This morning, we considered many of the theological problems that are existing within the modern church, such as most of the evangelical church believing today that there are multiple ways of salvation. And that is surprising, of course, but we could also consider many of the practical problems that appear in churches today, such as the spiritual malpractice that's been going on by church staff in various places. And of course, the abuse and the gross negligence that is happening in those churches. Now, many churches also lack a biblical structure. And they're often looking to the corporate world to see what they should do. Maybe McDonald's has a really good idea about church because we want our people when they leave from the church after service to say, I'm loving it. That's where a lot of people are looking. And that's to say nothing about the silly and juvenile behavior of many pastors bringing trampolines up on the stage so they can jump in front of the congregation or pulling out water pistols to squirt the congregation. I'm just pulling out my water to drink. It's wild, some of the things, and I joke only because as I think about these things, I'm tempted to become depressed and angry and everything else as I see what is happening in the Church of Christ across this land. Thankfully, though, as we wonder, OK, what should we do? God has not left us in the dark. He has given us a word on good church order. And so we begin studying part of that word this evening in the book of Titus. This is one of the books of Scripture that is known as a pastoral epistle. First and Second Timothy are the other two pastoral epistles. So that's why these three books are grouped together here. And these letters remove much of the mystery that might surround running a church and what God expects of us as members of his church. It reveals what God deems as proper order in the church. And so Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes this letter to Titus with this intention of helping him to know the proper ordering of a church. Now, Paul, you might remember, is the apostle of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. And I say Gentiles plural because He was constantly on the move, wasn't he? He was constantly going from church to church to church and these missionary journeys in these movements to preach the gospel and to see good churches planted in his wake. Now, as he's doing this, he arrived at Crete, which is a large island. It's about 160 miles by 35 miles. It is quite a bit. It is a very large island situated in the middle of the sometimes tumultuous Mediterranean Sea. That is a strategic location because from there, anywhere in the Mediterranean can be reached with the Gospel. But around the year 62 to maybe 64, Paul was moving on. He wanted to serve other churches as he's moving back over to the Macedonian areas, perhaps going back to Corinth or one of those other churches there. He knew that as he moved on, there was still some work that needed to be done in the Cretan churches. And he didn't want to leave that work undone because he wanted, as I said before, to leave sound and healthy and godly churches behind him. And to have that there needs to be some things set in order like the appointment of elders and the like. And so he decides he's going to assign one of his faithful companions to the task and that is of course Titus. Now what was happening in Crete was one study notes the believers in Crete The believers in Crete lacked leadership and were suffering as a result. False teachers were taking advantage of the absence of sound doctrine. Judging from Paul's exhortations, the harmony and morals of the young congregation were disrupted. Paul relied on Titus to help them establish their leadership and to make up their other deficits. Their struggles are repeated in every age, and this letter is as relevant today as it was to Titus. And so there is something for us to see here as we may be dealing with some of the same issues. But before we get into that, of course, we need to answer the question, who is Titus? Well, he he's a obviously young man who came to Christ earlier, perhaps during Paul's first missionary journey to the area. And of course, that's hinted at in verse four, where he says that Titus is his true child. Since then, Titus had helped on future missionary endeavors. We see him in places like Corinth. In fact, let's all turn to 2 Corinthians for a moment. 2 Corinthians 8. Ooh, someone doesn't like 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 8. 23 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 23 as for Titus. He is my partner. And fellow worker among you as for our brethren. They are messengers of the churches a glory to Christ. And so this is obviously a glowing endorsement of Titus along with the others there. And so Paul that sees this, and he's confident that if he's going to select someone, Titus is going to be a perfect choice to leave in charge of the Cretan churches and to set things in order. And of course, that's what he wants Titus to do. If you look down to verse five of Titus one, he says, for this reason, I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you." Again, Crete being a big island, he wants each church there across that island to have elders. with all the pagan religions and Jewish mythologies that were going on. Titus must make certain that he selects the right people who can help to run these churches and who can who can proclaim the truth of God as well as the salvation that only Christ can bring. And so that's why this letter is so important for Titus. Bless you. As we consider these things, we want to know how to have both our church and our lives properly structured. And this letter deals with that as well. And we'll note that as we're going through this. In fact, we'll know four truths about the book of Titus that we can see just in this introduction and that will set the stage for the rest of the book of Titus. What are these four truths? Well, this is a book to believers. This is a book to believers. It's a book of hope. It's a book of hope. It's a book of proclamation. And it's a book of faith. And so let's look at the first of those and I don't have a lot of information for you on the slides tonight. I just ran out of time. So we just basically have the verse is moving forward. That's all right. We'll go through the text together here starting with verse one Titus is a book to believers. So we read there again in verse one, Paul, a bond servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness. So we see that this is a letter written by the Apostle Paul, but he doesn't start that way. He starts by calling himself a bond servant, a bond servant. What is that? Well, he's done that elsewhere. Romans 1.1, for instance, he's called himself a bondservant. But there's another way of translating this. The Greek word is doulos, and the Legacy Standard Bible here translates it as slave. Slave. And that is a better translation of the term. There were many slaves in the Roman Empire at that time. But there's a little bit of irony here because Paul is born a full citizen of the Roman Empire. He's not a slave. He could very proudly boast that he's never been in bondage to anyone. Others did boast that way, right? But Paul instead testifies that he is owned. He's owned by Christ. He's owned by God. And so this sets the tone for the letter, a tone that believers need to receive. You know, it's not just Paul who calls himself a slave. James, the brother of our Lord, also does so in James 1.1. He calls himself a slave. Moreover, John said, that God gave revelation the book of Revelation that is for the Lord's bond servants or slaves that same term there. Isn't that book written for all of us? Yes. See, we are all God's slaves and that is a way that we should see ourselves. I know that that's a hiccup for some of you. That's something that is difficult to receive because there have been horrible things done in the name of slavery in the United States in the past and horrible things continue to happen in the name of slavery. Currently, right now, across the world, it's continuing to exist. But see, this also reflects something else about our nature. Horrible things happen to those of you who are enslaved by your sin. See, we are in bondage to our sin, to the devil, to the world. Outside of Jesus Christ, we are in chains. But what we see in the gospel is that good things happen when we are bought by a good master. And we are transferred over, we are redeemed. And that idea of redemption actually comes from the slave blocks, where someone is bought and purchased. But in this case, we are purchased for God. We are purchased for a good and gracious master. And as we live our lives in submission to the Lord, we can see the freedom that He actually gives to us, a freedom that we've never experienced before outside of being slaves of God. And so there is an irony here that the Bible presses in on and one that we have to accept to ourselves. Paul is proud to say that the Lord owns him, and Paul willingly submits to the Lord's command. That is an example that the Cretans needed to see, and that's an example that we need to see as well. And so this is already a strong hint for believers. But Paul continues, and he then identifies himself, as we might expect, as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, what does that word apostle mean? It's from the word apostolos, and it means a sent one. I mean, that's the literal translation, someone who is sent with a purpose. Think of an official messenger, perhaps of a king or a dignitary. In this case, Paul is claiming that he is sent of Jesus Christ, which is a special category that he does claim for himself. No one else can claim to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. I mean, you might get a friend request on Facebook from someone who claims to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, but that's not an apostle. I can't say I have shaken hands with Apostles quote unquote, but I did wash my hands afterwards because I didn't think that that was really an apostle and that I was getting any kind of special blessing from that. But Paul does claim to be in the special category. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ, much like the prophets of God claimed to be the mouthpieces of God. Well, he takes up a mantle for himself. He's an apostle. He's someone to be listened 2 and he defends his credentials in 2nd Corinthians among other places. Now, we need the words of Apostles and prophets. Now, some would say that's why we still need to have Apostles today. No, no. Let's look at Ephesians 2 20 for just a moment Ephesians. Going too far. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 20. This is just one place that we can go to as we consider this but we see that the household of the Lord is built on the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets Christ Jesus being the cornerstone. And so the foundation is poured. Now, I don't know a lot about construction. I have been on a few construction sites in my life. But one thing I've noticed is that the foundation usually goes on the bottom. And so that is something I have picked up. I may not know much, but I have picked up that much. It doesn't typically get report after say the walls go up and things unless something is horribly gone wrong The foundation doesn't continue to be report. It doesn't get poured on top of the roof It doesn't get poured down the sides of the house. That's not what a foundation is a foundation comes at the bottom and so if we think about the church as a building that is being built up and What is the foundation of the church? It is the word of God. This is the word of the prophets and the apostles. And this is what we have selected for us. We don't need to continue to have prophets and apostles for the sake of the church because the foundation has already been laid. And God knew what he was doing, it doesn't need to be relayed. So that is why we need these words, and why, of course, Titus and the Cretan Christians needed these words. And he is writing for Titus, of course, but he is writing also for the church. And I want to see that because this book is not just so Titus knows how to be a good leader. For instance, this is a book written for Christians. Why? Because Paul says he writes quote, for the faith of those chosen of God. Or as the LSB, the Legacy Standard Bible says, God's elect, God's elect. This is why he is writing, for believers. That is what the chosen of God are, they are believers. Jesus refers to God's people as God's elect. Luke 18, seven is just one example there. Now, I understand as I say that a lot of people will struggle with that as well. They either don't like the doctrines of grace or Calvinism or things like that. Anytime we say the word election, the red flags go up and alarm bells start ringing and people get angry and walk out. I've even heard Christians deny that election is even taught in the Bible. But it is. It's right here. And so it is something we do have to grapple with, even if it does make some of us uncomfortable. The one thing, though, that we need to see with this, when God elects people, he then makes them into believers. No one is a believer who is not elect of God and vice versa. There are no one. There are no people who are elect who are not believers or no secret Christians. You know, they will believe in God. But when election and predestination appear in scripture, We're often reminded like we're reminded here that that that the decree of God which results in the election of believers occurs before the foundation of the world. Now that's important and that's in places like Ephesians 1 for it happens before the creation. That's important for believers for our hope and assurance because our election is not based on what we've done because we haven't done anything yet. And if our election isn't based on what we've done, then that means we don't lose our salvation based on what we do. Our election is eternal from eternity past or from long ages past. It is not something based on what we do, what we're currently doing, what we currently aren't doing, et cetera. Our faith has to be that it is in Christ, in Christ alone. Our existence as believers do not rest upon ourselves. It rests outside of ourselves. It's something alien to ourselves. It is something wrought of God. And that is something that should give us hope and confidence because we see that God's election is one of complete and total grace and love. And so all of this is to say that Paul is writing to believers. So when we're reading about the elect, we're reading about believers. And so what is he saying to these believers? Well, he wants them to be strengthened in their faith. And so that's what what he says here. He's writing for their faith and his words to Titus can accomplish that. And so that's why it's important for him to write this letter unless he writes the Cretan believers may lack what they need in order to live sound lives and to have a sound fellowship. And so Paul writes this so that the believers can be built up in their faith. He's writing for the faith of God's chosen. but not only for the faith of believers he's also writing for believers for their knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness and so that's that next phrase there which is according to godliness the knowledge of truth which is according to godliness and this isn't just knowledge This is full knowledge, and I think the LSB is good for adding the word full here, because that's the word. Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge. Then there's epigonosis. It's like knowledge with something on top. This is full knowledge, and that is exactly what he wants us to have. 1 Timothy 2.4. God desires that believers come to the knowledge of the truth. Christians should grow in knowledge. This is something that we should seek to gain. Now, of course, Paul is not talking about gaining knowledge or knowledge, say, because what does he say in first Corinthians eight, one, that knowledge, as the old King James says, it poppeth up, right? Which I love that idea because I'm imagining, you know, like Cheetos or something, you know, it's full of air, right? It's getting popped up. Or a balloon, I guess, it's getting popped up. To put it in a more modern translation, knowledge makes arrogant. But love edifies. And so Paul doesn't want us to just gain knowledge for knowledge's sake. Here, his focus isn't so much on love necessarily, but on the need for godliness. We want to grow in our knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8 so that we can grow in love. But here, so that we can grow in godliness. So we can grow in godliness. And that was a particular need in Crete. As one study notes, the Cretans had a reputation for ungodliness. It was almost a slur to call a person a Cretan. Or even today, I guess we could say a Cretan. And that still remains a slur, right? You don't want to be called a Cretan by someone. But of course, we should all seek the truth. So we this isn't just for them, you know, like, oh, they're really ungodly. So they needed this. No, we we all suffer with ungodly tendencies. We all need this. So this is applicable for the whole church. In fact, just kind of in a in a parallel to what I was just saying about knowledge popping up. Look, look at First Timothy six for just a moment. First Timothy six to the left here. Just a few pages to the left. 1 Timothy 6 verses 3 through 4. Paul says if anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, see, he is conceited and understands nothing. See, it's not just having a lot of knowledge that makes you conceited. If you don't conform to the doctrine of Christ, with the doctrine conforming to godliness, you can be conceited there too. And so there are a lot of things that can make us prideful. There are a lot of things that can, even we might think we're prideful, or think we're smart, but we see that we actually understand nothing there. And so that is another aspect. We have to see that we have to receive, Proper knowledge, we must receive proper knowledge in order to grow in godliness. Well, that's what this letter is here for. This letter is to help us to grow in godliness. Paul writes, the source of godliness, when he says in chapter two that the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. That's in chapter two, verses 11 and 12. And he goes on from there. Chapter three, you'll note, verses one through 11 really are talking about how to apply godly standards to our lives. It's about godly living, as the chapter heading actually in my Bible says. I don't know about yours, but it is about godliness applied. As another study notes, the terms good works or works appears 8 times in this epistle. and it lists those out. It says, at least two other places, or two other phrases parallel the good works theme, reverent and behavior in chapter two, verse three, and adorn the doctrine of God, chapter two, verse 10. And so this letter is about the grace of God helping us to become more godly in our behavior. And that is absolutely what we should be embracing as believers. And so this is this book. The book of Titus is not just a book on how to order churches. It's also a book that will help believers grow. It's a book to believers. One of the particular needs for believers in this world is not just godliness, though. It's not just knowledge and faith. It's also hope. And that's where we turn next. Verse 2. Titus is a book of hope. So verse 2 says, In the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago. I want us to understand what the Bible means when it uses a word like the word hope. It is not talking about a desire. Like you really desire something to be true. And so you might say you hope it to be true. That might be a synonym in modern vernacular, but that is not what the Bible is speaking of here. The word hope does not present a pie-in-the-sky kind of fantasy. What is hope? Well, hope is an expectation or a promised outcome. An expectation or a promised outcome. In this case, what is the outcome? Well, the outcome is eternal life. It's eternal life. We expect eternal life. What is eternal life? Well, we talked about that this morning. This is the life that only God can provide. It's life in him. Life that can only be found in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. So Paul teaches. On this kind of life in this letter, when he writes, say, for instance, in Titus chapter three, verse seven. where we read, so that being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. He links eternal life with the airship of Christ, and then he links us to that airship through Jesus Christ. By the way, I'm saying airship, like like like the air, like H E I R, in case there are any questions about that. Exactly. Yeah, not not not a balloon. So so we are united. We are joint heirs with Christ. That's another term that scripture uses. How are we made heirs with Christ? Well, we're made heirs through the Holy Spirit. Well, Jesus has been promised an inheritance. And so we also in the Holy Spirit have also been promised an inheritance. We are joined together with this. And so, yes, we do have a hope of eternal life and expectation of it, because If we didn't, that would mean that Jesus somehow is not expecting it. And so we have that same confidence here. And so Paul is writing for believers to bank on this. We have eternal life. So MacArthur study Bible notes here. This is divinely promised and divinely guaranteed to all believers. providing endurance and patience. And so all believers, all of us, we own this promise to eternal life because God has promised it to us. And he will deliver it to us. And to be clear about that point, God is unchanging. The the the theological term is he's immutable. He does not change. He doesn't mute. He's he's always he's always the same yesterday, today and forever. And he doesn't lie. He doesn't lie. And that's what Paul points out here. God is a God who can not lie. Hebrews 618 says that it is impossible for God to lie. Why? Because God is truth. That's part of his nature. He's not going to lie because he can't go against his nature. And so he is free from any deceit or falsehood. And he makes this promise that we have a hope of eternal life. God cannot lie, and he never lies. By the way, that is a view of God that the Cretans needed. Because in verse 12, If you look down to chapter one, here in chapter one, verse 12, Paul quotes one of their poets, a Greek poet by the name of Epimenides. And he said this, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. Well, it doesn't sound like they had a very good reputation. Well, maybe you've struggled with some of that yourself, but you can see that having a view of God as one who is perfect, who is unchanging, who does not lie, that that can transform the way in which you interact with other people. But even so, even if you've struggled with falsehood, you should not wonder, OK, well, maybe God would remove this promise from me. Again, God doesn't change, but in fact, let's just look there for a moment. 2 Timothy 2.13, 2 Timothy 2.13. We're told there that if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. There's both a warning there, as well as a blessed word there. We don't want to be faithless, but if we do sometimes find that we are not following the word as we should, we can bank on the fact that God is faithful and that he will not deny himself. He makes a promise, he will fulfill it. And of course he made this promise. He made this promise. Sure. He made this promise before the ages from all eternity from eternity past. He made this promise. So this is a sure expectation. He promised in the gospel through the prophets in the scripture Romans 1 2 says and this of course goes back to divine election because he's done this before the ages. Second Timothy 119 says that the Lord saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. And so he has made an ironclad hope for us, an expectation that we have eternal life. And so we do have hope. Not so much because of who we are, but because of who God is. Amen for that. Believers need to hear about such a hope. They need to hear all the truth of God proclaimed. That brings us to the next point that this is not just a book for believers a book of hope. It is also a book of proclamation a book of proclamation first three, but at the proper time manifested even his word. In the proclamation which with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior. It's all about timing God worked out the timing perfectly. God has the calendar set and he is he's not wondering. Okay. Well, maybe I need to switch some things around. No, he knows exactly when things needed to happen when things need to occur. He brought Jesus Christ at just the proper time. I mean, right after the Hellenization of the world, the whole world is speaking the same language. Then the Romans come in, they establish the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome. The roadways are relatively safe for gospel proclamation, for missionary journeys. I mean, it's perfect. The Old Testament had been translated into the language of the people, into Greek, so that anywhere the apostles went, they could present to him the Holy Scripture. It was all perfect. It was all perfect. God worked that out. And here, Paul focuses on that message or that word that's going out. And this is the message that Paul, the slave, the apostle was called to proclaim. And he did proclaim it. The term translated proclamation here is K RUGMA meaning preaching which I think is what the LSB and the ESV both have, the English Standard Version has there. This is a word, as one study notes, it's a word for the message proclaimed by a public herald. This is the preached word that goes out. This is a different act than teaching, perhaps, say, in a classroom setting or one-on-one setting. We go and we get coffee somewhere, maybe at a coffee shop. We sit, we talk. It would be awkward if one of us stood up and started yelling really loud, all of a sudden, like I sometimes do behind the pulpit. This is a different act than teaching. And so, Preaching is public proclamation. And that is what Paul did with the message of God. He proclaimed it. Let's look at first Corinthians for just a moment. First Corinthians chapter two. First Corinthians. chapter 2 verses 2 through 5 In fact, we could start with verse 1. And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear with much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Think about that. Paul was trained by the best, but he didn't want to just wow people with his knowledge and his ability, which of course was impressive. What did he want to communicate? He just wanted to communicate Christ. That's it. If he's proclaiming it, yes. If he's just in weakness and trembling, yes. All he wants is for people to know Christ. That's it. He doesn't want to impress people with himself. And the Lord entrusted him with this responsibility. And that's the responsibility he is seeking to fill. In fact, he says this is a responsibility that God is not just placed on him, but that God is placed on all people. That we make him known. For instance, let's look now at again Second Timothy chapter one. And see what Paul told Timothy there. 2 Timothy 1, verses 13 and 14. He tells Timothy retain the standard of sound words, which you have heard for me and the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasure which has been entrusted to you. And so he wants them to retain these things. He wants them to guard these things, but it won't stop at Timothy. because in chapter two of second Timothy, verse two, he says the things which you have heard for me in the presence of many witnesses and trust these two faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And that's the same word there. I want you to entrust the same thing like like like Paul has been entrusted. Paul is telling Timothy there that he needs to entrust these things with men who will pass it on men who will hold to it and then pass it on. And so this is what he wants them to do. He wants Timothy to see. He's also telling this to Titus. Look at Titus now again, chapter one, verse nine. He says that Titus should find men under the qualifications for elders. who are holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to exhort and sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. We need to be faithful to the word. And we need to be proclaiming that word. See, preaching the truth of God is a vital component to church ministry. Salvation comes from preaching, because as Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. God can establish believers through the preaching of Christ Romans 1625. This is why preaching is so important to the ministry. This is why preaching is so important to our church because this is the proclaimed Word of God. And this is what God would have of all churches to be faithful with the message with which we have been entrusted. In fact, if the church isn't proclaiming Christ, it ain't a church. So this is what God commands. He is a savior, and he demands that his word or message goes forth to the world for the sake of unbelievers coming to Christ and believers to grow in their faith and their knowledge of him. And so this is a book of proclamation finding the right people who will proclaim and seeing the importance of that proclamation in our lives Paul models that And he does so because he understands the importance of faith, which is the final point here verse 4 Titus is a book of faith And here he says to Titus My true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Savior. Here we finally get to the part of Paul's introduction where we find out who he's writing to. So everything up until this point has been just about him and why he's writing. But now we see who he's writing to and what he hopes for Titus. He calls Titus here his true child or his genuine child, I think is a more literal translation. By this he means that Titus is the fruit of his gospel ministry. As Paul had been going out perhaps on that first missionary journey and he went across to these various areas, he met Titus there and he brought Titus to the Lord. He proclaimed that message. To put it another way, Titus is the product of Paul's faithful proclamation that we were just talking about a moment ago. And so Titus, of course, would need to pass that on, but Titus came to faith in the common faith. They share a faith. And so that speaks of a universality of faith. Some would say here the little C Catholic nature. of faith. We are not big C Catholics here, but we are certainly little C Catholics here. We are part of the Universal Church. Because it is a common faith that Christians share, true Christians that is. Peter wrote about this, 2 Peter, if you'll turn real quick past Hebrews and James to 2 Peter. Second Peter one. And there we see Peter is writing to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. By the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. There's true faith and there's false faith and he's saying I'm writing to people who have received a faith like ours. This is the common faith the common faith. Jude, Jude three, Jude says that we should contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints. There is a common faith that unites us. And some people say, well, what about what about Baptists? What about Methodists? What about Presbyterians? What about this? What about that? Listen, as long as we believe in Jesus Christ, we're all Christians. What about Joe's witnesses? No, because they don't believe in the biblical Jesus Christ. What about Mormons? No, because they don't believe in the biblical Jesus Christ. If we believe in the biblical Christ, we then share a common faith. And that is what is being talked about here. Of course, there was the story of of the Methodist minister who. lost a friend, a Baptist minister, and it was requested that the Methodist minister do his funeral. And the Methodist was not sure about that, so he wrote his bishop to find out, is this okay that I perform the funeral for this Baptist minister? And the Methodist bishop wrote back, yes, please bury as many Baptists as possible. And that's an example of some Christian love that we sometimes share with one another. But yes, there is a common faith because we hold fast to these these common historical truths and and aspects of the gospel. If a person does deviate from that and and becomes heretical, obviously, we're not talking about the same thing there. But we are talking about what unites us and that is Jesus Christ. We need to see that within our own church because we don't want to be divided by secondary and tertiary issues. We want to be united by the important doctrines of Jesus Christ. the historic truths of Christ. Of course, what we need is grace and peace from God. And that is what Paul writes to Titus and offers there. This is a common greeting from grace and peace. Perhaps some have looked at that and said, oh, it's just like, you know, in Hawaii, they say aloha or in Judaism, they often say shalom, you know, and this is just a common greeting. Perhaps it's a common greeting, but note it is a it is a greeting that is not trite. It's not a meeting that or a greeting that lacks meaning. This is a greeting that, in fact, holds a great deal of value because this is a greeting in the name of the God of grace, in the name of the God of peace, the God who can grant grace, the God who can grant peace. This is the. God that we worship. The God who can grant these blessings to those in need, such as weary ministers like Titus, perhaps, or to some sin-laden believer who needs to hear about the message of grace and peace. And so this is something that Paul is offering. And note that the grace and peace doesn't just come from God, the father. Paul also exalts Jesus Christ to the level of God, and he does so in two ways here, because he says that Jesus is also a distributor of grace and peace alongside of the father. That must be an exaltation of of Jesus Christ, you wouldn't say grace and peace to you from from God, our father and Paul. No, Paul doesn't have the ability to give or bestow grace and peace, but Jesus can. And so Paul is exalting Christ in that way. And Paul is also exalting Christ because he calls him Savior. What did he just say about God in the last verse? He said, God, our Savior. Now he says, Jesus, our Savior. And so he is exalting Jesus to the level of God. When we talk about our common faith, our common faith accepts the deity of Christ and the Trinitarian view of God. And so this is something that we must also hold. This comes out a little bit in Titus as well. But let's begin wrapping this up. This is a book that will help us to grow in our faith and our application of the truth. This is a book, as I said, of faith. It's a book of hope. It's a book of application and proclamation. It's a book of our identity. as believers. And so this is a book that we do need to receive, not just for our lives, but also for our church. This is a book about how to build up our church as well. And so this is a book that will help us to become more godly people, as well as to establish a more godly church. And so it is an important book, as I said. And all of this has been introduction, of course, because we've only read the introduction. But as we get into this, we're going to see these truths. But of course, we want to apply them to ourselves as well. We We want to make it our determination to be godly. We want to make it our determination to be a godly church. And so may that be our goal, to be a godly people with a godly church. By the grace of God, may that indeed be the case.