Good morning. It's always amazing to me how fast it goes when I'm standing over there waiting to come up to preach. All of a sudden, I'm standing here. It's so strange. As usually is the case, when I'm called to preach, I find that I'm preaching to myself as much as I am to all of you. That is certainly the case this time as we get into the final chapter of Titus. This week was probably the most distracting week I've ever had leading up to a sermon. There's just a lot going on. I appreciate everyone that's been praying for me this week. We're gonna be finishing up the book of Titus today. If you could turn there to chapter three. It's about God's call on our lives to be devoted to good works. That is what we were created for. And as I think about this body and the many ways that you all have blessed me and my family, it's pretty humbling to preach this sermon to you. So let's go to the Lord in prayer before we begin. Our Heavenly Father, I pray that you would open my weak lips to proclaim your word. I'm very aware of my weakness, especially in this area of good works, and I pray, Lord, that You would encourage us because of what Christ has done, and that we would be motivated to do good works for one another because of all that Christ has done, what He has accomplished for us. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. I'm gonna start at verse one, even though I'm technically only preaching on the last three verses of the chapter, but I wanna read the whole chapter, because it gives the full context to what Paul is saying. Starting at verse one, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. Just as a reminder, Paul is talking to Titus, He's telling him what to do as he goes from church to church in Crete. To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy toward all people. And for what reason are we to do these things? For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. Notice, our works that he's about to exhort us to do are not the basis of our salvation. The works that we do are because we have been saved. By the washing, how are we saved? Not by works, but by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Notice that that's past tense. Has been poured out on us richly so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Why are we heirs? Why are we heirs of God? Because he has poured out on us His righteousness. He has made us heirs by His grace. The saying is trustworthy. And I want you to insist on these things. Notice that Titus was to go from church to church to church, insisting on the preaching of the gospel. Because this is the basis of our good works. So that, notice he says, so that. Why should he insist on these things? So that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. Often when I speak to people about the importance of grace in the Christian life, they will say to me, well, don't we have to do good works? Why do we insist on grace all the time? It tells us right here, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. That's why we preach the grace of God. It is the gasoline and the engine of a Christian. Without it, we cannot do good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. And notice what isn't profitable. but avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Bickering and disputing, these are my words, bickering and disputing in a spirit of pride doesn't produce anything good. As for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, having nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self-condemned. Here's the section I'm preaching on this morning. When I send Artemis and Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their way. See that they lack nothing, and let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need and to not be unfruitful. All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Even these last three final verses contain a lot of instruction. When I first found out I was teaching on this, I thought, man, how am I gonna preach for 40 minutes? But believe me, there is much instruction in here, and every word of God is meant for instruction, for the building up that Christ might make us complete. These are the final words that Paul said to Titus. It wasn't too long after this that he was put to death. But at this point, Paul had departed from the island and he was going up to the mainland in Greece. And he planned to spend the winter in a place called Nicopolis. I didn't know much about this place, but apparently, and now it's not necessarily pertinent to the text, but I think it's interesting and it might help you remember this. The place where the city of Nicopolis was built was built to commemorate a great naval battle which happened, and it was a turning point in the history of Rome. The word Nik, you might notice a lot of Greek people named Nik. It's because the word Nik, or Nike, it means victory. It means the city of victory. There was a great naval battle right off the coast, between the fleet of Octavian versus the fleets of, and I know you've heard of these two names, Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It was a great naval battle between those two forces. Octavian won the battle. It secured for him the title of Augustus Caesar. Rome was transformed from that point onward from a republic to a dictatorial empire. In this place of all places, the humble Apostle Paul, while proclaiming the kingdom of God, was arrested. The kingdom of God, which is going to overcome the kingdoms of this world. He was arrested for the last time and later sentenced to death. And the message that he proclaimed, however, is still the undoing of Satan's kingdom to this very day. We conquer Satan's kingdom in weakness through the preaching of Christ and him crucified. Revelation 12, 11 says, they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they love not their lives, even unto death. I was encouraged this past week seeing some Christians that were released from prison after being unjustly put there. I remember one guy was holding a big, thick Bible in his hand, and what I noticed about him was that he was filled with boldness after being in a dungeon for a couple of years. I want to encourage you that if the Lord calls us to suffer, He will be with us. He will strengthen us. He's never going to leave us or forsake us. The kingdom of God advances through suffering and weakness. We may be considered refuse to this world, but in Christ, he has made us a royal kingdom, priests unto God. If you remember, Paul's plan was to leave Titus on the island for a few months in Crete. He was to continue getting the Cretan churches more established in the faith. In his concluding words, Paul mentions four men who were assisting him. Three of these men are named after pagan deities. Apollos is named after the sun god. Artemis is named after the Greek goddess of fertility. Zenos is a derivative of Zeus, the king of the pagan gods. Only one of them is a Jew, Zenos, and he has a pagan name. I only point this out to point out that these men at one point in their life were devoted to demons. Their parents named them after demonic deities. And here they are, devoting their lives to Christ. As Paul said earlier in this chapter, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness of God appeared, When the goodness and loving kindness of our Lord and Savior appeared, he saved us. Now each of them, once steeped in sin, were washed by the Holy Spirit, and now are devoting their lives to Christ. I wanna talk about each of these men. I don't know much about Artemis, doesn't say much about him in scripture, except that he was named after the Ephesian goddess of fertility, we know that. Secondly, Tychicus, what do we know about him? He is called a faithful minister and fellow servant. He was with Paul during his first imprisonment. This wasn't his first rodeo. He was actually called to carry Paul's letters to Colossae and also to Ephesus. In Colossians 4, 7 it says, Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. Notice that the Lord wants your hearts to be encouraged. He doesn't want us going through this world being constantly discouraged. He wants us to be encouraged by the word of the Lord. So the Lord gifted and sent a man to bring encouragement to the churches. God knows your struggles, the things that you guys are going through right now. He's not unfeeling to what you're going through. He's not distant. When you go to Him in prayer and you feel like you're just talking to the ceiling, He hears you. Hebrews 4, 15 through 16. We do not have a high priest who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who is in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then have, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find help in the time of need. He says in verse 13, do your best to speed Zenos, the lawyer, and Apollos on their way. See that they lack nothing. Notice that once the work of establishing these churches was done, it was the Lord's will that these churches not be continually dependent upon outsiders. It was His will that they mature in the faith. And there were already men among them that were mature. What do we know about Zenos and Apollos? Zenos is some kind of lawyer. From all the commentators I read, he was probably like a mosaic law lawyer. This might sound like a perfect opportunity for a joke. A lawyer, a pastor, and a rabbi walked into a synagogue, but I don't have a joke like that, so I'm sorry. Most commentators say he would have been trained under the Mosaic Law like Paul was, so when Paul left the island, he could leave Zenos to do the work that he had begun. He was a highly educated man. He could have lived a posh life, but here he was going through the island of Crete, and we've talked about this before, the Cretans were not nice people. His understanding of the law would have served to demonstrate that the law pointed forward to Jesus Christ. That was his purpose for being there. You may remember Apollos from Acts 18. What does it say about him? It says that he was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the scriptures. In verse 25 of Luke 18, I'm sorry, Acts 18. Luke wrote Acts, so you know. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus. He was also known to be gifted in speech. He greatly helped the believers, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, knowing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. He had knowledge of the scriptures. He was fervent in spirit. He was gifted in speech. And he was laying down his life for God's people. With natural gifts like his, he could have been a very rich and powerful man in the ancient world. But here he is, with these other men, knowledgeable and gifted men, going through Crete, a dangerous place, from city to city, laying down their lives in the altar. I wanna say something about knowledge of the scriptures and being fervent in spirit. A soldier who is skilled with his weapons, is no help if he loses heart in battle. You can have all the gifts in the world, but if you get on the battlefield and you suddenly lose heart, you're gonna be no help to those that you're serving with. And a soldier who is fervent in spirit, but doesn't know how to use his weapons, is a danger to himself and everyone around him. I'm sure you can think of people that don't know how to use the scriptures, and they cause great damage. But even if we are gifted and fervent in the Spirit, we are nothing if we lack love. 1 Corinthians 13, two and three. If I have prophetic powers and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but I have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. There was recently a young Bible scholar, I'm not gonna mention his name, because I don't want to get sidetracked. He's not a very well-known guy, at least he wasn't. He graciously took part in an online discussion on YouTube with a famous Bible skeptic on a popular podcast This Bible skeptic had become very famous and popular by claiming that certain ancient texts do not mention the crucifixion of Christ. And he mentioned specifically what he called the Sinai Bible, which it doesn't actually exist. But anyway, he was in this argument, well, it was actually a very gentle debate. He was making a bunch of false and ignorant claims, and the young Christian scholar very gently asked for clarifications about his claims, and he calmly and respectfully and patiently explained how this skeptic's false claims couldn't possibly be true. Citing the evidence and the original sources, he literally just turned around on his bookshelf and pulled them off. The Bible skeptic was completely disarmed. had nothing to say to him. It was clear that he was a fraud. And in the weeks that followed, this man, this skeptic, has lost all credibility because of this gentle Christian man who simply was knowledgeable in the scriptures, fervent in spirit, and spoke to him with respect and kindness. This is why Paul instructed Timothy, the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with, not with a club, but with gentleness. Why? God may perhaps grant them repentance. leading to the knowledge of the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil being captured by him to do his will. This is the means God gave us to speak to the lost of this world gently, but with patience and with truth. The truth is on our side, brothers and sisters. Being quarrelsome is not what we're called to do. There were many people that wrote in to this guy and told him that they had come to Christ just by listening. Many people who had been following this Bible skeptic are now Christians, simply because of a simple conversation that they had. He was ready. He knew the scriptures, but he was also walking with the Lord. If we think that blasting someone with an argument is gonna result in God granting them repentance, we are deceived. This is not the means that God has given us. The Lord's servants must not behave this way. We must be gentle. Discipline, study of the scriptures, combined with zeal and kindness and a gentle spirit, which flow from God's love, are mighty weapons. in the kingdom of God. It may happen that we get trampled by them, but this is how the kingdom of God expands. The kingdom of God conquers because we do not love our lives even unto death. Both Zenos and Apollos were men like this, and probably much more so than the man that I was talking about. Knowledge and zeal are like coal and iron. On their own, they're still valuable, but forged into one like steel with love, they are powerful weapons against Satan. Do not despise the gifts God's given you, but adorn them with the love of Christ. Be quick to serve one another. Do not be quick to exalt yourself. Be quick to serve and love. It's not God's will that we remain babes in the faith. Granted, babies are adorable. I love babies. But babies on a battlefield is not a good thing. We were born into a battle. There is a time for being a babe, but the Lord wants us to grow up. God is calling each one of us in this body to maturity. Remember Paul's earnest prayer for the Ephesians, that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried along by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. We must grow in our understanding and we must grow in love. The writer of Hebrews also chastised the Jewish believers In Hebrews 5, he says, about this we have much to say and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. They were drifting away from Christ because they were weak. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled for the word of righteousness since he is a child. Being a spiritual child is only appropriate when you become a believer. We must grow up. It's time to grow up for all of us. Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Brothers and sisters, I want to speak to especially the men, because I think with a lot of women, it's more normal to grow up and be mature. For men, especially in our culture, we need to grow up. We need to be men. We need to be spiritual men. I'm not saying that because women don't need to hear it. We all need to grow up in the faith. Don't waste your life. I've been thinking a lot lately about how fast the last 25 and a half years have gone of being married to Meredith. We were married right on this stage, it seems like yesterday. I'd be surprised if my life lasts another 25 years and it went by like that. We have very little time. Don't waste your life. Entertaining yourself to death does not produce the righteousness of God. Being hyper-religious does not produce the righteousness of God either. Pursue Christ. Know Christ. We're told in 1 John, if someone says he knows Christ but continues in sin, he's a liar. The truth is not in him. Know Christ. Pursue him. We just sang about this morning. Pursue a quiet place. We can go and be alone with God. Commune with him. Read the scriptures. What are the things that are troubling you? Those are the things you should cast at his feet. Prayer is not boring. Cast those things at his feet and you will know, you will start to know the peace of God. We have a promise in scripture. The Lord has told us, seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened unto you. God doesn't lie, brothers and sisters. He will open the door if you knock. And that was spoken to believers. So I would urge you all, and I'm saying this to myself, get up early to pray. Get somewhere where you can be alone. Get rid of the things that are holding you back. Recently, I got in the car to drive somewhere, and I started backing up, and I thought something felt weird. And I started driving forward, and it still felt weird. And then all these lights started going off. And Meredith says, the parking brake is on. The car was extremely sluggish. I wanna ask you, are you driving through this life with the parking brake on? Is there something in your life that is holding you back? Some sin or even something that's good that you're just doing too much? I know it's true in my life. Are the alarm bells going off? When you put your head on your pillow at night, what are the things that come to your mind? When you're finally able to rest and no one's bothering you and your phone is away, what is the spirit putting on your mind? What are you thinking about? Those are probably the things that are holding you back. We must lay those things aside. We don't have much time in this world. And I'll ask you this question. Has not Christ proven to you that he's worthy of your devotion? He has, and he is worthy. He is a kind master. When we fall into being a slave of our own desires, a slave of Satan, that slave master is cruel. and the fruit of it is bad. But Christ will keep his promises to us. You might say, I'm not gifted like Apollos or Paul. Neither am I, obviously. That is true. Very few of us have the gifts of Apollos or Paul or these other men. Few of us can preach like John Piper or Alistair Begg That's why those men are so noticeable. But we all are called to know the scriptures. We all are called to be fervent in spirit. We all are called to pray in the spirit. We all are called to know God, no matter who we are, no matter what our gifts are. We all have a part in this body. All of us are called to a richer and deeper and fuller walk with Him that will fill you with joy. The Christian life is not supposed to be boring. If you're bored in the Christian life, either you don't know Him at all or your heart has become dull. and the Lord is calling you back. Maybe that's why you're here this morning. The Lord is calling you. Romans 12, Paul says to the churches, let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Don't love one another with insincerity. And if you feel like you're insincere, confess it to the Lord and ask him for sincerity. He will give it to you. Outdo one another in showing honor, not to glorify yourself, but to glorify Christ who has redeemed you. Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in spirit and serve the Lord. This is to all of us. And I'm not saying that thinking, I'm not standing here thinking, oh boy, you people are not fervent in spirit. I'm saying this to myself. But all of us need to hear this, hear the word of God. He is calling every one of us to maturity. Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for what? Good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And this is why Paul reminds Titus in verse 14 in Titus three, let our people learn to devote themselves to good works. so as to help in cases of urgent need and to not be unfruitful. When I was in junior high, I was in the band, that's not called orchestra, the band, whatever it's called, and we used, at Emmanuel Baptist, and we used to play occasionally in the chapel. Being a typical priest step, I didn't listen to the instructions, that the band director gave when she told us all to wear green sweaters. So what color do you suppose I would wear? The opposite. I showed up in a red sweater. I was one of the first chair players and I sat right on the end so everyone could see me in all my glory. I played those notes as well as any typical junior high trumpet player could have played them, and I thought I would slip by unnoticed. But afterwards, my teacher told me that I stuck out like a sore thumb. We are part of a heavenly orchestra in this dark world. What we are called to do is a body. is to serve one another and to serve the world that we live in. We all have a part of that body. But when one of us goes his own way, and we have a dull ear to the words of the Lord, we begin stirring up strife and division and dissension, refusing to put the needs of others ahead of our own. We draw attention not to the beauty of Christ, but to ourselves, and to our sinfulness, and to our hypocrisy. And we give them a reason. We give them a reason to blaspheme the name of Christ. The rest of the band may be playing beautifully, dressed as one, but the world is looking at us and our disobedience. we are called to live in unity and in brotherly kindness. A friend of mine, most of you know him, was a box truck driver, delivering midsize orders all over the Midwest, actually in the South too. But after a while, his truck began to break down, and his repairs became too expensive for him to continue as a truck driver, and so the truck just sat in his front yard for weeks and weeks. It was completely useless to him. The purpose of a truck is to deliver things. That is the reason why it was made with such a big box on the back of it. That's the reason why it had huge tires and a huge gas tank and a comfortable cabin. But what good are all those features if the truck can't get you from point A to point B? It's useless. Brothers and sisters, we are made to do good works. We are new creations in Christ. We have new desires. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. He has made us and equipped us to serve one another. But what good are our gifts and our talents if we just sit there and we can't move? We're like a box truck sitting in the front yard, unable to move. Consider this instruction from 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verse 16. By this we know, love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. The basis of our laying down our lives is that Christ laid down his life for us. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart to him, how does God's love abide in him? In other words, and Ken said this last week, if your heart is cold and you have no conscience about these things, you must wonder if you are in the faith. Little children, let us not love in word or in talk, but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before him. In other words, the spirit will comfort us that we belong to him when we are obedient. He will remind us that we belong to him and he will let us know that he is pleased with us. There is nothing better than that, brothers and sisters, to have that peace and that assurance in our hearts. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. Is your heart condemning you today? If you are a believer and you're not being obedient, I guarantee your heart is condemning you. But God is greater than your heart. That means that you feel like you're not saved. God's not gonna comfort you if you're walking in disobedience. but God is greater than your heart. He knows everything. Behold, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. We can approach Him. When do I pray the least? It's when I'm walking in sin. The last thing I wanna do is pray. Our prayers are hindered when we're walking in sin. We don't even wanna go pray. It's not that He won't hear us. Maybe he won't, but we don't even want to go to him. Whatever we ask and whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. He hears our prayers because of our reverence. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of the son of Jesus Christ and love one another. Just as he has commanded us, whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this, we know that he abides in us. How do we know? By the spirit whom he has given us. The spirit confirms to us that we are his. Notice again, I'm gonna repeat it. We're not saved by works. We're saved because of the grace of God who had mercy on us. But when we do good works, as he commands us, he comforts us and confirms to us that we are his. Who are the people that struggle with eternal security? Probably 99% of the time they're believers that just aren't walking in forgiveness. They're not walking in obedience or they've been confused by some false teacher. The Lord is calling each of us to obedience. You and I were created for good works. Growing up we had a dog, her name was Ginger. Ginger was a very, we called her a very stupid, foolish dog. But she had many redeeming qualities. Ginger was a mix of Britney Spaniel, and it was bred in her to help with some small-game hunting. This is what was her nature. She wasn't the smartest dog, but what she did do, she was made to do. If she saw a squirrel or bird outside, she would freeze. and her tail would stick out straight behind her, telling us exactly where the squirrel was. She was pointing right to it, as if we were hunting. She was most happy when she was engaging herself in the things that she was made to do. Brothers and sisters, we are the most happy. most content, most confident before God, to approach Him in prayer when we are being obedient to Him. We were made for good works, and we will not be at peace until we are going about our Master's work. And I'm going to close with this. Brothers and sisters, what have you gained as believers? What have you gained from devoting yourself to pleasure? Does it not bring sorrow into your life? Does it not turn your heart away from God? What is the Spirit gently reminding you of right now? Sitting here listening to this, what is He reminding you of that you need to lay aside? We must lay aside everything that is hindering us. Devote yourself to the One who devoted His life to suffer and die for your sins. He is worthy of it. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, You are worthy of our devotion. We thank You for sending Your Son, the Lord Jesus, to suffer and die for our sins. Lord, help us to lay aside everything that is holding us back. The things that we cling to, that we delight in, and then instantly regret. What have we gained from these things? Nothing. Lord, help us to have eternal vision. Help us to lay up treasure in heaven, not on this earth. I thank You for the people in this church, Lord, that You have brought here, and we pray—I pray for them—that You would bless them. In Jesus' name, amen.