Didn't care about God. I don't
care. What's to come? Who cares? And
then all of a sudden God comes and He reveals Himself and then
we see who God is and He reveals the truth. He causes his child
to bow to it. That child for the first time
sees it's done. It's not due. While all these
other places are saying you better do this and you better do this
and you better do this. God finally reveals it's done. And then they resent all that. You all have been lying to me
all my life. Don't tell me due. I don't want
to hear due. And the gospel comes in and it
knocks down all those idols. That's the first thing that happens.
You go in and knock down all the idols, the idol of self,
the idol of my works, knock them all down. And you burn a sacrifice. And that sacrifice is everything.
And then after that, that child starts to realize, well, the
Lord actually did record in here, do. How does all that work? And that child sees it's not
in order to be saved. God saved me. It's not in order
to be his child. I'm his child. Those two little
girls are your children. They were made to be children
before they knew they were your children. All right, now they
need to do something. to be in good standing, to be
obedient, such on and so forth. And he starts to bring the truth
of the word back in. And we start to see God did not
call us out of our rebellion and sin to leave us in rebellion
and sin. He called us to be his children.
And the gospel is unto godliness. That's what he's saying. It's
unto well-mannered, behaved, children of the Father. So, where am I? Verse 1, 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. is the acknowledging of the truth. It's that new mind to the truth,
which brings about godliness. Faith in Christ, bowing to Christ,
seeing Him to be everything, and in love responding to it. I want to be His child. I want
to be His child in truth. Now, this was a real comfort
to me. One man wrote this, faith can find no strength, comfort,
or assurance in feelings, ceremonies, or tradition, only in the truth
of Scripture. The comforting one was the first
one, feelings. Faith can find no strength, comfort,
or assurance in feelings. I don't feel saved. You feel saved? Well, you know what? I don't
have to feel saved. I don't have to. It's irrelevant. It doesn't matter whether I feel
saved or not. God, we're about to read who
cannot lie. And isn't that wonderful? He
says in the blood of Christ, I'm saved. He says in the blood
of Christ, you are saved. What is your hope of eternal
life? Well, it's that I was baptized
at 12 years old. I got a certificate that day.
No. What is your hope of eternal
life? I used to do drugs. I used to do this. I used to
do that. And I stopped. No. What is your hope of eternal
life? The blood of Jesus Christ. That's it. That's it. In the blood of Jesus Christ,
God says, if my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness, God says I'm saved, whether I feel saved or
not. And that's where it ends. The truth. And that's after godliness. That produces a result. in the
child of God and we know that's the truth. A heart that has no
desire to worship God. No desire to worship. Won't you
come to worship God with me? You know we're not going to church
today. Y'all want to go to church today? Nope. But I do want to
go worship God. I can't just walk into any place
and go to church today. A heart that had no desire to
worship God all of a sudden has no desire to leave. No desire at all. A heart that
could have cared less before. All of a sudden this is life
and death to me. Life and death. That proud, arrogant,
blasphemous heart. This one. All of a sudden it
fears God. It starts to beg for mercy. Paul
said in 2 Corinthians 5, all things are new. There's a new
creation. That's what God does in the heart
of His child. He makes a new creature. The
work of God produces the result of God. Now, verse 2 says that
this is in hope of eternal life. All this is in hope of eternal
life. I read that in the study and I asked myself out loud,
as soon as I read it I said out loud, does that register with
me? Does that register with me? Eternal life. Eternal life. The life of Christ. Does that register with me? The
life that Christ has. The life that He lives. Not the
life that I currently have. Not life as I know it to be. The life that He knows. The life
that He experiences. The life that's given to a sinner
in Him. Eternal life. He said, He that
lives and believes in Me shall never die. Never. I was thinking the other day
about dying. And it's a fearful thing, it's
a scary thing, it's an unknown thing. And what comforted my
heart was, I know with all of the Word of God, that as soon
as it happens, I'm going to say, oh my goodness, there was nothing
to fear. I am now in life, life eternal. I'm not laying in a casket in
the ground. Life in Christ, eternal life. Verse 2 says, In hope of eternal
life which God that cannot lie. That's my hope. This is my hope. How do you know? God cannot lie. Do you have any doubts? My flesh
does until I open up this word and then God's spirit in mercy
reminds me God cannot lie. It says in hope of eternal life
which God that cannot lie promised. Eternal life is not a reward. Eternal life is not a payment,
it's a promise. That's what it is. It's free
grace. It's not of man's works, lest
a man should boast. He just promised it. When did
God promise eternal life to his people? Was it after they turned
over their new leaf? Look at verse 2. In hope of eternal
life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Before the world ever began.
Eternal life was promised and it was given in Christ before
the world began. Verse 3 says, but hath in due
times manifested this word through preaching, which is committed
unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior. The reason
that Titus was called to pastor. And this is important. The reason
that Titus or any man is called to pastor is because God has
chosen to use the means of preaching. to at his appointed time save
them that believe, convert his people from death to life, call
them out, give them life. He has chosen to use the means
of preaching That is so important. That is so important. This flesh
naturally does not want to hear that. This flesh does not want
to submit to God's means. It wants to have salvation in
its own time. It wants to have a hand in it,
in the decision of it, in all those things. But again, don't
turn. In 1 Corinthians 121, it says,
It pleased God by the foolishness of reading to save them that
belief. That's not what it says. Well, I just got my Bible out
and I just decided to open it and that's not what it says.
It pleased God by the foolishness of meditation to save them that
belief. I'll go ahead and tell you, that's
not what it says. I just started thinking about all this. It's
not what it says. It pleased God by the foolishness
of If we want men to be saved, we must deliver a message from
God's called messenger to that sinner. It is so important. It has pleased the Lord. That's
not my decision. That's not my statement. That's
God's. It's pleased God to use the means
of preaching. Will any preacher do? If a man stands up and if he
quotes a verse of scripture, If he accidentally says something
that's in agreement with God's word, can a man be saved under
a false prophet? That's the number one thing the
Lord warned of while he walked this earth. Beware of false prophets. Romans 10 says, how shall they believe in whom
they have not heard? Right? How shall they hear without
a preacher? How shall he preach except he
be sent? Sin of God. And I was going to
have you go to Jeremiah 23, and he's condemning false prophets. And he's saying, I didn't send
them, but they ran anyway. And they stand up and they say,
I have a dream. I have a dream. This is the way
I see it to be. And here's what he said in Jeremiah
23, verse 28, he said, He that hath a dream, let him tell his
dream. But he that hath my word, let
him preach my word faithfully. That's what he said. And he said,
I didn't send them. He said, I'm against them. And
he said, they shall not profit my people at all, saith the Lord. Well, can't I just, you know,
gather those good bits and throw away those bad bits? They shall
not profit my people at all. The minute that we realize the
man I'm hearing is not Totally in agreement with the Word of
God. Stop listening to him. I mean stop. He will not profit
you at all. Yeah, but he quotes a lot of
scripture. Stop listening to him. Rat poison is 99% good stuff. That 1% kills. It kills. Don't listen. How shall they preach except
they be sent? So Paul warned Titus of that. And if we go through this, we're
going to see that he warns against false prophets much. Verse 4,
and we'll close. Verse 4, he said to Titus, my
own son. Titus was not Paul's natural
son. He was converted under Paul's
preaching and Paul loved him like a son and that's a love we all understand.
That is a love we all understand. The love of God in the heart
of his people. The bond that believers have
is stronger than even the bond of the natural flesh. It is true,
true love. I love you as brothers and sisters. I don't have any natural brothers,
but if I did, I couldn't love them more. I just couldn't. True
love. Verse 4, to Titus, my own son,
after the common faith, the same faith that's given to every soul
that's looking to Christ, one Lord, one faith. Verse 4, he
said, grace, mercy, and peace. Grace gave Christ to us. Mercy
gave Christ for us. And peace brought Christ in us. Grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Christ our
Savior. Christ crucified. That's where
we start. That's where we finish. Christ.
Okay, you're dismissed.