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Well, we've observed before that 
sometimes when we come to a study of the scriptures, very often 
we can learn much from the smallest places of scriptural texts, whether 
it's a doxology, a benediction. And in this case here for this 
morning and this evening, even in the greeting of an epistle, 
even in the opening words of an epistle, we can learn much. 
Now this book comes to us and it brings to us many glorious 
words and truths that should ring true to our Christian hearts. We have in this particular book 
those wonderful words that were saved not by works of righteousness 
done by us, but according to his mercy he saved us through 
the washing of regeneration and the Holy Spirit. We have the 
glorious truths given to us, such as in verse 11 of chapter 
2, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared 
to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this 
present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing 
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself 
for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and 
purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. We have wonderful theology throughout 
the book, but it is even in this greeting by Paul to Titus that 
we have wonderful things to open up, hopefully to appreciate and 
to understand. Simply in the identification 
of the author, Paul, we have much that we can glean from. 
It's not something that we analyze and we confine to antiquity when 
we read Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ. a bondservant of 
God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, but hopefully something that 
from which we can extend to our present day and see the application 
to the ministry of the church, the place of the pulpit and the 
preacher in the ministering of the gospel. We're going to have 
a look at two things this morning. First, the apostle, and second, 
the apostolic task. Again, not trying to confine 
ourselves to antiquity, though understanding what's going on 
with regards to Paul and his apostleship, but hopefully gleaning 
from it glorious things for our own age and for our own life 
here at Free Grace Baptist Church. So we're going to look first 
off at the apostle and secondly the apostolic task. First off, 
notice very simply the apostle in verse 1. Paul, a bondservant 
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith 
of God's elect. We're going to look simply at 
three things under the apostle. We're going to look at Paul, 
a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Sometimes our 
points as preachers can be more wordy and more and longer. But today, this morning, it's 
going to be quite simple. First off, under the apostle, 
we want to look at Paul. Sometimes in the ministry of 
a church, you have preachers who can, in a wholesome way, 
spend an entire sermon on the word Paul. and then next week 
come back and preach an entire sermon on a bondservant, and 
then the next servant what it means to be a bondservant of 
God, and that sort of a thing. We're not going to do that, but 
we do want to spend some time on Paul. Never skip an opportunity 
to glory in the grace of God seen in the fact that Paul wrote 
Christian epistles. Remember that our reading and 
our understanding of the scriptures is enriched when we consider 
the writers of Holy Scripture. You've been reminded of this 
before a consideration of Psalm 32. How much more glorious is 
it to read Psalm 32? Blessed is the one whose transgressions 
are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one to 
whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. How glorious is it 
to read those words and understand that it is King David who wrote 
those. Who committed sin with Bathsheba. 
Who compounded that sin against God by sending Bathsheba's husband 
Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle. Effectively murdering 
the husband of Bathsheba. Knowing the grace of God that 
followed after his repentance and forgiveness. The grace of 
God that was poured out upon him, he can write those words. 
Blessed is the one to whom his transgressions are not imputed. 
Blessed is the one whose sins are covered. An examination, 
for example, of the Apostle Peter, if we consider the narrative 
in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2. Remember, enriching our reading 
of the scriptures, when we read in Acts 2.22, Peter standing 
up before Israel and saying, men and brethren, let me speak 
to you concerning this Jesus of Nazareth. We think with our 
minds back to this Peter, and we remember that only at 40 days 
previously, he was renouncing Christ before a servant girl, 
saying, I do not know this Jesus of Nazareth. and yet he's restored 
unto his gospel ministering task by a gracious Christ, and he 
proclaims on the day of Pentecost, men and brethren, this Jesus 
of Nazareth, whom you murdered by lawless hands, God has raised 
up, and he is king, and he is glorious. We come to the text 
here, and we read the words Paul, and hopefully our minds just 
don't skip off to the next number of words, the next handful of 
words, and continue on with the discourse. without understanding 
and without glorying in the fact that this man, perhaps 30 years 
ago, would have opened up a letter to his fellow Pharisees saying, 
Paul or Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee with zeal 
persecuting the church. But now he opens up an epistle 
writing to Christians, writing to Titus, and generally to Christians, 
and even more generally to us today, Paul, a bondservant of 
God and apostle of Jesus Christ. This is one who was once the 
bondservant of the devil, bringing upon the church violence and 
the most vehement persecution. Remember his own rehearsal of 
his own pre-Christian life. He dragged men and women from 
their homes off to prison. He sat approvingly at the stoning 
of Stephen, giving consent to his murderous death. And yet 
now, by the grace of God, Solian alone, he can bring pen to parchment 
and write, Paul a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus 
Christ. It is absolutely glorious. That we can read Paul, a bondservant 
of God, is a testament to the amazing grace of God. A kid's 
testament simply means something that witnesses to something, 
something that testifies to the truth of something. When we read, 
Paul, a bondservant of God, that means it testifies to the grace 
of God visited upon this one who once brought such violence 
against the Church of Christ. Notice, secondly, a bondservant 
of God. Paul, a bond servant of God. Now, Paul certainly was a bond 
servant of God, generally with respect to the fact that he was 
a Christian man. Remember, we are bondservants, 
insofar as we're Christians, we are bondservants of God. The Bible speaks of the fact 
that there are two types of servitude in this lower world, and unbelievers 
pay close attention to these two, because there is no third 
option. You are either a slave of Christ, 
or you are a slave of the devil. We are either slaves unto righteousness, 
or we are slaves of sin. And so Paul is a bondservant 
of God just like we all are bondservants of God at this very point that 
God has saved us by his grace that we might be slaves and servants 
of the Most High bringing joyful servitude in the kingdom of Christ. Yet these words here have a peculiar 
attachment to Paul's bond servitude, if you will, his slavery in the 
apostolate, in his ministry as an apostle of God, as an apostle, 
as the text says, of Jesus Christ. The highest ministers, Henry 
writes, in the church are but servants. And he notes that James, 
Peter, and Jude use this same language in introducing their 
epistles. They are bond servants of God 
and apostles. of the Lord Jesus Christ. So 
this has, while it generally applies to his slavery unto Christ 
as being one saved by amazing grace, it has peculiar attention 
unto the fact that he was immediately called by Christ to be a servant 
of God in the spreading of the gospel. Paul was certainly a 
bondservant of God, generally speaking, as a Christian man, 
but his designation as bondservant concerns his ministering of the 
gospel. And notice here what we have 
as well, an apostle of Jesus Christ. an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was a sent one. Perhaps you've 
done a word study before, maybe you haven't. What does apostle 
mean? We have this a lot in our Bibles, kids, don't we? We read 
apostle, apostle, apostle. What does that mean? Well, it 
means a sent one, an emissary, an ambassador. Paul was an apostle, 
a sent one. an emissary, a herald commissioned 
by the King Jesus Christ to come and to bring the message of the 
gospel to a needy world. This is not something that is 
a general term here applied to Paul. There are many apostles 
out there in the world back then throughout the ages of the church 
and today. There is not an apostolic ministry today, if we consider 
that in the sense of the capital A apostles in the New Testament 
scriptures. But that does apply to Paul here. 
He saw the Lord. He had those requisites of one 
who was an apostle. He saw the Lord. He was immediately 
called by the grace of God into his apostleship, and as well, 
he received from the risen Christ the doctrine that he himself 
propagated. Remember, he writes in his other 
epistles, he says, I deliver to you that which the Lord delivered 
to me, first of all. When he comes and he brings the 
language of the Lord's Supper, he doesn't say that he learned 
of this doctrine from other apostles, but rather the Lord delivered 
to me that which I also now deliver to you, that on the night he 
was betrayed he took bread, broke it, etc. So the Apostle Paul 
is an apostle of Jesus Christ. And let's just stop for a moment 
and engage in I think what is not vain imagining. You see, 
the Apostle Paul was not an epistle machine, just getting up in the 
morning, getting to his parchment, hammering out, okay, I gotta 
identify myself, I gotta greet the church, write a little bit 
of a body of the epistle, sign off maybe with a doxology and 
a benediction, and then get back to doing whatever I do. Paul 
had the heart of a man called by God to bring to bear upon 
the world the glories, the riches, the excellencies of Christ Jesus 
the Lord. And he no doubt would have done 
what every Christian saved by grace does. They rehearse the 
glory of salvation being given to them by such an amazing God. 
Imagine Paul writing this. Paul, a bondservant of God and 
an apostle of Jesus Christ. himself. He's sitting there wherever 
he was writing it. I don't think it was written 
during an imprisonment. It was probably written between his 
first and second imprisonment. He's sitting there at whatever 
sort of desks they had in the first century, bringing his first 
century pen to his first century parchment. Knowing that he was 
once this vile enemy of the church. Knowing that he once as a young 
man stood as his countrymen and his compatriots picked up large 
stones to crush the head of godly Stephen. Knowing that he was 
once the one who dragged men and women out of their houses 
to bring them to persecution and some no doubt ultimately 
unto death. As Henry noted in his commentary 
on Acts 8, remember what's going on in the book of Acts here. 
We have the life of the early church, the work, if you will, 
of the ascended Christ Jesus through the Spirit to the church, 
growing Christianity throughout that first century region. in 
the fulfillment of his promise of Matthew 16, 18, I will build 
my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. 
What we probably have is Paul giving to Luke the words to write 
concerning the narrative of the early church. And Matthew Henry 
notes that Acts chapter 8, verse 1, where it says, and Saul was 
persecuting the church. You've heard this before. and 
Saul was persecuting the church. Henry says we have reason to, 
well first he says Paul fed his eyes upon the bloody spectacle 
of Stephen's martyrdom in the hopes that that would put an 
end to Christianity. That was the mind of Paul prior 
to his conversion and his apostleship. Looking upon this bloody execution, 
this bloody murder of Stephen saying I hope that puts an end 
to this way of the Nazarene. He fed his eyes on that bloody 
spectacle in the hopes that it would put an end to Christianity, 
but post-conversion, Henry notes, we have reason to believe Paul 
ordered Luke to insert that, and Saul was persecuting the 
church, for shame to himself and glory to free grace. So Paul 
brings pen to parchment, and he writes, Paul, a bondservant 
of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ. And what's he doing? He's not 
pounding his chest while he's writing that and saying, aren't 
I great? You see, I saw the errors of 
my pharisaical ways, and according to my own strength, I owned Jesus 
and commissioned myself into the apostleship. No, for shame 
to himself and glory to free grace. God came upon the wings 
of amazing and victorious grace and pulled Paul from out of the 
darkness of pharisaical idolatry, planted him into the commissioning, 
the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul, a bondservant 
of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. What an amazing contrast. And look at the grace of our... 
Turn to Acts 22 for a moment. Acts 22. Remember, throughout 
the book of Acts, we have much to bring us to an appreciation 
for the conversion of Paul, and really directing us, of course, 
to the grace of God in the conversion of Paul. Notice what we have 
in Acts 22. Look at verse 6. Now, it happened 
as I journeyed. This is Paul recounting his conversion. Now, it happened as I journeyed 
and came near Damascus at about noon. Suddenly around me, suddenly 
a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the 
ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you 
persecuting me? So I answered, who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus 
of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting." Imagine the Apostle Paul reflecting 
back upon the condescending kindness of the Savior. coming to him 
and bringing not some sort of Greco-Roman pagan God conception 
of juridical rage, but coming the mercy, the triune God. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting 
me? I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom 
you are persecuting. Notice we read a line here, and 
those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, 
but they did not hear the voice of him who spoke to me. So I 
said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Arise, 
and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which 
are appointed for you to do. And since I could not see for 
the glory of that light being led by the hand of those who 
were with me, I came into Damascus." Now before we read on, a moment 
here in the section beginning in verse 17. This is the commissioning 
of Paul and his apostleship. And notice the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Remember the account of Stephen. When Stephen, just before he 
commits his spirit to the Lord, he says, Lord, do not count these 
sins against them. He prays to Christ, and he says, 
Lord Christ, do not count these sins against them. Well, that 
prayer of Stephen was efficacious, wasn't it? Because the Lord Christ 
comes to Paul, the one who was there, the one who would have 
been a subject of that prayer. that Stephen rendered. And Paul, 
the Lord Christ, does not charge Paul with the sin, but rather 
saves him by amazing grace and commissions him into his apostleship. Notice further the condescending 
kindness of Christ in bringing Paul into his apostleship. Verse 
17, Now it happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying 
in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw him saying to 
me, Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will 
not receive your testimony concerning me. So I said, Lord, they know 
that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on 
you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also 
was standing by clothes of those who were killing him. Then he 
said to me, Depart, for I will send you far from here to the 
Gentiles. I think we can wholesomely read 
into that the fact that Paul your sins are forgiven you. Your 
sins are forgiven you. Do not dwell upon Do not dwell 
upon inordinately sins that have now been washed in my precious 
blood, but rather depart, for I will send you far from here 
to the Gentiles." He sends them to proclaim the riches and the 
excellencies of the one that Stephen proclaimed before that 
audience, that he sat by murderously. And yet after conversion, Paul 
no longer is that one who is, if you will, of the tribe of 
Benjamin, a Pharisee persecuting the church, but rather Paul, 
a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now notice the 
apostolic task as we find our way back to Titus. Had a brief 
look at the apostle. Let's now have a look at the 
apostolic task. Because after Paul identifies 
himself here in verse 1, He goes on to speak with regards to what 
his apostolic task is, what it was. Notice, just beginning again, 
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. Now, some may read this language 
where we read, according to the faith of God's elect. And they 
might take that to mean that Paul's apostleship was no new 
thing in the history of God's revelation. In other words, it 
is the same faith of Moses. It is the same faith of David. It is the same faith of Solomon, 
of Isaiah, of the prophets, etc., according to the faith of God's 
elect. In fact, Paul himself notes in 
Acts 26, that he 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 to the Gentiles, according to the faith of God's elect. 
He is preaching to both great and small, no new thing, but 
rather those same things that Moses and the prophets proclaimed, 
though in dark sayings and in types and in shadows. Here we 
have not that, being intended by the Apostle Paul when he writes 
according to the faith of God's elect. Some may read according 
to the faith of God's elect and take it to mean the manner by 
which he became an apostle. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ 
according to the faith of God's elect and acknowledgement of 
the truth. In other words, God had chosen 
him to be an apostle and had brought him into belief, into 
faith, in Christ and into this operation, this office, as an 
apostle of Jesus Christ. That is not Paul's intent either. Most likely what Paul's intent 
is, is that he is referring to the fact that he was a tool in 
the hand of God to bring the elect to saving faith. So when 
we read, according to the faith of God's elect, we may read Paul 
a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the end 
of the faith of God's elect. In other words, his apostleship 
was first unto the end that the elect might believe, have faith 
in Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior. You turn to Acts 26 for 
a moment, because here we have that reality brought out in the 
narrative of the early church. Again, Paul now answering Agrippa 
and speaking concerning his commissioning. And notice what we have in Acts 
26, beginning in verse 12. What does it mean according to 
the faith of God's elect? Well, here it means what Jesus 
is getting at in the divine commission of Paul's apostleship. Notice 
Acts 26, beginning in verse 12. While thus occupied, as I journeyed 
to Damascus with authority and commission, from the chief priest. 
At midday, O King, along the road I saw a light from heaven, 
brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed 
with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard 
a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, 
Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick 
against the goads. 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 and here 
it comes Paul's apostleship what is it unto what is it according 
to what is it for 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." Now, remember what we said when we opened up this morning. 
What does a study, an analysis of the goings-on of the early 
church have to do with me? Well, hopefully you can glory 
in past events of the amazing grace of God, where He comes 
and He saves men like Paul, where He saves Jews and Gentiles by 
the proclamation of the Gospel. But hopefully you can think this 
way with me, that we have and we owe our present ownership 
of the Gospel to Paul. a bondservant of God and an apostle 
of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you can have and share 
with me this affinity with what went on 2,000 years ago. For 
Christians here this morning, hopefully your eyes aren't wandering 
and your mind is wandering to lunch later and to other things 
However, the preacher, right now, fallibly and perhaps sometimes 
with a measure of boring speech, brings the Word of God to you. 
You can connect with the text back to the Apostle Paul's time 
and see that when Jesus commissioned Paul to bring the Gospel to the 
Gentiles, that we owe our present ownership of the Gospel to the 
commissioning of Christ, of the Apostle Paul. Can you not see 
that connection? We trace our gospel genealogy, 
if you will, back to that fateful day in Damascus, when Christ 
commissioned this Paul to go about the preaching of Christ 
and Him crucified. Hopefully you can see that, and 
hopefully you can glory in that, and hopefully when you read the 
pages of the book of Acts, you don't confine your mind to antiquity 
and say, well, that was great. but you bring it back to the 
present in glory in the fact that you can trace your ownership 
of the gospel back to that glorious day when Christ came in amazing 
light and an amazing grace knocking Saul to the ground calling him 
to come back to his feet and saying I'm sending you to open 
the eyes of the Gentiles. We being Gentiles are the blessed 
beneficiaries of this apostolic work. Remember that connection. 
So what we see first under the apostolic task, if it isn't obvious 
already, is the fact that his apostleship was unto the end 
of the elect believing. How is it that God brings his 
chosen ones to belief in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, initially 
it was by apostles commissioned by Christ to bring the words 
of Christ to bear upon the souls of the elect, that they might 
be brought, that they would certainly be brought. from the darkness 
of sin. to light and life in Christ Jesus 
the Lord. Christianity is advanced by the 
faithful proclamation of truth, trusting in the saving power 
of God to make dead sinners alive in Christ. When Paul is writing 
to Titus, when he says that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ 
for the faith, or according to the faith of God's elect, this 
is what he has in the fore of his mind. that his apostleship 
was unto this blessed end, that people, that the elect, that 
sinners, would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that in 
him find their all in all. You see, this is why it was here 
in the book of Titus and in other books, why it was so vital that 
the apostles would bring pen to paper to write their names 
and their apostolic authority in the introduction, and then 
to write concerning the truth and right concerning the rejection 
of error. Because what is at stake is the 
faithful proclamation of the truth unto the end that sinners 
would be brought from the deadness of sin to life in Christ Jesus. 
And again, we rejoice, two thousand years removed, that we have, 
if you will, apostolic successors Not in the way of the Church 
of Rome, bishops with big hats, but in the way of Protestant 
Christianity, apostolic doctrine. We trace our lineage, our apostolicity 
back to Paul, and from there throughout history, faithful 
proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because this is 
the case, that Christianity is advanced, not by the edge of 
a sharp sword, Christianity is not advanced by vests of C4. With crazy men or women, and 
even boys, running into coffee shops strapped with explosives 
and detonating them for the advancement of such a blasphemous and idolatrous 
religion. Christianity is advanced not 
by the sword and vests of C4, but by the faithful proclamation 
of truth. Because we know that it is God 
who is behind the accurate proclamation of truth. The Word doesn't come, and the 
Word isn't efficacious in and of itself. The Word is most necessarily, 
but it gains its efficacy from being joined with power from 
on high, making sinners alive in Christ Jesus. His apostleship 
was unto the end of the elect believing. And notice that it 
is the faith of the elect in contrast, of course, to any other 
faith. You see, no general or generic 
faith will do. We do not allow for any sort 
of religious pluralism in God's universe because God is peculiar, 
particular, and precise. There is no other name given 
under heaven among men by which you might be saved but by the 
name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Christ Jesus himself, what does 
he say in the Gospel of John? He says, I am the way, I am the 
truth, I am the life. There's only one path, there's 
only one verity, there is only one vitality, and it is Christ 
Jesus the Lord. And so, according to the faith 
of God's elect, it is only the faith of the elect in contrast 
to any other sort of faith, whether the faith of devils. whether 
the faith of heretics, whether the faith of the reprobate, whether 
the faith of hypocrites. That is not the faith of the 
elect, but rather the faith of the elect is really seen in what 
follows, the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with 
godliness. God gives the grace of faith 
to his elect, and by that grace of faith, we lay hold with two 
clenched fists, God's revealed truth, and we glory in it, and 
we seek to glory in it, to rejoice in it, to propagate it. That 
simply means, kids, to spread it so that others might know. 
As a church, that's what we are to do. As Christians, that's 
what we are to do, to propagate, to scatter the seeds of gospel 
verity, gospel truth, so that the elect might know, so the 
elect might rejoice, so that sinners might be saved and sing 
the praises of their Christ. So his apostleship was unto the 
end of the elect believing. Now notice, secondly, under the 
apostolic task, notice as well, his apostleship was unto the 
end of the people's owning of the gospel. So we read, an apostle 
of Jesus Christ, according to the faith, or for the faith of 
God's elect, and the acknowledgement of the truth. It is the case 
that the Apostle Paul's task was unto the end that the elect 
would own publicly the gospel of Jesus Christ and profess it 
with great joy. Whenever we read this, we can 
draw an equal sign between two things. Whenever we read the 
truth, we can draw an equal sign between that and the gospel. At least here we can, and in 
other places where the Apostles use that language. The acknowledgement 
of the truth. What is the truth but the Gospel? I delivered to you... And actually, 
turn to 1 Corinthians for a moment, because often we might think 
the language means something other than it actually means. 
1 Corinthians 15. Speaking about the acknowledgement 
of the truth. We come to... 1st Corinthians 
15 in verse 3. We'll get there in a moment because 
we want to read in verse 1 concerning the gospel, the necessity, the 
importance of it, the fact that it was the task of the Apostle 
Paul to make the elect own it with great joy. Notice 1st Corinthians 
15 beginning in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare 
to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, 
and in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold fast 
that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain." 
Now notice verse 3, for I delivered to you first of all, We can take 
that to mean and take that to be understood as, for I delivered 
to you of first importance that which I also received, that Christ 
died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was 
buried and that he rose again the third day according to the 
scriptures. You see, if we are to find the gem in the center 
of our Christian religion in anything else, save for the person 
and the work of Christ, we're looking in the wrong treasure 
box. We see here what is the truth that we are to acknowledge 
and own. What is the truth that we are 
to acknowledge and lay hold of that Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he 
rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Truth of truths 
and gospel of gospels. There's no better word that you're 
going to hear kids. The preacher can ramble on up 
here and hopefully it's not in vain, but we can talk a lot and 
it's for good reasons because we seek to bring to bear the 
truth. And kids, the gospel is of the utmost importance because 
you know that you will take your memories with you to hell if 
you are not this day found safely in Christ Jesus. You'll remember 
with tears mounting upon tears, an absolute loss upon absolute 
loss, that preacher after preacher came to you, parent after parent, 
friend after friend, family member after family member, and said, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And you 
see that glorious banner and that glorious truth, believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. In hell it's 
a different banner that flies. It's a different banner. There is no reprieve. There is no escape. The banner 
that flies is, you're damned for all eternity. Why do you 
dangle and wait and tarry? Tomorrow I'll perhaps consider 
this Christ. Today I'm going to pursue the 
lusts of my own flesh, the perversions of my own mind. I'm going to 
grip on to self-gratification. You know what? This young lady 
or this young man catches my eye. Tomorrow I'll follow after 
Christ. You know what? I want the here 
and the now satisfied, the lusts of my flesh, the allure of this 
world. Perhaps in a week or in a month 
or in a year I'll follow after this Christ. I mean, I'm only 
such and such an age. I'm only 8. I'm only 10. I'm 
only 13. I'm only 17. I'm only 21. Tomorrow is for Christ. Today 
is for me. Tragedy comes. Death comes, or that tomorrow, 
that next week, that next month turns into next decade, next 
40 years. Tragedy comes, death comes. You 
enter into everlasting life, but it's not for you the bliss 
of everlasting life as it is for Christians, but it is everlasting 
damnation. The banner that flies is damned 
for all eternity. with your memories. You weep 
in terror. The preacher told me. The preacher 
brought to bear the reality of the gospel. Acknowledgement of 
the truth. Acknowledgement of the gospel. 
You would know the folly at some level. The folly following after 
your own lusts and rejecting this Christ. You dwell on that 
for all eternity. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. And we find the gem of our profession 
given here, for I deliver to you of first importance..." You 
see, the Corinthians were not the first recipients of the gospel. 
I deliver to you, first of all, to the Jews first, and then to 
the Greeks. It's, I deliver to you of first 
importance that which I also received from the risen Christ. and he proceeds to give the gospel. Christ died for our sins according 
to the scriptures, and he was buried, and he rose again the 
third day according to the scriptures. Good news, good news. His apostleship was unto the 
end of people's owning the gospel. Turn to Romans for a moment as 
we We'll close with our next point in a couple of minutes, 
but in the book of Romans, we see this clearly, that his apostleship 
was unto the fact that all nations bend a knee to the King of Kings 
and to the Lord of Lords. Notice Romans 1, beginning in 
verse 1. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus 
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, 
which he promised before through his prophets in the holy scriptures. concerning his son Jesus Christ 
our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the 
flesh and declared to be the son of God with power according 
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead 
through him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience 
to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom you 
also are the called of Jesus Christ. You see there the apostleship, 
verse 5, through him we have received grace and apostleship 
for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name. That 
means that their apostleship was unto the end that people 
from every tribe and tongue and people and nation would own this 
Christ, would own this Savior, would believe upon Him and find 
all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in that selfsame 
Christ. His apostleship was unto the 
end of people's owning of the gospel. And we see the importance 
of this. Another place Kids, everyone, 
when you come to the Scriptures and you read Galatians 1, you 
can turn there. When we read this, remember, 
the Bible as a whole is not an antiquated tome of outdated truths 
of the ancients that has no further bearing upon us in our present 
age. But rather, what does the Scriptures 
say concerning itself? The flower fades and the grass 
withers, but the Word of God lives and abides forever. When we read of Paul, when we 
read of the church in Galatia, departing from, wandering away 
from the truth, again, we don't land our minds on antiquity and 
say, that's a cool historical truth, and then, you know, move 
on, but rather we should see the importance of acknowledging 
the truth. We come to faith in Christ Jesus 
by the grace of God, we acknowledge the truth, and we need to hold 
on to that truth. We need to grip onto that because 
it is the stuff of our daily endurance. You see, tonight we'll 
get to the part of Titus where it talks about the hope of God, 
the hope of everlasting life. In this lower world, we don't 
find our real and true and abiding hope in anything else, save for 
that which is to come, everlasting life, rooted in that which we 
now own, the justification, regeneration, and the saving blessings of Christ. 
But our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And so when we come to the pages 
of the Scriptures, we see Paul with great pains, making sure 
that his people grip onto the truth, that having acknowledged 
it, they lay hold of it. Notice verse 3. Grace to you, 
this is Galatians 1 verse 3, grace to you and peace from God 
the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for 
our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age 
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory 
forever and ever. Amen. I marvel that you are turning 
away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to 
a different gospel, which is not another. But there are some 
who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. You see 
the importance of gripping on to truth? We don't grip on to 
feelings and grip on to the ethereal dropping of effervescent petals 
from on high. We grip on to the truth as revealed 
in the Holy Scriptures. Words are worth a thousand pictures. Words are worth so much. And the Apostle Paul knew that. In propositional truth, in things 
written concerning the truth of God, hinged the strength and 
the life of the Church. They were delivered a certain 
truth, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 
that He was buried, that He rose again according to the Scriptures, 
that all those who believe in Him have everlasting life, that 
it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according 
to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and 
the renewing of the Holy Spirit. And so these were following after 
another gospel. They weren't acknowledging the 
truth, which accords with godliness, but were rather following after 
error that accords with ungodliness. And so hopefully today, 2,000 
years removed from the Galatian episode, you understand its abiding 
importance that we acknowledge the truth. And that we don't 
just do it with some sort of bare intellectual recognition, 
but that with warmth of soul we rehearse the saving excellencies 
of Christ Jesus the Lord. Is there a greater joy than to 
raise your head in the morning and to know that you have the 
forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus the Lord? Hopefully your 
joy of joys isn't found in your obedience to the law, because 
you're going to have loss of loss daily if you actually have 
a right mind. If for some reason your rejoicing 
is found, your hope is found in nothing less than your own 
good works and deeds, horror of horrors on the day of days, 
when Christ says, depart from me into the lake of fire reserved 
for the devil and his angels. Rather, we rejoice in the fact 
that we have, by God, been made to know the truth. And that truth 
is this, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, 
and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according 
to the Scriptures, a blessed thing. His apostleship, lastly, 
was unto the end of ensuring the gospel was adorned by godly 
conduct. What does Titus write here? Titus 
writes, 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 is a doctrine. 
that accords with godliness. There is a doctrine that naturally 
leads to godly conduct on the part of those who have the truth. And that doctrine is the faith 
of God's elect. That doctrine is Christianity. 
That doctrine, that truth, is the gospel. And it is one who 
is professing vainly, who says they believe, and then goes off 
to do all manner of multitudinous evils. What is an evidence of 
the fact that one has been born again, but the fact that they 
acknowledge the truth and seek to joyfully obey the God of truth, 
knowing that their good works do not save them, but rather 
having been saved first and last, midst and throughout by the triune 
God, they work by renewed power and renewed lives unto the glory 
of God. Notice quickly here what Titus 
writes concerning good works just in this epistle. Notice 
in verse 6 of chapter 1, negatively, verse 6 of chapter 1, if a man 
is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, 
not accused of dissipation or insubordination, for a bishop 
must be blameless as a steward of God, not self-willed, not 
quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent nor greedy 
for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, 
just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word, 
as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine 
both to exhort and convict those who contradict. Why? Because 
there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, 
especially those of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped." 
You see, going on at this day were errors and doctrines that 
weren't leading to good works because they never really do. 
but rather errors and false doctrines that were leading unto ungodliness. They profess to know God, verse 
16, but in works they deny him being abominable, disobedient 
and disqualified for every good work. But as for you, chapter 
two continues and notice what we find at verse five. that these 
young women are to love their husbands and their children, 
notice verse five, to be chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to 
their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. You see what good works do, they 
ensure that the word of God isn't blasphemed. Oh, you Christians, 
that book of yours, I don't give any credence to that at all because 
look at the way you guys conduct yourselves. Heaven forbid that 
anyone could ever look at our lives and blaspheme the word 
of God because we're engaged in all manner of wickedness. 
Thankfully, and again, we're not saved by our doing of the 
law, but having been saved, we are to joyfully obey the law 
in order that the word of God might not be blasphemed. And 
notice verse 9 as well. Verse 9 of chapter 2, exhort 
bond servants to be obedient to their own masters. to be well-pleasing 
in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing 
all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our 
Savior in all things." You see, the efficacy and the perfection 
of Christ's work needs nothing added to it, yet In our good 
works in this lower world, walking in a manner worthy of the gospel, 
it is as if we bedeck the gospel of Christ with ornaments, showing 
the splendor of Christ's saving work. That He can take a Saul 
who breathes murders against the church and put him into commission 
as one of the greatest propagators of Christianity in the history 
of that same church. We do good works in order that 
we might adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, we're going 
to close in a minute and 37 seconds by just considering four quick 
things that we need to gain from this passage, and then we'll 
pray. Read your Bibles such to know the person's writing or 
being written of. Now, bear with me. We're going 
to get out of here soon. But we need to read our Bibles 
in this kind of a way, don't we? Read our Bibles in such a 
way to know the person's writing and the person's being writing 
of, because it enriches our understanding of the Bible. Again, reading 
Psalm 32, devoid of David's biography, we can gain much from that. Blessed 
is he whose transgressions are forgiven. But when we know the 
historical story attached and behind the penning of those words, 
does it not pour more blessings into your heart as you contemplate 
the grace of God? Read your Bibles to know the 
person's writing, the Apostle Paul. When he writes Paul, a 
bondservant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, remember, he's 
not an epistle machine, just waking up, picking up his pen, 
and pumping out epistles. He's a man filled with the heart 
of a minister of the gospel. And no doubt, rehearsing as he's 
writing that, God saved me from such a place. I was rejoicing 
in the murder of godly Stephen, but now by the grace of God, 
I like a Stephen in proclaiming the King of Kings and the Lord 
of Lords. Appreciate God's way of saving and strengthening the 
elect. You see, when a preacher comes 
up into the pulpit, It is not, in the churches of God, in God's 
true churches, it is not to come up and preach himself. In fact, Paul writes that, we 
do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, 
your bondservants, for Jesus' sake. You see, when the preacher 
comes up into this pulpit, we need to appreciate, not in some 
self-serving way, I'm not saying you need to appreciate me, you 
need to appreciate Jim, you do. But insofar as we are cracked 
pots, in whom are hid the treasures of gospel wisdom, not the same 
way Christ was, but God has deemed it such that his earthenware 
vessel pastors come into the pulpits, hopefully in order to 
open up the glories and the riches of Christ, in a small measure, 
Because we're fallible, we're human, we can never open it up 
to the glory of the eschaton when the veil will be pulled 
away and we'll see, not with eyes of faith, but with eyes 
of sight. But nevertheless, appreciate God's way of saving and strengthening 
the elect. It's by the simple exercise of 
the preaching of the word. You're never going to see in 
this church, and so you can just rest your minds now, you're never 
going to see in the church Jim or I rappelling from the ceiling 
while some sort of contemporary music is playing and landing 
on the floor of the church like some heroes and running up to 
the pulpit. You're never going to see that. 
And some of you, or hopefully all of you are saying, thankfully, 
we're never going to see that. When the church workday comes, 
you might see me rappelling from the ceiling, maybe washing the 
roof or something like that. But you're never going to see 
all these mad tactics of a world who seems to take the supernatural 
reality out of ecclesiology, out of the doctrine of the church, 
that God has deemed it such to simply save the elect and strengthen 
them by the proclamation of the gospel. No, you see, that hasn't 
really worked. We need to bring in ponies and 
puppets and clowns and laser shows and dry ice. That's what 
we need. No, Paul says, that's not what 
we need. What do we need? We need ministers 
of the gospel who are for the faith of God's elect and the 
acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness, 
who are commissioned by the commandment of God our Savior to bring the 
words of peace, of hope, of everlasting life. appreciate the truth and 
seek to grow in it. We need to acknowledge the truth. 
We need to own that truth. We need to defend it. We need 
to grow in it. We don't stop in our Christianity at some certain 
level of knowledge where we've now arrived and, you know what, 
let's just bask in something else now. The life of Christianity 
is a steady march in the knowledge and in the acquisition of truth. 
so that we might daily grow in the grace and in the knowledge 
of Christ, and bring praise to the high name of our King. And 
lastly, in appreciation of the Gospel, seek to adorn it with 
godly conduct. Our doctrine of justification 
by faith alone is such that it does not lead to the doing of 
evil deeds, but rather to the doing of good deeds, knowing 
that we've been saved by grace through faith, not by works lest 
anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created 
in Christ Jesus for good works that he prepared beforehand that 
we might walk in them. Walk in them, adorn the gospel, 
bring glory to our God. Do not bring blasphemy upon the 
word of God, but rather in our lower world conduct yourselves 
in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. And if you don't know 
this Christ, don't leave. Don't leave saying tomorrow, 
saying next week. Don't leave resting upon, or 
don't leave with this idea that I'm going to, for the now, seek 
after the lusts of my own flesh and the pleasures of my own wicked 
heart, but rather now close with Christ. Believe on Him and you 
shall be saved. The grace of God comes abundantly 
upon the sinner to bring him from deadness to life. And then 
you'll know this Christ that Paul preached. You'll rejoice 
in this Christ that commissioned Paul. And with us you'll sing, 
hallelujah, what a Savior. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for this morning of worship. We rejoice in the 
fact that we can gather together to sing the praises of our Christ. 
We rejoice in our God. We thank you for this short examination 
of the Apostle Paul and his apostleship. We rejoice in what we find in 
the scriptures concerning him, concerning his conversion. concerning 
his work and concerning how God, so many years removed from the 
work of the Apostle Paul, we find an affinity with his proclamation, 
with his truth, and we can trace our gospel genealogy back to 
that one who proclaimed faithfully the things of Christ. And we 
do pray that you'd help us, Lord God, to appreciate the truth, 
to rejoice in it, to sing the praises of our Christ, and to 
go out into this lower world in this upcoming week, to conduct 
ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that 
your word, your gospel, may be adorned and not blasphemed. We 
pray in Christ's name. Amen.