Going to Titus chapter three,
and I just want to read a few verses from the beginning of
that chapter. So the Apostle Paul is writing
to the younger man, Titus, and he says, put them in mind to
be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates,
to be ready to every good work. To speak evil of no man, to be
no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers' lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading from his word. I struggled a little bit about
where to divide these verses in this chapter because I did
not want to take too many themes and lose the impact of the various
points that the Apostle Paul was making here. So I've chosen
to use only the first three verses today. And we will, God willing,
come back another time to the saving activity of the triune
God that the Apostle speaks about in the verses following. But
I wanted just to, as it were, pause in these opening verses,
just to try and take in something of the significance of what the
Apostle is telling us here. And Paul is continuing to instruct
Titus concerning the appointment or the ordination, as he calls
it, of elders in the cities of Crete, where these gospel churches
or gospel fellowships had been established. And in chapter one,
Paul specified a number of qualifications that ought to characterize the
men who would be appointed as elders. And in chapter 2, he
extends the qualities that are sought in the lives of the Lord's
people to other members of the churches, such as the aged men
and the aged women, the younger men and the younger women. And throughout, the apostle has
advocated that these qualities and attitudes of heart not be
seen as rules of conduct to be obeyed or standards of behaviour
to be achieved, but as rather opportunities to show forth the
love of Christ by exercising the gifts of grace and the fruit
of the Holy Spirit. so that they would be exhibiting
the attitudes that were commensurate with a gospel witness and practices
that are befitting a converted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these qualities, Paul tells
us, enhance sound teaching and adorn the doctrine of God our
Saviour. That is the Gospel. And actually,
it's more than that even, that we are desirous of, as it were,
enhancing the gospel that we witness with good works. It's
actually more because we're told that The Lord Jesus Christ gave
himself for us, that is for his church and for his people. We
mentioned the emphasis on the word us there I think on a previous
occasion, but he gave himself for us. that he might redeem
us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works. And so while we have a desire
to serve the Lord and to enhance the testimony and to make a witness
and to do good, we have a desire after that. But in fact, it's
more than that. It's not simply based on our
will. but it is the purpose of the
Lord Jesus Christ so to deliver this. That's the reason for our
redemption is that he might purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works. So now the apostle is continuing
in chapter 3 by reminding Titus to remind the people to be subject
to the established powers. And that is the government, the
rulers, the councils, the bosses, if you like, in the towns and
cities where these churches were located. The courts and the civil
authorities. And the point that he's making
is that Christians are not to have a reputation for being troublemakers. On the contrary, they should
have a reputation of being peacemakers. They're not to be guilty of sedition. They're not to be a bothersome
people, vexing and rebellious or awkward in their attitudes. Rather, they were to use the
obligation that they had to be obedient and subject to their
rulers as occasions for practicing good works amongst them. They
were to be loyal citizens and they were to be noticeably so
by the good works that they performed. So the apostle says in Romans
12, verse 18, just a sort of corollary to this. If it be possible,
as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. And this is a principle that
the apostle mentions several times in his letters. Because
the civil governments of the day often lumped the young Christian
church with the Jewish worshippers that were in their towns and
cities. The Jews had spread over all
of the cities, many, many of the cities and towns of the Mediterranean. and there were Jewish synagogues
in these cities and Jewish worshippers and it seems as if the Jews often
caused trouble. and stirred up opposition in
those cities, believing the Gentiles to be beneath them. There was
a sort of racism going on there. They believed the Gentiles to
be beneath them and themselves to be above the laws and the
statutes of the cities and the states in which they dwelt. And
Acts chapter 18 is an example of this. We're told there by
Luke that the Jews made insurrection in Corinth against Paul and brought
him to the judgment seat only to be chased away by the deputy,
Galio, who said that he wasn't having anything to do with their
accusations, to do with words and to do with their religion.
And the fact that Titus was appointing elders in Crete likely implied
that the churches in Crete were increasingly separating themselves,
the believers, from the synagogue worship. And the Christians here,
by the apostles' direction, were being told to respect the authorities
and the rule of law. particularly perhaps at a time
when the Jews themselves would be upset at the more orderly
establishment of these Christian churches. And the apostle continues
that the people ought to be circumspect in their social dealings with
the people around about them. They're not to speak badly of
people. They're not to brawl or be contentious. They are rather to be gentle
and meek, both as individuals and as congregations. And these
are qualities displayed by the Lord Jesus Christ, which Paul
had already spoken of to the Corinthians in such terms as
the meekness and gentleness of Christ. It's lovely when we think about
that. You know, we sometimes say gentle Jesus, meek and mild. But that wasn't to do with the
infant Jesus. I'm sure he was even then. But
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus, in the dealings of the Lord Jesus
with those around about him, the Lord knew how to be strong.
He knew how to deal with those who were shaming the temple,
for example. but there was also this meekness
and gentleness about the Lord, which we ought to emulate. And here again, we see the apostle
placing not the law before the Lord's people, but Christ's example
and reminding us of the blessed privilege that we have of being
followers of Christ and acting accordingly. But it's that verse
3 that I want just to think about a little more closely, just as
we wrap our thoughts up here. Because it shows several aspects
of our approach to our own Christian life and conduct. in describing
the state and the condition of the men and women around about
us and amongst whom we live and before whom we witness and serve
the Lord. And the Apostle reminds us all
what we are and where we have come from in this verse three. He says, for we ourselves also
were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts
and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating
one another. And this catalogue of woes and
shame, it speaks of ignorance and willfulness and servitude
to the flesh, slavery and contentment in that enslaved situation. It's an awful picture of human
nature and the depravity of human nature. And it's a true one. because it is given to us by
the Holy Spirit. This is the Apostle Paul who's
speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It's God's description
of who and what we are by nature in the fall of Adam and by the
consequences of Satan's lies. And knowing, as the Apostle Paul
tells us here, that we are no different from anyone else ought
to arouse several responses from us. The apostle says, for we
ourselves also were sometimes. And when we know that we ourselves
were like that, here's what that should mean to us. It should
make us humble. It should make us humble. Let
us not think better of ourselves than what we are. No one of us
is any better than another except for what the grace of God has
gifted to us and supplied to us. little phrase I'm sure you're
familiar with it, there but for the grace of God go I. It is said to have been spoken
by the reformer John Bradford hundreds of years ago as he watched
a convict criminal being led away. But Paul's own words perhaps
are even an earlier source of that, because the Apostle Paul
says elsewhere, he said, I persecuted the church of God, but by the
grace of God, I am what I am. So knowing what we've come from,
as the Apostle here says, ought to give us a sense of humility. And another thing that it ought
to bring to us is an awareness of the needs of the people around
us for which we should have empathy and also hope. The Apostle tells
Titus that this is what we were. This is what we were. This is
not what we are now, but It is grace that has made us to differ. Once we were as they are now,
and having been ourselves undeservingly saved from that state, we may
perhaps find cause for empathy and sympathy and pity for their
poor, deceived, deluded souls. and the emptiness of their servitude
to all the fleshy passions. The men and women of this world
know no better. Their eyes are blinded by the
God of this world and their hearts are adamant and stony. And yet it may be that they may
yet be as we are. Is that not the wonder of grace
and the power of the gospel? Is that not why we preach the
message that we do week by week? Yes, it's to comfort the Lord's
people. Yes, it is to encourage us. Yes,
it is to teach and illuminate and to strengthen the church.
But we also send this message forth with the confidence that
it is the power of God unto salvation. and that as we once were, so
may some of those who hear this preaching be brought to what
we now are. We have learned something in
conversion about change and transformation and being lifted up out of the
miry clay and made to stand upon the rock that is Jesus Christ.
We were once as they are. They may yet be as we are. May the Lord be pleased to save
many souls. And the third thing I want to
mention about these verses is that it is grace that makes the
difference. It's God's sovereign will that
makes us differ one from another. Grace distinguishes between people. Bringing one and leaving another. Bringing the gospel in power
to one individual and passing over another. Now the world mocks
such an idea. And they say, oh, we've got our
free will, we've got our choices, we'll make our own decisions.
The world mocks such an idea as God's sovereign grace, and
then it gets angry when we persist in believing it and declaring
it. But the fact is true. It is God who makes us to differ,
and it is sovereign grace that lifts us up out of the mire. and gives us the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And just a last point. So that
was four things. One was to say the knowledge
of what we've been brought from ought to make us humble. It ought
to give us an empathy and a hope for the people around about us. It ought to remind us of grace
that makes the difference. And fourthly, it ought to give
us an element of self-awareness. Ought we not to bite our tongues
more often when we find ourselves being judgmental? Ought we not
to moderate our attitudes when we find ourselves being condemning? Ought we not to temper our criticism
when men and women act in accordance with their nature when they know
no better and can do no other? There is evil and wickedness
and greed all around us, but we remember that we ourselves
also were just the same. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians
2, verse 3, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory,
but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves. We were what we were because
of our own sin. And we are what we are because
of the kindness and the love of God our Saviour that has appeared
unto us. And we can thank God for that.
Amen.