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 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,360 Paul says I am a bond slave. In other words, he says I am 6 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,080 willingly submitting my will to God. 7 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,360 I am a slave of God. That should be all of our 8 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,520 testimonies that we are a bond servant to God. 9 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,560 We are giving our will to willingly submitting our will to 10 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,040 God, Not out of, you know, not out of coercion or because we're 11 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,360 being forced to, but because we desire to please God. 12 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,480 So we live for him. Most of the time when we think 13 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,040 of slavery, we think of those who were forced into servitude. 14 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,800 But that's not the only form of slavery that has existed in the 15 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,160 world. For some, slavery meant to 16 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,840 chance at a better life. No one forced them to become 17 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,560 slaves, but because of the opportunity to live a better 18 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,760 life and work for their own needs, they would willingly 19 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,920 pledge themselves to their masters. 20 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,880 In Pastor Lewis's message today, he encourages you to willingly 21 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,400 pledge your life to God, knowing he offers you everlasting life 22 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:41,720 now. Here's Pastor Lewis in Titus 23 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,840 chapter one with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 24 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,120 As Paul wrote these books, First and Second Timothy, First 25 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,520 Timothy and Titus was actually the first 2. 26 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,520 They were written after his first imprisonment. 27 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,800 And then, of course, Second Timothy was written while he was 28 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,040 in his second imprisonment waiting to be executed. 29 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,960 But we understand that as he wrote these epistles or these 30 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,720 letters, they are for the purpose of pastoral direction, 31 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,640 but not as they're not just for pastoral direction. 32 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:17,360 I mean, we could look at that and we can say, OK, what's OK 33 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,360 for us who are not pastors do not have to obey. 34 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,360 We don't have to deal with this. That's for you, man. 35 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,160 You need to pay attention to it. You guys. 36 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,520 You want us up there talking? But no, he don't let us all off 37 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,840 the hook. We are all committed to the Word 38 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,760 of God, and the things that he teach us in these epistles 39 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,800 actually give us very, very good direction for living the 40 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:39,680 Christian life. And that's one of the reasons 41 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:45,080 why I do enjoy so much reading First Timothy and Second Timothy 42 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,200 and Titus, because it's clear direction on what it is that God 43 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,400 intends for us as the church, how we should look and how we 44 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,920 are separate from the world and how we should treat each other 45 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,680 while we are here because we're going to be spending eternity 46 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,040 together. So we may as well learn now 47 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,360 while we're here, how to get along with each other, how to 48 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,880 love each other, how to deal with each other, how to pray for 49 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,640 each other, how to serve each other, and how to just be with 50 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:14,360 each other. We got our eternity. 51 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,520 Look forward to us. We may well deal with it here, 52 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:17,320 right? Amen. 53 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,320 But as we get into the book, I tell you some very interesting 54 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,360 things that we have to first look at. 55 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,920 First of all, we, we look at the fact that with Paul, it was Paul 56 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:29,760 who gave Titus this assignment as he left him in Crete. 57 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:34,200 Now Paul, Paul initially had gone into the Macedonia, into 58 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,080 Macedonia, into the, into the Asia region. 59 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,000 And he did set up some churches there. 60 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,040 He set up churches in, in Ephesus and of course in 61 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,920 Corinth. And he set up a church and the, 62 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,160 it's actually one of the largest islands on the Mediterranean 63 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,120 Sea. They're in Crete and as Paul 64 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,520 began to set up these churches, now some of these churches, he 65 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,240 was able to stay for a while. Like with the church, the when 66 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,880 he was working with the 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, the 67 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:02,680 Thessalonian church, he was able to stay there for a while. 68 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,560 Ephesus, he was able to stay there for a time. 69 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,240 And then of course he had to leave Timothy there so that 70 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,000 Timothy could be the pastoring to put things in order there 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,200 that Paul wasn't able to do. But he spent a small amount of 72 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,560 time in Crete, and when he spent the time in Crete, he had to 73 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,720 leave early for whatever reason, probably because he was on his 74 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,880 way traveling toward the Troas, where eventually he would be 75 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,360 arrested and taken to Rome and executed. 76 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,200 But while he was in Crete, there was other churches that were 77 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:37,720 there and he sent Titus, a trusted worker in the faith. 78 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,080 In fact, Titus is described a couple different ways and I just 79 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,520 want to go through with that because this was a very faithful 80 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:50,400 worker and very useful for Paul. In fact, it Titus is described 81 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,440 in the 1st chapter right here in verse 4. 82 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,280 He's described as being a son, a son of the common faith. 83 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,760 And we'll get into what that means a little later on. 84 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,680 But he's also described in second Corinthians chapter 2 and 85 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,680 verse 13 describes him as Paul's spiritual brother. 86 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,280 And then in in second Corinthians chapter 8 verse 23, 87 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,280 he describes him as Paul's partner and helper. 88 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,800 And even in even also in second Corinthians chapter 8, he also 89 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,200 talks about him or describes him as being sort of a a positive 90 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,040 spiritual role model for those who were that were Paul sent 91 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:28,720 him. Now Crete wasn't the 1st place 92 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,960 that Paul ever used Titus. He had actually sent him to 93 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,560 Corinth. And we know that Titus was a man 94 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,040 of integrity because while he was in Corinth, Paul not only 95 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,600 used used him to help put some things in order while he was in 96 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,400 Corinth or to help deal with some issues that they were 97 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,160 dealing with in Corinth, but he also used him to bring back the 98 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,720 money, the offering that the people of Corinth had put 99 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,240 together that they were going to take to Jerusalem. 100 00:05:55,520 --> 00:06:00,280 Titus was one of the trustworthy people that he used to bring 101 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:03,160 forth that money. And you know that whoever people 102 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:08,040 select to work with the money are people who are trustworthy. 103 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,400 They are the trustees, so to speak. 104 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,000 But just to give you a little bit of information about this 105 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,640 place, Crete, it's an island on the Mediterranean Sea. 106 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,600 It is a Greek island. And and of course, Titus was a 107 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,840 Greek convert. You know, Paul had ministered to 108 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:27,680 that island and Titus was one of the people that he administered 109 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,160 to. So Titus was a son who came into 110 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,360 the faith through Paul's ministry. 111 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,560 Now the island of Crete is located like southeast of the 112 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,400 island of Greece. In fact, if you look at Cyprus, 113 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,720 and now since my son had gone to Cyprus to play ball there, I 114 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,040 look at everything around the Greek or the Mediterranean and, 115 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,200 and kind of look at it around Cyprus to see where things are 116 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,080 located. And Crete is actually located 117 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,840 West of Cyprus. It's a larger island than what 118 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,800 Cyprus is. Very beautiful area there. 119 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:02,240 Now, Crete is about 150 miles long and it's about 35 miles 120 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:03,800 wide. And like I said, it is the 121 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,600 largest of the Mediterranean islands. 122 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:11,240 It has over over 100 villages that are located right there in 123 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,480 the island of Crete. But there's six main cities that 124 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,200 they have there, and that's where the churches are located 125 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,200 in, in those six main cities. So when he sent Titus back to 126 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,360 Crete to put things in order, it was to those churches that he 127 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,200 was going to be working with. Now Crete had a very bad 128 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,520 reputation, industry wise, business wise, Crete was a very 129 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,080 good place, very nice place to be very prosperous. 130 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:44,000 But in terms of its morality, Crete was a very immoral, just 131 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,960 like Ephesus was, and just like Corinth, it was a very immoral 132 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,560 area. So he sent him back to a very 133 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,960 difficult place to be able to try to put things in order. 134 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,080 In this particular church, Titus was used almost like a little 135 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,640 point guard. That's because a point guard is 136 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,680 that guy on the team that the coach can give instruction to. 137 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:07,960 And he goes and puts everybody in place. 138 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,040 He goes and make sure everybody's in the right 139 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,840 position, Everybody is doing what they need to be doing. 140 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,600 Everybody is functioning together. 141 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,800 That's what a point guard does. And he can look and see he's 142 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,400 actually the coach on the floor. And that's kind of what Titus 143 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,920 was there in Crete. He was, he was Paul's point man. 144 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,000 He was his point guard. He made sure that the leaders 145 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:30,640 are put in place, as we're going to see later. 146 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,120 He made sure that there were things in order there so that 147 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,720 the church could function properly. 148 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,840 So anyway, we go on and we see here as we go to chapter 1 here 149 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:46,160 with Titus, we see here that Paul, when he starts off his 150 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,440 letter, he describes himself as a bondservant. 151 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,560 Paul was a bondservant. Paul says that I am a 152 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:56,240 bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. 153 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:00,160 So Paul says I'm a slave, but he's not just a slave because 154 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,360 there's a couple types of slaves and he and he did that because 155 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:06,560 in the Roman culture, they are big on slaves. 156 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:10,080 I mean, Romans used slaves for a lot of different purposes, but 157 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,880 Paul described himself as a slave of God and he was a bond 158 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,600 servant of God. So what Paul is basically 159 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,200 saying, like I said, there's a couple different types of 160 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,120 slaves. There's a slaves that that that 161 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,520 people use that forced, they're forced into labor. 162 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,040 OK, There are those kind of slaves forced into labor. 163 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:29,320 Those people don't want to be there, but they're there. 164 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,880 They're not there willingly, but they are there because they were 165 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,240 overpowered. They were conquered and they 166 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,880 were forced into labor. But Paul was a willing slave, 167 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,400 like the bond servants. And these are people who 168 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,760 sometimes give themselves to be slave. 169 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,480 These are the downloads, the people who give themselves to be 170 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,280 slaves so that they can either pay off debt or that they can 171 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,120 just live. I mean, they're just poor and 172 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,200 they don't have any income. They don't have a way of making 173 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,360 enough income for them and their families to live. 174 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:59,120 So they sell themselves into slavery and they work for a 175 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,080 owner for so many years. And then they get their freedom. 176 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,960 They get their freedom again, and some of them choose when 177 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:06,120 it's time. God bless you. 178 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,080 God bless you. And some of them, when they 179 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,360 choose to get back, when they have the opportunity to get 180 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,280 their freedom back, they choose not to. 181 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,680 They choose not to. They choose to stay a slave 182 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,480 because maybe they love the family or they have themselves 183 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,400 made a family while they were there and they want to stay with 184 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,240 their family. So they choose to remain a 185 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:28,960 slave. And if they do that, then they 186 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,920 would have to go into a doorway. The slave owner, OK, would take 187 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,200 an animal and he would put it into the ear, OK, put a like a 188 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,720 big plug into the ear of the slave and that indicated that 189 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,880 this slave was with us for the remainder of his life. 190 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,520 So anyway, Paul says I am a bond slave. 191 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,800 In other words, he says I am willingly submitting my will to 192 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,400 God. I am a slave of God. 193 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:58,760 That should be all of our testimonies that we are a bond 194 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,400 servant to God. We are giving our will to 195 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:07,040 willingly submitting our will to God, not out of, you know, not 196 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,280 out of coercion or because we're being forced to, but because we 197 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:15,640 desire to please God. So we live for him, we are his 198 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,160 bond servants and he says, and this is he's an apostle of Jesus 199 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,800 Christ, which means that he is a messenger of Jesus Christ. 200 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:24,840 Please don't always just separate the two like there's 201 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:26,400 two different people. It is not. 202 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:31,280 And that's why Paul, it had put God and Jesus Christ together 203 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:34,080 because they are equal. They are equal. 204 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:39,360 So he is a bondservant of God and he is a messenger of Jesus 205 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,800 Christ. And now Paul goes into talking 206 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,200 about it's really loaded everything he has here in these 207 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,960 first 3 verses. Now he goes in and talk about 208 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:51,120 the purpose of the ministry that God has called him into. 209 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:56,360 And he says according to the faith of God's elect, according 210 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,280 to the faith of God's elect. And what Paul is saying to us is 211 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:06,400 that he is a messenger of God or messenger of Jesus Christ to 212 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:13,120 bring the gospel to God's elect. That is the Gentiles and it is 213 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:18,200 the people of, of Israel who is God's elect, those who trust in 214 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,800 Jesus Christ for their salvation, that God before the 215 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,880 foundation of the world had chosen in Christ Jesus. 216 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:29,880 And what that is saying now, you know, and we, we know that 217 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,800 there's a whole issue that comes up about will versus will versus 218 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,920 election and all those things. I can't begin to tell you that I 219 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,920 understand everything about how all that connects. 220 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,680 All I can tell you is that I believe that what the Word of 221 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:45,840 God says is that both of those things are true. 222 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,240 And how that happens, I'm not exactly sure. 223 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,800 But we do know that Jesus Christ is able to through His 224 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:55,440 foreknowledge. God, through their 225 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,840 foreknowledge, will know who will receive His salvation and 226 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,160 who won't. Jesus Christ already said that, 227 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,280 that He already knows those who will receive His salvation. 228 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:07,920 He knows those are going to follow Him and He knows those 229 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,640 who won't. So he he's called to the gospel 230 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,560 according to the faith of the elect. 231 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,040 That means he's the one that will speak the gospel to them, 232 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:22,880 to bring them to faith, to share the faith with them so that they 233 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,960 will receive salvation. And then the second thing is 234 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,040 that and the acknowledgement of the truth. 235 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,680 Now this acknowledgement of the truth just simply means that 236 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,680 they understand what this true doctrine is. 237 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,000 And it's this true doctrine by them hearing true doctrine, just 238 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,840 like us when we hear true doctrine coming across the 239 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,760 pulpit, it's the doctrine that we can trust in that causes us 240 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,840 to live godly. It produces good fruit in us. 241 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:54,000 It's that truth that we hear that causes us to live godly. 242 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,800 And that's why it says which accords with godliness or that 243 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,320 leads us to godliness. And that godliness we're going 244 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,880 to see also is being demonstrated or described as 245 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,480 good works as we go through the rest of the books here in Titus. 246 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,720 And then in verse 2, it says in hope of eternal life, which God 247 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,280 who cannot lie promised before time begin. 248 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,600 So that is the end point of our salvation and us walking with 249 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,080 the Lord and godliness, the reward that we receive from that 250 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,480 or the glory that we receive from that is eternal life in 251 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,400 Christ Jesus. That's what it's all about. 252 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,760 That's what we're living for. That's that's that hope that we 253 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:40,160 all have that we can share with other people that we will have 254 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,520 eternal life because we are those who have trusted and 255 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,640 believed in Jesus Christ. So and he said, and that's 256 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,960 eternal life that we have was promised to us. 257 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,880 Now, it would be one thing if your uncle or your aunt, people 258 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,200 that you think that are really popular in your life, that you 259 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,360 trusted and that you know, they, you hang on every one of their 260 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,440 words and they promise you eternal life. 261 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,960 OK, that's one thing. But even beyond their own 262 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,040 control, they can lie to you. They can put you down. 263 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,640 I mean, they can let you down. They can disappoint you, might 264 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,000 not be intentionally, but they can disappoint you. 265 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,120 And not only that, but people can lie. 266 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:25,040 God cannot lie. So we're promised this from 267 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,800 someone who cannot lie. And the reason why I want to 268 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:33,920 emphasize that because in some versions it has God who will not 269 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,480 lie. OK, I like the fact that it says 270 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:42,720 God who cannot lie. Because if you know, there are 271 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,120 people that we have in our lives and we say, you know what? 272 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,880 I know this person and this guy just will not lie. 273 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,640 He will not tell a lie. Well, somewhere along the line, 274 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,360 he will tell a lie. Somewhere along the line, he or 275 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,160 she will tell a lie. They are capable of telling a 276 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,200 lie. Even if you've not heard them 277 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,120 tell a lie, they are capable of it because we're all born in 278 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,080 sin. We don't have to teach a kid how 279 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,640 to lie because he's born in and sin. 280 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,440 He has the character or he has that the nature that will allow 281 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:14,920 him to lie. God's nature says he cannot lie 282 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,440 because he's God. If God ever lied, he would cease 283 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:20,480 to be God. He would no longer be God. 284 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,400 He cannot lie. And I like that because I can 285 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:29,480 grab onto that, say wow, he gave me a promise and he cannot lie. 286 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,680 It has to be true. So I mean, so that's something 287 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,040 that we as believers, we can always grab onto that and say, 288 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,600 you know what? Every promise that God has given 289 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:44,440 me in this word, it's going to come to be because he cannot 290 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,280 lie. Now that's good news for us as 291 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,640 believers, but it's bad news for those who are unbelievers 292 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:56,000 because all the promises that he gives to us are true or yeah and 293 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,320 Amen. But so are the promises that go 294 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,880 against the unbelievers. He who believes the Son has 295 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,680 everlasting life. He who does not believe the Son 296 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:13,280 has will not see life, but the what wrath of God abides on him. 297 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,240 That's true as well. So that's something that non 298 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,640 believers are going to have to deal with this God that we 299 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,680 serve. He cannot lie. 300 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,400 He doesn't lie in our favor as believers, but he doesn't lie 301 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,560 also what he promises to unbelievers as well. 302 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,520 So he goes on in verse 3 and he says and but has in due time 303 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,760 manifested his word through preaching, which he has 304 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,480 committed to me, right? He says, according to the 305 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:46,760 commandment of God, our Savior, Paul has been committed the 306 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:52,400 ministry of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in this ministry 307 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,080 that he has. It has come about in due time 308 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,960 because the ministry, you know, God talked about this this 309 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,360 promise that he has. You know, he had talked about 310 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,920 this before time even began. You know, this promise which was 311 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,640 true, and he talked about it in the Old Testament. 312 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,240 And then when the time was right, right when the time was 313 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:14,160 perfect for his plan, you know, then he manifested. 314 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,560 That means he made visible, He caused it to be. 315 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,400 He brought this thing forth through preaching. 316 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,040 And that's how men know about this eternal life. 317 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,080 That's how men know about salvation. 318 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,280 That's how men know about godliness and the true doctrine 319 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,040 that leads to godliness. That's how men know about it. 320 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,000 It's through the preaching of the gospel. 321 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:40,000 And it's amazing to me that God uses mere men to preach the 322 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,640 gospel. This is a very, very powerful 323 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:45,880 thing. The gospel was very powerful. 324 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,000 The gospel is a truth that has been through ages. 325 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,320 And he uses men, and not perfect men either. 326 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,400 We're talking about men who were flawed, men who were imperfect. 327 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,400 He uses men like us to preach the gospel. 328 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,360 He uses people like you to share the gospel. 329 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:06,480 That's how the gospel gets out there. 330 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,200 First Corinthians. What is it 121 that says, you 331 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,320 know that it's it's, you know, it's through the foolishness of 332 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,280 preaching the gospel that men would be saved. 333 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:21,240 So he preaches through he uses the gospel that the men preach. 334 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,400 And that was committed to Paul according to the commandment of 335 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,880 God, not the commandment of men. Man never called Paul. 336 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,720 He was called by God. And it's the Titus, the true Son 337 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,120 in the common faith. This common faith is the common 338 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,680 word of God, this Word of Faith that was delivered once and for 339 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,080 all, once for all to the Saints, OK? 340 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,680 Not a Word of Faith that someone took and changed and, you know, 341 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:52,120 reduced, watered it down. Not that it's the true Word of 342 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:57,640 Faith that was delivered, that was first delivered once and for 343 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,000 all to the Saints. It came from Jesus Christ, which 344 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,320 came to the apostles, and it came to the rest of us through 345 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,680 the preaching of the gospel. That word, that same word that 346 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,240 never changed, that was delivered to us even through the 347 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:16,680 word of God here, through those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus 348 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,400 Christ. We have that truth. 349 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,680 And that's the word that that's the common faith. 350 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:28,560 And then grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord 351 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,440 Jesus Christ and Savior. You know, there's not every one 352 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:37,120 of his epistles that he offers grace, mercy, and peace. 353 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:41,200 Usually it's grace and peace, which is the Greek and Hebrew 354 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,360 greeting. We talked about that before, but 355 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,480 now we know that he also offers mercy. 356 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:51,400 And all the epistles that are pastoral epistles, he adds mercy 357 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:55,080 to mercy to it. And the reason why is because we 358 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:00,560 as teachers, you who are teachers, are held to a stricter 359 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,520 judgment when it comes to the Word of God. 360 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,800 We're held to a stricter judgment and we need his mercy. 361 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:13,760 And that's why it's so important that you pray for teachers, you 362 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:18,120 pray for pastors, you and elders, you pray for them as we 363 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:22,800 pray for you because we need the mercy of God. 364 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,840 We need the mercy of God. And then verse 5 says, for this 365 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,800 reason, I left you in Crete. So now he's going to go into his 366 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,400 purpose for even having Titus stay in Crete for. 367 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:34,800 And there's a number of purposes. 368 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,560 There's three we're going to talk about the first one, the 369 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:42,320 first purpose is that he puts in order, sets in order the things 370 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:47,360 that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I 371 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,840 commanded you. OK, So he says, I, I'm setting 372 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,040 you the creep because there's a there's a need, there's some 373 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,320 things lacking there some things that I wasn't able to stay long 374 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,240 enough to put in order. So he says, I'm going to you 375 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,200 first need to set in order the things that are lacking. 376 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,240 Now this whole word to set in order, that whole word really is 377 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:12,360 a medical term and it's a term that really deals or refers to 378 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,080 setting a bone, setting a bone setting something that is out of 379 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,840 place in your body, some orthopedic problem that you may 380 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,120 have that's out of place, Paul says. 381 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,080 It's it's a setting in order when those things are out of 382 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,720 order. If we have a limb that's out of 383 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,800 order, if we have anything that's not lined up right, which 384 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,560 is why a lot of people will go, you know, to the specialist to 385 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,240 line them up and get their bodies right because things are 386 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,560 out of order. And when they're not in order, 387 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,440 it causes pain, it causes discomfort, it causes 388 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:48,080 overcompensation of other limbs or other areas of your body, 389 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,960 making just cause of dysfunction in your system when things are 390 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,200 out of order. Sometimes a bone out of order 391 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,520 causes problems. And if the body or limb is out 392 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:00,080 of order, it will let you know because there is, you know the 393 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:05,440 body system is is chaotic and it just doesn't function properly. 394 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,520 Well the church is exact same way when things are out of 395 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,920 order. If there is no order in the 396 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:16,120 church, there is problems. It doesn't function properly. 397 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,480 It doesn't function properly. Then there has to be 398 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,560 overcompensation because somebody is doing too much 399 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,880 because it's not enough. This is lacking. 400 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,680 So somebody feels they got to go over and do that and then that's 401 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,040 lacking. So somebody feel like an 402 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,600 overcompensation. So people are being burned out. 403 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,760 People are being, you know, not used properly or people are 404 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,400 getting upset. I mean, when the church is is 405 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,440 not in order, things happen in the church. 406 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,080 But when it's set in order, when leadership is set in order and 407 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,880 things are in order in the church, things go away a lot 408 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,200 more smoothly. There's not as much affliction, 409 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,360 there's not as much chaos. There's not the vision and the 410 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:55,400 kind of things that can happen when things are out of order. 411 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,800 This has been Living Waters of Grace, a ministry of Pastor 412 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,840 Lewis Harrell of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland. 413 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,160 Today's message has been on the book of Titus. 414 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,200 This book is a master class in how Christians should live in 415 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,040 modern culture. Titus was ministering to the 416 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,880 people of Crete, an island off the coast of Greece, but he was 417 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,160 facing many challenges. The Cretans who came to know 418 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:25,400 Jesus seemed to assimilate Jesus into their existing culture 419 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,240 instead of allowing themselves to be transformed by the Holy 420 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,360 Spirit inside of them. Others were fully devoting 421 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:37,360 themselves to Jesus but shutting themselves off from the world 422 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:40,360 around them. And the apostle Paul encourages 423 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:44,160 Titus to help his audience find a middle ground where they can 424 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,840 live in this world while still following a different way of 425 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,320 life in Jesus. If you would like to learn more 426 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,320 about what it means to faithfully follow the teachings 427 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,000 of Christ in a world full of darkness, we'd love to get 428 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,600 connected with you in person. If you are in Greensburg, PA, 429 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:06,080 we'd love to invite you to join us at Calvary Chapel 430 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,720 Westmoreland. We need every Sunday at 10:30 AM 431 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,520 at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Ste. 6B. 432 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:19,600 Also, if you visit us at calvarychapelonline.com, you'll 433 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:24,320 find links to our mobile app, our giving page, and our contact 434 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,360 form where you can leave a prayer request if you have one. 435 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,280 Before we go off the air for today, we ask you to invite 436 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:37,240 someone to tune in next time right here on Grace FM 91.7 or 437 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:41,080 streaming online at Grace Radio dot FM. 438 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,680 Word of mouth is the best way to spread the good news of the 439 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,680 Gospel with those who are hungry to hear. 440 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,520 Until next time, this has been another edition of Living Waters 441 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:53,200 of Grace.