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You can turn back in your Bibles 
to the book of Titus. You'll remember since it was 
not too long ago, just this morning, that we looked at Titus chapter 
1, verse 1. The scope of focus was Titus 
1, 1 to 3. We spent some time in just verse 
1 this morning, so we'll look at verses 2 and 3 this evening. I'll just open by reading Titus 
1, 1 to 4, and then we'll pray and have a look at verses 2 and 
3 in this epistle of Paul to Titus. So this is Titus chapter 
1 beginning in verse 1, the word of the living and true 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 Titus, 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 us pray. Heavenly Father, We rejoice in 
now this act of worship, the preaching of your word. We would 
ask again that you would help the preacher in the pulpit to 
preach accurately the things of your word. We know that he 
requires not his own strength or his own intelligence, but 
rather that which you afford to him by that measure of the 
spirit given. And we pray that you would strengthen 
the preacher in the pulpit, Lord. We pray that all would be done 
to the praise of your glorious name and that this word preached, 
God, would by your spirit be joined so that the gathered assembly 
here this evening might rejoice in your word. We pray that the 
saints would know in a greater way the things of your word in 
this book of Titus. We do pray, Lord God, that by 
your grace and for your glory's sake that Any sinners gathered 
here tonight outside of Christ would leave this place in Christ, 
singing the praises of His name, having been visited by power 
from on high by Your amazing and victorious grace. And it's 
in Christ's name that we pray. Amen. Well, you'll remember this 
morning we looked at the Apostle and the Apostolic Task from verse 
1. We noted that far from being the stuff confined to antiquity, 
This has most certainly application to our present state of affairs 
as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We avail much of the 
fact that we have ministers of the gospel bringing to the elect 
belief, bringing to the elect faith and joined by the power 
of the spirit. The proclamation of the word 
is efficacious. for the bringing forth of sinners 
from deadness and sin to life in Christ. We avail much of the 
acknowledgement of the truth. The Apostle Paul, so many years 
ago, was unto the end that the elect might know the gospel, 
might own it as theirs, and that gospel is such that it accords 
with godly conduct. We looked at the apostle and 
the apostolic task seen there in verse one this evening. We 
want to look at verses two and three, and we'll do so under 
three headings, and those are these. First, the believer's 
certain expectation. Secondly, the foundation for 
the believer's certain expectation. And then thirdly, the means of 
making known the blessings of salvation. So first off, the 
believer's certain expectation. Notice what we have at verse 
two, though, if you'll bear with me, let's read the beginning 
of the epistle 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 
in hope of eternal life. We may read this in this sense 
that Paul's apostolic task was unto the faith of God's elect 
and their acknowledgement of the truth, which accords with 
godliness. And they were to be in the character 
of having hope in eternal life. So we could continue with what 
we looked at this morning and saying, firstly, under the believer's 
certain expectation, that it is an end of gospel ministry 
to bring God's elect to the hope of everlasting life. It was the 
Apostle's end so many years ago, 2,000 years ago. It was the Apostle 
Paul's end, the end of his apostolic task, to bring believers to the 
certain hope of everlasting life through Jesus Christ the Lord. 
And every faithful gospel minister from the Apostle Paul to 2015 
in Chilliwack, British Columbia, every one of those gospel ministers, 
it is the end of their task to bring to the elect, to bring 
before the elect the certain expectation of everlasting life 
through Jesus Christ the Lord. It was God's design that by the 
apostolic ministry, his elect would have present faith in the 
past and perfect accomplished work of the Savior and that those 
self same elect would have a present hope in the future anticipation 
of redemption unto that great and blissful eternity. with Christ 
Jesus in Emmanuel's land. This hope is something, we're 
going to get it in a moment to a clear definition of what this 
hope is, but this hope of everlasting life is the content of doxology. Remember, kids, we know what 
doxology is. Hopefully, it simply means the 
doctrine of praise or when we read doxology in the Bible, like 
Jude 24 and 25, A praise unto God. We'll turn to 1 Peter with 
me because there we have some doxology, praise unto God given. And much of the content of that 
doxology is hope. It is the hope of the Christian. 
Notice what we have in 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 3. You could probably hear echoes 
of Ephesians 1, though this is a different author. We have the 
same superintending ultimate author, God Himself. Nevertheless, we hear echoes 
here of the Apostle Paul in Peter's writings, or the stuff of Ephesians 
1, 3 and following. Notice 1 Peter 1, 3, Blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according 
to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope. through the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, 
that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept 
by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed 
in the last time. This stuff that the apostle would 
bring before the elect of God is the stuff of an abiding, eternal, 
and lasting hope. You see the clear declaration 
of this living hope by Peter. God has begotten us again. to 
a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 
The hope of the Christian is immediately tied to, is incorruptibly 
tied to, and intimately tied to, The resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead, as sure as it is the case that Jesus 
was risen from the dead by the power of God, so sure is the 
case that the believer has hope that on that great day they will 
enter into the eternity, that blissful eternity with Christ 
Jesus the Lord. The content of doxology was this 
hope that Paul writes to Titus concerning. This was also the 
content of of thanksgiving and prayer on the part of the Apostle 
Paul. Turn to Colossians with me. This 
Christian hope that will define in a moment, but no doubt we've 
already alluded to it and no doubt you know what that is. 
It's attached to the saving work of Christ, the hope of everlasting 
life. Colossians chapter one. Notice 
what we have in just some of these opening words of the Apostle 
Paul. Hope was the content of thanksgiving 
and prayer. Verse 3 of Colossians 1. We give 
thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying 
always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus 
and of your love for all the saints, because of the hope which 
is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in 
the word of the truth of the gospel. You see, part and parcel 
of the apostolic proclamation of the gospel was certain emphasis 
on the hope of the saints, which is laid up in heaven for them, 
that great and enduring and abiding hope that they have, that they 
will live forevermore with Christ Jesus, worshiping along with 
the angels and all the other saints, the God of heaven and 
earth. So it is an end of gospel ministry 
to bring before God's elect the hope of everlasting life. Secondly, under the believer's 
certain expectation is this simple fact. This hope is sure and certain. And this is the stuff of heavenly 
hope. But before we get there, this 
hope that is spoken of by the Apostle Paul is, of course, no 
earthly hope. An earthly hope is something 
that maybe we would reword and say that earthly hope is just 
maybe a strong wish. It's wishful thinking in this 
lower world to hope for certain things that have no eternal virtue, 
no eternal value. They are fleeting and fleeting 
things that fly away. They are not the stuff of eternal 
and heavenly things. There is an earthly hope that 
is wicked. There is an earthly hope that 
is wicked. And you can turn to the book 
of Proverbs to see this with me. The book of Proverbs, in 
more than one place we have this, but we're just going to look 
at two of them. In Proverbs 11, we find one of these. There is 
an earthly hope that is wicked. Notice in Proverbs 11 at verse seven. When a wicked 
man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust 
perishes. You see what happens if we have 
hope only in this world, in earthly things. Specifically here, the 
earthly things of wickedness, if we put our confidence, if 
we hope in things, if we hope that certain things will take 
place or that we will get certain things that are unlawful, it 
is most certainly the case that those expectations will perish. The hope of the unjust perishes. We are not to put our hope in 
earthly things, we are not to put our hope in certainly wicked 
things. Proverbs 23, we have similar 
language. Notice in Proverbs 23 at verse 
17. There we see the folly and the 
madness of hoping, of course, in wicked things. Proverbs 23 
in verse 17, do not let your heart envy sinners. but be zealous 
for the fear of the Lord all the day. We are not to hope after 
and seek after and wish for those things that mark sinners. We are rather to be zealous for 
the fear of the Lord all the day. Our hope is not to be an 
earthly hope after wicked things. We know that our hope is, of 
course, only to be found in Christ Jesus the Lord. There is an earthly 
hope, though, that is lawful. It is okay to have a desire for 
certain events to take place, even though those certain events 
may not take place. It's okay in this lower world 
to hope for certain things, even though we may not get those certain 
things. In fact, I think we have examples 
of that in the Bible. You can turn to Daniel for a 
moment. A lot of Bible turning, I know, But hopefully this is 
a good exercise in landing upon addresses of scripture that show 
these certain things. Daniel 3. And when we read this example, 
we're not necessarily talking about earthly things, but we 
are talking after hope that is in things that might not take 
place. And notice Daniel 3. We'll pick up reading at verse 
14. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying 
to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you 
do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set 
up? Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of 
the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with 
all kinds of music and you fall down and worship the image that 
I have made, good. But if you do not worship, you 
shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery 
furnace. And who is the God who will deliver 
you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no 
need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God 
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, 
and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let 
it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor 
will we worship the gold image which you have set up. You see 
here, Daniel was not necessarily to have faith that God would 
most certainly deliver them from the fire. He was to have faith, 
and he did have faith in the fact that God is able to deliver 
them from the fire. So no doubt he had a hope in 
something that may not occur. He had a hope that God would 
deliver them from the fire, but notice what he says, But if not, 
let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, 
nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. 
If God deems it well to have us burn in the fiery furnace, 
all the more glory to the Lord God of heaven and earth. And 
we do not bow to your gods of gold and silver and wood and 
whatever else you fabricated your gods out of. We bow down 
solely and alone to the high king of heaven. But you see, 
there is a hope that we can have in things that might not possibly 
come to pass. Christ Himself, the sinless Lamb 
of God, the sinless Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane, O Lord, 
if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not 
my will, but Thine be done. And so we come back to the point, 
we come back to the idea here in Titus, this hope that is brought 
before Titus, that is brought before the believers, that no 
doubt Titus would have shared this epistle with, this hope 
is a heavenly hope. And as such, it is sure and certain. There is no possibility for the 
promise of God to fail. There is no possibility for this 
hope to fail. But rather, in having hope of 
eternal life, we have hope in sure and certain things. So I'm 
going to offer up a couple definitions of what Christian hope is. You see, because Hope, generally 
speaking... can just be wishful thinking, 
a strong desire, maybe even a weak desire, a weak to strong desire 
that something might take place, and I really wish that it does 
take place, knowing, though, that the possibility is that 
it might not take place. This heavenly hope, though, as 
such being heavenly, is sure as certain. Two definitions. 
One definition of Christian hope would be the certain expectation 
that God most certainly will make good on his gospel promises. 
Emphasize, or I reiterated certainly there twice, because of the surety 
of Christian hope. The certain expectation that 
God most certainly will make good on his gospel promises. This is Christian hope. Another 
definition could be the recognition of the impossibility for God's 
promises to fail with emphasis on the anticipation of the fulfillment 
of those promises. And so, Hopefully with that in 
the fore of our minds, when we come to this text and we read 
that Christians are to be marked by hope of eternal life, we understand 
that this is a hope that does not fail. It does not and should 
not ebb and flow. The promises upon which this 
hope is built is sure and steadfast, are sure and steadfast, and God 
will not fail. in bringing about his purposes. Now, hopefully this is a boon 
to your souls, the Christian hope. You see, because no other 
hope brings any sort of comfort to our souls, it shouldn't, because 
every other hope is fleeting. Every other sort of hope flies 
away save for the hope of everlasting life comes by way of the perfect 
work of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Another reason, 
another foundation for the certainty of our hope is because it is 
founded upon the perfect blood and the perfect righteousness 
of Christ Jesus the Savior. What a hope of absolute loss 
it would be if we are resting upon anything else. What a hope 
marked by loss if we were hoping in our own good deeds to bring 
us into the presence of God on that great and final day. You 
know what it is? To add even the most minuscule 
work or deed to the finished work of Christ, to rest at all 
salvificly upon any deed wrought in the holiness of our hearts. 
It's like this. It's like sewing a patchwork 
of fecal-stained rags upon the perfect white robes of Christ's 
righteousness when we seek to add anything to the finished 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're clothed in the white robes 
of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and those white robes 
are washed in the crimson of His perfect blood. And so to 
seek to add anything to the finished work of Christ, to seek to have 
hope in ourselves, to have hope in others, to have any sort of 
eternal hope in anything, save for the promises of God perfectly 
executed by Christ Jesus the Lord, is to have a hope characterized 
by absolute loss, which is no hope at all. We have this heavenly 
hope. And notice the contrast to earthly 
hope. If you turn back to that Proverbs 
passage with me, Proverbs 23, In Proverbs 23, in verse 17, 
notice if we were to continue to read, and we'll pick up again 
in 17, Proverbs 23, 17. Do not let your heart envy sinners, 
but be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day. For surely 
there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off. You see the blessed contrast. 
Hope in heavenly things contrasted with hope. in earthly things. Do not let your heart envy sinners. 
Don't put your hope after the things of a material world, things 
that will fade away. Dead Romans couldn't bring Caesar's 
coins into the afterlife with them. They would rest coins upon 
their eyes so that they could pay the ferryman to cross the 
River Styx. They would enter into an afterlife. 
There would be no coin. There would be no passage. There 
would only be everlasting torment. But you see, for surely there 
is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off. If you find 
your hope in everlasting life, if you find your hope in Christ 
Jesus the Lord, if your hope is solely and alone in the blood 
and righteousness of the Savior, then there is a hereafter, and 
your hope will not be cut off. And notice the link to the perfect 
work of Christ. As we find our way back to the 
book of Titus, Notice the link to the perfect work of Christ 
with regards to this hope that we are discussing. Titus chapter 
three. And we're going to begin reading 
in verse three. Titus three, verse three. For 
we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving 
various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy. hateful 
and hating one another. But when the kindness and the 
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He 
saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing 
of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through 
Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His 
grace, we should become heirs according to the hope, of eternal 
life. You see the perfect and pure 
and pristine foundation for the hope of eternal life for the 
Christian, it is in Christ Jesus our Savior. That is the ground 
of our hope, the sure and steady foundation of our certain expectation. The promises of God will be made 
true. Notice as well the clarity that 
is an abiding hope or notice the clarity, that it is an abiding 
hope that cannot be snatched away. You see, it is an abiding 
hope that cannot be stolen, cannot be snatched away from anyone. 
There's a passage that speaks to this any more gloriously. There's probably no passage that 
we have that is any more glorious than Hebrews 6 that connects 
hope and the promises of God, and the fact that they are abiding, 
that they are strong, and that they can never be taken away. Turn to Hebrews 6 with me, and 
hopefully this is a passage of Scripture that is near and dear 
to your hearts. When we consider the hope of 
the Christian, when we consider that lasting, sure, and eternal 
hope, when we talk about certain expectations, coming from God 
to man. Notice in Hebrews 6 beginning 
in verse 13, for when God made a promise to Abraham, because 
he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself saying, surely 
blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so after he had patiently 
endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, 
and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 
Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs 
of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by 
an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible 
for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have 
fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor 
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence 
behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, 
having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. You can't You can't, in any sort 
of theological system that seeks to steal away the sure promise 
of hope for the believer, you can't wiggle out of these glorious 
binds of sure and certain hope. There is no way to escape the 
clarity of God's sure promises to those who believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. This hope we have as an anchor 
of the soul, both sure and steadfast. There's this duplication of words 
throughout the passage to enforce the reality of the certainty 
of this hope. For the believer, it is sure 
and steadfast on the part of God. He makes a promise and swears 
with an oath that by two immutable things it would be known. that God is a God in whom it 
is impossible to lie has given us strong consolation in this 
refuge that we are to lay hold of and we are we have before 
us by the Apostle Paul the clarity set forth in the abiding hope 
that we have in Christ Jesus the Lord and in the promises 
of the gospel as we work through the book of Hebrews or were we 
to continue reading we would land at passages such as verse 
19 of Hebrews 7, where we read the following, for the law made 
nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the 
bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to 
God. In Hebrews 10, 23, notice this 
language of hope as it's affixed beautifully to the Lord Christ. 
Hebrews 10, verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our 
hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. In the context, it's linked to 
the perfect high priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How 
can we have an enduring hope that is sure and steadfast? Well, 
we can because the high priest of our confession, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, has rendered the perfect sacrifice for sins, has been 
raised again, and has ascended to the right hand of the majesty 
on high, living ever to make intercession for his people. 
So we have the believer's certain expectation. Secondly, we have 
the foundation for the believer's certain expectation. As we find our way back to the 
book of Titus, it's not too far back to the left. If you navigate 
back there, notice what the text says here. In hope, verse 2, 
Titus 1, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised 
before time began. The foundation for the believer's 
certain expectation. First, our hope is grounded in 
the immutability of God. The text clearly says, in hope 
of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised. Our hope 
is grounded in the immutability of God. Kids, hopefully you know 
what immutability means by now. That means impossible of undergoing 
change. Immutability cannot change. Mutability 
can change. Immutability cannot change. Our hope is grounded on the unchanging 
nature of God. And that is what's behind this 
proclamation of the Apostle Paul, in hope of eternal life, which 
God, who cannot lie, promised. This idea, this cannot of God, 
this cannot ascribe to God that he cannot lie, isn't to somehow 
speak to a weakness in God as if it rails against his omnipotence, 
but is clearly to show the perfection of his nature. Gill writes, this 
does not contradict his omnipotence, but argues the perfection of 
his nature, which cannot admit of anything that implies weakness 
and mutation. The fact that we can have hope 
in eternal life is grounded in the fact that the God who promises 
it cannot change. Our hope is grounded in the immutability 
of God. We'll get to the immutability 
of His promise in a moment, but we need to understand that the 
reason God's promises do not change is because He Himself 
can never and does never change. The promise of God being immutable 
is grounded in the fact that He Himself is immutable in His 
nature, in His being. This is John Owen on the passage 
in Hebrews 6, which is much of the same language. And I would 
argue that Titus 1, 1 to 4, is the stuff that serves an argument 
for Pauline authorship for the book of Hebrews. But that's another 
thing altogether. This is John Owen on the book 
of Hebrews. Hebrews 6, the passage that we 
read, speaking about the purposes of God, and their immutability, 
the purposes of God, and their immutability is a necessary consequent 
of the immutability of the nature of God, with whom is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning. James 1.17, the strength of Israel 
is not a man that he should repent. 1st Samuel 15 29 and in opposition 
unto all change and mutability it is said of God thou art he 
always in all respects one in the same you see we have the 
surest of comforts in this the words of the Lord our God I am 
the Lord I do not change You see, there are modern spinsters 
that would want to steal away from God's immutability and say 
that it only lands in the province of God's ethical immutability 
and what we may call the immutability of his counsel. His promises 
never change and he and his holiness never changes, but that doesn't 
mean that he cannot somehow change in his being. He can have perfect 
ebb and flow to emotions. and He can live our lives with 
us in the vicissitudes of our earthly existence, moving from 
grief to blessedness, to grief to blessedness, etc., etc. The 
Lord our God is immutable. He does not change. He is always, 
in all respects, one and the same. He is always most loving. He is always most merciful. He 
is always most gracious. And the fact that we can have 
hope of eternal life is grounded in the fact that we have a God 
who is immutable in his nature, who cannot admit of anything 
that implies weakness and mutation. That hymn, in fact, that we sang 
this evening, Henry Francis Light, I think he knew this well. When 
he can write those stanzas, when other helpers fail and comforts 
flee, help of the helpless, oh abide with me. And it's punctuated 
more and it grows in greater theological strength when he 
writes, change and decay in all around I see, O thou who changest 
not, abide with me. We want one perfect in his immutability 
to abide with us, because any other helper is no helper at 
all. We may gain help in this lower world to a weak and a much 
more estimable degree by people, family, and friends. But those 
helpers will fail, and their comforts will flee. But we have 
the stuff of eternal and abiding, sure and certain comfort in a 
God who does not change, who is always in all respects one 
and the same, who will love you today, who will love you tomorrow, 
who will not ebb and flow in his love, who will have no vicissitudinal 
fluctuations in his love towards his people because he is perfectly 
unchangeable. You see, there is no ebb in the 
essential glory. There is no flow in the triune 
majesty. There is only this God who cannot 
lie. who has promised before time 
began that he would save a people perfectly by the shed blood of 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in that God, we have 
comfort of comforts. In that unchanging God, we have 
the stuff of Henry Francis Light's vision of abiding in the help 
of the one who helps the helpless. Our hope, secondly, is grounded 
in the eternal unchanging promises of God. We've already noted, and perhaps 
this sounds like some reduplication, but we're moving now from the 
immutability of God's nature. His essential nature is such 
that it admits of no change, no mutation. And the consequent 
of that is that our hope is to be grounded in the eternal unchanging 
promises of God. God's promises are unchanging 
because His nature is. We can turn to passages such 
as Isaiah 46. to see this. So do that with 
me. Isaiah 46. Notice what we'll see here is 
the unchanging purpose, the unchanging, the unchangeableness of God and 
his counsel. Isaiah 46, beginning in verse 
10. Notice what we read. Isaiah 46, 
10, declaring that this is just before that I am God and there 
is none like me. Verse 10, declaring the end from 
the beginning. and from ancient times things 
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I 
will do all my pleasure, calling a bird of prey from the east, 
the man who executes my counsel from a far country. Indeed, I 
have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. 
I have purposed it. I will also do it. You see, it's 
verses like these that the Calvinist takes in his hand. And it is 
a hammer to dash to pieces the madness of erroneous thoughts 
of a God who changes. The erroneous thoughts of a God 
who is not sovereign in his purposes, who is not sovereign in his counsels 
and in his wisdom. We don't take the hammer to dash 
to pieces those who in their ignorance perhaps are found within 
a certain system of theology. But we do take that hammer and 
we dash to pieces the arguments of anyone. who would seek to 
prop up a God and conceive of a God who is mutable, who is 
changeable, who cannot bring about those things that He has 
promised. God has promised. God has certainly purposed to 
save a multitude of sinners by the perfect bloodshedding of 
the Savior, and He brought that about. He brought that to perfection. He brought that about in time 
and in history. God's promise that He would give 
those people covered by the blood of Jesus, the blessed gift of 
everlasting life in His presence, in the presence of all the angels, 
and before the glory of Christ, that promise will most certainly 
come true. Now, you know, this is a future... 
this is a... hope is, by its very nature, 
a future-oriented thing. As Paul would write in Romans 
8, 24, what is hope if it is hope in things seen? Hope by 
its very nature is hope in things unseen. In other words, we don't 
currently now enjoy the blessedness of everlasting life as far as 
being in the presence of God, being in Emmanuel's land, singing 
with dead saints made alive and the angels in heaven, the glories 
of the triune God. We don't currently enjoy that 
reality. We currently can now know that 
we own that fact, that we will one day enter into the glory 
of God in heaven. In fact, John 3.36, those who 
believe the Son have life. Those who do not believe the 
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abide on him. But 
it is a future thing. But hopefully, as Christians, 
You get foretastes of this in this lower world, in perhaps 
more than one sense, but in this sense, when you have a loved 
one who died in Christ and is passed on to glory. Hopefully, 
in a sense, you can latch on in the smallest savoring the 
bliss of everlasting life. You see, because as Rutherford 
said, he is not lost to us who is found in Christ. They have 
not gone away, but they have gone before. They do not fade 
out of view like a star passing into another hemisphere, but 
rather they go before us to the King of Kings and to the Lord 
of Lords, to Emmanuel's land, wherever more they will sing, 
Hallelujah, what a Savior. And that hope, that savor of 
hope before you get the full consummation of your hope in 
Emmanuel's land. That savor of that hope that 
you get to enjoy, it is rooted, it is grounded in a God who doesn't 
change, whether in his being or in his purposes and his counsels. 
We worship a God, not of Greco-Roman construction who ebbs and flows, 
but rather a God who is perfect in his being, perfect in the 
execution of his perfect promises. Thirdly, and lastly, the means 
of making known the blessings of salvation. As we turn back 
to the book of Titus, the means of making known the blessings 
of salvation. Notice what Titus, the book of 
Titus, Paul in the book of Titus, brings before us as the means 
of making known the blessings of salvation. He goes on, a God 
who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time 
manifested His word through preaching. The means of making known the 
blessings of salvation simply seen in verse three, that God 
has in due time manifested His word through preaching. The historical 
opening up of the promises of God in Christ are first in view 
in the words, but has in due time manifested. Hopefully this 
language echoes in your mind or the language of passages such 
as Galatians 4.4 are echoing in your mind. When the fullness 
of the times had come in due time, When the fullness of the 
times had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born 
under the law, to redeem those who are under the law. Hopefully 
passages such as Ephesians 1.10 come to your mind, where we see 
the same language. There we read that in the dispensation 
of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one 
all things in Christ. this language of due time has 
to do with the fact that God before that time promised that 
something would come to pass and then at a time in history 
that promise comes to fruition. You see it just speaks again 
to the fact that God really does follow through on his promises. 
He's not a God who follows after the human devising of promises 
and the human character of promising. We make so many promises, the 
majority of which we probably never keep. God makes multitudinous 
promises in everyone he keeps to its fullest degree. Before 
time began, God promised that he would bring his son into this 
world to die for sinners and rise again. And we see this happening 
most surely and most certainly in time and in history. And first, 
Peter, we get this same language and this same idea. And hopefully 
it isn't a vain exercise or hopefully it isn't a boring exercise, brethren, 
to rehearse the fact that God makes promises, that God preaches 
those promises to his people. and that in due time God brings 
to perfection those promises. Notice in 1 Peter 1, the language 
that we have beginning in verse 17. And if you call on the Father 
who without partiality judges according to each one's work, 
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in 
fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things 
like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition 
from your fathers, But with the precious blood of Christ, as 
of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he indeed was foreordained 
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these 
last times for you, who through him believe in God, who raised 
him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith, and 
here it is again, hope, are in God. You see the same truth that 
Paul brings forth in Titus. Christ was foreordained before 
the foundation of the world. God who cannot lie promised before 
time began, but was manifest in these last times for you, 
but in due time made that word known, manifested that word through 
preaching. The historical opening up of 
the promises of God in Christ Jesus. And this is the point 
of the author in the book of Hebrews. God, who in various 
portions and in many ways spoke to the fathers in time past by 
the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, 
whom He has appointed the heir of all things, by whom also He 
made the worlds. Jesus comes in time and in history 
in due time. Christ was manifested and that 
Christ who was manifested was made known through preaching, 
but He has in due time manifested His Word through preaching. God's way of making known the 
riches of His grace is through preaching. You know, hopefully 
none of you do, but someone could get the idea that the preacher 
who always repeats the importance of preaching is engaging in some 
sort of self-serving exercise. Hopefully you never think that. Hopefully you realize that the 
emphasis put on preaching is that we are just echoing the 
words of Holy Scripture. Preach the word in season. and 
out of season. Convince, exhort, rebuke with 
all long-suffering and teaching. The preaching of the Word is 
central in the Christian life. Has indeed, or has in due time 
manifested His Word through preaching, which was committed to me according 
to the commandment of God our Savior. Never reject the day 
of preaching. Never count preaching a small 
thing. Yes, the The exercise of preaching 
is done by cracked pots, 2 Corinthians 4, 4-7, but that was deemed well 
and pleasing by God so that the glories of God in his gospel 
would be made all the more glorious and all the more worthy of belief 
and adoration. God's way of making known the 
riches of His grace is through preaching. This is clear in First 
Corinthians 121. It's clear from Romans 10, 17. It's said this morning that, 
you know, there's, I didn't say it this way, but I said it a 
similar way. There's that saying, there's 
that saying out there, a picture is worth a thousand words. And 
I gotta tell you, I disagree with that. I'm not a big art 
fan, maybe there's art fans out there. Art's okay, as long as 
you're not violating the second commandment, which is nothing 
to take lightly. But you see, words, words are 
worth a thousand pictures. Christ comes to us through preaching. Faith comes to us through preaching. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness 
of the message preached to save those who believe. Words are 
worth a multitude of pictures. I love what Calvin says, you 
see back in the day Back in Calvin's day there were churches adorned 
with crosses, whether wood or stone or gold, whatever else, 
pictures, images, all of these sorts of things. And Calvin in 
his wholesomely polemical way says this with regards to those 
sorts of things, and it cuts back to the point that God in 
due time has manifested his word through preaching. Paul testifies 
that by the true preaching of the gospel, Christ is depicted 
before our eyes as crucified. What purpose did it serve then 
for so many crosses of wood, stone, silver and gold to be 
erected here and there in churches? If this fact had been duly and 
faithfully taught, that Christ died on the cross to bear our 
curse, Galatians 3.13. to expiate our sins by the sacrifice 
of His body, Hebrews 10.10, to wash them by His blood, Revelation 
1.5. In short, to reconcile us to 
God the Father, Romans 5.10. From this one fact, they could 
have learned more than from a thousand crosses of wood or stone. For 
perhaps the covetous fix their minds and eyes more tenaciously 
upon gold and silver than upon any word of God. You see why 
this church might be, in a sense, boring? We don't adorn it with 
bespeckled and bejeweled crosses, and we don't have the stations 
of the cross adorning the windows of the church. It's a beautiful 
church, though. I mean, we have nice wooden ceiling 
and nice beams, whatever you call them, and it protects us 
from the rain. We've got pews. We've got a pulpit 
in the center of the church. And we've got preachers who come 
up here to proclaim the riches and the excellencies of Christ 
Jesus, asking you not to find any splendor in themselves, but 
asking you to find splendor of splendors in the King of Kings 
and the Lord of Lords. We need no bespeckled crosses, 
because they don't. What purpose did it serve for 
so many crosses of wood, stone, silver, and gold, if churches 
would proclaim Christ is crucified? And when He is, it is as if He 
is before the eyes of faith, crucified before us. Words are 
worth a multitude of pictures, and Paul knew that well and writes, 
but has in due time manifested His word through preaching. which 
was committed to me according to the commandment of God our 
Savior." A brief 30 second excursus. What a glorious argument for 
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. See what he says here, which 
was committed to me, this purpose of preaching, the means by which 
to bring life to dead sinners, was committed to me according 
to the commandment of God our Savior. What did we read? What did we read this morning? 
Christ comes and commands Paul to proclaim the riches of the 
gospel to the Gentiles. You heretics who deny Christ 
and His deity. You sharp dressed foxes and snakes 
who wrap upon our doors and seek to propagate a created Jesus. 
come to the touchstone of Holy Scripture and are dashed to pieces 
by such verses. Commandment of God our Savior, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because only a few verses later, 
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ our Savior. Jesus Christ, fully God, fully 
man, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Well what do we learn in closing 
brethren? Hopefully we learn a number of things. Hopefully 
we've gained some things by an examination of only three verses 
of Paul's epistle to Titus. First off believer rejoice in 
the hope of everlasting life. Rejoice in the hope of everlasting 
life. Perhaps You know, perhaps it is the case that we bumble 
about on Sundays and we don't smile a whole lot. Maybe that's 
just our dispositions, but hopefully out there with mouths that are 
going fully east to west and not arcing up to the north, hopefully 
inwardly you're rejoicing in the hope of everlasting life, 
brethren, because it is the hope of hopes. There is really no 
true hope for anything else. You might hope after a a wonderful 
relationship, a wholesome relationship as you go according out there 
in the world. You may hope after, have a lawful 
and a wholesome seeking after a faithful employment and God 
might bless you with riches. You might hope that your sons 
and daughters are doing whatever lawfully and gloriously before 
their God in order that they might seek His face. But you 
see the only true and lasting hope that will warm your soul, 
that will be a boon to your heart day in and day out, is the hope 
in the everlasting life promised by God, afforded through Christ, 
that is sure and certain. It's laid up for us in heaven. 
You will never be disappointed latching, latching the caboose 
of your hope to the train of God alone, His sure promises. 
Any other train and any other track ends in loss, goes off 
into the ravine. Hope in God. Believer rejoice 
in the hope of everlasting life. That's what we read from Psalm 
146, 5 this evening. Happy is the one whose hope is 
the Lord. Blessed is the one whose hope 
is the Lord God Almighty. Believer find the greatest of 
comforts in the immutability of God. Change and decay in all 
around we see, don't we? Change and decay, ebb and flow, 
the vicissitudes of a sinful world, yet in light unapproachable 
dwells one who is immutable in all things, who is always in 
all respects one in the same. We have comfort of comforts in 
one who is always most loving, not one who ebbs and flows in 
anything ascribed to him, but rather we have comfort of comforts 
in one who is fully always in all things one in the same, the God of perfect 
immutability, holy loving, holy wise, holy, all those things 
that are His blessed being. And believer do not count the 
act of preaching a small or less significant thing. Hopefully 
it isn't the case that you come into worship on a Sunday and 
say, okay, you know, I'm really looking forward. I'm really looking 
forward to when he opens up the Bible and has our call to worship, 
the reading of the scriptures. I'm really looking forward to, 
you know, the singing of hymns. But man, I really hope he hurries 
up with the preaching because it's really not my favorite part 
of worship. Let it never be, hopefully, that 
the preacher in the pulpit is one who fosters an attitude where 
you just really want the preaching to end. Hopefully that's never 
the case. But you see, don't count preaching 
a small thing. But because God has deemed it 
well and pleasing, purposed it such that through the act of 
preaching, He by His amazing and victorious grace brings dead 
sinners to light and life in Christ Jesus. It is never a small 
thing to be found before the preaching of the word. It should 
be a high and heavy honor, not because the preacher is glorious, 
but because the God and the Christ of the preacher is worth all 
honor and praise. And unbeliever, you need to fear the fact that 
you have no hope in this lower world, if you do not have your 
hope found solely and alone in Christ. You might have the hope 
that those atheists are right. They're not. But you might have 
this hope that those atheists are right. Yeah, you know what? 
I don't know if this God really is there. I'd really like it 
to be true. You know, the most dangerous 
fairy tale in the history of the world is that man has come 
from goo billions of years ago. Evolutionary science, the madness 
of atheistic philosophy, the most dangerous fairy tale. But 
you see it comes to the unbeliever, and it's this fleeting bomb of 
suppressing the truth and unrighteousness. You cannot suppress the truth 
of the one who has made himself known in the Scriptures, of the 
one who has spread out the galaxies and the stars in their orbit, 
so that they proclaim his righteousness. You come to the bar of God's 
general revelation, and you come to the heavier and much more 
weighty bar of the scriptures, and you find that there is a 
God, that He is holy, that He is just, that He does punish 
sin, and that you in your sin will be cast into the lake of 
fire reserved for the devil and his angels lest you're found 
to have hope of hopes in Christ Jesus the Lord. You flee to Him, 
because only in Christ Jesus is there hope. Only in Christ 
Jesus is there that blessed reality that we will enjoy Him forever. 
The praises of the saints in Emmanuel's land. Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and believer go into 
this upcoming week with that hope of hopes. Resting your pillow 
at night, raising it up off that pillow in the morning, resting 
solely and alone in the blood and in the righteousness of Christ 
Jesus the Lord. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for this time in your Word. We thank you that 
we can rejoice in the Savior, that we can sing his praises, 
that we can gather together for worship, that we can engage in 
this act of worship, the preaching of the Word. We pray, Lord God, 
that you would help us to daily rejoice in the hope that is set 
before us in Christ Jesus the Lord knowing that it is not a 
fleeting hope that will fly away but a sure and certain expectation 
that your promises will come true we thank you for this and 
we pray that you'd go with each and every one of us into this 
upcoming week help us to daily rejoice in Christ Jesus the Lord 
to seek to live in light of such a glorious salvation We pray 
that for any here Lord God that presently now as we pray are 
outside of saving faith are found to be in unbelief outside of 
Christ that you would even now and by the words preached by 
your spirit and for your glory cause them to believe in the 
King of Kings and in the Lord of Lords, that you would remove 
that heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, that 
it might beat for the Savior, and that those Lord God who entered 
in outside of Christ would leave in Him, singing the praises of 
His glorious name. And it's in Christ's name that 
we pray. Amen.