Good evening to everyone.
Scripture Reading: Titus 1:1–4
You can turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Titus, Titus chapter 1. I'm going to read from verse 1 to verse 4, and then we'll have a look at the salutation, the structure of this salutation, and the wonderful elements that come forth from Paul's a greeting and salutation and blessing upon his son in the Lord, Titus. Let's read beginning at verse 1 of Titus 1. This is the word of God.
Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested his word through preaching. which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior, to tithe us a true son in our common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. Well, let's pray.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time we have in worship. We rejoice in you. We rejoice in our Christ. We rejoice in amazing grace.
We thank you that we can gather here in freedom this night on this, your Lord's Day, to worship the one and only living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So do bless our time as we continue through worship in this now, the act of worship, the preaching of your word. Be with us. Give us your spirit.
And we pray that we would heed the word of God and rejoice in the Christ to whom it points. And we pray in his precious name. Amen. Well,
Introduction
when we come to the epistles that we have in the New Testament, we have very often a common structure to them. We have almost always, though not always, but almost always a greeting and a salutation given by the author. When we see the Apostle Paul opening up his letters to the various churches or the persons that he's writing to, Peter as well John we see we see Salutations that are given at the at the beginning of each letter and that the epistles follow usually the same sort of structure There's usually a greeting and a salutation given to the audience whether it's an audience of a church or an audience of one in essence, though the letters of course are written to specific persons or churches, but given to the church at large as well. Then we usually have theology and exhortation that follows.
Not always. Sometimes there's a purpose statement given for the writing of the letter, as we see here, as we saw in 1 Timothy this morning. but there's a structure that follows the greeting and the salutation. And then there's an end to it, which is very often a doxology and or a benediction, departing words given to the audience of the particular letter. This evening, we're going to look at a greeting and a salutation here that we have in the Apostle Paul's letter to Titus.
I think we need to recognize that these salutations aren't just mechanical on the part of the authors. We've noted before that they are very often on our part when we're writing to people, you know, dear so-and-so, I hope this email finds you well. which is very often completely emptiness of genuineness and that sort of a thing. It's very often just, it's just common. Not that there's any maliciousness when we do that, but it's just sort of common, but it can be, in a measure, empty.
When the apostles are writing, when the writers of these epistles are writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we are to take them as genuine, of course, and we are to see in them the richness of our God and of his Christ and many elements that are brought forth in only a greeting to a particular church or a particular individual. This letter is written to Titus, who was something of a vice-apostle, similar to Timothy, one who was charged with establishing the churches planted by the apostles. So, similar to Timothy, Titus is involved in that here on the island of Crete. There were churches planted, and these are commissioned to ordain elders, to establish churches, to enrich the churches with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to serve in a particular capacity under apostles.
This letter is directing Titus in the ordaining of church elders. It's directing this in a manner by which to handle false teachers, and it's also directing Titus how to preach and live. In any era, preachers receive well any word that is given to them in order to preach and live well in a perverse generation that surrounds them. So Paul writes to Titus in order to encourage him, to direct him, to build him up in his most holy faith in the charge that he has in the Church of Christ.
And in the course here of this greeting and salutation, we have much to look at, and I am conscious of the time. I will not go long. Try to keep it short and get you back to your homes But I think it'll be a good exercise to work through and to try to work through seven things that we have in this particular Salutation and
First: The Apostle Paul
the first of those seven things is the Apostle if you were here this morning we looked at the Apostle Paul his former career and conversion and his calling to be an apostle and that same Paul is the author of this letter to Titus so we don't need to spend too much time in an exploration on the Apostle Paul but we do want to note that it is Paul here who writes and this is a good occasion when you when we are reading when we're preaching perhaps from a book like this or when you are reading the Holy Scriptures and you come across the beginning of a New Testament epistle or any any Book in the bible or perhaps the the book of psalms where we read a psalm of david and and that sort of a thing The point being that we should never just skip over the person that's listed As the one who is the writer of the letter and then just move on by uh, there's much to be had in glorious reflection in just the words, Paul,
Bondservant and Apostle
a bondservant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ. We think of Peter as a case example. When we read 1 and 2 Peter, we ought to reflect with great joy that the one who thrice denied his master before the inquiring mind of a servant girl, the one who abandoned his savior, is now the one who, by the grace of God, is writing these epistles with boldness to recipients in order that he might encourage them in their walk of faith. Or if we read the book of Acts, for example, and we see Acts 2, we can reflect upon, yes, this is the one who denied the Savior three times, but he's now standing boldly before this audience of Jews, before whom he would have denied Christ, now boldly proclaiming the glory of Christ.
So when we come to these places, we ought to take pause for a moment to read Paul and then to reflect again, as we noted this morning, that this blasphemer, persecutor and insolent man is the one now writing in service of the church, in service of his master Christ, who called him by his grace. So notice we see here Paul, and then we read a bondservant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ. A bondservant of God. Paul was certainly a bondservant of God according to the fact that he was saved by amazing grace.
We see that saints, that Christians, are referred to as bondservants in the scriptures. If we were to read, for example, the book of Romans, Romans chapter 6 specifically, we see there that we are bondservants, or we are slaves of Christ Jesus, no longer slaves of sin in service of that master, but now slaves of Christ in service of our great master. So we are bondservants according to the fact that we are Christians, but this language here, a bondservant of God, has specific application to his role as an apostle. It's not just simply a duplication of apostle, but it has to do with his specific and peculiar calling as one who is a minister of the gospel in that early church context to serve the church of God and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul speaks to himself as such, a bondservant, as well as other apostles and ministers of the gospel in his second letter to Corinthians, where he He speaks with regards to the fact that we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your bondservants, for Jesus' sake. And so the apostles are peculiarly bondservants in the sense that they are tasked by their master, the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring the gospel. to every nation under heaven. So in this sense, Paul refers to himself as a bondservant of God. And it's important to note at this point, or it's good to note at this point, as Matthew Henry says, the highest ministers in the church are but servants.
It's a terrible thing when a minister of the Word of God seeks to exalt himself as something other than what he is, a bondservant of the Master Christ, as if to impose a measure of lifted-up elitism upon the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is bad also when the people of Christ exalt such a one, you know, the high reverend so-and-so, as if he is one who is to be elevated above the church and to not properly be a bondservant of God and the bondservant of the people for the sake of Christ. The Apostle Paul did not shy away from referring to himself as a bondservant of God and also a servant of the people, the one who comes to feed the sheep, to be a servant in the service of Christ in church. And we also see here that Paul, as we move along in this greeting and salutation, we see here the apostle Paul refers to him, of course, as an apostle of Jesus Christ.
He was a sent one. He was an ambassador, an emissary, and a herald of the risen and exalted Christ. And here he refers to himself as such, not as one glorying in his station, but as one reflecting upon the fact that he has been sent by his Master Christ to preach the glories of that Christ and the wonders of the Triune God. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, is actually referred to as an apostle, by Paul in the letter to the Hebrews.
He is the great apostle of our confession. Jesus Christ himself was a sent one in a completely different sense, but he's referred as an apostle nonetheless. He is sent by his father in the assumption of humanity in order to save his people from their sins. And here we have the apostle Paul referring to himself according to his office as one sent in the service of gospel glories.
Second: The Apostolic Task
We move on next then, secondly, to the apostolic task. Notice after Paul identifies himself, we have the apostolic task. Paul, a bondservant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness." There we see the apostolic task stated by the apostle. His apostleship, first off, under this head, was unto the end of the elect believing.
Apostleship for the Elect's Faith
His apostleship was unto the end of the elect believing. He is according to the faith of God's elect. Now some may read that. Some may read according to the faith of God's elect and suppose it to mean that Paul's doctrine was in agreement with all the elect throughout the ages.
Now that's true. It was in accord with all the elect throughout the ages. And if we read it that way, hey, that's okay. According to the faith of God's elect.
That Paul is consistent with those who preceded him. In fact, Paul speaks concerning this regard. his own in this regard of his own preaching in Acts 26 22 and 23 where we read that Paul witnessed to both small and great saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come that the Christ would suffer that he would be the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and and to the Gentiles. Paul was preaching no novelty, Paul was preaching no new thing, but he was simply preaching those things that the Old Testament promised, preaching those things that the prophets promised, preaching those things that the types and the shadows pointed forward to, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Paul was certainly in accord with The elect throughout the ages in his proclamation of the truth.
It's it's something that we ought to We ought to rejoice in that we has as the as Spurgeon said he said something like in a I think it was in the context if you've ever heard one of his famous quotes if you're a Calvinist and you're a Baptist He said something like I'm never ashamed to call myself a Calvinist. I do not shrink back from calling myself a Baptist, but if I am asked, what is my creed? I reply, it is Jesus Christ, who is the sum and substance of all revelation, the one who is the perfect embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life, something like that. And then he goes on to say that according to our tradition, according to our Christianity, we can look back upon the landscape of Christianity and we see father after father and saint after saint shaking hands with us, in a way, because we have the fact that we are in accord with the elect throughout all the ages.
There is a blessedness to a stream of Christian theology that can reach back through the ages, through the centuries, and through the millennia, and see that we do have father after father, confessor after confessor, and saint after saint shaking hands with us. And we ought to grip onto that heritage of antiquity with an unshakable grip. There are some quotes here that I have upon this particular point, which isn't necessarily Paul's point, but we stopped upon it for a moment. But with regards to not seeking after novelty, but availing of and appreciating the heritage of our Christian antiquity.
Vincentius wrote, well-established antiquity is being subverted by wicked novelty. The institutions of former ages are being set at naught, looking upon the landscape of his particular Christian context. Sozomus wrote, nor does the spirit of innovation honor the doctrines of the ancients concerning God, but is always thinking out strange dogmas and restlessly adds novelty to novelty. and Spurgeon in his Spurgeonic way, pity is our only feeling toward those young preachers who cry, see my new theology, in just the same spirit as Little Mary says, see my pretty new frock. It is a great mercy to be kept from the silly love of novelties and to be helped to adhere to the old faith.
What a blessing that we can adhere to the old faith and we always should lay hold of the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints that we should contend for the faith that has been given to us by God, the blessed truths set forth in Holy Scripture. So some would see that read as that Paul is in agreement with the elect throughout the ages. He was, but that's not necessarily what Paul is saying there. Others may read according to the faith of God's elect and take it to mean the manner by which he became an apostle.
He was chosen by God and brought to belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. That also is true. But, this probably refers to, when we read, according to the faith of God's elect, it probably refers to the fact that Paul was in a a tool in the hand of God to bring Christ to the Gentiles, that he was according to or for the faith of God's elect, that he was, remember, put into the ministry and enabled in order that he might preach the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that in Acts chapter 26, and you can turn there with me, Acts 26, just very briefly, and then we'll move on to our third point here.
The Apostle Paul, in recounting his own conversion, speaks with regards to this particular truth. And we want to zero in specifically on the commissioning of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this will come up a little bit later in a subsequent point, but notice in Acts 26, at verse 15, this is Paul again recounting his conversion another time. So I said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan to god that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me so this according to the faith of god's elect has to do with the fact that the apostle paul was a tool in the hand of god to bring sinners to saving faith. Christianity is advanced by the faithful proclamation of the truth. This is one of the many good reasons why we are about the preservation, the holding on to, the standing fast upon those truths once for all delivered to the saints. because it is the case that Christianity is advanced by faithful proclamation, not to fancy preaching, but to the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The Apostle Paul was about, he was for, he was according to the faith of God's elect. He saw the reason for his preaching as advancing through faithful proclamation the cause of Christ in this lower and sinful world. And notice that we see that this is the faith of the elect and in contrast to any other sort of faith. the faith of devils, the faith of heretics, the faith of the reprobate, the faith of hypocrites. This is the faith of God's elect, and we are to see it precious as such.
His apostleship, so his apostleship was unto the end of the elect believing.
Apostleship for Public Profession
His apostleship was also unto the people's owning of the gospel, notice, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth. By the preaching of the Apostle Paul, and we would want to go further back and above and say by the fact of the exalted Christ sending forth his spirit to ministers of the gospel in order to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, this was unto the end of people's owning of the blessedness of that gospel, that they would publicly profess it and that they would not depart from it. Such a departure, issued forth in Paul, or rose up in Paul, such responses like, I marvel that you have so soon fallen away from the gospel of grace. He marveled that they were, in a sense, bewitched.
In essence, bewitched by another gospel, which is no gospel at all. The preaching of the work of the Apostleship, the work of the Apostle Paul was unto the end that people would publicly profess this Christ. would against perhaps the better wisdom of a human mind publicly profess this Christ. But those regenerated by the Holy Spirit, given the mind of Christ, rejoice to go into whatever context and profess that yes, Christ is King. Yes, I believe in this one who was crucified, but who rose again, who ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high. and who now ever lives to make intercession for us.
And as well, thirdly, under the apostolic task,
Apostleship for Godly Conduct
his apostleship was unto the end of it, ensuring the gospel was adorned by godly conduct. Notice, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth, which accords with godliness? It is an evidence that any other truth, oh, no, I'll retract that word, any other so-called faith, any other so-called truth, any other religion so-called, that is not that of Christianity, ultimately ends and is marked by ungodliness and unrighteousness. The truth of God is such that it issues forth in godliness.
It accords with godliness. This is why the Apostle Paul here, and others elsewhere, exhort Christians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that the gospel, so that the word of God would not be under reproach and would not be looked down upon. But much rather, those who profess Christ are to be such who are conformed to the image of Christ and are to seek to do good in this lower world, not in order that they may be saved, but having been saved to testify to the glorious truth of Christianity by virtue of those things done in holiness of heart.
Third: The Eternal Assurance
We move on then thirdly and then largely to the eternal assurance. Notice as this language builds and builds and hopefully we can appreciate the, this is one of the longer sort of one of the longer salutations that we have in the epistles, this one in particular. And there are many good truths mounted one upon the other as Paul simply opens in this greeting to Titus. So we have the eternal assurance, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth, and now note, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
What is it that we stand in as Christians? Wherein do we stand with respect to a hope and with respect to certainty and perseverance and assurance in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began? Our station as true Christians, the reality that we are Christians and the reality that by God's grace we abide as Christians, rests upon a God who is immutable and unchangeable in all of his glorious perfections. He cannot lie.
This hope of the gospel, this hope of the truth, this gospel and truth which accords with godliness, rests not upon shifting and changing things, but it rests upon the God who cannot change. God who cannot lie. And this, the Apostle Paul brings forth as an eternal assurance. First of all, we see here eternal life and hope.
We read the language in hope of eternal life. And we've noted before that our Christian hope is not an earthly hope. There are a lot of things that we can hope for in this lower world. We can and we should hope.
I that certain political leaders would no longer be in power because of their madness, because of their wickedness, because of the sickness of the manner by which they go about quote-unquote ruling us in this lower world. We can have a hope that a particular ruler would not get another term, but that might not happen. But when we hope in God, we have a heavenly and an eternal hope that is not just a strong wish for something that may or may not happen, but the hope that we have as Christians is the certain expectation that the promises of a God who cannot change nor lie will come to pass. God has promised that everyone who believes in his son will have life.
God has promised salvation to all who believe in the Son. In Christ Jesus, we have the hope of eternal life, and that rests upon a God who cannot lie. Turn back just for a brief moment to 1 Timothy, what we were focusing on this morning, or our sort of foundational text from this morning. In 1 Timothy 1, we have this wonderful language the same as Paul is using in Titus, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope.
Not only do we have here a statement clear with regards to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is glorious in and of itself, God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, we have this language of our hope. Jesus Christ is our hope not something that may not happen not promises that will be broken as So many human promises are in this lower world But this hope is an unshakable hope knowing that with God we have the certain expectation that promises will be fulfilled resting upon the glory of of a triune God and the perfection of a Christ who saves without a helper. We also have divine immutability. So we have eternal life and hope, and we have divine immutability and divine promise here as well, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
The hope that we have links back into eternity. The hope that we have is not, again, an earthly hope. It's not a hope that was grounded in something decreed in this lower world in time and as the earth rolls in its orbit. but much rather we draw our hope back to a God of eternal and immutable decree, a God who does so according to an unchanging love. I love the language of our confession at chapter 17 and paragraph 2.
It's in the chapter with regards to our perseverance as Christians in this lower world, the perseverance of the saints, also speaking from another angle, the preservation by God. And it talks about the fact that our salvation, our preservation, and we ought to say as well, our assurance, does not rest upon man's own free will, but what does it rest upon? Upon the immutability of the decree of election flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with Him, the oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace, from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. We make no mistake when we take that and we can see it as a theological conclusion that is based upon passages such as this.
The acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness and hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before time began. That promise, which is unchangeable, rests upon the perfect doing and dying and rising again of the Son of God, that One who took upon Himself our nature for our redemption and recovery. What a beautiful thing we have in an unchanging God who has decreed unchangingly that a multitude of sinners from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a multitude which no man can number, and they will be such who are trophies of amazing and victorious grace, testifying to that glorious Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who saves without a helper to the utmost.
Fourth: Providential Means of Preaching
Fourthly, we see the providential means brought out with regards to this eternal decree, this promise, this hope of Christ, this hope of eternal life. Notice as the text continues, God who cannot lie promised before time began, but has in due time manifested his word through preaching. So we see that there is, of course, providential means whereby God brings about the glory of his eternal decree. We have this divine timing according to God's eternal purpose and God's infinite wisdom in due time. that language is used in various forms throughout the throughout the New Testament as the the the inspired writers are reflecting upon God's designed and appointed time where Christ would come forth and bring salvation to the nations Christ in fact uses the language himself the the the you know in in Mark's gospel for example the time has been fulfilled and he has come now to preach the kingdom of God and repentance, repentance and faith.
We see the language used by the Apostle Paul in other epistles. When the fullness of the times had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law. Paul uses the language of the dispensation of the fullness of the times in that Ephesians 1 doxology to the father for the work of the triune God. the fact that in due time, in the fullness of the times, at the appointed time, Christ came forth and brought salvation to the nations. In this context, in due time, God has manifested his word through preaching.
We see here the execution of God's decree specifically as it pertains to the preaching of the gospel. That decree that a multitude of sinners from every tribe and tongue and people and nation comes to bear or comes to fruition by virtue of the in-time providential proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who would hear. It comes to sinners in due time the fullness of the times that glorious decree that glorious promise that all who believe in the Sun will have everlasting life and Remember as we just noted the the glory of this Does not the the assurance of this the certainty of this does not rest upon us but it rests again upon an unchanging God and the perfection of the work of Christ and the sealing of the Spirit, the oath of God, and the certainty of the covenant of grace. What a glorious thing we have here.
In due time, God brought forth Christ by preaching. There's an interesting take that you might see by many, especially in the early church, but not only them with regards to manifesting His Word through preaching, that Word being Christ, that in a way Christ is, as the Apostle Paul says, crucified before our very eyes by virtue of the act of preaching. that the preaching of the Word of God, the preaching of the Gospel, attended by the Spirit, is such that we are witnesses to the glory of Christ in the perfection of His saving work. And isn't it a wonderful thing to reflect upon Preaching in that first instance that by virtue of preaching whether in a church or whether in the home by parents or whether by friends But by the Word of God you were in due time yourself brought forth from the darkness of sin to life in Christ We rejoice in a God who saves, in a God who cannot change, a God who saves through the proclamation of the word of God. This is why the proclamation of the word of God is absolutely so vital. throughout the ages and certainly now in our own day.
We pray for ministers of the gospel and we pray for missionaries going out to preach this Christ because it is by the word proclaimed that sinners come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God that in due time he brought his word forth through preaching.
Fifth: Paul's Specific Entrustment
Fifthly, we see here a specific entrustment with regards to the Apostle Paul, but has in due time manifested his word through preaching, and now notice this specific entrustment, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior. Paul's task was to preach the word. The preaching of the word manifested in due time was committed to me, Paul says. His task was to preach Christ.
We saw that in the book of Acts, didn't we? That we just read in Acts chapter 26. The apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, met by the Lord Jesus Christ on the way to Damascus and commanded to go forth and preach to the nations the glories of Christ. It was Paul's task to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He was given this specific entrustment, called to the ministry, enabled by God. to go forth and to preach Christ and Him crucified. And we also see the commissioning here, so the entrustment of the gospel and the commissioning proper, committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior. That commandment we read in Acts 26. The risen Christ, an exalted Christ, appears to the apostle Peter and gives him this commandment.
And don't you love this language, the commandment of God our Savior? It's another clear, inescapable witness to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. the commandment of God, our Savior, not only the reference to Savior, but the reference to the commandment of God, our Savior, because Paul received the commission and the entrustment by Christ who appeared to him on the road to Damascus, that one very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man, God, our Savior. We see
Sixth and Seventh: Recipient and Benediction
sixthly and seventhly here as we move towards a close in this rich. Hopefully you you see it's probably not it's not being done. It's proper justice. But there is so much to be had in this salutation and really in any salutation that we have in inspired scripture.
But notice sixthly, just briefly the recipient to Titus, a true son in our common faith. We see here, firstly, that Paul's relationship to Titus is one that Paul is a true father, if we sort of invert the language here. Not speaking with respect to the flesh, but speaking with respect to evangelism and salvation. Titus is a true son in our common faith.
To Paul, Titus was, as a son, not just physically speaking, but with respect to spiritual discipleship, the proclamation of the gospel, and spiritual discipleship, to Titus, a true son. And notice, secondly, in our common faith, there is a camaraderie of confessors to Titus, a true son, in our common faith. Isn't it a wonderful thing that throughout the world, it's not just in Chilliwack, in Free Grace Baptist Church that we have those who are of common faith, but let's pause there for a moment. Isn't it glorious that here in Chilliwack, in this church, we are confessors of the triune God and confessors of a glorious Christ.
We have a camaraderie in our confession. We are a band of brothers with respect to our profession, our confession of the Lord Jesus Christ and the riches and the excellencies of his person and his work. And isn't it excellent as we move beyond the walls of this church that throughout the world we have common confessors? that we can go to Asia, that we can go to Africa, that we can go to Europe, that we can go to South America. As our brother prayed this evening, we can go to so many nations under heaven.
We can find our common confessors, yes, in a different language, yes, in a different context, in a different cultural landscape, but nevertheless, those who confess Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. those who believe the truth, who rest upon Christ, who were brought forth by word and spirit, and who glory in the truth of the word. And then lastly, we have this benediction, this wonderful language that is repeated, sometimes identically elsewhere, but with subtle variations in other epistles, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. in the context as these vice apostles, as the apostles, as ministers of the gospel are going forth proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and then also in Asia Minor in God-hating and unbelieving Jewish context and God-hating and unbelieving Gentile context, it would be a necessity to have grace and mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, gives this blessed benediction that grace, mercy, and peace would be with Titus from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. As one man has said, the apostle desires for Timothy complete felicity. as he's going about the task, not the easy task, of preaching the gospel, of equipping the churches, of strengthening the churches, as he's going about his ministry in a God-hating world, A complete felicity in God is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
That though man may rage, that though the unbeliever may rage, I have the God of peace. I have the God of peace on my side. I have the God of grace and mercy on my side. As we go into difficult situations, as we go into situations where there might be affliction and opposition and and tyranny, and whatever it might be, we can know that we have the God of grace, mercy, and peace on our side, and that we ought to pray to that God for grace, for mercy, and for peace.
This threefold word of blessing from the triune God, the ministers of the gospel and saints, generally speaking, need grace, mercy, and peace. And don't the sinners of the world need grace, and mercy, and peace? these divine blessings that come from God and God alone. And notice this language here, grace, mercy, and peace from God, the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. That language, again, speaking with respect to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, as was beforehand stated in the language, God, our Savior, but no doubt also speaking with respect to the Lord Jesus Christ in his mediatorship, that as the one at the right hand of the Father, He is dispensing grace, mercy, and peace by His Spirit to His people in this lower world.
And with respect to the Holy Spirit, perhaps we may ask the question, why is the Holy Spirit not listed here? Where is the Holy Spirit? We see grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father. the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, in other instances in the epistles where a similar sort of benediction is given, we also don't find the Holy Spirit. Well, as some have noted in the history of the church, and I know of Basil of Caesarea being one of the first who articulated it perhaps with a little bit more precision, but many throughout the history of the church has seen here Well, first off, before we get there, the Holy Spirit is the one here behind the inspiration of this particular epistle.
Holy men of God are carried along by the Holy Spirit of God, inscripturating these letters penned by the apostles, superintending in divine authority and ownership of the penman. in bringing to bear the truth of Christ. But we also have, and we also have though, the Holy Spirit as the one who is the bringer of grace and mercy and peace from God the Father. How is it that grace, mercy, and peace come to us here on earth? It is by virtue of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, or who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
We have that confession of the triune God that the Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is that one who in this particular context and in this particular reality is the bringer of grace, mercy, and peace. So he's not listed here deliberately because he is the one who is inspiring the Word and who is the bringer of these divine blessings to the hearts of his people. And so we have this grace, mercy, and peace coming to us from the triune God, the Father and the Son as those, if you will, who are the dispensers of it, and the Holy Spirit in this particular appropriation by implicit relation, bringing grace, mercy, and peace to his people.
And we need to pray for this, not only for ourselves, of course, but we need to pray for each other that we would know grace, mercy, and peace. We need to pray for ministers of the gospel, hear our own pastor, with those churches dear to us, and throughout every nation under heaven, that preachers of the glorious Christ would know grace, mercy, and peace, as they go about the task of ministry in a God-hating world, to bring the riches and the excellencies of Christ to those who presently don't know Him, and to those who need Him in repeat proclamation. of the glorious gospel. So I hope this was a good exploration, although brief, with respect to a greeting and a salutation in an epistle. I think, if anything, one of the things we should gain from this, besides the glory of God and the glory of our Christ, In the proclamation of truth and in the promise of everlasting life We shouldn't necessarily skip through and skip past greetings until we get you know to the real stuff of the letter There is much to be had in reflecting upon the name Paul There is much to be had in reflecting upon a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ There is much to be had as we pause upon proposition upon proposition Which lifts up the glorious God of heaven and earth which lifts up his Christ? and which sets before us the truth of Jesus Christ as it comes to us according to an unchanging God who loves his people.
Well, let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We rejoice in its truth. We rejoice in its goodness. We thank you for this greeting and salutation of Paul to Titus, wherein we find much.
We thank you for the fact that you, Lord God, feed us by your spirit with the proclamation of the word in this gathering of worship, with prayer, with scripture, with the singing of hymns. We thank you that we can avail of your word to avail of our Christ. We would pray for grace, mercy, and peace to be upon us. We pray that you would help us in this lower world, not only us here in Chilliwack, but your people throughout the world, those ministers of yours also, and those missionaries of yours.
Be with them, give them what they need in order to proclaim the glories of Jesus Christ before a hating world. We pray that you would go with us now, help us as we go into this week, to live in light of so glorious a gospel. We pray that by your grace, mercy, and peace, we would conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we pray as we finish this worship service with a time of meditation and prayer that we would meditate upon you, our God, upon the Christ whom you have sent, and upon the glories of amazing grace.
And we pray in Jesus Christ, our Savior's name. Amen.