God’s Ways and Means

Transcript

GR 2281
02/09/2020
God's Ways and Means
Titus 1:1-4
Gil Rugh


We're going to look into the book of Titus in your Bibles. We have just started looking into this rather brief letter, three chapters as we have it, of the Apostle Paul writing to Titus, one of the young workers that he had that worked with him and served on his behalf as we have seen. Titus is a man we don't know a lot about, but what we do know about him speaks highly of him. He is a man in whom Paul had great confidence. We looked into other portions of scriptures, particularly in 2 Corinthians. Paul had Titus represent him in going to the church at Corinth, a church that had difficulties, that sometimes had doubts about the Apostle Paul and his ministry. And that Paul had confidence in Titus representing him says something about the character of Titus. Paul is writing and he is going to give him instructions about how the churches on the island of Crete are to be handling certain situations. Certain things have to be done, like the appointing of leadership, that will strengthen the church and enable it to confront some of the error that has begun to creep in. We don't know how the churches in Crete got started. We know that Paul visited there because in Titus 1:5 he says “For this reason I left you in Crete,” so Paul had been in Crete with Titus then moved on. Titus was left to deal with some of the things in the churches.

The first four verses provided what we call a salutation and it is a rather unique one for Paul, it's the longest of his salutations except for the book of Romans. And in this one long sentence he unfolds some serious doctrinal foundation some of which will be further dealt with in the letter. But we are reminded . . . Paul when he writes letters, sometimes right up front at the beginning, he doesn't hesitate to present sound, serious doctrine. He doesn't work his way into it. He talks about his position, he talks about why he is writing, he talks about who he is writing to: Titus, he gives him a greeting. But he elaborates on his position not because Titus needs reinforcement although it will be a reminder to Titus and all of us need to be reminded. And it will be an encouragement to Titus because at Crete Titus has to deal with some problems just as he did when he represented Paul at Corinth. That takes some strength of character, that takes strength in the scripture. Problems don't infiltrate the church if they don't have a way of making an appeal to people, bringing confusion. Titus has to be one who can cut through that and effectively represent Paul, because what Paul is bringing is the truth of God to these churches. It cannot be compromised.

We've looked a little bit at the introductory matters. Paul introduced himself right up front as they did in letters of the time—Paul. And he identifies himself first as a slave of God, we have it translated “bondservant.” It's the Greek work for a slave, dulos, one who had not rights of his own, who was totally under the authority of another, whose full responsibility is to carry out the will of the master. He calls himself a slave of God, now that is unusual, usually Paul refers to himself as a slave of Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ. But here he calls himself a slave of God. It not only emphasizes that all his rights have been given up, he has none of his own, he only serves the One that is his master. But he says he is an apostle. That gives him a ministry of leadership, oversight and bringing God's truth to the churches at Crete on this occasion and the man Titus as his representative. We noted how often in the Old Testament and coming into the New Testament, slaves of God, servants of God, like the prophets, like Abraham, like Moses, like different prophets; we talked about Daniel, Jeremiah, and so on were also called slaves of God. A slave was not only a position that could be viewed as lowly because he had no rights of his own, his will was to be the will of his master, but it was also a position of honor. When you were serving a master of importance you came representing him and were to be respected and recognized in that position. And that's what Paul is as an apostle, he is acting as God's official representative, he has the authority to bring God's truth to these people. So it's important they understand, he is not here of his own will, of his own choosing. He serves his master and he comes with a message from God and with the authority entrusted to him by his master as an apostle.

We put up on a slide the qualifications of an apostle that I mentioned last time. Let me say something about apostle. I mentioned these, I mentioned the verses, I'll look at a couple of these verses. Down to our day there is misunderstanding on the gifts of the Spirit. Some of you are taking advantage of one of the classes going on Wednesday night on gifts of the Spirit. When we get confused in these areas it spreads and influences everything. There are certain qualifications that had to be met to be recognized as an official apostle. The first one that we noted was he had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection. In other words he had to have seen Christ with his eyes after the resurrection from the dead.

Come back to Acts 1, I mentioned these references, let me just look at a couple of them with you. In Acts 1, remember Judas was one of the original twelve. The twelve were that group of Jesus' disciples that He appointed as apostles, that twelve become a recognizable group. Even after the death of Christ as you move into the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament the twelve remain that identifiable group, they are the center of authority for the church as it is established. Now Judas was one of those, Judas Iscariot, and obviously he betrayed Christ, went out and hung himself so now there are eleven. So in the book of Acts they decide they need to replace him. The twelve is an identifiable group so after talking about what happened with Judas in Acts 1, Peter says, verse 21, “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” They have two men and the Spirit directs them to one, he will replace Judas so it is still the twelve. And one of the requirements here is he had to have been with them. The baptism of Christ marked the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ, remember. The Holy Spirit is seen coming upon Him, anointing Him as the Messiah of Israel; He begins His Messianic ministry. So there are unique things about the little glimpse we have into His childhood, like when he was twelve and instructing Jewish leaders. But by and large He is not performing miracles like the false gospels have, making clay birds and having them fly away and do things, because He doesn't enter His Messianic ministry offering the kingdom of Israel until He is thirty years of age and baptized by the one who introduced Him, John the Baptist.

So he had to be with them and he had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection so that he could validate the resurrection of Christ. The Apostle Paul is a unique one, but come over to chapter 9 of Acts since you are in Acts. He is an authority. Acts 9 is where Paul gets saved and he sees Christ. That becomes key. So that will bring Paul as the thirteenth apostle, if you will, but he stands out as unique. The twelve will still be called the twelve but Paul is elevated to a level of the other twelve. He is given an opportunity to see Christ on that Damascus Road, Acts 9 is where he sees Christ. And then I want to leave Acts and take you to another book. In Acts 9 as Paul is on his way persecuting the church God breaks in, verse 3, and a light shines around him, flashed to the ground and a voice, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he says “Who are you Lord?” “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” So Paul gets a personal confrontation with the resurrected Christ, he would be able to declare by his own experience that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, He is alive. So he could enter into that.

While you are here in Acts go to chapter 10 and Peter is sent to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. And this will be the first time the Gentiles are formally brought in to be part of the church which started in Acts 2. And when Peter goes to the house of Cornelius you'll note what he said. He talks to Cornelius and them in verse 34 and following about the life of Christ, then His rejection, then His crucifixion. Verse 39, the end of the verse, “They also put him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand.” Why? Particularly he centers out (these won't be the only people He appears to, we'll see in a moment) but to those of us “who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.” Remember the disciples, they are fishing and then they see Christ and He sits down and has fish with them and they recognize Him. He meets them on the road and they travel and He explains the scriptures and then they recognize Him. They had these kinds of experiences with Him, appeared to them in the upper room in John 20, and those kinds of things, so that they could be eyewitnesses of His resurrection. Important. We are not eyewitnesses. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, His bodily resurrection. I believe it because of the testimony that has been written, recorded, it was based upon eyewitness testimony to validate it. So Peter claims that here so they could be witnesses that He is alive. And that is a demonstration that His death on the cross paid the penalty for sin.

Come over to 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is writing a letter to the Corinthian church, and they had doubts about his position as an apostle. So in 1 Corinthians 15:1, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received in which you also stand, by which also you are saved.” Going on, and you'll note here, this will come up later in one of the points, Paul received a revelation, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.” And we'll see he received it by revelation, didn't get it from other sources. “Christ died for our sins . . . He was buried . . . He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” This His appearances which validated His resurrection. This just wasn't rumors that circulated, this is factual witnesses. “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve,” you see the reference to the twelve, they are identified as a group even before Judas is replaced, they still have that identity, these are the twelve. Judas was replaced as we saw in Acts 1. Then “He appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time.” So it wasn't just to the apostles that He appeared, but to be an apostle you had to have an eyewitness confrontation with Christ after, being an eyewitness after His resurrection. You had to have seen Him, talked to Him. So there were 500, but that doesn't mean that the twelve are no longer the twelve. So there can be more who are eyewitnesses than just the twelve, but the twelve have a unique position and are appointed with authority as apostles in providing the leadership, oversight and foundation for the church, with revelation given to them and the authority given them so that the church is firmly established on truth. So then to 500. “Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Note this, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” So Paul makes clear, I am one of the apostles, I am unique, I am born out of time, I wasn't born in the normal flow of seeing Him after His resurrection from the dead in those 40 days for example. No, He appeared to me in a special appearance in Acts 9. I think it is significant that he says last of all as to one untimely born He appears to me. Now later in the book of Revelation, John, one of the apostles, will see a vision of the resurrected, glorified Christ, but Paul claims it was an actual, personal confrontation with the resurrected Christ on the Damascus road. So that qualified him to be an apostle.

I say this because there are no apostles today, this was one of the basic foundational requirements to be recognized as an apostle. You had to have seen Jesus Christ after His resurrection. Come back to 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is telling the Corinthians, some of the false teachers come in and to undermine Paul's message they want to undermine Paul's character, Paul's authority. So he starts out 1 Corinthians 9, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?” There are several things that go to be with an apostle, but one of the things is: I saw Christ after His resurrection. So he makes that one of the identifying marks of an apostle. And then in chapter 15 he says he was the last one in that line.

One of the books in my library by a professor that I had, a little book, “The 13th Apostle,” and it's about Paul. Others have written with similar kinds of titles. So Paul, the first thing is you had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection. There are other things that could be said about that but that's enough to make it known. Secondly, you had to have performed miracles and miraculous deeds. Now other people did some of these things, 500 people saw Christ after His resurrection. That didn't make any of them apostles as well. Another one is to perform miracle deeds. That doesn't mean only an apostle could do it, but when you put the package together this is what made and qualified an apostle. The appointment of God made him an apostle, these are the qualifications that had to be met.

You had to have performed miracles. 2 Corinthians 12, again Paul writes a second letter to the Corinthians, same issue. The devil doesn't . . . I was reading one of the Puritans that I like to read, he was saying when the devil wants to destroy something he attacks the leaders. That's where he will start, so it was there; Paul was appointed a leader, but that pattern continues. Puritans writing in the 17th century. But he said that's what you can look for, when division is going to be caused attacks will be made on the leadership because when you undermine confidence in the leaders . . . We see that going on in our country, leaders have been appointed by God but the attacks undermine the character, undermine the confidence. That's what was going on with Paul.

So in 2 Corinthians 12 he is defending his apostleship. He says in verse 11, “I have become foolish, you yourselves compelled me. Actually, I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.” But he was elevated to an eminent position as an apostle by the appointment of God. It has nothing to do with my worthiness, I am nobody. But I don't come behind any of the apostles, because that's what God did. He wants that clear. But note what he says in the next verse, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” So that doing of the miracles was an evidence of his apostleship because, keep in mind, he is claiming authority over the new church, he is claiming to have revelation from God. That has to be the foundation upon which these new churches will be built. Remember Ephesians 2:20? The church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” the revelation given to them. New Testament prophets he's talking about there, that's why apostles come first.

Come back to Romans 15, and here will be something that will lead us into our next qualification. At the end of the book of Romans, Romans 16:25, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel.” He didn't originate it but it was revealed to him and passed on. It was revealed to others as well, but Paul claims direct revelation from God. We'll look at that in a moment. So my gospel, “the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past.” This is something not revealed in the Old Testament. “But now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God who has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.” Paul received this revelation from God and he will validate it by miracles.

Back up now to Romans 15:18, “I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.” So he's not putting down what God had done through Peter, John and others, but I want to talk about what Christ has accomplished through me. “Resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit.” See signs and wonders, they accompany my ministry and so what God had revealed to me regarding the gospel and I have carried on was validated by signs, wonders and miracles, the truth of the gospel. It is interesting, Paul could have learned the gospel from Peter, John, the other apostles, they met with Christ, He explained it to them and so on during the 40 days after His resurrection before His ascension in Acts 1, but Paul always claims I got direct revelation from God. Remember Galatians 1, it was revealed to him. What we read in Romans 16, it is my gospel God gave to me.

This is why the third qualification, some of these go together, they received direct revelation. And that's the connection of the miraculous deeds. He is an eyewitness to the resurrection, he performs miraculous deeds, not just to demonstrate he is special, but it validates the ministry. It's they received direct revelation from God, you have that third point there. So that's how these go together. He performed miraculous deeds, what does that do? That validates. When Paul did miracles, that's why he tells the Romans . . . he hasn't been there, but he says word of his ministry has spread and you can check it out as I expect to come. But those who have been with me, those who know about me know that miracles accompanied my ministry, and it was a ministry of truth.

Come over to Hebrews 2. Now not everything in the New Testament was written by an apostle. The book of Luke, the book of Acts written by Luke, he does not claim to be an apostle, he is not recognized in that sense. He does not speak of doing miracles, he was a physician, but he wrote two inspired books. So you didn't have to be an apostle to write scripture, but these things together were required of anyone who would be an apostle, the miracle deeds, the eyewitness of the resurrection, and so on. We don't know who wrote the book of Hebrews, there is not an author identified. Some believe Paul wrote it, some believe Luke wrote it, some believe someone else. But in Hebrews 2 he talks about God's salvation is revealed in the Old Testament but it wasn't as clear and full as the revelation in the New Testament. The way of salvation by believing the revelation God gave to Moses for example, and so on, it was always by faith in what God revealed. But verse 2, “If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable,” that's the Mosaic Law on Mt. Sinai. The New Testament tells us that angels were the intermediary that gave the Mosaic Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the judgments for disobeying. That proved unalterable, couldn't be changed. “Every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Something of a superior revelation with greater clarity. “After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” That's why I think it is questionable whether Paul wrote this. We just saw when Paul writes something he claims his own authority as an apostle and the miracles he did. Here this writer claims that the writings of the apostles were validated, but he doesn't include them. God testifying with them by signs, wonders. We read in Romans, for example, Paul claims his ministry was validated by signs, wonders and miracles. But the point was you see it goes together with revelation being given.

So these are three basic qualifications. That's why when you hear things today about, like the book I mentioned in our last study, “New Apostolic Reformation,” you have to be claiming the apostles, that gift has been revived. Has Christ bodily appeared? Not just a vision, not a dream, but a bodily appearance that validates the resurrection. The miracle deeds that accompany their ministry, direct revelation from God. Now I realize people come up . . . I attended a seminary where a prior professor, a scholar, has written a fine book on the prophets, was dismissed from the seminary because he claimed, “I have the gift of prophecy.” I have in my file things that he wrote that claimed they were direct revelation from God. So we're not saying that people don't come with these claims, but we must sift them carefully through the scripture.

So when Paul, back in Titus 1, claims to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, that's a position of authority in line with the other apostles, the twelve as they are known, and in the line of other slaves of God like Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the other prophets that are called slaves of God. They are slaves because they have no will of their own, but they represent the living God and come with His authority as His slave. And Paul's is as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

You'll note two things he is going to do here, too. He is going to bring together God the Father and Jesus Christ several times in this salutation. You see something of the equality and involvement of all three members of the Godhead in our work of salvation, particularly here he will mention the Father and the Son. Other passages mention the Holy Spirit. They become evidences . . . sometimes certain cults deny the deity of Christ. Well, what passages? There are passages that declare Him as God, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God in John 1. But there are passages that it is there. He is a bondslave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and you see Christ elevated there as being the source of Paul's apostleship, of the one who is a slave of God.

And three things said here -- it's for faith, it's for knowledge, and it's for godliness, if I summarize those three things. So it's he is doing as an apostle. It's for faith, “for the faith of those chosen.” I'm amazed as I read the salutation, we're just starting the letter and Paul is right into serious doctrine. How long have these people been believers? And you remember they didn't have their copies of the Bible, not even the Old Testament to carry around, let alone the New Testament that we have. Yet he launches right in as he identifies himself and he says this is for the faith of the chosen of God. And you know the Greek word, we carry it over into English, the elect, for the elect of God. As soon as you bring up the doctrine of election, people have strong feelings about it. Everybody who believes the Bible believes in the doctrine of election. Now not everybody believes in it the same way, but you don't want to get in a position where you say I don't believe in the doctrine of election, that God chose. Well, you don't believe the Bible. No, I believe the Bible. Well, he said it is for the sake of those who are the elect of God. Then I believe the doctrine of election. Now we may not agree but we are talking about those who have been chosen by God, that they come to faith. That's what Paul is about. Remember we read in Romans 16, he was carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, that was in Romans 15 as well. That’s as he says, it's so people will have opportunity to hear the gospel, particularly the Gentiles. Not that the Jews aren't important but God had sent him to the Gentiles, Peter more the apostle sent to the Jews in a specific ministry. So that they could believe, they are the chosen of God, the elect of God. We'll get more into the doctrine of election in our study of Romans on Sunday evening when we get into Romans 9.

But back up to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2 and we are going to verse 10. He is talking about his hardship verse 9, talks about his gospel the end of verse 8. “For which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.” Paul is able to keep his eye on the goal, the focus. Remember the first responsibility is to know what my responsibility is. So here he is, he has received a death sentence, he is imprisoned as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned, it is going out and we're testimonies to that. They executed Paul. Here we are 2000 years later proclaiming the gospel that Paul preached. Now it is not only not imprisoned, they couldn't contain it. Then you come to verse 10, “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen,” there is our word elect again, “so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

Back up to 2 Thessalonians 2, note the pattern here, verse 13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” Here you get a summary context. God did the choice, that goes back to the beginning. When you get to the beginning in Genesis 1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” God had made a choice. He called them, He chose them from the beginning for salvation. How would this work? “Through sanctification by the Spirit,” the word sanctify means to be set apart, same basic word for holy, saint. God is holy because He is set apart from sin, so that holiness, that set-apartness. Set apart by the Holy Spirit and faith in the truth. So you see the first two things here are God's action -- He chose, that's what starts it, then the Spirit sets apart, then you hear and believe the truth. This is the package of salvation going on. Now it begins with God, it is His work.

Come to one more passage, Ephesians 1. We're not going to resolve all this, but Paul didn't either. He wrote the letter to Titus, he just brought it up, but he doesn't resolve it. Well, God chose. And look how he starts Ephesians. This isn't the end of the letter where he has explained everything at the beginning. Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless.” And we'll get to that in Titus in a moment. That happened before the foundation of the world, that's before Genesis 1;1. So in all of this mix we are to agree, before the creation God chose from among sinful human beings some who would come to salvation in Christ. So when He ordains the end, the salvation of some, He also ordains the means, it will be faith in the truth. So we say, what about if one of those He chose doesn't believe? The sovereignty of God assures that what He has planned will be accomplished. People always say, what about human responsibility? What about it? God is totally sovereign and you are totally responsible. “That doesn't make sense to me.” It doesn't make sense to me, either, I believe it because God said it. He says He is totally sovereign, He says I am totally responsible. But I have a solution. You sit here and say maybe I'm not one of the elect, maybe God didn't choose me. Maybe not, I wouldn't have chosen you. I mean maybe me. No, it doesn't matter, He brought you here. What do you have to do to be saved, become one of His? Well, you have to hear the truth. Why did He bring you here today? So you could have faith in the truth. Well, if I'm not chosen, I won't believe. Well, God says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son in order that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. Believe in Him, call on Him, say God I'm a wretched sinner on my way to hell. I don't think you'd choose me but I'm calling on You and You said You would save me if I called on You. Here I am. What's the problem? Well, I don't think He chose me. What did He tell you to do? The first responsibility is know what your responsibility is. It's not to figure out what God did, it's to know what you are supposed to do. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. If you don't do it, whose fault is it? God is not willing that any should perish but all should come to the knowledge of the truth. He brought you here, you sit under the message, you hear you have to believe in Jesus Christ and Him alone in order to be cleansed from your sin and made new. God is patient, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. Believe in Him. You can't solve God's problems. What if I'm not one of the elect and I believe in Jesus, He'll have to save me. Guess so. But the very fact that you believe in Him will indicate that He chose you because you are such a wretched sinner that without His intervening in your stubborn life and my stubborn life none of us would ever be saved. But we'll leave the doctrine of election there, since that solves all the problems and all the questions. But we will talk about it more in Romans 9 after we work through Romans 8.

Come back to Titus 1. I just think it's amazing, Paul just assumes believers should understand this because the Old Testament talks about the doctrine of election. God chose the nation Israel out of all the nations on the face of the earth. In fact in Amos 3:2 He tells Israel, you are the only nation I have chosen for Myself. So that doctrine is not a new doctrine, and that is just one example. So it's not new. So he just launches in, it's not his major point. It's for the faith of those chosen of God, the knowledge of the truth. Without the knowledge of the truth you can't be saved. That's why we present the gospel, that's why Paul was traveling the world presenting the gospel to people who had not heard it. We ought to understand this. There are no apostles today, but the truth that was given to the apostles has been passed on to us, this is what we are to do. We've turned missions in this day into social programs. The scripture didn't do that, men did that. We have to come back, the first responsibility is to know what my responsibility is, and I find that out from the scripture. It's what Paul is saying, he was an apostle for the knowledge of the truth, to bring the truth to people, the gospel. The word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and it pierces into the most inner recesses of our lives and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word of God is a living word.

Come over to 1 Peter 1. He talks about this area where we are going, our “faith and hope are in God,” the end of verse 21. Note what he says in verse 22, “Since you have in obedience to the truth,” the knowledge of the truth, and you hear it, you believe. How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone to proclaim it and tell them, as Romans 10 talks about. So “you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls.” That's what happens, when you hear the truth of Jesus Christ and the salvation provided in Him and you believe it, your soul is purified. Understand that, you are changed on the inside. We have people muddling around in this life and they are oppressed and they are depressed and they are confused and they are miserable. Jesus said He came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. That's not the life He gives, maybe the life someone is trying to live but it's not the life that comes . . . He purifies the soul. So we love the brethren, we have a love for other believers, we are to fervently love one another “for you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable through the living and enduring word of God.” And in contrast to the beauties of this world, the word of God endures forever. That's his quote from Isaiah in verse 24 and the beginning of verse 25. “ ‘The word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you.” Do you understand that every time you share the truth of the gospel with someone you are sharing the eternal word of God which is able to bring purification to their souls? Nothing else, nothing else can do that, this is amazing. And we puddle around like, well, you know, thats just sort of making it through today. We've been entrusted with this. Paul told Timothy in his letter, this is a treasure entrusted. Any wonder? There is nothing else that can purify a soul. We have mental health professionals, but what can they do? One of the leaders on the news, a royal, he's been in therapy for years. That's not the answer. The problems you have are beyond man's help, you need your soul purified -- the slavery to sin and the weight and the burdens and the mess cleaned up. That's what he's talking about, the word of God does that. So then 1 Peter goes on, then you put aside all the sinful things that were coming out of that heart of sin and like newborn babies, verse 2, you “long for the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow in respect to (your) salvation.”

That's what Paul is talking about back in Titus, you hear the word of God, that's the beginning of a life. He didn't say, “I trusted Christ, now I am just trying to get through.” No, we're doing more than that. Paul is in prison when he wrote 2 Timothy and we read there I am enduring all things for the sake of those that God has chosen. They come to the life. I am in prison, I'm still doing the same thing. “You don't know, my life is not that interesting.” Make it interesting, tell someone the truth. I have something to tell you that will bring a cleansing to you that the greatest scientific discovery could never bring. It's more important than the cure to any virus infiltrating the world. It's a corruption that will send you to hell, but there is a cure, you could be purified on the inside. You don't muddle through life with an unbearable burden, you have a new life with a new heart.

That's what Paul is saying. He was appointed by God as an apostle, that was the truth entrusted to him and the knowledge of that truth. And we continue to study it to grow together, to mature together because we are like newborn babies and we take it in and we grow. And we ought to grow richer in it, not weary of it, that's a danger signal, that's something, all of a sudden, why am I becoming like Israel where God said Israel, you count it weariness to worship Me, you count it wearying. What a terrible thing. I don’t want the eternal God to say, “You are tired of Me, huh?” No, it ought to be richer and deeper, that's what Paul is saying.

This leads to godliness, that's the third point here he says why he was appointed an apostle, carrying out his ministry of being a slave of God, doing His will. This is according to gospel, this produces God's character in a life. The fruit of the Spirit -- love, joy, peace. A long time ago I quit talking to people . . .people want to come back and back and back and talk about a problem. “But I'm a believer.” I say, “Let's look at the fruit of the Spirit.” I've talked to a number of people this way and I said the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, walk through the Spirit. And each one I'd say, “In all the time we've talked together, I don't think this is a characteristic of your life from what you tell me. Peace, I don't think this is a characteristic of your life from what you tell me. Joy, I don't see that. Why should I sit here and lie?” “Well, I think I'm a believer, I'm trying to be a believer.” Well, God changes, that's His sovereignty again, godliness is the result. Doesn't mean we never stumble, we all stumble in many ways James wrote, but life is different. How could God come down and cause me to born again, purify me on the inside, give me a new heart, cause me to be born into His family, make me a partaker of the divine nature so His character is produced in me and my life still just plods along, just doesn't go anywhere? Something is wrong. I have to back up and be honest. I have to admit I have helped some people leave, not everybody leaves because of that, but sometimes you tell them, “I don't think you are a believer, you are telling me a lie. The Bible says if you don't love the children of God but you say you love God, you are a liar. If you say you are a child of God and you are living for the devil . . . You want to help people. It's like somebody who is sitting at an oncologist's office, filled with cancer and he is telling the oncologist, “I feel good, don't tell me I have cancer, I know my own body, I'm feeling fine.” “Here are the x-rays.” “Doesn't matter, I feel good.” That's the way people are, let's look at the x-ray machine, it's not looking good.

This is where Paul is, so much theology just as he starts his salutation, he hasn't gotten out of the first sentence yet. It's “in the hope of eternal life,” that's what he is doing, bringing life. What did Christ come to do? I am come that you might have life and you might have it more abundantly. This is a rich life He gives. The Spirit comes and takes up residence, this is eternal life. “I don't know.” Well, it's God who cannot lie who promised it, and I love it, we have translated it long ages ago but you'll note in the margin of your Bible the literal translation is before times eternal. Can't get any further than that because all the further back we can go is in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But before times eternal He promised. Remember we saw in Ephesians 1 this was back, this was the plan that God did and He cannot lie. It is part of what He promised in the package of salvation He prepared for me, I have eternal life. He that has the Son has life, if you don't have the Son you don't have life. No wonder you are struggling, quit pretending, give up. We have reality, this is not just happy, happy, happy. But Paul could be in prison and be content, be excited about what God had promised for him. He knows his execution is impending and still not be depressed, discouraged, disillusioned. Why? We have the hope of eternal life. I have entered into life in Christ and it will never end because I may experience physical death but I'm coming back up again. We sang the song “Anastasis.”

It “was at the proper time manifested,” God planned this before He created, but at the proper time He manifested it, “even His word, in the proclamation of which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior.” Do you know what? God planned it in eternity past but now it's been fully revealed. That's what Paul is saying, it was revealed with the coming of Christ and how this would all come together and be provided. It's His word, we have that, it is real. Is it real in your life? His word, this is what I was entrusted with, this is the treasure he writes to me. Guard that treasure which was entrusted to you. It's “according to the commandment of God our Savior.” You'll note down at the end of verse 4, he talks about it's “from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” Brings God the Father and God the Son together, they are together in our work of salvation. We can know from other passages the Spirit's work who now indwells us. And Christians walk along, “Life is so hard, I don't know if I can do it, maybe I need a pill, maybe I need a drink.” Maybe I need to look into the mirror of the Word and say is this me in here or is this a make-believe, is this a counterfeit, is this a phony, is this a pretender? I don't know, I can't see your heart, you can't see my heart. Everybody looks about the same, relatively. But where are we? Where am I? Sometimes you have to close the door in your bedroom or wherever and say, “Lord, where am I? I'm frustrated, I'm disappointed, I want to settle this. I am either not your child or I'm your child muddling around in disobedience. I'm not letting You produce in me what You say You produce in Your children. I'm going to settle this.” There were times I went through more than once, Lord, I'm settling this. I know I settled it two months ago, but it didn't settle it. First of all let's settle am I Your child? I have no other claim but Christ died for me, the best I can I'm putting my faith and trust in Him, I want Him and Him alone to be my Savior, I want Him to be the master of my life. I'm yielding, I'm giving it up, now I have to go on, Lord. You know, there are only so many times I do that. I take God promised, He cannot lie. That's our hope, that's why we have spent time looking at this. This is the book that cannot lie because it is God's word. You realize it was passed down to us, you have it, I have it. But God promised. You (God) cannot lie. I don't want to lose my grip on that.

He's writing “to Titus my genuine (true) child in a common faith. Grace and peace.” Peace with God and the peace of God because it comes from God and from Christ Jesus our Savior. Could it get any better than this? Almighty God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- are operating on my behalf for my benefit to bring about the development of my salvation, beginning with faith and the ongoing growth, that I might serve Him as my master and manifest His character in my life of godliness. And that's just a salutation to get the letter going because already these Crete churches are beginning to muddle and wander and being open to other things that confuse them. The devil is a god of confusion, small “g.” The Lord is clear, His Word is clear, He gave it to us, He gave the Holy Spirit. The world doesn't know, they don't have the Spirit, but we have the Spirit of God, we can understand. Not because we are special in and of ourselves, but because we belong to the God who has made us His special children. So the Word of God is clear, it is encouraging, it is exciting. We want to live it.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word, for its power, for all that are provided, more than words on a page but words that are alive and powerful. Lord, words that transform us when we really believe what you have said, believe that you are a God who can be trusted. We let go of everything else and place our faith in you and you alone, claiming what Christ did for us is our only hope as our forgiveness, as our redemption. And then, oh Lord, let us begin to live the life that you have planned for us, may that be true of each one here. You know us as we are, you see our hearts, there is no hiding from you. Pray the Spirit will use your Word in each of our lives. We pray in Christ's name, amen.