Scripture referenced 10 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Psalm 33:22 quoted as an opening verse before the first song
22 Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh, since we have hoped in you.
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Keep this verse
John 11:35
mentioned as the shortest text delivered, 'Jesus wept'
35 Jesus wept.
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Acts 1:8
quoted to describe Jesus telling disciples they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
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1 Timothy 6:20-21
closing verses of first Timothy, guard the deposit, avoid irreverent babble, grace be with you all
20 Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of what is falsely called knowledge;
21 which some profess, and thus have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
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Galatians 1:8-9
cited to warn that if anyone preaches another gospel let him be anathema
8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.
9 As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any “good news” other than that which you received, let him be cursed.
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1 Timothy 1:5
quoted as the aim of the charge: love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith
5 but the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith;
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Ephesians 2:8-10
quoted to show salvation is by grace through faith, not works, but we are his workmanship created for good works
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, that no one would boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
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Titus 1:1-5
read and expounded as the introduction to the letter, Paul's purpose and greeting to Titus
1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;
3 but in his own time revealed his word in the message with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;
4 to Titus, my true child according to a common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
5 I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you;
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1 Corinthians 11:23-25
paraphrased during communion, words of institution over bread and cup
23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
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John 17:3
quoted at the close as the doxology sending, 'this is eternal life that they may know you'
3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark closed out the study of First Timothy and opened the book of Titus, working to show that these letters are not religious theory but real correspondence between real people in real places at a real point in history. He traced the chronological arc of the New Testament from the life of Jesus through Paul's missionary journeys and imprisonments, landing on the pastoral epistles as the next chapter in that ongoing story. The service ended with the Lord's Supper.
What was said
Pastor Mark began by walking the congregation through the order in which he has preached since arriving at First B six years ago. Starting in First Peter because it was the most comforting book he knew when he was scared, he moved through John, Acts, James, the Thessalonian letters, the Corinthian letters, Galatians, Romans, and the prison epistles, each chosen because it fit the next moment in the life of the early church. The review was not just housekeeping. It was an argument: that Scripture hangs together as a coherent, dateable, locatable history.
That argument ran through most of the morning. Paul's arrest in Jerusalem, his trial before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, his appeal to Caesar, his shipwreck off Malta, his first Roman imprisonment and the letters it produced, his release and resumed travel, these are events tied to specific years, specific places, specific people. Pastor Mark kept returning to the point that the History Channel and the Discovery Channel invite the most skeptical voices to dismiss all of this, and that Christians need to hold on to the fact that it actually happened, in time and space, on this planet.
The last two verses of First Timothy brought the review to a close. Paul's parting word to Timothy is to guard the deposit entrusted to him, which means holding to the gospel without adding to it or taking away from it, and avoiding what Paul calls the irreverent babble of what is falsely called knowledge. Pastor Mark noted that Paul had said essentially the same thing five times across the letter and would say it again to Titus, because the temptation to drift is that persistent.
Titus was then introduced by way of contrast with Timothy. Timothy is compassionate to a fault, which is why Paul's warnings to him are sometimes surprising. Titus has a different character, and Paul gets to the point with him in a way he does not with Timothy, skipping over two full chapters' worth of instruction because Titus simply does not need it. They are demonstrably different people in different places receiving different letters, which is one reason the old attempt to collapse them into a single person fails entirely.
The opening of Titus sets out why Paul is writing: for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, a truth that produces godliness. Pastor Mark flagged that godliness and doing good will be the recurring theme of Titus, and that Paul will be unambiguous that good works do not produce salvation, but that salvation, when it is real, produces good works. The Ephesians passage about being God's workmanship, created for good works established in advance, was brought in to frame that.
Pastor Mark closed the teaching with a word directed past church leadership to everyone in the room. The list of qualifications Paul gives Titus for appointing elders might seem like a passage only for pastors and deacons, but any person in a congregation may be the best example of a Christian that someone in their life has ever seen. That is a weight the whole church carries, not just its officers. The service moved from there into communion, with Pastor Mark praying that those who partake would act as, in his words, little Christs, holding the gospel without sliding toward either legalism or license.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor walked through the chronological order of the New Testament books and where they fit in real history. How does knowing that these letters were written by real people in real places, at specific times, affect the way you read them?
- The pastor said that adding to the gospel or taking away from it makes it no longer the gospel, and that Galatians calls down a severe warning on anyone who does that. Where do you see pressure today, from inside or outside the church, to add something to or subtract something from the plain gospel message?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,433 words
0:00
Alright. Blake gave me the thumbs up back there.
0:03
I guess it is time to start. Good to see everybody. Hey, what do you say we stand up? We start in song. That's a good way to start in the morning, I think.
0:10
Warming ourselves up to the Lord. Psalm thirty three twenty two, let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.
0:20
Let's sing.
0:23
Let's sing as soon as I get plugged in. Beautiful one.
0:35
Alright. Wonderful, so wonderful. Wonderful, so wonderful. No heart could fully know. How glorious, beautiful you are, beautiful one.
1:08
Beautiful one I You've opened my eyes. You've opened my eyes to your wonders anew. You captured my heart with this thought because nothing on earth as is beautiful as you. Let's sing that again. Open my eyes.
2:27
You've opened my eyes to wonders anew. Captured my heart with this love. There's nothing on earth as is beautiful as you. Let's sing again. Beautiful one, beautiful one I love.
2:46
Beautiful one I adore. Beautiful one, my soul must see. Let's sing that again. Beautiful one I adore beautiful one by so
3:16
Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning. First off, Yep. Rolling River Rampage.
3:27
Okay. This is the Vacation Bible School theme that we had last week. So, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, this church was full of kids and volunteers that were helping train those kids, and there was so much going on. You could see from a few of these pictures right here. Yeah, I don't know if that was midweek or after it was right over, but it was actually, it was beautiful.
3:50
That was a wonderful, wonderful week.
3:51
Lots
3:51
of encouraging stories from the week the whole time. No complaints at all. Didn't hear even one. And that is the group, the assembled group right there. It was great.
4:02
So if you had any part, child or volunteer in Vacation Bible School, would you stand up, Please. Alright. Thank you. Thank you very much. It was fantastic.
4:19
That was a great time. Youth group, Mike, do you want to say something about youth group?
4:23
You bet I do. Alright. So, youth group, we're gonna meet here this week. On Thursday night, we will be downstairs in the Youth Room, six to eight. So, we're gonna go a little bit longer, during the summertime so we can play more and have a little bit more teaching time.
4:39
Also, we've got Lagoon coming up. This is our big trip for the summer. It's gonna be an overnighter down in Salt Lake City. We're gonna go hit a water park and amusement park, camp out overnight. So that's gonna be the tenth and the eleventh.
4:51
Let me know by July 15 if you're coming so I can finalize our reservations with them, make sure we got enough drivers. I think that's it. Permission slips. If you've got a student that's going to come, get a permission slip from me. I'll have some right after the service.
5:09
Very good. Thank you, Mike. So it's Thursday, six to eight this week. Thursday, in the summertime, it's a little bit free floating. We change up when youth group is.
5:19
Thursday is this week's six to eight. Turning Point's Annual Gala is coming up July 19 at 05:30. That's gonna be on the Gill Ranch. So if you are not planning on going already, please do plan on going to Turning Point's Annual Gala July 19 at 05:30. Not this week, but home sweet home.
5:41
Yep. Monday nights. Tomorrow, we're on.
5:43
So meal, music, and message. We're on Luke 19. Jesus entry into Jerusalem, where we see his compassion and his desire for us. It's really, really good. Just know that you're invited.
5:54
The door's open. 06:00, Monday, meal, music,
5:57
music, Thank and you very much and if there are any other announcements that I'm forgetting, y'all know you're welcome. This Wednesday is July 4 and the parade comes right by on Glenwood and so you're welcome to come join us as a church family and everybody else right alongside the street out here. July 4, we'll be out here. So, would you stand and greet one another? If there are any other kind of announcements, they should be in your bulletin.
6:23
So greet one another, make some space for people.
6:35
Yes.
6:41
Yep. Oh, you wanna just do it? If you wanna just do it, that's fine. Yeah.
7:13
Alright. Let's sing. Before the day, before the light. Before the day, before the light, before the world revolved around the sun. Got on high, stepped down into time, and wrote the story of stuff for everyone.
7:37
And he's filled our hearts with wonder. To the we're and free. You and I embrace surrender. You would not choose to believe you and I will see who we were meant to be. Alright.
8:23
All we are and all we have. All we are and all we have is all a gift from God that we receive. Brought to light, we open up our eyes to see the majesty, glory of the king. And he's filled he has filled our hearts with wonder so that we'd always remember you're not made to worship you're not called stuff you're not forgiven and free. You would not embrace surrender.
9:16
You would not choose to believe. You and I will see. We were meant to be bent. And even the rocks cry out, and even the heavens shout at the sound of his holy name. His So let every voice sing up, and let every knee bow down.
9:43
He's worthy of all our praise. You're not made to worship. You're not called to love. You're not forgiven and free. You're not embraced, You and I choose to believe you and I will see who we were meant to be.
13:24
I why should I gain from misery more? I cannot give in answer, but this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my rent.
13:47
Let's pray together. God, where do we start? Let's start with you. Thank you. You're good.
13:59
You're glorious. You're wonderful. You're sweet to us. Your grace just keeps on and on. Your mercies are new every day.
14:09
Thank you, God, for your great love for us. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you you walked toward Jerusalem and not away from it with the weight of the the world's sin on your shoulders, and yet you do. Thank you for for your courage and your strength. Thank you, God, for your power that is is strong and alive today as it was then.
14:31
I thank you for your resurrection that changes everything. I thank you for your victory over the grave. I thank you for your church. I thank you for each person here today.
14:45
And I
14:45
pray that you would fill us, God. Give us wisdom. Give us understanding. Allow our hearts, God, to be open to receive what you you have for us. But, Lord, make us ready, to give you the the praise that that you so rightfully deserve.
15:05
In Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Let's sing. Awaken my soul.
15:52
Do as you did after. Spirit of spirit of the living God.
16:28
Let's sing again. Awaken my soul. Let's make this our prayer song.
16:32
Awaken my my sleep. Go through the caverns of my soul. Overflow. Let's Let's sing come fill this place spirit. Let your glory now in the name.
17:43
Let's sing that again. Spirit, come on
18:42
Amen. You can have a seat, and I'll invite the frontline team to come forward here as we participate in the worship of giving. We've got a lot to be thankful for. Let's pray. God, we do.
18:54
We have a lot to be thankful for. Thank you for life and breadth and meaning and purpose. Thank you, God, for your spirit. God, walk with us. More than that, let us walk with you.
19:05
You are here. You are available. You make yourself available to us. Draw near to us as we draw near to you. Thank you, God, for every gift.
19:17
Help us to see them, as just a on loan to you, that that we borrow here, that we'd be looking to store up treasure in heaven, where where nothing can destroy. It's a lasting treasure. Thank you, God, for that that place in heaven that's reserved, for us. Give us faith, God. Help us to, every day be walking in faith.
19:48
And thank you for everything that you provide. In Jesus' name. Amen.
20:18
Hormone will by the weight of the sin. Jesus is calling. How many come to the end of your cell? The Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there's no reason to wait.
21:20
Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes a new life is born. Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the altar.
21:44
The
24:25
Amen. There is a middle school and high school girls study that's going on right now in this part of the service. There they go. I'm used to this cavalcade and I'm I kind of have that in my rhythm. That's what's going to happen.
24:44
All the kids are going to get up and go to children's church but they don't do that during the summer. So, you're welcome to stay up here. We're going to go through this morning. We're introducing Titus and we're coming from Timothy. So, Timothy, Titus, Titus, Timothy, alright?
24:57
It made sense at 03:00 in the morning the other morning when I wasn't sleeping. I really want do want to introduce the book but I also, last week I said that this was going be preaching and not teaching. I'm going I'm back to teaching this week. We're ending one book. We're starting another, and that kind of says, this is the way that we have been doing things for the last six years.
25:17
I've been here six years and two weeks. So, yeah, it's pretty neat. And that's embarrassing. Where have we been since I have been here? We started in first Peter, and I honestly started in first Peter because to me, that's the most pastoral and comforting book.
25:36
And when I got here, I was absolutely scared to death. And so we started in first Peter. The banana sermon was from first Peter, and we went there. And during that, God started to calm my nerves a bit. And I thought, well, it makes sense since I've never done this before.
25:52
It would make sense to start where we start. First Peter keeps on pointing to Jesus, keeps on pointing to Jesus over and over there. Doxologies that just flow forth, glorifying Christ and so I thought, well, we'll start with the life of Jesus in the book of John and so we did that and that was a long study and it wasn't as verse by verse as we do it now but it was section for section going through Jesus's life and that was really encouraging for me and y'all responded very favorably, I think. It's the gospel of belief and as we walk through it, it just made sense. So, when we finish the book of John, we went to the book of Acts.
26:34
The book of Acts being the life of the early church, study the life of Jesus, the book of John, life of the early church in the book of Acts and it gives us little references, time references all the way through that let us know when things happen and what you can hang it on and there was a ton that was happening in Acts, the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts two and then as we walked on, some of the, I think the shortest sermon I've delivered, the shortest text I've delivered was in John 11. Jesus wept and the longest text that I've chosen since I've been here was four chapters at the end of Acts in one Sunday. Whoo. We almost didn't make it through that one. But after those, we decided this is what we would do or I decided this was what we would do.
27:19
The chronology of Christianity. So, the way thus far, we were looking at things from zero to 33 is where we started in the life and ministry of Jesus. So, from John one one, preexistence all the way back to eternity past and coming forward, we get up to in John up to thirty three AD. Jesus is sacrificial death on a cross after a perfect life, well lived, no sin, perfect record that he could give his life and offer that perfect record to anyone who believed and he said it over and over and over that that's what he's going to do and then he did it and then, three days later, resurrection, Pentecost was just not many days after that. Jesus had said to him, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts and they kind of clumped up in Jerusalem after his death, burial, resurrection.
28:16
They clumped up but then Stephen was murdered and at the martyrdom of Stephen and his great statement of faith as he's going out, It scattered the church after that. So, Jesus had said, you'll be my disciples. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts and they had not even gone out much further than Jerusalem until the death of Stephen. But when they did, it scattered the disciples all over. In the early thirties, Saul riding on his way to Damascus, angry Pharisee, going to capture those followers of the way was converted on the road to Damascus.
29:02
Amen. That's happens in the early thirties. 30s and 40s, Peter and Philip are the primaries that we see in the book of Acts. We see Peter especially but Philip too ministering in and around what we now most of us and still know as know as Palestine but Peter and Philip are ministering around Jerusalem, Judea, around Israel in the 30s and 40s. Paul and Barnabas minister in Antioch.
29:33
He knows and believes, Barnabas believes that Paul's the right guy to help out at this little multi cultural Christian church. People have been called out from all different places and they're in Antioch and they needed somebody to teach them and Barnabas recognized that Paul was that guy. The converted Saul and so he taught in Antioch. They were first called Christians at Antioch. Are you with me?
30:00
Is this boring you silly? I'm a teacher and review is the key to learning. Paul and Barnabas minister and then they go on their first missionary journey. That's 44 to '49. So that's not long, right?
30:12
That's not long after the cross. Eleven years after the cross. He's been teaching in Antioch for some time and seeing how, wow, Israel's supposed to be a light to the nations and we weren't. But now, he knows and understands Old Testament. He understands that and Paul and Barnabas go on their first missionary journey.
30:38
I could go through. I didn't put maps in this morning. Sorry, map people. The late 40s and early 50s, James, brother Jesus, half brother Jesus, is written to Jewish Christians and that's where we started our study was the book of James. Galatians may have been written first.
30:55
It may have been but it's hard to tell. There's argument over where Galatians exactly falls. It's either early or later. Some people say the middle. Most people say early or late.
31:03
James was written to Jewish Christians and we started right there. So, there we go, James. Paul's second missionary journey, fifty fifty two AD. He writes first and second Thessalonians from Corinth while he is in Corinth ministering there. He writes to first and second, first and second Thessalonians.
31:29
So, there we go. We did that one. We did that one. That was so nice. There was not a whole lot of sin going on in Thessalonica.
31:38
In the church, it was a pretty good, encouraging epistle. That was really, really nice. Then, on Paul's third missionary journey, fifty three to fifty seven, he writes first Corinthians from Ephesus about '55 probably. He wrote, oh my goodness. Plenty of sin in Corinth.
31:59
And first Corinthians dealt with that In between first and second Corinthians there was what he refers to in second Corinthians as a severe letter. Thank you, Jesus that we don't have the severe letter. I thought first and second Corinthians were pretty severe Titus, the guy we're going to get to today, delivered that severe letter and he delivered second Corinthians two. We covered. First Corinthians.
32:26
Actually, I put Galatians in the middle because I just want to break up the sin in first Corinthians. Honestly, it's a different kind of sin in Galatians. So, we put it in between the two. He writes second Corinthians from Macedonia. Macedonia had been a really good and fruitful place for Paul and things were going generally well in Thessalonica, Philippi, Nicopolis, and a few other places.
32:49
Second Corinthians, Berea. Oh, yeah. Second Corinthians, he writes to them. And then his Magnus opus, the theological eight first eight chapters of Romans and then the second half of Romans being about putting that into practice and Jewish question right there in the middle, nine through 11. Paul writes Romans from Greece and the winner of 57.
33:14
Are are some of y'all surprised at the accuracy with which this is nailed down? Not by mine but that we know this stuff. It it is real. The point of today, I want you to see that this it's real. In time and space, this stuff happened.
33:30
It's not a way religion just tries to control the populace as the opiate of the masses. No. This really happened. And I want for you to connect time and place. That's why I put the maps usually up there.
33:42
He writes Romans from Greece. A lot of times, he's addressing specific problems in churches and sometimes, he had never been there at that point. So, he is writing to them and saying, these are the things that are important. So, that's why it's such a theological masterpiece at the beginning and then the practice part of it, he's saying in general, this is the way it is. Oh, every major move of the church or major move of God's people has happened from somebody paying attention to Romans.
34:12
It's good. We spend a long time in Romans. 57. So, we covered that. '57, this is the trip.
34:19
He went Macedonia to Troas, Militas. He said farewell to the Ephesian elders. He had spent three years in Ephesus and he had ministered to them for a long time and he got down on his knees and they cried together as he was leaving and he said, some of y'all are going to walk away. Some of y'all are not going to stick with what we've been teaching and they're going to be others that come in from the outside and try to preach false doctrine. Don't let it happen but he knew it was going to happen.
34:49
We covered that at the beginning of first Timothy because he left Timothy behind in Ephesus to minister. Are you with me? Still with me? Okay. Macedonia, Troas, Troas, Miltus.
35:01
Miltus is a little ways off but it's on the beach near Ephesus and the elders came out to meet him there. That little meeting, that tearful goodbye. He knew that he was headed towards Jerusalem. So, Tyre, Caesarea, and Jerusalem and all the way along, even Agabus in one place says, you're going to be arrested. Don't do it.
35:23
Please don't do it. Please don't do it. If you do it, you're going to get arrested and he did and he did. Was arrested in the temple. Had the little Sanhedrin hearing.
35:35
There was a plot on his life. They were going to kill him because the gospel was rolling and they were blaming that gospel rolling on him. Fifty seven to fifty nine, he's in Caesarea jailed trial before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa and he appeals to Caesar because he's a Roman citizen. God picks the right people for the right job, okay? It's a real person in a real place.
36:02
He's really in peril. He's really in prison. And he's ministering to all people around him the whole time. He appeals to Caesar because he's a Roman citizen. That means he gets to go to Rome.
36:16
So his journey to Rome was around '59 to '60. This stuff is really happened. I keep saying that because I think we watch too much History Channel and Discovery Channel, and they get the most crazy liberal theologians to say the craziest, nuttiest things, and then they put on a program about aliens right after that. Okay. It really happened.
36:39
We know that this really happened. His journey to Rome, Caesarea to Crete. He was shipwrecked off of Malta. That's a big party in Malta, the day of Saint Paul, the feast day of Saint Paul because he washes up on the shore of Malta. And then from there, he's still a prisoner and so he still goes on to Rome.
36:59
Sixty one to sixty three is his first Roman imprisonment where he waits trial before Nero. He writes the prison epistles by Lehman, a personal letter. Philemon was a personal letter to Philemon who had a slave named Onesimus and he was writing personally to him about what should happen in that situation. Colossians, oh the masterpiece. I love Colossians.
37:34
Everything is upheld by the word of his power. Ephesians, what if he were not jailed? Would we have Ephesians? God's leading this man through his spirit to write. Sixty one sixty two, Philemon, Colossians, accompanying books carried by the same guy to the same place.
37:54
Colossians being the church by Lehman being the man and this letter to Ephesus from his first Roman imprisonment where Timothy was there with him. Timothy was hanging out with him. He knew the church at Ephesus. He had been there before. He had been ministering there with Paul before and then Paul is writing to the Ephesians and Timothy is there while he's writing this document that he knows they've got, right?
38:20
He's in the there. So, we study that one. We study those. Galatians, I mean, Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians. So, we're knocking em down.
38:30
Really? Philippians was also one of the prison epistles. Oh, how joyful. Chuck Swindoll's commentary on Philippians is called laugh again. Should've put that one between first and second Corinthians.
38:48
Sixty two sixty three, Philippians. And actually, Acts was written about that same time too. The book of Acts was not written by Paul but it was written the same time as he was composing Philippians Luke is writing Acts. So, that's why we don't see a whole lot of Paul after. You know, we don't know exactly what's happening.
39:10
I've got a pretty good schedule of events for Paul's life since conversion Actually, even before conversion, we've got a pretty good record of events, but after this, you don't see a record of exactly where Paul was. But that's where Acts fits into the scheme, 6263 probably AD. Sixty three to sixty five, Paul was released from prison. He was let go and he could travel again. Now where he went, we don't have an accurate record exactly like we did in Acts, but from first Timothy and second Timothy and Titus, we get a record of where he traveled but we have to hold on to it a little looser because it's extrapolating.
39:50
We don't want to extrapolate too much. He was released from prison. He travels and he writes first Timothy from the road. So, we have studied now all of first Timothy except for the last two verses which we're about to get to. And then, yeah, where he probably from Macedonia because he says that he's traveling on to Nicopolis which is in Macedonia but further away from the shore.
40:15
Alright. Is everybody with me still? Okay, checking in. We've got communion today. We've done our review.
40:20
We just have a few verses that we're going to walk through. But first Timothy are two verses right here. Oh Timothy, and that that's a loving, Oh Timothy, okay? Oh Timothy, you're dear to me. Oh, Timothy, guard the deposit that has been entrusted to you.
40:42
You have been traveling with me since the second missionary journey. Probably was converted on the first missionary journey just eleven, twelve, thirteen years after the cross. Oh, Timothy, guard the deposit. What has been put in is an investment. It's an investment in you.
41:01
The gospel. Guard it and the gospel will bear fruit. Guard it. Hold on to it and don't add anything to it and don't take anything away from it. Just you put it in there.
41:13
It's an investment. There's going to grow. It's been entrusted to you. It's going to grow. And this is how.
41:21
If you will avoid the irreverent babble and the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. It's not new to the History Channel or the Discovery Channel or any of our channels. What they are blasting forth and saying, Oh, we have this figured out, completely figured out. He says avoid that. Avoid the irreverent babble.
41:42
If you're arguing with fool, Proverbs says, he is doing the same. Okay? Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. So how many times had Paul told him this? Can you remember?
41:59
Pay no attention to endless genealogies. He said it about five times during this book and he'll say it a few more times and he says it to Titus also. These are called the pastoral epistles because he's leaving Timothy in charge pastorally shepherding the church in Ephesus and he's going to be leaving Titus pastorally in charge of the churches in Crete. So, he's told him a bunch of times that what is falsely called knowledge for by professing it, this false knowledge for by professing it, some have swerved from the actual faith. If you add to the gospel or you take away from the gospel, it is no longer the gospel and Galatians tells us, if anybody preaches any other gospel, then what has we have preached to you?
42:41
Let him be anathema. Do you get that? He's saying, don't add to it. Don't take away from it. Paul even says in Galatians, he said, even if it's me, even if I come back later and I've changed my mind.
42:51
Sadly, there are great theologians and great preachers of the faith that near the end of their life turn and want to change something. Don't swerve from it. Don't get tired of saying the same thing because the same good news is still good news. For by professing it, some have swerve from the faith. The aim of our charge, Timothy, is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
43:19
Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion. That's that irreverent babble he was talking about. Desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they're saying or about which they make confident assertions. Stick with the simple gospel and then he ends like he almost always ends. Grace be with you and there's an asterisk.
43:42
You can see it. The U there is actually y'all. Okay? All of y'all. It is plural.
43:49
And that makes a difference because this is a letter that's labeled first Timothy. It says it's to Timothy, but he's saying this for Timothy for the benefit of all of y'all, okay? So, grace be with all of y'all. Thus ends first Timothy. That's the way he started.
44:05
That's the way he ends. That's the way he's going to begin Titus too because it is about God's overwhelming grace. God's riches at Christ's expense. God gives unmerited favor for anyone who reaches for it, for anyone who cries out will be saved. Grace be with you all.
44:26
Now, where we're going? Titus. Titus, some people have tried to conflate or put together Timothy and Titus as being the same person. Ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.
44:40
Cannot be they're in different places at different times receiving different letters, but there is no Bible theory that hadn't been tested, alright? Titus is a different person. He has a different comportment. He has a different way of acting than Timothy, and we can see that in the letters that Paul has written to both of them. So Timothy is incredibly compassionate and merciful, So much so that some of the warnings he gives Timothy, I think, why would you have to say that?
45:09
I I still can't get to it but I've skipped five verses, 11 through sixteen and and first Timothy and he was talking about how Timothy should deal, Timothy should deal with the younger widows and when he talks about how you should deal, he says, reject them and I thought, how in the world is he telling Timothy to reject these younger widows? What poor, poor widows? And I think that he knows that Timothy could very easily fall for one of them or be drawn into a place where he just don't need to go. Paul knows Timothy. We don't know Timothy.
45:49
We know him only through the letters that Paul has written to him. Titus, for the, let's just as a comparison. First Timothy one, he says, this is the aim of our charge, sincere, conscience, or good conscience, pure faith and then Titus, he said, this is why I left you. He doesn't have to get through two literal chapters. There are two chapters in first Timothy that he just skips over completely when he's talking to Titus because Titus don't need to hear all that.
46:23
Timothy needed it. Does that make sense? Timothy, Titus, Titus, Timothy. So we're introducing Titus now. Who's doing the writing?
46:36
Well, this is the next to the last book of Paul that we're going to study together. The last book that we have from Paul before he is martyred is second Timothy but Paul, this is where it starts. A servant and an apostle. So, a servant could be slave. It's doulas is the word.
46:54
A servant or a slave of God and an apostle, one who has been sent out by Jesus Christ. When he converted on that road to Damascus, he said, you will be my witness, right? I'm going to send you to the Gentiles. I'm going to send you out. Now, there's another thing.
47:10
Timothy had been raised by a Jewish background mom and grandmom but a Greek dad. So Timothy had never been circumcised because he his father was Greek and not Jewish. Titus was a Gentile. He was not circumcised because he's a Gentile. Why would you?
47:30
Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was sent out by Jesus to the Gentiles and some people may look so far, we haven't seen Paul take a stand. He he circumcised Timothy so that he could minister and in the case of Titus, specifically, Paul had gone and had planted some churches on Crete, had started the work there but had not finished it. Lot of different little churches on the island of Crete. And then people had come along behind him and it started Judaizing.
48:06
They came in and said, oh, you gotta follow the all of the Jewish law too. In order to be a Christian, you first have to become a Jew and Paul was vehemently against that and refused to circumcise Titus and you might think, why would he do one and not the other? Because the context are different. They're different people. That's another way of telling.
48:23
They're different people Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was sent out by Jesus. That's what apostolized meant. One who is sent out of Jesus Christ. So, why is he writing?
48:36
He'll tell, he will tell Timothy, I mean, he'll tell Titus specifically why he's writing but he says it even in his introduction. He says, Paul, a servant or slave of God and an apostle, one who sent out by Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God's elect. This is why I'm writing this letter for the sake of the faith of God's elect. I want for those who God will save. I want for their faith to be pure.
49:03
I don't want for it to be confused by false teaching. For the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, not what is falsely called knowledge. He just mentioned to Timothy. He's writing these within probably less than a month of each other. Maybe the same day.
49:19
He's writing these two letters to these two different guys in two different places. For the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. Oh my goodness. Now, we see a little bit about what the book of Titus is about. It's going to be about godliness.
49:33
Actually, it's gonna be about doing good. He will not even come close to saying that good works save you. He'll, in fact, make sure you understand that multiple times that it's by faith that you're saved, but he will say, but when you are saved, you are to be doing good works. He said this to the Ephesians, it is by grace that you've been saved through faith that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God so that no one would boast for we are his workmanship, Poema, his masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus, four good works, which he established in advance that we should walk in them. Godliness, he's pointing towards the good works that he'll mention over and over and over.
50:15
Would you read Titus? It's half as long as first Timothy and first Timothy is not long. Okay? Would you read Titus this week? It's just three chapters.
50:22
Read it over and over and I'm going to be reading it over and over. We'll talk about it again next week. Which accords with guidelines and hope of eternal life. Which God, who never last, promised before the ages began. It's about salvation too.
50:39
The purity of the doctrine that is presented makes a difference and whether actually receive eternal life or just temporal comfort. Do you get that? They're different people. They're different men. Their comportment is different.
50:54
They've been sent to different places but the message is the same and it must be the same in order for Jesus to keep building his church. We have to stick with what he said. Are you with me? In hope of eternal life, which God who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time, he manifested in his word. So, he brought out of it.
51:12
He made it materialize in front of him. Out of his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted. Now, he just said to Timothy, guard that deposit that's been entrusted to you. Hold on to it. Keep it and now he's saying, I've been entrusted with this that I'm supposed to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
51:32
Eternal life. Preaching it with which I've been entrusted by the command of God, our savior, and to whom is Paul writing? Well, Titus. It's the name of the book, right? But he says so right here, to Titus, my true child.
51:46
He's called Timothy before. He called him my true son in the faith. He calls him my true son in a common faith to Titus. Grace and peace. I love it.
51:59
He always starts with grace and peace and every time I do a transition like this, I always say, please always start with grace and peace. I know people don't deserve it. That's why it's called grace. Unmerited favor. Alright, it's unmerited.
52:11
If you're just kind to the ones who are kind to you, don't everybody do that? Grace and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus, our savior And why is he writing to him? Well, he gets right to business with Titus and says, this is why I left you in Crete. So, they were together in Crete. That's one of the places that he traveled after his first Roman imprisonment and when he left, he went to Macedonia and he's going towards Nicopolis.
52:39
He mentions that. This is why I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained into order. There's a lot about order in this book. It's about order for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the reputation of Jesus, for the reputation of his continuing body, the church. This is why I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you not.
53:05
Immediately from there, he goes into the list that started in three one in first Timothy and there's some similarities and there's some differences and we'll contrast those next time. My point today, I hope that you get that this is rooted in reality. It's not just out there. Over the years, church councils have met and tried to. No, it's real.
53:29
This was a real letter written to a real man who had a real job to do that was his work to do before God. Does that make sense to you? Alright. So, I think my last slide is so I remember to say this. In his infinite wisdom, God, in the context of time and space, this really happened on this planet.
53:50
Some of y'all been to Israel. I know some of y'all been to Israel. There are people that when they go to Israel, they come back and they go, it has never been more real than it is right now because I've seen this place. I've been to this place. I've walked in those places and I see the relationships like I've never seen them before.
54:05
In the context of time and space on this planet, he is called and gifted different people to do different duties. Would you agree? We've run into the spiritual gifts multiple times in our studies and we're going to hit em again. However, different we may be by gifting or by calling, we are all to be carrying the same message out of thankful obedience for God having saved us. And for the good of those who will hear the message in the way we live our life, the way we use our words, and that will bring God greater glory.
54:41
Are we are we good with that? Do we understand it? And if you think, well, he set a point elders. This whole thing's about elders. Nobody ever studies Titus except for the elders because it's only for church leadership.
54:50
Think about this. There are people that when they find out, I'm the first Baptist pastor, will not talk to me. It's not uncommon actually. I can be having a great conversation with somebody. Somebody else walk up and go, hey, he's the pastor at First B and they go.
55:07
They just walk away. Happens all the time actually. It really does. Like or they go, this is kind of weird. Wait a second.
55:13
I'm gonna hang around and see what this guy's about. You may be the best Christian that your friends know. You may be, you think, well, I'm not an elder so I can do whatever I want to. The list is for elders. I don't want to be in church leadership.
55:31
I might start drinking just to avoid it. Okay? I'm sorry. You may be the leader Christian for the people that you know. You may be the best example of a Christian that someone in your life knows.
55:53
In that sense, think about that. The weight of the gospel. Don't don't have them say when they stand before the throne, so and so was doing it. That's not going to stand. That's not a good excuse.
56:08
But it don't look good for you either. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's about holiness. It's about good works but however different we may be, we're all carrying out the same message and we need to keep a gospel focus to our message and the gospel focus of this message, this says, that every time that we do this, we proclaim Jesus's death until he comes again. Now, his perfect life I mentioned at the very beginning of the sermon and his sacrificial death I mentioned.
56:38
We celebrate the Lord's supper by saying that no matter how different we are, no matter who you are or what your background is, Jewish, Greek at that time, Republican, Democrat at this time, whatever. Whatever background you come from, rich, poor, whatever. We are standing on level ground at the foot of the cross. Nothing in my hand I bring simply to the cross I cling. So, we are going to go into a time right now of communion.
57:06
I'll invite the elders to come forward to distribute this and would you pray with me as they're coming forward? God, I pray that you would bless this time where we do celebrate the sacrifice that you made and lord through your grace have shared with us the message that we have believed. For everyone in this room, lord, that has believed on Jesus. This is an open table for everyone who has trusted in him. Lord, if there's some present that have not trusted yet in Jesus, I pray that you would use us, those of us who partake, you'd use us in their lives to act out as little Christ's Christians that actually stick to the gospel message of God's love and forgiveness.
57:55
And lord, that we can hold to the holiness like Jesus when he met with the adulterous woman and said, your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more. That we can hold it right in the center between the legalistic tendencies and the license of this world. Would you keep us in that good old gospel way as we celebrate the Lord's supper here this morning? Jesus name.
1:01:43
Trade, he took bread after supper and he said to his disciples who were there with him, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me. Lord God, I thank you for Jesus's perfect life that he withstood all scrutiny. He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin. His innocent blood, lord, shed is what frees us.
1:02:22
From our own sin. Lord, would you impress upon us not just Jesus's example but the fact that he has paid that price through his blood. As we distribute this cup, lord, I pray specifically for everyone who would take it in and for those lord again who must let it pass because they just don't believe that you would softly and tenderly call them through the lives of your church. In the same way that he had taken the bread, he took the cup after supper and he told his disciples that this is the new covenant in my blood. It's a covenant of grace.
1:07:27
This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. And rather than, would you stand but rather than singing our last hymn, I've gone a little over and would you sing the doxology with me? The elders can stay up here.
1:07:52
Praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below praise him above you heavenly host praise father son and holy ghost
1:08:25
and this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Jesus name, would you bless lord this week as we carry your message forward. Amen.
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