1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,520 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,200 Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,520 County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,920 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:42,200 It's important that we have good works, maintain good works, and 6 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,080 that maintain good works jumps out at me because he's not 7 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,560 saying I just want you to do these things every now and then. 8 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:49,600 You know, do it when someone's watching. 9 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:51,680 Do it when you're trying to impress somebody. 10 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,640 You know, he's not saying do it when you're trying to deceive 11 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,800 somebody because there's something you want. 12 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:04,400 But he says maintain good works. Every day that we get up, let us 13 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,520 maintain good works. It's one thing to cross things 14 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,000 off your bucket list so that you could say been there, done that, 15 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,880 got the T-shirt, but it's a whole other thing to live a 16 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,600 lifestyle where you're not just doing things once and moving on, 17 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,400 but those things become daily habits. 18 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,720 In his message today, Pastor Lewis encourages you to maintain 19 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,480 good works. It doesn't mean you fill your 20 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,600 daily quota and then you're done. 21 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,560 It doesn't mean you just do good works to put on a show. 22 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,880 It means good works are a part of who you are in your daily 23 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,280 life. Now. 24 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,680 Here's Pastor Lewis in Titus Chapter 3 with today's edition 25 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,560 of Living Waters of Grace. If you could turn on your 26 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,280 Bibles, please, to the book of Titus. 27 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,400 We're going to finish up Titus, and prayerfully we're going to 28 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,400 move into the Book of Colossians. 29 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,560 So first we're going to start and finish up the Book of Titus 30 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:00,240 going to verse 8. We're going to start at verse 8 31 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:05,200 there. OK, So as we finish up the 3rd 32 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:10,479 chapter of the book of Titus, we start there verse, we pick it up 33 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:14,400 at verse 8 and just simply says this is a faithful saying. 34 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,760 Now let's see what he's saying is a faithful saying. 35 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:19,800 Now he's talked about a number of things. 36 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,360 He talked about the washing of regeneration, which is one of 37 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:24,880 the last things that he talked about. 38 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,880 And as we mentioned, what the washing and regeneration was 39 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,240 actually a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit that he actually 40 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,920 cleanses our, our, our sins. He forgives our sins. 41 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:40,280 And not only that, but we are changed from the consequences of 42 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,520 those sins. And it's a supernatural act. 43 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,360 It's nothing that is done through labor. 44 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,960 And we also talked about the fact that there are the, that, 45 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,080 that Christ and you haven't been justified by grace. 46 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,880 We are justified by the grace of Jesus Christ just as if we had 47 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,360 not sinned. So those things are taken off 48 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,520 the table for us when we are in Christ Jesus. 49 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,200 We have security in salvation and that we should become heirs 50 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,600 according to the hope of eternal life. 51 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:15,080 And that is the that is the end of our salvation is eternal life 52 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,160 with Jesus Christ forever and eternity. 53 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,320 So, but we go from there and we go to verse 8 and he said, now 54 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,240 this is a faithful saying and these things I want you to to 55 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,640 constantly, not every now and then, but I want you to 56 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:37,520 constantly affirm that those who have believed in God should be 57 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:42,520 careful to maintain good works. What a powerful verse there. 58 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,080 He said to those of us who are in Christ Jesus and who believe 59 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,680 on Christ Jesus, those who believe in God, that they should 60 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,400 be careful. That means be intentional to 61 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:59,560 live our lives in good works, to be intentional about that to to, 62 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,400 to take every opportunity that we have to show good works. 63 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,960 The Bible says we're ambassadors of Jesus Christ. 64 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,320 We should take every opportunity to be that ambassador to 65 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:15,600 represent the Kingdom of God for Jesus Christ here in the earth 66 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,680 realm, Every opportunity that we get. 67 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,920 And he said, this is a faithful, a faithful St. 68 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,200 I want you to constantly affirm this, that it's important that 69 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,440 we have good works, maintain good works. 70 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,800 And that maintain good works jumps out at me. 71 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,480 Because he's not saying I just want you to do these things 72 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,920 every now and then. You know, do it when someone's 73 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,480 watching. Do it when you're trying to 74 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,880 impress somebody. You know, he's not saying do it 75 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,240 when you're trying to deceive somebody because there's 76 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:50,720 something you want. But he says maintain good works 77 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,560 every day that we get up, let us maintain good works. 78 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,360 And it works in US. That power works in US. 79 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:00,880 And that's what we should pray for. 80 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,200 Lord, fulfill me, you know, fulfill your word through me 81 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:08,640 this day. Let their power work through me 82 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,120 to produce good works. Maybe a blessing to somebody, 83 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,840 maybe a blessing to somebody, not just myself. 84 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,680 I want to be a blessing to somebody else, maintain good 85 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:24,920 works. And then he said these things 86 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,640 are good and profitable to man. As we have always mentioned that 87 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,680 our ministry is never for us, it's for others. 88 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,680 The gifts that you have is not for you. 89 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,440 It's to bless others, particularly in the church, but 90 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,120 it's also a demonstration to those who are outside of the 91 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:50,000 church that demonstrates that God is real, that Jesus is real. 92 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,840 And we do that through the way that we live our lives, through 93 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:56,360 good works. It's profitable. 94 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,880 It's profitable to men. Now and then he hits him with a 95 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,200 big one here. Now he talks about what we 96 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,360 should do, and now he's going to change gears a little bit and 97 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,880 talk about what we shouldn't do, what we should avoid in the 98 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:10,960 church. And you look at verse 9, he 99 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,400 says, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogy, contentions 100 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,520 and strivings about the law. Let me just quickly say that 101 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:24,640 what Paul is is saying here is that there are some things that 102 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:29,720 we have to be mature enough to understand that Satan plants 103 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,760 certain things in the church or uses people to do certain things 104 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,440 to cause a division, especially if it's a good work. 105 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,520 Especially if it's a good work, He's going to send somebody or 106 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,360 something to try to cause a division in the church, to sow 107 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,920 seeds of discord, contentions and being dissensions and all 108 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,280 those kind of things. Those things are not of God. 109 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,720 Those things were of Satan. The works of the flesh, 110 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,960 according to Galatians 5, those are works of the flesh. 111 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,440 And anything that's a work of the flesh causes confusion. 112 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,840 And we know that God is not the author of confusion, but of 113 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,200 peace. So he says avoid foolish 114 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,640 disputes. Those things that we spend time 115 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:21,200 talking about that have no eternal value, no eternal value, 116 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,160 but just arguing about it just for the sake of I want to be 117 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,920 right. So I'm going to express and I'm 118 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,360 going to continue to press this point because I want to be 119 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,160 right. These things cause problems. 120 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,360 These things cause problems. It can stumble people when we do 121 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,240 things like that. So he says avoid those things. 122 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,560 Avoid genealogies. You know, there's, you know, 123 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,000 they're they're, you know, back at that particular time, there 124 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,360 were people who would use their their their bloodlines to try to 125 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,800 distinguish how important they were. 126 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,120 Well, I'm a Levite and I'm this and I'm on the seat of the 127 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,560 Abraham, he said. Those things aren't important. 128 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,560 Forget genealogies. My bloodline is not important. 129 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:11,080 I'm born again, so, so the only bloodline I'm concerned about is 130 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,680 Jesus Christ and his blood that he shed for me. 131 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,000 That's the only bloodline that's important. 132 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,520 But he says for, you know, you know, don't stress and don't get 133 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:23,520 in these arguments about genealogies. 134 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,000 It doesn't matter. Those things are not important 135 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,920 and those things are a matter of pride, contentions and strivings 136 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,080 about the law, arguing about details about the law, not the 137 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:36,960 righteousness or unrighteous other, but just these little 138 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,440 small details. Now there are times that we can 139 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,039 get into discussions about the Word of God and we should. 140 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:47,360 We should get into discussions about the Word of God as we both 141 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:51,760 seek the truth of the Word to rightly divide the Word. 142 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:56,360 And in our effort to do that, we can get into discussions. 143 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,280 But those discussions should not turn into debates and those 144 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,160 debates should not turn into arguments. 145 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,520 And those arguments should not turn into contentions. 146 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,880 And those contentions should not turn into divisions. 147 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,640 And unfortunately, that's what can happen. 148 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,840 So he says, you know, avoid those things for they were 149 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,120 unprofitable. He we already talked about what 150 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,160 is profitable. What was profitable was good 151 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,880 works being an example for Jesus Christ. 152 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,480 That's what is profitable. But he said what's not 153 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,880 profitable are these foolish disputes and arguing and and 154 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,320 these contentions he said unprofitable. 155 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,280 Not only that, but they're also useless. 156 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,960 What they're used for. They have no eternal value 157 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,880 whatsoever. And then in verse, then here in 158 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,520 verse 10, he says, reject the divisive man after the 1st and 159 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,400 2nd admonition. So after we, you know, after you 160 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:55,080 have a, a sit down with someone the first time and you point out 161 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,520 to them how it's offensive, how they're, they're, they're 162 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,080 causing a defense or they're causing a, a division by doing 163 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,080 these things. That's the first time. 164 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,000 And then the second time you may bring someone else and say, 165 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,520 listen, you know, we, we really want to bring to your attention 166 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,200 that you're being divisive, you know, with these arguments and, 167 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,920 and with these debates and things of that nature. 168 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,600 Well, he said after the first or second time, if that person 169 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,400 doesn't turn, if that person doesn't change, if that person 170 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:27,360 doesn't see it, he said, reject that person after the first or 171 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:32,080 second admonition. And this is the reason why Look 172 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,120 at what it says in verse 11. Knowing that such a person is 173 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,720 warped, that means they have they're, they're perverted, 174 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:44,320 they're twisted, The enemy has deceived them and they've taken 175 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,920 the word of God and they're perverting it. 176 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:49,040 They're twisting it. They're taking it to be 177 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:54,520 something that is not truth. That person is warped, they're 178 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,160 twisted, they're perverted and sinning. 179 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,400 It's a sin to do what they're doing because they're, they're 180 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,200 not just doing it because they're looking for truth, 181 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,320 They're doing it because they just want to be adversarial. 182 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,560 And he said that is sinful, he said, being self condemned. 183 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,680 And then he's basically saying that this is a person that you 184 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:19,960 just have to reject. Now, to reject a person like 185 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,840 that doesn't necessarily mean that you never minister to that 186 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,840 person again. But there needs to be some 187 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:31,280 church discipline where that person knows you cannot be this 188 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,880 kind of of a problem in the congregation. 189 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,240 You cannot be this kind of problem in the congregation. 190 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,200 So you treat that person as an infidel almost you treat them as 191 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,960 someone who's not even in the faith and you minister to that 192 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:45,760 person. You continue to show love to 193 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,840 that person. You continue to deal with that 194 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:50,920 person like you would any other unbeliever. 195 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,480 And then in verse 12, he says when I sin that he's he's 196 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,480 finishing up this this portion of it finished finishing up the 197 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:02,880 book of Titus. He says now when I send Art 198 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:08,040 Artemis to you or to Caicus, be diligent to come to me at 199 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,880 Necropolis. Paul was in the accomplice 200 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,160 because this is coming around the time of winter. 201 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,720 In fact, he even says here for have decided to spend the winter 202 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,360 there and that's pretty common because Paul didn't want to 203 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,680 travel by sea in the winter because it was dangerous. 204 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,480 So he would always find some place to winter. 205 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,760 That means some place that he would be and to remain over the 206 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:33,520 course of the winter until the the seasons change and it's more 207 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:35,480 safe. It's a lot more safer to travel 208 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:37,800 over the sea so he can continue his ministry. 209 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,680 So he said send them when you send that person, send them to 210 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,280 an accomplice, because that's where I'm going to be for the 211 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,840 winter. And then he said send Zenus the 212 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,640 lawyer. Wow, one of the rare times you 213 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,280 hear about somebody wanting a lawyer to fellowship like this 214 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,120 in the word of God, he says send that lawyer Apollos on the 215 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:03,160 journey with haste that they may lack nothing. 216 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,840 Now a lot of the time now Paul understands that there are 217 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,440 obviously, you know, they're just like there's anything else. 218 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:13,840 You know, there's good and there's bad, there's evil, 219 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,560 there's wicked and there's righteous just like anything 220 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,320 else. All obviously all lawyers are 221 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,640 not bad. We know that I was actually 222 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,760 considering being a lawyer at one particular time. 223 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,360 All lawyers are not bad. Well, Paul is but what what we 224 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:32,040 see is that there can always be a life changing experience in 225 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,000 Jesus Christ through the through the gospel. 226 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:39,040 All accountants not bad, but yet they considered those who were 227 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,080 the tax collectors, you know, they were bad. 228 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,240 They considered them to be bad people, but they changed. 229 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,840 Matthew changed and we definitely always want to 230 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:56,000 consider the life changing power of God in anybody's life, 231 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,720 regardless of what they do. We always want to consider that. 232 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,120 So Paul says sent a lawyer. Maybe this is a person at one 233 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:09,320 particular time was against the gospel, but now maybe they are a 234 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,880 help to Paul in the gospel. There are many people that have 235 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:14,800 been like that for Paul in his life. 236 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,760 There are people who will be like that for yourself and he 237 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,360 said then Apollo's on their journey with haste that they may 238 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:28,640 lack nothing and let verse 14 and let our people also learn to 239 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:33,640 maintain good works and to meet urgent needs that they may be 240 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,880 not that they may not be unfruitful. 241 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:40,200 So he's saying when they leave you make sure that they have 242 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,880 everything they need. That's a good word. 243 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,360 Now remember who he's talking to. 244 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,360 He's talking to the Christians who were very self-centered 245 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,960 people who were a Pagan nation and they really didn't care 246 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,080 anything about anybody else but their own satisfaction. 247 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:02,040 But now that they're in Christ Jesus, Paul is saying this is a 248 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,040 way of showing good works. Make sure when they leave they 249 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,680 have everything they need, everything they need. 250 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,000 Be hospitable to them. What a word to the church today. 251 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:20,080 Be hospitable to people, to bless people, to meet needs of 252 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,080 people. Isn't that the church to meet 253 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,760 the needs of people and however it is that they can be done, 254 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,200 Meet the needs. Sometimes meeting needs of 255 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,040 people could be financial. Sometimes it could just be 256 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,480 labor. Sometimes meeting the need of 257 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,640 people could just be a phone call, a conversation, somebody 258 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,400 who just need to talk to somebody got to relay somebody 259 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,080 on your mind and you call that person and say, oh, can't 260 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,000 believe you called. I was just thinking about you 261 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,240 and there's so many things on my mind, on my heart. 262 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,800 And God sends you to call that person and you become a blessing 263 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,800 to that person because you become that listening ear. 264 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,080 You become sometimes not even necessarily say anything, but 265 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:09,560 just to listen to be a blessing to someone who needs it. 266 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:15,520 So Paul said, make sure you meet the urgent needs that they may 267 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,680 not be that you may not be unfruitful. 268 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:24,560 He's trying to teach a a city who was rooted in paganism, 269 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:30,360 rooted in unrighteousness and morality, and he's now saying I 270 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,160 want you. I don't want you to be 271 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,960 unfruitful. Meet the needs of others. 272 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,680 God is working in your life. What a blessing when we see 273 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,000 those kind of things happen, those terms. 274 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,360 And then in verse 15, it says all who, all who were with me 275 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,240 greet you, greet those who love us in the faith. 276 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,240 Grace be with you all. Amen. 277 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:58,360 So we finished the book of Titus and it says it's, it's important 278 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,720 that we understand that this book of Titus is one of the 279 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,079 three epistles, the, the pastoral epistles. 280 00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:08,720 And, and we, we didn't do it in order because it would be first 281 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:10,800 Timothy, Titus and then second Timothy. 282 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,480 That would be the correct order that they were actually written. 283 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,760 Second Timothy was the book that was written right before Paul 284 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,760 was executed. But Second Timothy, this letter 285 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:27,760 to this young brother, this young pastor who Paul also 286 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:33,400 considered to be a son, this young man, they received him and 287 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:38,640 Timothy received awesome instruction from Paul, who loved 288 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,120 them and loved the churches that they were pastoring. 289 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,640 What a blessing that is to see the heart of Paul poured out in 290 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,800 these passages. But this is actually the Lord 291 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,080 speaking through Paul not only to them, but also to us, the 292 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,680 Lord speaking. What a blessing it is to be to 293 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,720 have these to be able to read. So we want to know about how the 294 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:05,440 New Testament church works. We want to go to first, second 295 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,360 Timothy, and Titus. This is Paul's message to the 296 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:13,160 New Testament church, how it works, the function of it, the 297 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,280 order of it, all of those things are there. 298 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:21,360 So now we move into Colossians and I and I and I have to say 299 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,920 that I, I thought about going right to the next book, thought 300 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,720 about going right to the next book, which would have been 301 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,480 Philemon if I would have went in that in that order, but I, I, I 302 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,600 was just not led to go that direction. 303 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:38,520 Colossians was a book that kept coming into my heart to study 304 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,440 and I'm so glad that I did. So if you go over to the book of 305 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:48,080 Colossians and in chapter 1, just looking at the beginning of 306 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:49,600 it, I just want to mention just a couple of things. 307 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:53,120 First of all, Colossi, this book, this letter to the 308 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:56,600 Colossians is actually the city of Colossae, which is a Roman 309 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:00,160 city in the Asia minus about it's about 100 miles east of 310 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,920 Ephesus is where it's located. It's a small city and it's one 311 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,280 of the three neighboring cities. Beside that is Laodicea, which 312 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,520 we heard about from the the Book of Revelations. 313 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,760 And also Hierapolis is one of the other cities. 314 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:21,080 Colossi was a city who was steep at one time and very prosperous 315 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,000 in trade. Then there was an earthquake 316 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,000 that hit and when that hit it devastated the city. 317 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,360 They lost a lot of people and they also lost a lot of industry 318 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,080 that particular time. And that earthquake actually hit 319 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,800 after they received Paul's letter. 320 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,320 Paul had never been to Colossi. He didn't establish the church 321 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,560 in Colossae, and we'll talk about who did in a minute. 322 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:45,600 But Paul didn't establish that church. 323 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,440 But yet Paul still wrote this letter to Colossae. 324 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:53,360 And he wrote this letter with such love and with such care and 325 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:57,520 with such detail that you would think it was another church that 326 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,520 he founded. But that's the love that Paul 327 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:04,160 had for all believers. All believers, and we have to 328 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,600 keep in mind we're talking about a man who used to kill 329 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,240 Christians, who used to lock Christians up. 330 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,360 If you ever want to just know the life changing power of the 331 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:15,920 gospel, look at Paul. And then after you look at Paul, 332 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,360 look at me and then like probably look at ourselves, 333 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,440 right? That's the power of the life 334 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,600 changing gospel. So Paul writes this letter to a 335 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,960 place he's never been to a bunch of people he's never ever met. 336 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,000 But I want you to pay attention to the love and the care and the 337 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,040 detail of it. So we start with verse one there 338 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,880 in chapter 1. He says Paul, an apostle of 339 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,760 Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. 340 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,320 What jumped out at me immediately is that he talked 341 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,840 about Timothy, our brother. Now, during this time that Paul 342 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,400 wrote this letter, he was actually in, he was in jail, he 343 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,800 was under house arrest in Rome when he wrote this particular 344 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:59,040 letter. And you'll see a lot of 345 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,800 similarities to Colossians and Ephesians, and we'll be 346 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,840 referencing that quite a bit as we go through this letter. 347 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,120 But he mentions Timothy as being with him. 348 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:11,760 Now, Timothy wasn't in jail with him, but Timothy was there to 349 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,680 assist him and to help him. Timothy was probably the one who 350 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:19,600 scribed this letter as Paul was giving his words to it. 351 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,320 And he says Timothy, our brother, well, we know that he 352 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,480 called Timothy his son, But here he's just expressing the fact or 353 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,360 stressing the fact that Timothy is a brother in the faith, just 354 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:32,600 like he's a son of faith. The other thing I also want to 355 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,480 mention is the fact that he calls Jesus. 356 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,040 He he mentions Jesus Christ and he calls that together. 357 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,160 Now pretty much all the epistles in his introductory, he mentions 358 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,680 the name Jesus Christ. But if you were to just think 359 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:48,520 about or go back through like the four gospels, you won't see 360 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:53,080 those two names together. We know that Jesus is named me. 361 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:55,080 You know, that means, you know, save our people. 362 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,960 And we know that Christ is actually his office. 363 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,560 I mean, that's his position of authority. 364 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,120 He is the Christ. He's the Messiah, the Son of the 365 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:06,960 living God. But you won't see those two 366 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,840 together very much in the gospels. 367 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,240 Only about 8 times you may see those things together. 368 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,840 Peter was one who mentions that when he says who, You know who? 369 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:18,440 Who am I? Who does man say I am? 370 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,240 Peter said you, you're the Christ. 371 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,840 You're the Son of the living God, but you don't see that that 372 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,120 often in the Gospels. And that's why Jesus was so 373 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:31,040 quick to say, oh, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, 374 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,040 but my father who was in heaven, because Jesus didn't even reveal 375 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,600 himself as that as much in the Gospels. 376 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,880 So he knew that it had to be spiritually reviewed or 377 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,320 spiritually revealed to him. But here you see these names 378 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,280 together, Jesus Christ, and you'll see that together in 379 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,680 most, most of the epistles because by this time those who 380 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:58,200 are teaching and preaching the gospel are presenting Jesus as 381 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,160 the Messiah. And when we preach and teach 382 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:06,280 Jesus, we should do it as Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the true 383 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,200 God, the the Son of God, God in the flesh. 384 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,400 And then in verse 2, he says to the Saints and faithful brethren 385 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:18,560 in Christ who are in Colossae, grace to you and peace from God 386 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,520 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, we give thanks. 387 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,400 And that's another thing you're going to see quite often 388 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,560 throughout this letter, the giving of thanks and talking 389 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,120 about thanks. And we talked about it before 390 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:33,280 that. That's something that we should 391 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,560 probably be more intentional about doing in our lives is 392 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,960 giving thanks to God, you know, and our prayers. 393 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,960 We should always take time to give thanks to God. 394 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,720 You know, we, we always can go into talking about a laundry 395 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,400 list of things that we need. And I sure need a lot of things. 396 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,480 I need God to do a lot of things in my life as well. 397 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,600 But we should always remember to thank Him for the things that He 398 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:59,080 has done. This has been Living Waters of 399 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,080 Grace, a ministry of Pastor Lewis Harrell of Calvary Chapel, 400 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,160 Westmoreland. Today's message has been on the 401 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,680 book of Titus. This book is a master class in 402 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,200 how Christians should live in modern culture. 403 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,960 Titus was ministering to the people of Crete, an island off 404 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,600 the coast of Greece, but he was facing many challenges. 405 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,680 The Cretans who came to know Jesus seemed to assimilate Jesus 406 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,360 into their existing culture instead of allowing themselves 407 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:31,080 to be transformed by the Holy Spirit inside of them. 408 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,440 Others were fully devoting themselves to Jesus but shutting 409 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,040 themselves off from the world around them. 410 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,400 The Apostle Paul encourages Titus to help his audience find 411 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,120 a middle ground where they can live in this world while still 412 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,080 following a different way of life in Jesus. 413 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,360 If you would like to learn more about what it means to 414 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:55,760 faithfully follow the teachings of Christ in a world full of 415 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,440 darkness, we'd love to get connected with you in person. 416 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:04,200 If you are in Greensburg, PA, we'd love to invite you to join 417 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,840 us at Calvary Chapel Westmoreland. 418 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:12,560 We need every Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 419 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,760 Ste. 6B. Also, if you visit us at 420 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:21,480 calvarychapelonline.com, you'll find links to our mobile app, 421 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,560 our giving page, and our contact form where you can leave a 422 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,680 prayer request if you have one. Before we go off the air for 423 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,160 today, we ask you to invite someone to tune in next time 424 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:40,200 right here on Grace FM 91.7 or streaming online at Grace Radio 425 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,480 dot FM. Word of mouth is the best way to 426 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,160 spread the good news of the Gospel with those who are hungry 427 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,120 to hear. Until next time, this has been 428 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,200 another edition of Living Waters of Grace.