Amen. So far, we have examined six negative traits found in Titus 1.7. So if you would, please turn to Titus 1.7. These six negative traits are what the overseer, for shepherd must not be. As Christians, as sons and daughters of God, we need to know what to avoid and also what to pursue. The Christian life is not just an avoidance or a shunning of something, but also an active pursuit towards something. For the Christian, he or she is active and always pursuing, always moving. As with any standing or with any command, we need to know just not what to avoid, but what to move towards. Verse 7 of Titus chapter One gives six negatives, and Lord permitting, in the next several months, we are going to be looking at six positive traits in verse eight. You'll notice in verse eight, the but. The but is in contrast. He can't be these six negative traits, but he must be these. He must pursue these. And as another reminder, as I've mentioned several times, this quality is not just a quality for elders or for deacons or for leaders of the church. These are qualities that all of us should have. Not only have, but increase. So let us look at verse 8. hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. This morning we're going to be looking at one of them, hospitality. You'll notice on your outline I've given you three points. Point number one, hospitality. Point number two, strangers. And point number three, motives. Hospitality, strangers. and motives matter. Point number one, hospitality. When you read in scripture, hospitality, what comes to mind? You may think of, if you're anything like me, having people over. You may think of the home. You may think of fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, or you may even think of hospital. Hospitality has its root in mercy. Hospitality is the expression of mercy. In the Greek, it's literally phyloxenos. Now, this word is a combination of two Greek words, and I know one of them you are going to be familiar with. One is phylo. Some of you may be familiar with the Greek word phileo. This means friends. A friend is someone who is dearly beloved or prized in a personal, intimate way. The root word means to convey personal affection towards someone or something. And the second word is xenos, which is stranger or alien. And so this word here, hospitality, literally means friend of stranger. That is, hospitality is the quality or disposition of receiving and treating strangers in a friendly and generous way. And I confess to you, as I was studying this week, as I was preparing, I kept thinking of the home, because we think of hospitality of the home. But it is so much more. than that. Now there are questions that we need to ask. Who are strangers? We need to ask this question. Who are the strangers that Paul is writing to Titus about? What does the Bible say about hospitality? How should we Christians extend love towards strangers? First of all, we need to ask, when was this written? It was written probably in the mid-60s AD. What's going on at this point during God's redemptive history and story? Well, the gospel is spreading. It is blooming. It is exploding. The disciples and the apostles are traveling all over Asia Minor, Greece, and the Greco-Roman Empire. People are repenting and coming to faith in Christ. There is a movement and there are traveling preachers and teachers, laymen, men and women who are accompanying these disciples and these apostles like Paul and Barnabas and Paulos and John and Luke, and the list can go on and on. And so there are friends and friends of friends and people who know one another. But there is also intense persecution at this time. There is persecution from the Jews who reject Christ as the Messiah. There are pagans who are rejecting Christ. There is Caesar in Rome who feels threatened that there's this new king in town, other than him, that's being promoted. And there are also heretics in the Christian community. This is a very dangerous time. Most Christians at this point did not meet in large buildings like this. They met in homes. So you have brothers and sisters in Christ who are traveling as a means to advance the gospel. And they need a place to stay. The question we need to ask is this. Who are these strangers? Who are they? Are these strangers professed Christians who may be from a different congregation than Titus? Before we answer this, we need to look at the Old Testament and the New Testament and what both have to say about hospitality. If you would, please turn to Genesis chapter 19. Genesis chapter 19. And you'll notice I have sub points. I don't like sub points because sub points cause you oftentimes to miss the main point. But we had to include it this week. So the first sub point is Genesis chapter 19. Many of you are familiar with this. This is a story. of Sodom and Gomorrah and I want to read verses 1 through 3. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed with his face to the earth and said, my lords, please turn aside to your servants' house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, no, we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly. So they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they Eight, hospitality existed during Abraham's time and hospitality existed during Lot's time. There were codes of conduct for any traveler that was within your village or your jurisdiction at this time. We call them codes because this would be what was expected of people who were living in the ancient Middle East. We're talking about what this would look like during this time. Typically, villagers were responsible to provide hospitality to strangers, room, board, and food. Now, some of you are wondering right now, you don't know anything about this stranger, and there's no way I'm letting this person or this family into my house. Relax, we're not done yet. The stranger, first and foremost, must be seen as somebody who is not a threat, but an ally. Typically, only the male of the household would offer the invitation, and we see that here in terms of lot. Again, keep in mind, the head of the family invites the stranger in. Once the head of the house sees that the guest is not a threat, the stranger would be invited in. there would be an agreed upon time set for the stranger to stay, permitting both parties agreed. The stranger has the right to refuse, but it would be highly dishonorable. As a matter of fact, there are extra-biblical resources that show that people oftentimes would erupt in violence and even kill. a potential guest of rejecting the invitation. Once the invitation is accepted and the time period of the stay was accepted, the guest does not ask for anything. The host provides according to his means, but what was asked of the guest? Very generic questions, but nothing personal. These matters could only be volunteered by the guest, but not requested by the host. And while the guest is staying at the host's house, he or she was to be protected at all costs. Their life was not to be in jeopardy under any circumstance. The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 13, verse 2, do not neglect in showing hospitality to strangers, for in doing so some have entertained angels unaware. So the host sets the term. Now let's find out what exactly continued to happen. in this story. Genesis chapter 19 verse 4, but before they lay down the men of the city, men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house. And they called a lot, where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them. Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have. Man. Let me bring them out to you and do them as you please. This is an issue of homosexuality. OK. How do we know? Well, first of all, this knowing is sexual. And second of all, why would Lot mention that two of his daughters have not known any man? Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to who? These men. They have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, stand back. And they said, this fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man, Lot, and drew near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. Now, why did Lot offer his daughters, who were virgins, to these men? because he wanted to protect the guests. Now, I just want to clarify something. Lot was wrong. Lot was wrong with this. But you can see how sensitive and how serious Lot was with protecting his guests. This was not a highlight of Lot. As a matter of fact, in chapter 19, Lot doesn't really have any peaks, and we'll be looking at him, Lord permitting, during ADF. Do not turn to him for his moral qualities here in chapter 19, but instead to his efforts to protect his guests. He was willing to offer his daughters for the protection of his two guests. Second, I want us to look at a New Testament, 3 John 2.8, 3 John 2.8. We'll be looking at verses 2 through 8. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testify to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, for they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I want to read verse nine as well. I have written something to the church, but the atrophies, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. I want to give you four observations from this text regarding hospitality and Gaius. You'll see in verse one, the elder to the beloved Gaius, who I love in truth. There are four observations I want to make. First, Gaius loved other Christians or believers that were not part of the immediate fold to the church who John is writing to. Gaius received other Christians who were not part of the immediate fold. Number two, the strangers or other Christians who were loved by Gaius testified to his love. Number three, we don't know what he did. And how he loved them. But he supported them. Number four. He served other believers who were strangers, unlike the atrophies who love to take first place. We see that hospitality, in particular the welcoming of guests, was a practice in the Old Testament and New Testament. So now we need to move to point number two, strangers. Now we come to this question still. Who are strangers? We've seen hospitality in the Old Testament, hospitality in the New Testament. We have seen that there was hospitality, but we still have not answered the question, what does it mean to love strangers? Or, who are the strangers? Don't you want to know who are the strangers? We need to love people who we don't know. Before we figure out how to love them, we need to know who to love. You'll notice three sub-points in your outline that is intentional. Sub-point number one, not belonging. Not belonging. In particular, this has to do with outspoken heretics. Turn back a page to 2 John. 2 John, verse seven. For many deceivers has gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is a deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourself so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in a teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone, verse 10, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. Loving strangers. How does loving strangers have to do with an outspoken heretic of the faith? There is a special and unique time during God's redemptive history where this appears to be a contradiction. We need to ask what's going on here. As I already mentioned, the church is in its infant stage. The church is exploding. It is growing horizontally. but not too deep vertically, theologically. There are traveling preachers, pastors, laymen, businessmen, you name it. There were no inns, and if there was, it would be flea infested. Unfortunately, there were pawns of Satan and demonic forces at work during the early church, not just through the layman, but even through the pastors. John tells us that this elect lady, probably a pseudonym because he wants to protect the church just in case this letter was intercepted. So anyway, you have false teachers moving in and out, and I don't mean out of ignorance. I mean that we at all point at some time in our Christian life, and many of us even now, had our theology out of whack. Not everybody had full download of all the things of God when they were saved. For example, when you were saved, you probably did not know the difference between sanctification and justification. You probably could not even tell me what propitiation means. You most likely, when you were saved, didn't know much more than an infant does when they say mama or dada. Parents, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Children, when they say mommy or daddy, we get all excited, right? Wow, their vocabulary is growing. They know so much. Now, for their age, yes, compared to an adult, absolutely not. I think the same thing happens for an infant as a Christian when they're saved. We say, Jesus saved me, and I chose him. Amen. There's more to the story. There's much more to the story. But there's nothing wrong with that. You made a decision. I mean, even at the moment of salvation, you and I did not have a full appreciation of what God in Christ has done for us. Why? Because we didn't understand our sinfulness to the same degree that we do now, and we don't understand God's holiness to the same degree that we do now. It grows. Some of us can elaborate even more on it now than we did when we were first saved. We grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be areas of our theology, even now, that aren't exactly lined up, but we're not questioning the deity of Christ, we're not questioning the second coming of Christ, or that Christ died and was resurrected. This was not the church, this was not the issue with the early church. There were heretics who were traveling around and intentionally trying to infiltrate these young believers and these young churches, trying to do harm. to them, trying to get their theology out of whack. Their motives are to confuse and to destroy the church. When I say belonging on your outline, I'm not talking about association. These people are dangerous. They're terrorists. That's what they are. They're terrorists of the Christian faith. John's saying, hey, don't even let them in your house. Don't invite them in. Don't even bless their ministry. He's not saying cease to be kind to them. But even in kindness, there's a degree of relating and belonging and embracing. John's saying this, you need to make sure you're kind without confusing them and think that they're welcome. They need to feel tension and a certain degree of hostility that you severely disagree with them and the consequences of sin is judgment. You need to make sure that when you're extending mercy that you yourself are not being swayed. Let me ask a personal question. There are a lot of people who come around and knock on the doors. There are people who sell windows and kitchens and cabinets frozen meat and everything in between. What happens if Jehovah's Witness knocks on your door? Just last summer, we had one knock on our door while we were in New Jersey, unfortunately. I ran to the store real quick and I missed him. But my wife gave me a call while I was there. I was only three minutes away. And she said, you need to come home. Got in my car, I may have broken a few of the speed limits on the way home, because I just wanted to get home. I wanted to talk to this guy. Now, here's my question to you. If a Jehovah's Witness knocked on your door, would you be able to hold a conversation with him? Do you know what they believe? Do you know what they say about the deity of Christ? Would you be able to counter what they say? The first century church was like where many of you are. You don't know what to say. Now, I got home, I was looking for him, I couldn't find him. I would have invited him in. I would have invited him to have a cup of coffee so we can discuss and I could expose his error. Some of you may not be there. The early church was not there. The average layman was not there. Now there would be nothing wrong with inviting him in, because I can talk to him about it. I know what they believe. I know what to ask them, and I know where they're going. But for you, just like the early church, you may be at a point where you may not be able to defend the faith. So you may be exposed to error. If I was to invite them over, and if I was to talk to them, and if at any point we got to a point in our dialogue where there was no moving forward, guess what? I would excuse them from my house and I'd tell them they need to repent because they're heretics. And it's true. And what's really interesting is that in verse 10, the if in the Greek is in the indicative. The indicative just means, basically, These people are already on their way. Expect them. Watch out, be on guard, and do not belong, and do not bless their ministry. Do not bless their ministry, because they are heretics. Point number B. Blessing without belonging. Let's turn to Luke chapter 6, please. Luke chapter 6. I read verses 32 through 36. Luke chapter 6, 32 through 36. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is it to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil, Be merciful even as your father is merciful. So this second group is what we are going to call enemies. These enemies I put in a different category than the heretics. Again, hospitality is not just having people over at your house. Hospitality is you extending mercy and meeting a need that you can meet. Now, verses 32 through 34, you're going to recognize something familiar with the world. It's very simple. If you're kind to people who are kind to you, how does that make us distinctively Christian? The world does that. If you lend to someone and expect it back, the world does that. What makes that distinctively Christian? Someone who says, hey, remember when I helped you with this? Now you owe me. It's not what this is talking about. Jesus is saying, when you give to your enemy, do not hold him to that debt. Now this is not financial, this is not any type of business, but we are talking about you giving to an enemy in light of a perceived need. Love them and lend to them. And do you see in verse 35, You see expecting nothing in return? It literally means in the Greek, do not be discouraged if it is not reciprocated. When you're loving your enemy and that love is not returned, Jesus is saying, don't you be discouraged. Don't be in despair Do not let the absence of an immediate profit discourage you. I want to give you, make two quick notes on two observations from verse 35. First is the size of your reward and also who you will be like. Now, Herbert Lochner, tells a story of a farmer who was known for his generous giving, and whose friends could not understand how he could give so much and yet remain so prosperous. One day, a spokesman of his friends came to him and said, we can't understand you. You give far more than the rest of us, and yet you always seem to have more to give than us. Oh, that's easy to explain, the farmer said. I keep shoveling into God's bin, and he keeps shoveling into mine. And God's got a bigger shovel. Size of your reward, great. I'm not sure what great is, but if God calls something great, you better believe it's great. And it's going to be great through the eyes of God who is pure, who is loving, not through the eyes of men who has fallen and sinful. Why will it be great? Because God's got a bigger shovel than you and me. There are a lot of people who are cheap with their stuff. I'm not saying we buy cheap stuff, but a lot of us are cheap. As Vance Havner says, plenty of people have, on their property, keep out trespassing. That's fine. They may have the lease, but I have the deed. The meek will inherit the earth. As you give, God gives and he has a bigger shovel. Your reward will be great as you give. I want you to also notice that when you receive that reward, it's not given. Second, I want you to notice who you will be like, who you will resemble. You'll be like the Most High. You'll be like Him means that you will resemble Him. You'll take after His image. That is, you, by loving your enemies, will partake in the divine nature who is love. Giving is not a means of acquiring. Giving is a response of the belonging. Let's turn to Romans chapter 12, please. Romans chapter 12. Verse 17. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Do not repay evil for evil. The question you should always be asking in light of your enemies is this. How can I show the gospel? That is the question. If you just repay back evil for evil, what makes that distinctively Christian? What makes you and I different from the world who returns evil for evil? And you know what the goal of that is? Verse 20. The contrary. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. For by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. The goal of doing good to an enemy is actually to agonize them. Not physically, but with his spirit and with his conscience. That is, the goal of returning good for evil is to inflict pain. How? How do you inflict pain? The pain is through doing good to them that may result in shame, conviction of an evil conscience, and apprehension of divine displeasure that may lead to repentance. That is the pain of the conscience. And lastly, blessing because of belonging, because of brothers and sisters in Christ. Look back at verse 13. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Now, The reason why it's the third on the list is because we need to ask the question, who are these strangers? Are these strangers people here at Crossway who maybe we're not familiar with? Or are these strangers other believers and other brothers and sisters in Christ who may be new to our life? The answer is yes and yes, but it is third because I believe primarily this text has to do with loving others and extending hospitality to those who are not Christians. regardless of their fold. And then point number three, motives matter. God is concerned with your motives. He's concerned with mine as well. Why you do what you do. Motives matter. When you look at a woman lustfully, you've already committed adultery with her in your heart. Motives matter. If you hate your brother, you've already murdered him. Motives matter. If your right hand knows what your left hand is doing, Motives matter. If you look back with the wrong motive, you might even turn into a pillar of salt. Motives matter. I want to give you a couple of organizations and see if you can connect them. Doctors Without Borders, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, the local soup kitchen. What do all of these have in common? provide hospitality. Doctors Without Borders is great. They provide care in emergencies and epidemics and natural disasters. They help society prolong life. The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross has provided help for thousands and thousands of people with resources and clothing. Local Soup Kitchen provides food and shelter for the homeless. All of them provide help. But here it is, in order to truly love a stranger, you have to be most concerned with their well-being. The greatest need for man primarily is not to be fed, or to be clothed, or to receive water, or medical attention. The giving of all of that is a means To his or her greatest need, what is your greatest need this morning? It is to get right with God. Your greatest need and your neighbor's greatest need is to get right with God. A Christian doctor who travels overseas, praise the Lord, as he is administering a vaccine that will save someone's life, can tell his patient, do you see this vial? You see this vial? Without this, you will die physically. This is the only way for you to be healed. Only way. And I share with you, someone who has saved me, is Jesus Christ. Just as I have come to you to offer help physically, the God-man Jesus Christ, has done an even greater work. That is the cleansing of my sin. Do you know him? There's a dentist practice that's close to our house that we found back in October. We went to the dentist and let me tell you, she was the most outgoing person I have ever met. Borderline nutty, definite, screw loose. Not even kidding. Not even kidding. She asked me what I did, I told her that I was a pastor, and so she said that she was Roman Catholic, she wasn't someone who practiced, and so we were talking, and I asked her, hey, if someone came to you and asked you how to be right with God, what would you tell them? And then she started to mention the Pope, and Mary, and incense, and prayers, etc., etc. I told her that We don't need the Pope because Jesus Christ is our high priest. We don't need any other intercessor because Jesus Christ is our intercessor. I also told her that Mary was a sinner and needed the same cleansing that you and I needed, and she received it really well. But eventually, I kept yakking and yakking and yakking, and I completely forgot at the dentist, you can't really talk and get your teeth worked on unless you're really skilled, and I'm not. And so she said, just open up your mouth and stop talking. And so I had to, and she said something to me, and this is why I tell you. She said to me, do you see where I'm standing? She said, this is my pulpit. And it got me thinking. It is your pulpit. The dentist does the majority of the work because the patient can't do much talking. And I need to ask you this question, where is your pulpit. That becomes the avenue of hospitality. I own six axes. I don't even have a fireplace or a stove. I don't. Three years ago, our neighbor across the street had a wood stove and heats their house during the winter. They're dependent on it. They're an older couple in their mid-60s. The boyfriend lives with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the boyfriend has bone cancer and is unable to do anything outside any physical activity. He's barely even able to ride a lawnmower. They keep to themselves pretty much. There were several downed trees in my backyard, and so I had a reason to give my wife for me to buy axes and a chainsaw, and it worked for ministry. So I bought it, split them, and started to deliver to my neighbor across the street. I did that for several months and even over a year. It was actually the following year, the boyfriend came out and began to cry. He said to me, why are you doing this? I said, because there's a need that I could meet, and I want to bless you. He said, I don't know how to thank you. And I said, do you see how you're unable to do this yourself? Do you see how dependent you are for help? This is what God in Christ has done for me. It was not wood that he helped me with. It was my sin. I wanted to bless you in a way that God has blessed me. Now, every time, hopefully, he puts a log into the stove, he remembers that conversation. As I continued to do this, I was able to then talk to him on the porch. He's, again, Catholic, not a practicing Catholic, and believes that there are many ways to heaven. And it got to a point in my conversation where I realized that we weren't going anywhere, and so I told him that I'd be praying for him, and I continued. I continued until we moved here to bless him. And so if all you do in your life is just bless strangers, and there's no gospel, the things of God are absent, What makes that a unique Christian gesture? Home, time, money, resources, wood, food, water, cleaning, projects are all avenues and venues for the gospel. I want to give you some practical ideas of hospitality, two of them. One, Provide a meal for a coworker and make sure, make sure that the gospel plays a major role, not only in the motivation of the meal, but also in the communication of it. And second, help a neighbor with a project, preferably a long project, so he's stuck with you. You get to tell him for the hope that you have within you. If all we do is help others. How is that Christian? Your Christian privilege, and you'll see this on your outline, whatever God has blessed you with, whatever it is, use that as a means to advance the Kingdom of God. If all we do is heal physically and withhold the Gospel, we only prolong damnation. If all we do is serve at the local food bank, or American Red Cross, or whatever it is, and withhold the gospel, we only prolong damnation. If all we do is give money to charities, and withhold the gospel, we only prolong damnation. If all we do is open up our homes, and you know everything about your guest, the name of their dog, the type of food that they eat, their favorite baseball team, and throughout those means, the gospel is never given, what have we gained? People must know that you love them as strangers. They must know. If you make that meal, if you have them over, that is half the message. The other half is Christ. Give them both. If you can't speak to them, write them a note. If you can't write them a note with some type of pointing to the gospel or to the things of God, you should be asking yourself whether or not you're ashamed of being a Christian. We should at least be able to put our faith down on a card. Our motives as children of the Most High must be motivated by love, the love of strangers. And so let us love as Jesus loved. Let us always give a reason for the hope that is within us. And may God use us for our good and for the temporal and eternal well-being of others. And as always, to God be the glory. Amen, let us pray. Father, we ask for your help in these matters that we extend and show hospitality. We ask that you would give us an extra measure of your spirit that would speak to us so we can find avenues and areas to extend hospitality as a means for the gospel. That we can love them as being made in the image of God and part of that love is sharing both the hope that we have in this life and the hope and promise of the next. So we ask dear Lord that you would give us wisdom, you'd give us peace, you'd give us ideas, You give us the desire and the motives to love man the way that you have loved us. Give us that divine perspective, and we walk in faith, and we will thank you for the increase. In Jesus' name, amen. We stand and sing Psalm 196 with us. I will glory in my Redeemer. I will glory in my Redeemer, whose priceless blood has