← Back to sermon library

Good evening to everyone. 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. 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, 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 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, 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. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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.