Open your Bibles with me, if you will, to Paul's epistle to Titus. Chapter 1. Paul's epistle to Titus, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour, to Titus, mine own son, after the common faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. As we begin our worship in Pennsylvania, You ought to ask the question, why is it that we're starting in Titus? You'll notice in the scripture reading and in the Psalter we have started at the beginning. It seems fitting to begin at the beginning in Genesis and in Matthew and in Psalm 1. But here we're starting our sermon series in Titus and you ask, well, why is that? Well, we have made it no secret that we do hope to plant a church in this area so that our traveling members from Pennsylvania can have a local church. But if we're going to plant a church and to do so successfully, we need biblical instruction. How are we going to do this? Now, in order to have a church plant, there's a great many things that you need. But you need officers and so First Timothy and Titus are a good place to go. We need to know how to identify them. We need to know what their duties are. We need to understand something about how the members of the church are to relate to the officers and the officers to the people in the church. And we need to come to understand something of the duties of the members one to another. We all need to stand in our order, in our place, in our calling. And this is very important for the happiness of any society, but particularly in the church. We might add to these some other things. We have to recognize that sin is the main obstacle in a church plant or in the happiness of a society. We all bring our problems to the church, our sinfulness, and that sinfulness that resides in each one of our hearts is going to have a great tendency to divide us and to separate us one from another. That's what sin does. It alienates us from God and it alienates us from one another. And so we ask the question, what is it that is going to hold us together? In recognition of the fact that we are going to sin against one another and that's going to have a great tendency to drive us apart. Well, order is part of the solution. Each one standing in their place and calling. And we're going to see a good bit of that in Titus. Necessary for a happy society. But I would also encourage you as you have opportunity to go back and review the sermons that you can get your hands on in Philippians because the other thing that holds us together is deep bonds of love. Those relationships that we are deeply invested in are very difficult to tear apart. So we must invest in one another. Paul talks about this in good length in Philippians particularly the second chapter. When our relationships mean a lot to us we're not very quick to give them up when difficulties come. What is it that holds you and your spouse together in the midst of difficulty? It's the vows and the deep commitment one to another. But difficulties always come in relationships little flock. They always come. we must be prepared to weather them in a biblical manner I might add to this also in order to plant a church as I've seen the example from the hips in the moorings you're going to need some toughness some perseverance and some determination all of those things are necessary and just to encourage your hearts already assembled in this room there are more than were at the Warrington congregation when we first showed up So you might think of this as a small beginning but not quite as small as what we've seen. So God is already blessed and already multiplied in numbers. So we come to Titus with a lot of questions about how are we going to be planted as a church and how are we going to gain stability as such. Officers and members and their relating, members relating one to another, those things are crucial. They are key. Now whereas not all of you have heard me preach very much, let me just go through an introduction of how I structure exegetical sermons so that you can understand what we're going to be doing. This basically comes right out of the Westminster Directory, a tried and true formula. I always divide a sermon up into three parts, although sometimes a sermon is actually more than one sermon long or more than one occasion. One sermon can stretch out over three or four or five weeks sometimes to cover all of these parts. But the first part is the analysis. We take a unit of text and we're simply asking the question, what does it say? Do we understand what we've just read? And this is an important section. If I could communicate to you one thing, I'd say this is the most difficult thing. This is always the hardest work. What is it saying? A lot of times this includes the dredgeries of grammar and parsing of verbs and all of those kinds of things, but it's absolutely crucial that we understand the words. What is it saying? And while we're doing this section, as I've mentioned to the Warrington congregation, This is so important because we're learning to read the scripture and even while we're going through the analysis you already ought to be thinking what doctrines can be derived from this text? What practice? I will cover some of the things you come up with. You might come up with things beyond what I can cover. When you get into practice in particular sometimes it's unlimited in the number of particular applications that can be made. You ought to be looking to make particular and personal applications to yourselves. about the things that the pastor doesn't know anything about. So this analysis section is very important. What is it saying? What doctrines and practices can be derived? The second section is the doctrine section. What is this text teaching? You might think of it as building our theology as it were. What truth can I add to my theological tree as it were to come to understand God better? This is an important part of sanctification, we might call it the renewing of the mind. Putting off our false beliefs and taking up those that are true. And finally the third section is always going to be the uses. How should I then live? In light of this text, what it says and the doctrines that are communicated, how should I live? This is about reforming practice, being renewed in our behavior. Now as I mentioned it will frequently require more than one sermon and it is so with this sermon. Tonight we're only going to look at the analysis of the first three verses. And we're going to do a good bit of biblical catechism. By this I don't mean like your theological catechism and the shorter catechism. Here I mean Bible facts that you need in order to read the Bible better. And tonight we need to understand something of what an apostle is, what the significance of that office is. So when we get to that point, we're going to talk some about the role of an apostle. Now first of all, look at these four verses and you'll see something. This is a standard salutation in Greek letters during this time period, but Paul fills up with theological import. But basically it's very simple, you have the person who is greeting, that would be Paul, and the person greeted, that would be Titus. And then finally the salutation or the greeting itself, which in this case is grace, mercy and peace from God our Father. and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Now, as we're going through this, we're going to be talking a lot about what an apostle is, but what I want you to be thinking about, so relevant for a church plan. Paul is going to teach us a lot about how to think about the ministry, and that's central to a church plan. Let's begin with verse 1. a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness." So here Paul identifies himself. He first identifies himself by name, Paul, then by a general reference to office, not a particular office, but simply that he is an office bearer. He calls himself a servant of God. There is certainly a sense in which every Christian is a servant of God but this is eminently so in office bearers. Paul has been set apart as it were full time for the preaching of the gospel to the hazard of his life so he is a servant of God in the most eminent sense. He said it was his right, but he wouldn't even lead about a wife or children. He gave up all of those things so that he would not be hindered in his missionary endeavors of preaching the gospel. So we have a general reference to office bearing, but then a particular reference to his particular office. Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ. And so now we come to our catechism, basically what is an apostle? What's the significance of this office? Well, as we've mentioned before in sermons, the church has only one king, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But among the subordinate officers, the apostle, that office appears to be the highest of all of the offices in the new administration. Turning your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4. We've looked at this text in times past. Here we have a reference to the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Ascending to the right hand of the Father and turning and giving gifts to the church. And one of the gifts that He gives is the officers Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers so this is the first office that's mentioned and as we go I think you'll see that it is also to be considered the highest of the offices when you consider the importance of the apostolic teaching but we'll let that develop as we go First, as we look at the scripture, we recognize that the twelve apostles were called directly by Christ himself. And so that's something of a unique calling. Now, Jesus Christ calls all of the office bearers, but not directly or immediately, but rather immediately. We look at the qualifications in the scripture. We say, does the man have the qualifications? The membership of the church looks at him and says, does he have the gifts and the graces for the office? And the exercise of these particular functions is he showing something of the activity of the Spirit of God in him. So we look for all of these things. With the apostles, it's much more immediate and much more direct. The Lord Jesus Christ during the time of his earthly ministry said, you, you, you, you, you are going to be my apostles. A very direct, very immediate calling. This applies to the Apostle Paul as well, the significance of his experience on the Damascus Road. But to help illustrate this, turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 1. We'll begin reading at the 15th verse. This is dealing with the problem of Judas. What do we do with the fact that the 12 have now become 11? And again, what I want to point out in this text is the Lord Jesus Christ tells them what to do. One matter indirectly and another very directly. Verse 15. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names together were about 120. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity, and falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem, insomuch as the field is called, in their proper tongue, Echeldama, that is to say, the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopric let another take. Now let me just pause right there. That's actually two citations from the Psalms, one from 6925 and another from 1098. You see, by the Psalm, particularly the second portion there, Christ is instructing them to replace Judas. St. Peter looks into the Word of God and it says, let another take his bishopric. And so they have the warrant to replace him, him having fallen from the faith. Verse 21, Wherefore, of these men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. OK, so now they're looking for general qualifications. They want somebody that had been with them from the beginning all the way up to this point in time. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take his part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. and they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered with the eleven apostles you see the apostles even with the eleven of them there together do not feel qualified to appoint the man they know the general qualifications but it really came down to two and they make an appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven to decide the case because you'll remember from the Proverbs The lot falls into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Because they recognize that only the Lord Jesus himself can appoint an apostle. And so Matthias was appointed. Even their name speaks of their close relationship to the ministry and work of Jesus Christ. That word apostle, apostolos in Greek, comes from the verb apostello which means to send they are Jesus Christ's sent ones like his official ambassadors they go out preaching and teaching on his behalf they have become his mouthpieces as it were his hands in the world and we see this stress to us time and time again in the scripture here again in Acts chapter 1 see the first verse The former treatise have I made, that would be the Gospel of Luke of Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. The implication here is that the Gospel, the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, was only the beginning of Jesus' sayings and doings, just the beginning of them. I've mentioned it before in this congregation that you could retitle the Acts of the Apostles the Acts of Jesus Christ through the Apostles by the power of the Holy Spirit because it is his ongoing teaching and working that we see in the book of Acts and we have to understand that the Apostles have become his official ambassadors and he is controlling them as it were by the power of the Holy Spirit in their ministrations Another text which I find most compelling, turn to Colossians chapter 1. You'll see here a very striking statement concerning the way Paul thinks about his own apostleship. Colossians chapter 1 beginning in verse 23. If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, have made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. Isn't that a peculiar expression? The Paul says he fills up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh. Now let us go on and read and get the full context. Verse 25. Whereof, I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, Colossian Gentiles, the hope of glory. Now, the Romanists, of course, have taken this statement in verse 24. Paul is filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ to be some sort of a veiled reference to purgatory or some sort of thing. Christ hasn't suffered for everything. A man has to do some suffering for himself, as it were. But nothing could be more remote from the context. And what Paul is getting at in context is very clear. If you go back to the Psalms and to Isaiah, part of the messianic mission and labor, part of his sufferings, was the preaching of the Gospel to the world, to the Gentiles. Which, when we go to the Gospels and we read through them, we say, well he did go down into Egypt, but he was a child. He ran into some Gentiles, a small handful, during the time of his earthly ministration, but he never really left Palestine. and most of his ministry was geared towards the Jews. So wherein is the fulfillment of these prophecies that Messiah would take the gospel to the nations and become the light to the nations as part of his messianic labors? That's in the apostles. Jesus Christ still preaching, still teaching, still ministering through their agency even while he has ascended on high. And you'll notice Paul's emphasis here. the mystery that was concealed. In some ways the messianic mission is still taking place in me to preach the gospel to you, Colossian Gentiles. And you'll recognize that At the end of Acts, when Paul is in prison in Rome, but preaching freely in the center of the Roman world, the apostolic mission in some ways is considered completed. They have preached the gospel to the whole world. They have taken the gospel successfully to the Gentiles, to the Roman world. So, the Lord Jesus Christ is operating in a very direct manner through the apostles with his church. and of course we know that their teaching being inspired by the spirit of Christ becomes part of the foundation of the church and this is where the apostolic office is so very important, called very directly by Christ evidently the highest office in the church and their teaching becomes part of the foundation of the church because it was nothing other than the teaching of Jesus Christ through them turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2 Begin in verse 19. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth up unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builted together for the inhabitation of God through the Spirit. So here their teaching becomes part of the foundation of the church. Later ministers are simply building upon that foundation, but not replacing it. The foundation has been laid, as Jude says, the faith has been delivered once and for all to the saints. That foundation is firm and secure, cannot be replaced or repeated. Now understanding the importance of the apostolic office is important. in our day and age, because some continue to claim the office of apostle for themselves. You'll find this, this is a pretty common thing, say in charismatic churches, where you might drive by a charismatic church and, you know, the pastor there is an apostle, so and so. A most remarkable kind of thing when you understand what an apostle is, biblically. but most threatening to the church in all ages is that this is basically what the Pope claims for himself and hence the reason that his teaching is on par with that of Peter and Paul and Matthew he's claiming for himself that very same apostolic authority to authoritatively interpret the scripture as it were and even to give his own authoritative deliverances concerning rites and ceremonies whatever he would do in the church. But there's also another important bit here. It has great relevance to the debate concerning ongoing special revelation. When you understand the temporary nature of the apostleship and that those New Testament prophets, the debate about ongoing special revelation is in fact in a lot of ways closed. You see, Jesus Christ himself was the apex of redemptive revelation. And after his apostles, his sent ones, testified to him, it is as if the prophecy has been sealed up to use the language of Daniel. It's completed. It's finished. God will not get any clearer than he is in the face of Jesus Christ. And the testimony concerning Jesus Christ will not get any clearer than it has been in the apostles. So any further prophecy or special revelation is going to make things less clear rather than more. You cannot transcend the apex because the apex by definition is the highest point of the revelation. It cannot be added to. So here we see Paul identifying himself as an apostle. He holds this office. He's a representative of Jesus Christ. And so he is as special as Titus is, and we'll look at Titus in weeks to come. He's an evangelist. He holds an extraordinary office as well. Paul's teaching comes to him with the highest authority. He is speaking for Jesus Christ to Titus. Now, Paul is going to tell us some more about the nature of his office, and in particular its ends or purposes, its goals. And here we come back to verse 1. An apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. As I was in my study, struggling with this verse, I was looking at that, just read it again, you'll see it's difficulty. An apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect. What does that even mean? It's very wordy and it's very difficult. As I was looking at the Greek preposition, in this case kata, translated according to, it's probably better rendered in my judgment to further. or to promote which is also another fair rendering of it now according to could mean something like this that he is an apostle and his teaching is consistent with the faith of God's elect in all ages it could be something like that but to further seems to fit the context a lot better that his purpose as an apostle is to further the faith of God's elect now here we see the doctrine of election already comes right into view this is not a doctrine that was taught in a corner but we find it throughout the word of God and a very heavy concentration of it throughout Paul's epistles but he's an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect to call the elect that are still in the world out of the world unto salvation into the church and also to further those that are in the context of the church so that they might go further in the faith from faith to faith as the scripture will say elsewhere so this is one of his purposes to further the faith of God's elect and also to further the acknowledging of the truth in other words to further their acknowledgement of it You see, each one of us only acknowledges the truth to a certain degree. All of us are darkened in our minds and in our understandings. All of us, to some degree, truth deniers, but it's part of the apostolic mission to further the acknowledging of the truth, which is in accordance with, or producing, godliness. So here, it's not just to build them up in the faith, in the sense of building them up just in doctrinal knowledge. And if I can be frank with you, beloved, I frequently find this among the Reformed, that their doctrinal knowledge goes way beyond their practice. And it ought not so to be. As we learn things concerning the faith, we ought to implement them. And this is not an uncommon thing, but rather a common thing. I frequently find myself ashamed for having known the truth concerning this or that thing and having been unable to implement it. But this is a truth which produces godliness and is according to godliness, not just a doctrinal ascent as it were, but acknowledging truth and embracing it and being conformed to godliness. So in sum, as ministry aims to produce faith in the godly, And the acknowledging of the truth unto holiness. You want to put that all together. Acknowledging the truth unto holiness. Being transformed by it. Simply does us no good to pack our heads full of more facts if we're not going to be conformed to the truth in those things. We continue with verse 2. Well let me start with maybe about half of verse 1 here. And we'll get a running start into it because it's all one thought. an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. In my estimation this is also another result of the apostolic ministry. Here the preposition is epi could also be translated unto hope of eternal life. So let's put this all together. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect and to further the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness unto the hope of eternal life. So it's a result that's going to be furthering, from the furthering of the truth unto godliness, it's going to encourage us, as it were, in the hope of eternal life. Now, hope in Bible language is different than hope in the English language, and we should be pretty clear about that. Usually, if you were to ask me, are you going to get home tonight at a reasonable hour? And I say, I hope so. I'm telling you that it's a wish. but I don't necessarily expect that it will happen it may or may not happen it's not so in the biblical language when he talks about the hope of eternal life it is forward-looking but it's a confident expectation that the thing is going to take place so that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ begets in us the hope of eternal life and this hope of eternal life is grounded on the most sure and solid foundation imaginable The promise of God. The promise of God. And he's identified here as one that cannot lie. That's a most certain thing. He's promised it. He cannot lie. He will not deceive. If I might kind of break my train of thought here, as I look at the grammar here and as I was studying through it, it almost seems like a digression to now talk about God which cannot lie, the hope of eternal life promised to us by God that cannot lie. It almost seems like a digression, but he's going to come back around to his main purpose concerning his apostleship and its functions. Just watch what he does here. He's going to take a little step to the side, but he's going to come back in on his main purpose here at a different angle. Verse 3. 2 Which God that cannot lie promised before the world began, but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour. So eternal life was promised before the world began. So we kind of seem like we were going out on a tangent here, but then he wraps it around. But that promise was made manifest in due time through apostolic preaching. So now he's come back around to his purpose and his function. So it was promised before the world began, but manifested now in the preaching of the gospel through the apostles. And it's been made manifest by his word no doubt the content of the gospel that Paul is preaching but we should be clear this is no me and my Bible approach to the study of the word of God this is a word that is going to come by preaching and this preaching has been committed to Paul it's a most glorious thing to consider our position in the history of redemption how clearly we see the Lord Jesus Christ after his glorious appearing, ascension into heaven after the time of the apostolic testimony. We're told time and time again in the Word of God that saints in ancient times longed to see Jesus Christ with this degree of clarity. So what Paul is talking about here is really a most marvelous and magnificent thing. We're living at this time, with Jesus Christ having made his appearance, ascended into heaven, and now being preached with such clarity to you. So, Jesus Christ was preached in the Garden of Eden, but obscurely, by comparison. A son that was going to crush the head of the serpent, even while the serpent bruised his heel. An obscure preaching, although Christ preached nonetheless. But how they would have longed to see Jesus Christ with the clarity that your children see Jesus Christ. and have Christ proclaimed openly in that way and not in dark figures. I would observe one further thing because it's very important if we're going to understand the role and function of the minister. This duty of preaching came to him by commandment. We saw this this morning actually for those that weren't warranted. He did not take this office upon himself. we've seen this recently in Hebrews chapter 5 Aaron didn't take the office of priesthood unto himself Jesus Christ didn't take the mediatory office unto himself but all were appointed and here Paul says that he received this commission to preach by the commandment of God this implies several things one that his preaching comes with the backing of divine authority Again, something else that would no doubt be pressing heavily upon his hearers. God has commanded him to do this. Notice the language. Paul is not preaching his own word, but he's preaching God's word. And he's been commissioned by God himself to preach it. Commissioned by God to preach God's word. And as Paul would say, in some ways he felt like he had no option. I must preach this word. He told the Corinthian Christians, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. It almost sounds like Jeremiah, doesn't it? I'm not going to preach this word anymore. This is too painful. And then it was like a fire shut up in his bones and he could not contain it. So this commandment comes from God and not from man. And Lord willing, when another minister is called, you must learn to think of him in this way. He comes with the commandment of God upon him. It's an interesting thing. And when we get into doctrine and application, you should understand we're surrounded by congregationalists, by and large, that tend to think of the minister as working for them. The minister works for us, we pay the minister. It is not so in Presbyterian circles. You pay your tithe, you give your tithe to the Lord. Of all the things that he gave to you, he requires a portion back and you give your portion back to the Lord. And the Lord has remanded over a portion of his tithes to his servants. You don't pay the minister. The Lord gives him a stipend, as it were, a portion from his own portion. This is the way that it was under the priesthood. They would come up with their sacrifices. The sacrifice belonged to the Lord and the Lord remanded a portion of what belonged to him to his servants. But the minister works for God and is God's servant. And if you would have a view to your sanctification, you would not have it any other way. Because if you know yourselves to be sinners, not just in the abstract, but in the concrete, there's going to come a point when he's going to be dealing with you concerning your sins and your sinfulness. And you might be thinking, hey, we pay this guy and all this sort of stuff. That's going to cloud the issue. He is the servant of God to help you. Another way of thinking about this, because there's a lot of talk about servant leadership. Does the minister serve the congregation? In a sense, he does, but you might say it like this. He's the servant of God unto you. But I think that the best analogy is, you remember Jesus' parable where he discusses, he's got this steward that's over his household and he tells the steward, you know, I have these certain duties. And so the steward goes and gives to each one his portion. There's a sense in which he's serving them, but he's not responsible to them. He's responsible to his master when his master returns and wants an accounting of the stewardship. So he works for his master, his master has been him. Serve these ones, feed these ones, address these ones concerning their sins. But we'll deal with this some more in coming weeks, it's a very important thing. One further thing to observe here that the commandment comes to Paul from God, but he is here contemplated as Savior. So the gospel is very much in view. He's been commissioned with the gospel of reconciliation, reconciling men to God. And I'll just have you observe this. Keep this in your mind if you can for a month until next time. But he's also contemplated not just as Savior, but as our Savior. That's what Paul says to Titus, that Paul and Titus have a common Savior, and Titus is also laboring under a common ministerial charge. Now, he's not an apostle, but he does have a ministerial charge, and so there's a transition here to Titus in verse 4. But we'll look at that more next time, and we'll do doctrines and uses next time as well. Let us pray together.