Hi, everybody. Would you turn with me to the
book of Titus? My subject for this evening is
the common faith. You're going to see that when
I read this text that I've asked you to read with me, the common
faith. And the word common means that
which is common or general to all, as opposed to that which
is peculiar to the few. The common faith is what every
believer, without exception, possesses. And you can leave
this place knowing whether or not you have a part of what is
called the common faith. I pray that the Lord will enable
us all to enter in to the common faith. Now, verse one, look at
Titus. Paul, the 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, before time 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, mine own son,
after the common faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul says to Titus,
I think Titus is an interesting individual. He's not even mentioned
in the book of Acts, but we read about him in Galatians chapter
two and second Corinthians eight and nine. Paul calls him my son
after the common faith. Now, obviously he wasn't his
biological son, but Titus heard the gospel through this man,
Paul, and believed the gospel. And he calls him my son after
the common faith. The faith that every believer
to ever live has in common. Now if I'm a believer and you're
a believer, we believe the exact same thing. The common faith. The faith which is common to
all, general to all, opposed as to that which is peculiar
to the few. Now, I believe Adam was a believer.
The Bible doesn't expressly state that, but I believe he was, but
I know Abel was. And so, whatever Abel believed,
all the way to the last one to believe, the last of God's elect. I love to think about the fact
that it might be the last of God's elect is walking on this
earth right now. And when he believes, it will
all be over. But Abel and that last one of
God's elect and everybody in between has the same faith, the
common faith, that which all believers have in common. You
probably have heard, if you've read the book of Jude, of the
common salvation, the same word, that which every believer has
in common. And I love the way Paul called
this common faith in Titus chapter one, the faith of God's elect.
All of God's elect possess this faith. It's called by Paul in
Ephesians chapter four, the one faith. And Jude calls it the
faith, the faith once delivered to the saints. I love the way
it's once delivered. It knows no amendments. It knows
no revisions. It knows no adaptations. It's
the faith once delivered to the saints. The faith that every
believer possesses when he has been born again for one second.
He has all this faith that we're going to consider. If he's been
born again only for one second, or if he's been a believer for
50 years, this is the same faith, the common faith. And this common
faith came from hearing the message. Remember what Paul said in Romans
chapter 10, verse 17, faith cometh by hearing. That's an awesome
thing to think about, isn't it? There's nothing more passive
than hearing. Not by doing, but by hearing. By hearing the gospel message,
the one gospel message, Faith cometh by hearing that gospel
message. Now, I love the fact that the
gospel is not complicated. Oh, it's transcendent, it's profound,
it's glorious, but it's not complicated. There's only one message. You know, when the Lord said,
enter in at the straight gate, He didn't say there are two gates,
take your choice. He said you enter in that straight
gate. That's his command to me. Enter in at the straight gate. Wide is the gate. Broad is the
way that leads to destruction and many go that route. But straight
is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few
there be that find it. How straight is it? How narrow
is it? If you have anything more than
Christ, you can't get through it. Write that down in your heart. If you have anything more than
Christ, you can't get through it. That's what Christ alone
means. Christ alone means you look to
him alone and you don't have anything else. You don't have
anything else to plead before God. All you have is Jesus Christ. This is the one simple message. Christ is all. Faith believes
that message and it's the message once delivered. And I love the
way that this message is the same to everybody. We don't have
different demographics we're trying to reach. One message
to the old, one message to the young, one message to the educated,
another message for the uneducated, one message toward this ethnicity,
and another message for that. It's the same message for everybody.
I don't know how many times I've had people say to me with regard
to our church, what do you got for the young people? Well, same
thing we got for the old people, the gospel. What else is needed? This glorious gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, the common faith, that which
is common to all as opposed to that which is peculiar to the
few, it's what every believer has in common. Now, There's no
doubt there are differing degrees of spiritual maturity. There's
strong faith, there's weak faith. There's strong believers, there
are weak believers. The scripture teaches that. But
they have the precise same faith. The common faith. Now I want
to know if I have this common faith. This faith which every
believer has. I can remember the time when
I'd hear believe and I'd think, I would if I knew what that meant.
What does it mean to believe? I can remember thinking, I don't
know what it means to believe. Just like I don't know what it
means to repent. I would hear these things and I would think,
what do they mean? I hear what the preacher's saying, but what
do they mean? What does it mean to believe? What is this thing of the common
faith? And you know what? One time I
found myself believing. I didn't decide to believe. I
knew in my own experience that I didn't know what it meant to
believe. I even knew in my experience I couldn't believe. I'd hear
believe and I'd know I couldn't. And then one day, and I don't
know what day that was, I didn't have any certain experience,
but one day I found myself believing. That's when I believe the common
faith. And I know this, all who have
this faith know the only reason they have it is because God gave
it to them. By grace, or you say, through faith, that not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God. The free gift of God. Now if you do not have faith,
ask God to give it to you. He won't turn you down. By grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift, the free gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. And if you have faith, you know
it's because God gave it to you. If you're born again, you know
it's because he birthed you into his kingdom. Of his own will
begat he us through faith. the word of truth. Now for the
big question, what is the content of this common faith? What is
the faith that every believer possesses? Well, what does a newborn babe
believe? I'm talking about someone who
has only been and I don't know how else to say this, someone
who's only been born of God for one second. It happens instantly
through the preaching of the gospel, but what does somebody
believe that's only been born of God for one split second? Now, that's how I can tell what
common faith is and think of it. I could talk to an older
believer and I could learn a lot from an older believer, but I
find out what the common faith is, what all believers have in
common, by that newborn believer. What does a newborn believer
believe? Now, there are many examples
in the scripture of newborn believers. I think of Paul on the road to
Damascus. He hated Jesus Christ. He wanted
to kill people who believed on him. And there he goes, and someone
met him. A great light. He hit the dirt. Ananias comes to him and says,
brother Saul, receive thy sight. And he said, the God of our fathers
had chosen thee, first thing he heard was election, that thou
should know his will. See that just one. how he can be just and justify
somebody like you. And 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. I think of that Roman centurion
who presided over the death of Christ. He woke up that morning,
business as usual. He's gonna put together, put
to death the enemies of the state. He's gonna crucify them. He knew
that's what was gonna take place. He gets up and he presides over
the death of Christ. But sometime during that period,
he said, surely this man was the son of God. Something happened
to him. Ethiopian Union. He's riding
his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet, doesn't have any idea
what it means. He'd gone to Jerusalem to worship,
and I'm sure he wanted to worship, but he's returning back to Ethiopia
just as empty as he was when he got there. He's reading Isaiah
53, and the Lord tells Philip, go to that chariot, join yourself
to that chariot. Philip comes and says, do you
understand what you're reading? He said, how can I except some
man? should God and he was reading
Isaiah 53 and Philip began at that same scripture and preached
unto him Jesus and he was converted that very time this young believer
I think of the Philippian jailer he had arrested Paul after he'd
been beaten put him in prison I don't Suppose he'd ever thought
about his soul or salvation, but he heard Paul in silence
singing the praises of God at midnight. And then that earthquake
took place. The prison doors were opened.
He thought they would all escape. He called, got ready to stab
himself with a sword to kill himself. And Paul said, do thyself
no harm. And he called for a light and
sprang in and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? I know
I can't save myself. He wasn't saying, what can I
do to save myself? He said, what must I do to be saved? And Paul
said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. We have so many instances of
newborn believers in the scripture. But the passage that came to
my mind that I wanted to see what is it that a newborn believer
believes was that passage Wayne just read us about the thief
on the cross. Turn back to Luke chapter 23.
Now, when he was first nailed to that cross, he was experiencing
the same physical pain that the Lord Jesus Christ felt. What a horrible thing that must
have been him in the other day. And Mark's account tells us they
were both reviling the Lord Jesus Christ. They were both spewing
out their venom and their hatred of Christ. They were mocking
him even in their pain. They said, if you're the Christ,
come down, save yourself and save us too. And they were, the
scripture says, reviling him. Both of them were. But something
happened. John Calvin, Call this the greatest
instance of saving faith in all the scripture. Now, I don't know
that any man is capable of making that judgment, but I certainly
wouldn't object to that. I know the Lord said to the Roman
centurion, I've not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel.
Remember when he said that? Well, this hadn't happened yet.
The amazing salvation of the thief on the cross, and he tells
us exactly what the common faith is. Now, you can leave this place
knowing if you have the same faith that this thief had, this
man who God just saved. I love when we sing the dying
thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away now we don't know what
this man's name was he was saved sometime during his time on the
cross and he was just a believer for a few hours before he died
and remember this too he saw the lord die the lord was the first to die
both of the other thieves saw him die And I've already quoted, faith
cometh by hearing, this man heard. He heard the seven sayings of
the Savior from the cross. He heard every one of them. He heard the Lord say, Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. And
everybody he prayed for was forgiven. That was not some generic prayer.
If the Lord prays for your forgiveness, you must be forgiven. He saw the Lord look at his mother
and say, woman, behold thy son, pointing to John. And he said
to John, behold your mother. And the Lord was taking care
of his mother even then. And then he heard the Lord say
to him, today thou shalt be with me. in paradise. What words of
assurance. He heard the Lord cry out from
the darkness. He experienced the darkness too.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He heard the Lord
say, I thirst. He heard the Lord say, it is finished. And he knew what
he means. And he heard the Lord say, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. Now he heard. Faith cometh by
hearing. He heard the gospel from Christ
himself. Now, from the lips of this newborn
believer, we can find out what the common faith is. And we can
know whether or not we have it. And I'm greatly interested in
that. Now look in Luke chapter 23, verse 32. And there were also two other
malefactors led with him to be put to death. These were enemies
of the state. And we know from Mark's account
in Mark 15, 32, both of them, were reviling the Lord Jesus
Christ when they were first nailed to the cross along with it. Verse
33, 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, all three of them had their
hands and feet nailed to that cross. They all experienced the
pain of that cross being lifted up and dropped in that stand,
hanging naked before the crowd. What pain they were all three
experiencing. And then both of these thieves
heard this. Then said Jesus. Father. Forgive them. but they know not
what they do. And they watched as they parted
his reign with the seamless robe and cast lots, gambling for it.
You know, the scripture says that was what would take place.
Psalm 22. And the people stood beholding
and the rulers also with him derided him saying, notice the
people stood beholding and the rulers also with him, the thieves
derided him saying, he saved others. Let him save himself
if he be Christ, the chosen of God. That's what the thief said
as well. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou
be the king of Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was
written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, and
I love that. Greek, the language of the common
man, Latin, the language of the educated man. Hebrew, the language
of the religious man. They all had the same message. Jesus of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews. Verse 39, and one of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him. We know from Mark's account that
they both did at first, but this one continues, and one of the
malefactors which were hanged railed on him saying, if thou
be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, do you not know who it is you're railing on?
Do you not fear God? seeing that thou art in the same
condemnation. Now here's the first part of
the common faith. This man knew that Jesus Christ
was God. How did he know? Well, how do
you know? God revealed it to him. And if
you know this, God revealed it to you that Jesus Christ is nobody
less than God almighty, the second person of the Trinity, the creator
of the universe, the one who spake the worlds into existence,
the one who has every attribute of God dwelling in his body. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. Jesus Christ is sovereign. You
know the reason those men nailed those spikes to His hands and
feet? Because Jesus Christ willed it.
It was all a part of His purpose. He's God Almighty. He's holy. He's other. He's just. He's independent. He has no needs. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing. He's never
learned anything. He's omnipresent. Even in that
body, He's God over all, blessed forever. Jesus Christ is God. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that Jesus Christ is God Almighty, the absolute sovereign of the
universe? Now, let me tell you something.
If he's not God, he can't do anything for me or you. The only
way he can save me is if he is God Almighty. And when that Thief said to his
buddy, don't you fear God. Don't you know who this is? This
is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God. I love saying that. Jesus Christ
is God almighty. That means me and you are in
his hands. That means he controls everything. He is the first cause
behind everything. Jesus Christ is God almighty. Now let me tell you something
that you will believe if you believe that he's God. Look in
our text. 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. Now, if you ever see, if I ever
see that Jesus Christ is God, we're going to come up with this
conclusion about ourselves. If he sends me to hell, just
and holy is his name. We receive the due reward of
our deeds. If he leads me to myself and
doesn't save me, just and holy is his name, I'm getting exactly
what I deserve. Now, if you hear that you deserve
to go to hell and you can't really see it, believe it anyway. Believe
it because it's what the scripture teaches with regard to you. and me. God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuum. Believe
me, of course, God says it. You might not even experience
it the way you think you should, but believe it. This man understood
from this sight of who Jesus Christ is. He said, we're getting
exactly what we deserve. We deserve to be cut off. Now,
with regard to the gospel, When someone hears the gospel of God's
grace and they hear how God elected a people before time began to
be saved, and they say, that's not fair. How could that be fair? And they hear that Jesus Christ
accomplished salvation to the elect. He died for his people.
And they think, well, that's not fair. If that's my response,
it's because I don't really believe that I deserve to be dead. That's the only reason that someone
would make that objection. If I see who he is, I see that
I'm getting exactly what I deserve. And if God passes me by, he's
just. Now, if you have asked this man
if he believed in the doctrine of total depravity, he probably
would have said, I don't have no idea what you're talking about.
But if you said, do you deserve to be cut off by God with no
mercy for you, He would say, that is exactly what I deserve. He saw that Jesus Christ is God.
And here's what happens to everybody who sees and believes that Jesus
Christ is the God of glory. They believe they deserve to
be cut off. This man saw that truth with
regard to himself. He believed in the justice of
God in his condemnation. Verse 41. We indeed justly, for we receive
the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. He believes that Jesus Christ
is the man, a real human being, God manifest in the flesh. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh? The word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. who so believeth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." Now, what does it
mean if you believe Jesus Christ came in the flesh? Well, first
of all, it means you believe He was before He came. You believe
He's eternal. He never had a beginning. He's
God. He was before He came, but thank
God He came in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, the sole representative of the being and character of
God, and He dwelt among us. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
was and is a real man? blood pumping through his veins,
breathing just like me and you. Jesus Christ is God. I deserve
to be cut off if God gave me what I deserved. Jesus Christ
is man. Do you believe? Notice what else
he says. This man hath done nothing amiss. This man has never committed
a sin. This man has worked out perfect
righteousness. He hath done nothing amiss. Now, one wonders, how did he
know that? I mean, he only been around the
Lord a couple hours at the most. How did he know that he's done
nothing amiss? If you know Jesus Christ, you
know he's done nothing amiss. You know he's the perfect man,
the righteous man. Do you believe that he has done
nothing amiss? Do you believe in the sinlessness
of Jesus Christ, the one man who never sinned? You see, if he did sin, and let
me say this, with regard to Christ, he couldn't have sinned because
of who he is. If he could sin, he could change.
And he's the immutable God, so he couldn't sin. I've heard people
say, well, the important part is he didn't sin. Whether he
could or couldn't, he didn't. No, he couldn't sin. He's the
impeccable Lord Jesus Christ, the one who had done nothing
amiss. But if he had sinned, he couldn't
do anything for you. You see, he had to be sinless
to take my sin in his own body on the tree. If he had sin, my
sin couldn't be transferred to him, he'd have his own sin. But
thank God he is the one who has done nothing amiss, holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens,
Jesus Christ the righteous. the sinless one. Now, this is the common faith. Remember, he's a newborn believer.
He believed Jesus Christ is God. He believed God would be just
if he passed him by. He believed Jesus Christ is man.
And he believed Jesus Christ is sinless. Do you believe that? This man had done nothing amiss
Now, look in verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord. Now he saw this one who
seemingly was so helpless nailed to a cross. Everybody had forsaken
him. He didn't have anybody with him.
He heard him say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He saw this one seemingly so
helpless, nailed to a cross. And he said, Lord. You're the Lord. You're the dictator. You're the absolute controller
of everything and everybody. You are the Lord. Now, he believed
Christ was Lord in creation when he spake the world into existence. Do you believe that? He believed
he's Lord of providence. He's the first cause behind everything.
He believed most especially he's the Lord of salvation. That means
if I'm saved, it's up to him. I can't save myself. He's going
to have to will my salvation because of who he is. He's the
Lord. Lord! I would imagine there were people
who snickered at him when he said that. You saying he's Lord?
You can't even recognize his face. His visage marred more
than the sons of men. Seemingly so helpless, hanging
on a cross, nailed to a cross. You believe he's Lord? I know
he's Lord. He is the Lord. And he understood that. He said,
Lord, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I believe he is Lord of all. And I believe the time is coming
where every knee is gonna bow and every tongue is gonna confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the Father. He is Lord. And what a gift of faith this
man had that he could recognize. How did he know when he saw him
so helpless? Because he knew who he was. If you know who he
is, you know that he is the Lord. And he believed that the only
way he could be saved is by Jesus Christ representing him. That's what he said when he said,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. If you remember
me, all is well. I can't represent myself. The
only way I can be saved is if you remember me and if you own
me before your father. That's the only hope I have. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. If the Lord remembers me, all
is well. I need him to be my representative. Now, do you know that? Do you
know the only way that you can be saved is if the Lord stands
as your representative and represents you before the Father so he's
the one doing the speaking? I love what Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him. You see, the only way
I'm gonna get to the Father is by being in him and him coming
to the Father. That's what he meant when he
said, no man comes to the Father but by me. The only way I'm gonna
get to the Father is if I'm in the Father and he comes into
the Father's presence and he brings me with him. Lord, remember
me. when you come into your kingdom.
Every newborn babe knows that the only way they can be saved
is if Jesus Christ remembers them and represents them before
the Father. And the next thing I would notice
about this unnamed these faith, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. He believed in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. He saw him die. And he believed
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, this thing of believing
the resurrection, I dare say that a lot of the people you
come across, maybe tomorrow when you go to work, say, oh, I believe
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe he was raised
from the dead. Do you understand why he was raised from the dead? He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. You see, when Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead, every believer was justified. That means you
stand sinless before God. His resurrection means he completely
satisfied all the claims of God's justice against sin. God said,
I'm satisfied with what he did. I am too. I'm satisfied with
what God's satisfied with. And this man understood Jesus
Christ would be raised from the dead. And notice this, I love
this. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. This man had some understanding
that Jesus Christ was incapable of failure. Now, if you know
who he is, you dead sure know that he is incapable of failure. You're not gonna stay dead. You're
gonna come back as a mighty reigning king over your kingdom. Christ
can't fail. Everybody he died for must be
saved. Everybody he represents must
be saved. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning king in your kingdom. Lord, remember me when
you come back raised from the dead as the glorious Lord of
glory, as king of your kingdom. And the last thing I'd like to
say about this man, he believed Jesus Christ was
God. Do you? He believed God would be just
if God passed him by and didn't save him. Do you believe that? Do you believe God would be just? He believed Jesus Christ to be
man, the God man. Do you believe that? He believed
Jesus Christ to be sinless. Do you believe that? He believed
that if Jesus Christ represented him, all would be well. Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. Do you believe
that? He believed Jesus Christ would
be raised from the dead. Do you believe that? Do you believe
he was raised from the dead? He believed Christ to be incapable
of failure. Do you believe that with regard
to Jesus Christ? Do you believe him to be incapable
of failure. If he died for you, you must
be saved. That's the only hope you have
in the first place. And finally, the only ground of his assurance
is what Jesus Christ said. He didn't look for assurance
within. He didn't look for assurance
in his experience. He heard Jesus Christ say this
to him today. thou shalt be with me in paradise. And that's the only assurance
he needed. Christ said it. Nothing else
is needed. Now that is what every believer
has in common. The common faith, as is expressed
by this newborn believer, the thief on the cross, and I pray
that God gives each one of us this beautiful, common thing. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your son, the revelation
of his person, Lord, we believe he's God and we believe that
you would be just if you passed us by. We believe he's man, the
sinless man. We believe he's Lord. We believe
that he cannot fail. We believe that his resurrection
says he did not fail. We believe that if he represents
us before you, we must be saved. And Lord, we're hanging on his
word. Today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. Now, Lord, we ask that you bless
this message for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name
we pray.