This morning I would like to
continue a message I began last Sunday morning from the book
of Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. I hope you'll
follow along with me or listen very carefully. Paul, the older
experienced apostle, is writing to a young preacher named Titus.
And he writes in verse 1 of Titus chapter 1, Paul, a servant of
God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith
of God's elect. Paul said he was a servant of
God, and how you may know he was a true servant of God was
that he served God's glory. He was in the ministry for the
glory of God, not for his own glory, for his own namesake.
That's how you may know a true servant of God now, a true preacher,
sent by God today. He is in it for the glory of
God alone. And Paul says, I'm an apostle
of Jesus Christ. He was hand chosen by Christ
himself and given his commission from Christ and had all of the
qualifications, the gifts, which were given only to the apostles. So he was an apostle of Jesus
Christ, a chosen messenger of Jesus Christ. used greatly by
God to write God's word for the preaching of the gospel. And
he went on to say, according to, I'm a servant of God, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, according to, that is, in accordance with,
in complete agreement with, the faith of God's elect. Paul says, I believe and I preach
the faith of God's elect, which we saw last Sunday. was in short,
the faith of God's elect is faith in Christ alone, believing that
Christ is one's only hope of eternal life, one's only hope
of righteousness with God, that Christ alone is the way, the
truth, and the life for any human being, the faith of God's elect. And the reason it's called the
faith is because there's only one, one Lord, one faith, Paul
wrote in Ephesians 4, and it's the faith of God's elect. Only
if God gives us this faith, only if God chooses us to believe
will we have this faith. Oh, many people will have a faith,
will have a conception of God or an opinion about God or about
eternal life, but only God's chosen people. The elect, they're
called, have this faith, this true saving faith. Like the apostles,
like all of God's people listed in scriptures, they were chosen
by God, called of God, predestined by God. The faith of God's elect. I'll tell you one thing all of
God's elect have in common. The faith, that is. They believe
God's the one that elected them. not vice versa. They don't believe
the foolishness that they chose God. No, no, no. Ask Abraham. He was a 75-year-old idolater
when God Almighty called him. Ask Saul of Tarsus, who became
the Apostle Paul. Ask him if he was decided to
let Jesus into his heart, as some would say. No, sir. It was
God that called him. God that chose him. So it is
with all of God's people. God's elect. know and believe
that it was God that elected them. "'Tis not that I did choose
thee,' the writer says, for, Lord, that could not be. Hadst
thou not chosen me, I would never have chosen thee." The faith
of God's elect. And he goes on to write in verse
1, and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. Paul says, I'm an apostle, a
servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ in accordance and
complete agreement with, to the faith of God's elect and the
acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. The acknowledging
of the truth, all of God's elect. And Paul says he was one of them. He acknowledged the truth, the
truth. What is the truth? Well, whatever
God says is the truth. Scripture says, let God be true
and every man a liar. God's word is the truth. Whatever God says and the believer,
he believes it. Whatever God says. There's no
argument. There's no debate. There's no question. Though he
does not understand it, he believes it. It's the truth because God
said it. Whatever God may say, anyone
who argues with And does it does not agree with something they
read in God's word is not a believer. What must a person believe to
be a believer? Why? The answer is in the question. If you're a believer, you believe
everything God has written. And you love it. Paul said that
the Thessalonians, some did not receive the love of the truth.
Well, God's people love the truth. They love God's word. They love
it because it's of God. The truth, they acknowledge the
truth. All that God said, the truth. And the summary of the
truth, Christ himself said, I am the truth. The truth of who God
is, the truth of what man is, the truth of what salvation is,
is all found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ
came to this earth. God was manifest in the flesh.
You want to know God? Study Christ. Christ is the God-man. Christ said, you want to know
the way to God? You know how to get to God? Well, it's not
by you doing anything. Study Christ. He was absolutely
perfect in thought, word, and deed, inwardly, outwardly, spiritually,
and physically. Christ was absolutely holy, just,
and righteous before God. And Christ says, I am the truth
of how one may get to God. Only through me. By me taking
you there. By me imputing my righteousness
to you. By me transferring your guilt
to myself and my holiness to you. Christ is the truth. The truth of what God requires
of man. the truth of how man may get
to God only through Christ, the truth. And he says in verse 1,
it's the truth which is after godliness. The truth which is
after, that is, for the purpose of, and the result is godliness. Now, what does godliness mean? You'll hear many give definitions
and talk about godliness. This person's a godly person,
a godly man, a godly woman. What does that mean? Well, it's
much deeper than just putting off some bad habits or taking
up some seemingly holy habits. It's much deeper than that. Godliness. Let me give you a
short history of man. Man in the beginning, in the
garden, Adam, Eve. Mankind, Adam and Eve. Man in
the beginning was holy. He was like God. He was righteous. He walked with God. He loved
God. He thought like God thought. He was godly. He was like God. God that like. Godly. But sin
entered. According to the purpose and
will of God, sin entered this world, entered mankind, and man
lost that image of God. Man lost that God-likeness. Sin entered man. He became a
sensual creature. He became a materialistic creature. Rather than thinking like God,
he thought selfish thoughts. Rather than being holy like God,
he was now full of sin. He became dead in trespasses
and sin. Everything he thought and did
was permeated with this thing, this evil nature called sin. He became sensual, materialistic. Salvation is to restore a person
to God. likeness, to restore a person
to God, to make that person start thinking about God. Man won't
even think about God unless God Almighty gives him spiritual
life, eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to receive, faith to
believe, the Spirit of God indwelling to have the fruit of the Spirit
in Galatians 5. God-likeness. He says the truth
is about godliness. And Paul said in Ephesians 1
that God has predestinated a people to be conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. Predestinated the people to be
just like Jesus Christ. God-like. You want to study true
holiness and godliness, study Jesus Christ. It's far different
than some would think. that it is. Though he was holy
and harmless and separate from sinners, yet common people, sinners,
were drawn to him and not put off by him, but drawn to him.
You go studying what that means, and maybe you'll know something
of godliness. It's not making yourself holier
than thou. All right. Paul says, the truth. I acknowledge the truth which
is after Godliness. Verse 2, in hope of eternal life. In hope of eternal life. Paul preached the hope of eternal
life. Eternal life, that is, life after
this life. Eternal life. Not only the duration
of it, or that is, the eternality of it, but it's the quality of
it. It's spiritual life. Life with God. Not just materialistic
life or flesh life of the flesh, but spiritual life, life of God. Paul says all we believe and
preach and do is in hope of eternal life. Hope. It's called hope. Scripture talks about this hope.
It's called hope because it's something unseen and something
unrealized. You hope for something that you
hope you will see or experience. It's hope. But Scripture says
it's a good hope and a sure hope. It's a certain hope, this thing
of eternal life, because, verse 2, he said, God that cannot lie
promised before the world began. Now, if I promised a friend of
mine that I would do something for them, If they trusted me
as a trustworthy person, they would believe me. I promised
I would do something or give them something, they would believe
me. Well, man cannot fulfill his
promises, though he wants to or tries to. Different things,
circumstances, may prevent him from fulfilling that promise.
But not God. It says God that cannot lie. this eternal life to some before
the foundation of the world. God cannot lie, and He promised
eternal life to all who ask for it, to all who believe Christ. Yes, all He said, that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. That's the elect. That's the
faith of God's elect. All the Father giveth me shall
come to me. They do. They come. They believe.
God in His sovereign purpose brings them to hear the truth.
They hear it. They're convicted of their sin.
They believe the gospel. They believe the truth. They
look to Christ alone. They trust Christ. They believe
Christ is their only salvation. They repent of their sins. And
God the Holy Spirit indwells them. Yes, all of them do. They believe. And Christ said,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that
cometh to me. All that come to cry, all that believe cry. He
said, I will in no wise cast out. He said in John 10, I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. That's a
promise of God. When was this promise made? It
says before the world began. before the world began. Ephesians
1 verse 4, that's what the Apostle Paul writes. He said, God chose
us, chose His people in Christ before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy without blame before Him in the
world. Salvation is by promise. It's
the promise of God. Not by works, but by promise. It's not a condition you meet.
It's a promise God made for His people. A covenant He made with
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He gets all the glory and salvation.
Yes, he does. And that's the promise. Salvation
to all who believe Christ. That's how you know that they're
the elect and how this promise was given to them. They believe. They believe. Do you believe?
Well, I hope you do. Until next Sunday, may God bless
His Word. Amen. Okay.