Sunday, January 5, 2024 PM

Father, we thank you so much for our time here tonight. We thank you for the sweet fellowship that we have in Christ. And we pray that you would help us as we turn to your word to understand its truth and to rejoice in it.

Lord, please lead us and guide us in all these manners, Lord, in all these ways. Please show grace and favor upon us because of your son. It's in his name that we pray, amen. Before we get to the lesson, I wanted to make an announcement.

And I'll be doing this in the coming Wednesday nights and Sunday nights as well. With the weather being cold and obviously being dark early out and all of that, it is customary, it's been kind of the casual custom of our church for the gym to be open after the service.

Sometimes it's one of the youth will go open it, borrow a key and get it open and get it going. And all the kids end up over there sometimes. We wanted to kind of talk about that a little bit more purposefully, make sure that everybody knows what's going on.

Usually on Wednesday nights when we have TAG, whatever TAG ends up doing for their last bit, if they are in the gym or if they're in the backyard or just in the TAG room, the goal going forward is that all the children involved with TAG are gonna be brought to their parents at around 7 .30.

So they need to touch base with their parents, check in with their parents.

Okay?

And the goal with that is then the parents get to decide what their kids are gonna be doing, where they're gonna end up. And so parents have full information and full control over that. If perchance that the kids were playing in the gym on a Wednesday night and TAG is using the gym, the older kids and youth will stay out of their way and not be over there.

TAG is gonna use that. Well, let's say it's 7 .30 and everyone's up for playing in the gym and so on and so forth. That's up to the parents to decide. And you need to know, like we have this little run in between the church building and the gymnasium.

It's open parking lot. So it's exposed to weather, exposed to traffic, some. So parents need to be comfortable with training their kids about parking lots and going over. And if you want them to go over with an older sibling or if you wanna take them over personally, whatever the parents are comfortable with, that's what we wanna make sure that you all have full opportunity to handle that.

That's why we wanna get your kids back to you, okay? It's been such a casual custom for us in years past. So somehow the gym gets open and then most of the kids just end up over there and playing. But with more children and newer families, we wanna make sure everyone's on the same page, that you all know exactly what's going on.

We don't really have any system officially yet of some supervisor over there. It's just a bunch of kids playing. We might at some point begin to have some directed supervision over there to have an adult there.

If we do that, we're also gonna be worried about timeframe, about when we're gonna shut down and all of that. So I'm just letting you know where we're at as far as that goes. If you have any questions about TAG, feel free to ask me and if I don't know, I'll ask Lori, okay?

She's doing a great job keeping me informed. I won't have to be asking her for new information, I'll just be asking her for reminders because she's already told me everything, I'll just have to remember it.

But if you have any questions about TAG, you can direct them towards me or catch Lori when you can and we'll try to be clear on that. But again, on Sunday night sometimes, like on a bad weather night like this and so on, we just wanna make sure you guys are fully aware of where your kids are and what's going on so there's no confusion.

Make sense?

Okay.

What Makes for a Good Church in Titus

All right, we're gonna be in the New Testament tonight in the letter of Titus. And about, let's see, last year, throughout a big chunk of 2024, in Timothy's school, we were working on going from text to lesson and teaching about how to take passages of scripture and to study them and to prepare them for teaching.

And so several of our men went through that class and that course and we decided to focus on Titus and give opportunity for the various participants to develop a teaching lesson from the book of Titus and to teach it on an upcoming Sunday night.

So we eventually gave everybody enough time and we're kind of coordinating ourselves and we're gonna start teaching through Titus on Sunday nights. I'm gonna start off with an overview tonight and then I'll be teaching the first passage, if that's still the plan, the first passage as opportunity arises and then we're gonna start having others who have gone through the course and gone through Timothy's school to get up and teach through the book of Titus one passage per man who went through the lesson.

For some of these guys, it'll be the first time to teach like that so we're just gonna provide opportunities and as we are working through what Timothy's school is all about, it's about raising up leaders for the home, for our community but especially for our church, developing leaders in our church to do these kinds of things.

So if you'll be in prayer for this study through Titus, it's about what God desires for us as a church and it's also about having good leaders in a church and this is about investment for our future as a church.

So if you just keep that in mind. Okay, what makes for a good church? What makes for a good church? That seems to be a topic of conversation especially around the turn of the year. Very often I've noticed and my brother has noticed and my dad has noticed in church life around the start of the new year, very often sometimes people begin to look for a new church.

Sometimes it's the new year's resolution, sometimes looking for a fresh start but many times people ask the question, what makes for a good church? What are the qualities that makes for a good church?

And Titus is all about that. Now Titus was a co-laborer in the gospel with Paul. Titus' name shows up in the New Testament about a dozen times and most often in the book of 2 Corinthians but Paul described Titus as his brother, as his fellow helper, as his son and Titus was very steady on and helpful to Paul.

And in this particular book, Paul is writing to Titus about the planting of churches and strengthening of churches, the organizing of churches on the island of Crete. And Crete is a beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean and the only problem with Crete is that it's full of Cretans and it's real hard to have church when your church is full of a bunch of Cretans.

And so Paul writes to Titus about how to make progress and how to strengthen the church, how to have good church even if it's full of Cretans. And we're gonna talk about what makes for a good church. So there are three ingredients in this letter that point to, that are a part of a good church and these three ingredients are put together in a proper relationship.

So there is good direction, there's good doctrine, there's good deeds, and they're all put together in a good dynamic. Now that'll be my way of just surveying Titus as a whole. Titus is not a long book, it's a very small letter, but anywhere you turn in this small letter of Paul to Titus, you're gonna be looking at some passage that deals with good direction, good doctrine, or good deeds, and usually about how they fit together in a good dynamic.

It's not about having just one of them or two of them, but having them all and in their proper balance. And that's what makes for a good church. And all of that is packaged together in a very small letter.

Good Direction and Godly Leadership

And let's think about the first one, which is good direction, good direction. So Paul writes to Titus, and you'll notice this in the first nine verses of chapter 1. The first nine verses of chapter 1, you'll notice that Paul is making this a theme.

He wants Titus to know that what will make for healthy, productive churches on the island of Crete? What is the authority behind the leaders that are gonna be put into place? What's the authority by which these churches will be planted, by which the good news will be preached?

And about those leaders, what are the standards that will let you know if you have good leadership or not? And then also, not only the authority and the standards, but also stability will make for good direction as well.

So let's look at that in verses 1 through 4. Who has sanctioned Paul and Titus to do this work? Who has authorized them? Who has sanctioned them to do this? So verse 1, Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment 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, my true child, and in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. So the preaching and the grace and the peace, this faith, all of it comes from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior, and we understand this to be given to us by the Spirit.

In whom we have this relationship where Paul can call Titus his son, that they are somehow deeply, meaningfully, spiritually related to each other by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. What does it take for us to have a good church?

We have to look for God's authorization. Paul is not doing this on his own idea. You know what would be really good for the island of Crete is more churches. It's not his idea, it's not his message, it is the Lord's will and it's the Lord's message.

It is the faith that is common to Titus and Paul, that which was given to them by God the Father and Jesus Christ. So we have to look for God's sanction through his word that he would direct us according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now it's not enough for there to be preaching and then leaving. Something has to follow that up, and there needs to be good leadership installed and kept up in the churches. So we see the standards for that leadership in verses five through nine.

Paul says, for this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion, for the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he might be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

So very quickly in that, in this list of standards, is simply, first of all, are his relationships in order? What about his family? What about his community? Are his relationships in order? How does he relate to others?

What is his reputation? Not just his relationships, but his reputation. Is he above reproach? Is he somebody that his family and community and folks in the church can actually look up to? And is he righteous?

Is he full of godliness? Is he full of Christ-likeness? Is he somebody who has an example worth following? And is he resolute? Does he hold fast the word of God in the face of opposition? Can he hold fast and hold firm to the word of God and rebuke those who contradict?

So those are the standards to have a few good men who provide leadership in good direction. And these standards for good leadership that has been sanctioned by the Lord, it needs to be stable. Really quickly, over in chapter three in verse 12, Paul writes, when I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I've decided to spend the winter there.

It's a minor point, it seems like, but I think it's important to see that not everything about the work in Crete depended on Titus. Clearly, Titus is gonna have a pivotal, crucial role in establishing churches on the island of Crete, but then Paul says, and expect to leave, Titus.

You're gonna leave.

I'm gonna send other people to you, and the work in Crete, I expect to continue beyond you, past you. You're gonna be gone, and it's still going to go. Right, there's gonna be stability. That would be a key ingredient for good direction.

There, I mean, Artemis or Tychicus could do what Titus was doing, because Titus was not supposed to make the work about himself. The work was supposed to be about Jesus Christ, and following him, and knowing him, and so if Titus is gone, Tychicus can do it, Artemis can do it, somebody else can do it.

It's not all about Titus. So I think two points here are vital about good direction, that we have a good church when we ensure, when we ensure that the ministry of the church is shared in, but it's not leveraged upon the personalities, preferences, and peculiarities of the elders, right?

It can't be attached so closely to the elders that it can't continue beyond their service. If the ministry is based upon the word and submission to Christ, the work will continue as elders go and elders come, and secondly, that necessarily means that we need to make an effort to ensure that we have a supply of leaders ready to step up and serve in that role, so we have to be continually praying for that and laboring to raise up leaders who are ready to serve.

So that's good direction, and those are the instructions that Paul gives to Titus, but not only good direction, but also good doctrine, good doctrine. Now, we see the problem of bad doctrine in chapter one and beginning in verse 10.

Here's the problem of bad doctrine. Not only will we read that, but we're also gonna jump over to chapter three, verses nine through 11. So chapter 10, I'm sorry, chapter one, verses 10 through 15, and then also chapter three, verses nine through 11.

For there are many, I keep on reading out of my notes. These notes are so old, they're in the NASB. I'm going back over here to my current translation, sorry. New King James, for the win. Verse 10, for there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain.

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works, they deny him being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

And then quickly over to chapter three, verse nine, Paul tells Titus, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

So Paul warns against false doctrine, specifically against Jewish false teachers. Notice that they were destabilizing families in chapter one. Why were they destabilizing families? For the sake of their pocketbooks.

They were looking for financial gain. They were preying upon these mixed up Cretans, giving them, oh, what you really need is this, oh, what you really need is this, and just taking advantage of them.

These young, these Cretans who were saved, were young in the faith, they were being tossed to and fro by every new wind of doctrine, they weren't stabilized in the faith, and so these false teachers were taking advantage of that.

And the proof of their false teaching lay in their bad behavior. You can know a false teacher when they are lying, cheating, divisive, rebellious, Paul says, and simply worthless. Their false teaching brings about the same results in those who follow them.

The problem with bad doctrine is it turns out into bad living. There's a real genuine connection between false teaching and a life filled with sin. And of course, in chapter three, we are warned against foolish controversies, getting really focused on things that are not the core issues being involved with unprofitable debates.

So what do we need to have a good church? We must carefully root out bad doctrine, which of course leads us into ungodly conduct and unneeded controversy. In contrast to this is the blessing of good doctrine.

What do we need to have a good church? We need the blessing of good doctrine. And this is what Paul says in chapter two, verse one, but as for you speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.

And how about some really good sound doctrine? How about chapter three, verses three through eight. Titus three, verses three through eight. Here's what Paul says. 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.

How's that for some good doctrine? And you can meditate on that for a really long time. It is full of the riches of the grace of God. Now, listen to what Paul says to Titus about what he just said. Verse eight.

This is a faithful saying. And these things I want you to affirm constantly. All right, so teach these sound doctrines constantly that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.

These things are good and profitable to men. So I hope you see the connection between good doctrine and good deeds. Now, Paul's telling Titus, here's how you be a good leader. Here's some good direction for you.

Teach this good doctrine to them so that they will go do good deeds. You see how it's working together in that dynamic? Good direction means directing the members of the church to grow in their understanding of Christ, to grow in their appreciation of the truths of the gospel.

And as they do that, God does a sanctifying work in their lives by the power of the Spirit. And then they become involved in good deeds. So what do we need for a good church? You must be nourished by sound doctrine, the kind that magnifies God and exalts Christ.

By such teaching, we are empowered to do good deeds. That's the third ingredient for a good church is good deeds. So back to chapter two, and looking at verses two through 10, remember that verse one of chapter two, Paul says, I want you to teach the things that are proper for sound doctrine.

So there are some things that are organically, naturally, properly connected to sound doctrine. What are they? They are the way that older men and younger men and older women and younger women are to live.

There's a connection between what we believe and how we live. And so we look at that in chapter two, verse two, that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith and love and patience.

The older women, likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded in all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works. In doctrine, showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

Exhort bondservants 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 our Savior in all things.

So a word to the men, a word to the women, a word to Titus, a word to bond slaves. Now, chapter three and verse one and two, remind them to be subject to rulers. Here's how you'd be good citizens. Be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

So Paul talks to all these folks in all their different situations. Here's the good deeds that come from the good doctrine and this good direction to point them in this way. So he talks to older people, younger people, slaves, the general conduct of Christians toward all society.

Paul's focus in all of this is developing a good witness for Christ. And we see that in verses five and eight and 10 of chapter two, so that nobody will have anything bad to say so that you're setting a public example for others to follow, that your good deeds are not about you feeling good about yourself.

Now, I've checked all the boxes and so I know that I am a wonderful person. No, but it's about living out the realities of Jesus Christ in a way that blesses the others that are around you in your life.

What do we need to have a good church? Every member of every age and station should strive to live out the gospel of Christ through godly character, seeking to establish the truth of the gospel, the reality of the gospel through their personal character.

And there should be not only a sense of our witness in good deeds, but also our willingness towards good deeds. There should be an eagerness towards that. And we see that in chapter three, verses 13 and 14.

Diligently help Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them. Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs so that they will not be unfruitful.

So opportunities all around to do good, to contribute significantly as we were talking about this morning, to do stuff for Jesus. There's opportunities like that all around us. And Paul gives Titus a test run.

He's like, I have a specific example where you can do something. Help Zenos and Apollos, help them out. Make this a project. What will you and the Cretan church do for them? Here's a perfect example, go for it.

And we don't know what happened. We don't know how generous, how easy or how difficult it was for Titus to lead the brothers in Christ on Crete and the sisters in Christ on Crete to do good deeds for Zenos and Apollos.

We don't know what happened, but here was a specific example to get busy in, and that's good direction. So the ministry of the church, but the ministry of the church, you see, cannot be restricted to assignments handed from the top down, because verse 14 says, our people must also learn.

So Paul is saying to Titus, here's something specific to get involved in, but verse 14 says, but the people there, they need to learn to do that on their own.

Right?

It's not always waiting around for an assignment. Don't you just love it when you see your children taking initiative and doing good things in your household? Oh, that's great, I didn't even have to ask.

That's an amazing, that's a blessing. And that's the same way it is in the church, the blessing to Christ. So what do we need to have a good church? Each one of us who follow Christ should look for pressing needs to meet.

Grace, Godliness, and Good Works in Titus 2:11-15

Now, all of these three ingredients, the good direction and the good doctrine and the good deeds come together in a good dynamic. They're all supposed to be present at the same time in proper balance and relationship in church.

And that is shown to us in chapter two, verses 11 through 15. This is where it all comes together into one passage. If there's one passage that captures Titus in a nutshell,.

It's this one.

Chapter two, verse 11. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and unworldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the 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.

Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one despise you. So you hear all three themes are put together into one little passage. So we have the truth of the gospel being clearly put on display, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and how that has a direct impact on how we live, what we leave behind, what we take on, the direction that we go, and Paul giving instructions to Titus, this is how you lead them.

This is what you should be saying. This is the direction that you should be taking these folks in these churches on the island of Crete. So we have a good church when good direction leads us into good doctrine, which results in good deeds.

That's Titus in a nutshell. And the goal will be to go through and look at those passages that we've read. We read the whole book of Titus tonight. So you can mark that off your Bible, yearly Bible reading list, right?

It's not been in vain. Mark it off. You've done Titus, but we're going to try to go through it passage by passage and look at the details and look at the riches of this little book and how it will be helpful to us as we consider how to labor together in Christ for our church to grow and mature and become all the more favorable in his eyes.

All right, well, let's close by singing the doxology together.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him all creatures here below Praise him above ye his followers