Titus 1:1-3 | The Lord Keeps His Promises

Intro

Hey Y’all! How is everyone? Are y’all still weary from A & B schedule? okay cool

So I have a weird question and maybe y’all can explain to me. While I was sick with covid, so a couple weeks ago, I was just listening to music all night, till like 3:30 in the morning. Y’all ever do that? Just listening to all kinds of stuff? and I remember reading this article about Sea Shanties, like old maritime songs that you would sing while working on a boat kind of thing. Anyways, i saw that sea shanties had taken over tik tok, and saw that Spotify had like a “made by spotify” playlist of sea shanties. Like i listened to it, a couple of them were just super catchy, like I may have made LL listen to in the car kinda thing cause it was stuck in my head. any way, why?

Does anyone know why sea shanties are making a come back? lol, aight.

anyways, the only reason i thought of that was because while I was preparing for this, I read about a ship wreck.

All of that to say, I’ve got a real question, i wanna see if i can guess who I am talking about when I describe this person. They are a historical figure, so see if you can guess who this is. I’ll start describing him, and y’all start throwing out who you think it is, ready? okay.

Born of a good family

lived a long time ago

Very well educated

Had a high position in society

Was a religious leader of his day

Was a murderer

Dealt with a bit of blindness

Shipwrecked at one point

Was imprisoned

Wrote around half of the New Testament

It’s Paul! The apostle Paul!

Anyways, we are going to be referencing his life and work a good bit tonight.

So with that, we are going to be in Titus tonight, we are going to go through the entire book of Titus, then after that, we will close the school year out, doing hot topics. But for now, we are going to study the book of Titus.

So if you have a bible, turn with me to the book of Titus, it is in the new testament, kinda near the back, if you get to revelation, you’ve gone to far. If you need a bible, go ahead and throw a hand up and we will get one to you. From what I can tell y’all are doing pretty good with bring a bible, so good job guys.

Anyways, Titus 1, we are going to do just the first 3 verses of this book. There is so much in these 3 verses

but before we jump in to it, let me pray for our time in the word tonight.

Lord thank you for who you are, we come here seeking your heart tonight. Jesus go before us in this text and make a way, Holy Spirit give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and Father speak, for your servants are indeed listening. We ask these things in your name, so we know you hear us, amen.

Context & Themes

Okay, so before we read this, let me give you a little bit of context.

So Paul is the one who wrote this book. Like we said a second ago, all of those things are true about him.

Born of a good family - He was of a long line of Hebrews, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Very well educated - He grew up as all good little Jewish boys learning and reading the law. As a teenager he was taught by probably the most well know Rabbi of the day, Gamaliel. The would be like if your basketball coach was Michael Jordon.

Was a religious leader of his day -He was a Pharisee

He was a murderer - He was the one who had Stephen Stoned in the book of Acts, it’s funny when Paul is introduced in Acts, he’s the villain. He’s the bad guy. It be like if Thanos worked with the Avengers.

Most importantly though, he met Jesus, on the road to Damascus.

This meeting would change Paul’s life, and would directly influence our lives right here.

So what about Titus?

I know the name of the book is Titus and all I’ve talked about is Paul. So who is Titus?

Titus is a man who was discipled by Paul and was probably brought to faith in Christ through Paul. The name of this book is named Titus because this is who Paul was writing to.

This letter was written in about 62-63 AD, so only 30 years after Christ had left Earth.

Titus lived on the island of Crete just off the coast of Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea. At the time this was under the control of the Romans, Titus was actually Greek in ethnicity, and most likely a Roman citizen.

Crete was and still is an ancient island, it was home to the Minoan Civilization, who used to be pretty powerful, until roam got a hold of it, but the Crete of Paul and Titus’s day was not great, it wasn’t a place you really wanted to go or be from. Crete was known for being a place where morality was pretty loose, and lying was a huge problem in the politics of the day, like, it’s still a big problem, but the people of Crete we known from this time to be prolific liars.

But Titus is the Guy put in charge of all the churches on the island of Crete. not just one, but all. And the churches are not exactly healthy churches, they needed some work, and some sort of order. So Paul was like, “Titus, you seem up for it, how about you.” so Paul wrote him a letter telling him how he was gonna get it done. That’s how we have the book of Titus.

So these first three verses we are about to read set up the whole book. Paul loved to get to the point in his greeting, so he set up the whole letter here.

Main Idea

and the main idea tonight in this text, is The Lord Keeps His promises. If you’re taking notes, go ahead and right that down, if you only remember one thing tonight, remember that the Lord keeps His promises. I’m gonna say that a few times tonight, but it is so important that we remember this simple truth.

So with that, let’s read this passage. Just the first 3 verses, and then we are gonna stop. read with me

English Standard Version Chapter 1

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

Salvation is the Lord’s doing.

So let’s look at this, first thing I want you to notice is that these three verses are just one super long sentence. One sentence. Paul really liked doing that, in know in english it is kind of exhausting, but in the original greek you could add a ton of info with just a few words.

But look at verse 1, Paul right off the bat is telling us who he is, and what he is about. Namely, that he is a Servant of God, Paul is saying, “I am serving the master, it is not my will but the Lord’s that is done.” Second, Paul tells us what he is about, that is, He is an Apostle which just means messenger, the word apostle is literally the greek word for Messenger. So Paul is saying, “I Paul, in service to the Lord God Almighty, and an appointed messenger of Jesus Christ, am saying these things.” - For the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their Knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

Now, I’m not going to get in to all of the deep theological nuances and triggers brought about by that word “Election” there in the scripture, Half of you would try to agree with me, the other half of you would argue with me, but none of us would be 100% right, and we would all be 100% confused.

But this is what you need to know by this verse, that Salvation is the Lord’s doing. If you’re writing things down, right that down, Salvation is the Lord’s doing. There is nothing we can do to get to God, or to earn our salvation.

Look Paul’s life, we talked about it earlier but he was a Good little Jewish boy growing up, his family all went to church, he was in school to be a Pharisee, he was living a good life, and living the good life. Paul once described himself as Hebrew of Hebrews, when talking about his past life, by all accounts, he was living the Hebrew dream. He was also a Roman citizen, he had a great love for his country, but all of that didn’t matter, he honestly probably heard of Jesus before he actually met Jesus. Jesus was pretty popular, and Jesus was only like 5 years older than Paul. So he most likely would have heard of him, and that didn’t matter, Paul missed Christ the first time around.

The Second thing about this verse is, no one is too far gone to be saved by God.

Again, we can look at Paul’s life, Paul was an intense man, with intense beliefs, Paul was a murderer, he persecuted the church, before becoming one of the early fathers of the Church. Paul was totally against the teaching of Christ, and His Church. Paul was doing what was evil and calling God. Paul by all accounts, was lost.

So how was this Possible, how did a man like Paul make such a drastic change in his life. How was Paul, an unholy murderer and persecutor of the church, able to claim to be a Servant and Messenger of a Holy and Almighty God?

The Gospel, it is the Gospel. Look at verse one again, “Their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.” The truth that Paul is speaking of there is the Gospel

the Good News that Christ has come and taken your place on the cross, and taken the wrath of God, that you deserved, upon Himself.

The Good News that Christ is coming to redeem the world,

the Good News that Christ will dwell among us and He will be our God, and we will be His people.

This Truth Paul is speaking about, The Gospel, is the only thing that can bring true and total life change. The Gospel is the agent of Change in this world

How many of you like Diet Coke? Well, I’m sorry, it’s gross. If you drink Diet Coke, I’m sorry, it’s just gross. They call it diet coke because after you drink it, your mouth does not want anything else put in there because the aspartame has burned your taste buds right off. Diet Coke has no redeemable qualities. There is only one thing that makes diet coke worth having around. Y’all ever, mixed diet coke and mentos? I know some of you have, but if you haven’t don’t go home and try it in your house, or on your mamas carpet. She will beat you if you do. But if you mix diet coke and mentos it causes the diet coke to explode, and if you’re especially skilled and can get the cap back on, it’ll make the bottle blow up. Don’t try this home because it gets everywhere, and there is no real way to stop it.

And that is what the this truth of the Gospel is like. The Gospel changes us, all the way, we are made new, we become a new creation. There is no way to stop that from happening, the Gospel is an agent of change. You don’t change your life to get the gospel, the gospel changes your life.

I know what some of you may be thinking, why am I hurting though, why doesn’t the gospel change the world? Why does God allow bad things. Let’s keep going in to verse 2.

God Does Not Change

Read it again with me:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

I want to teach y’all a word, and an attribute of God. This theological term is called the Immutability of God. every one say that Immutability of God. I’m gonna ask you what that means next week, and the winner gets a DQ Gift Card. Immutability of God means, God doesn’t change. That’s it, super simple, God doesn’t change. God is the same today, as he was yesterday, as he is going to be tomorrow, God does not change, because God is perfect and God cannot get more perfect, nor could he get less perfect. God Does not change, if you’re writing things down, write that down, God Does Not Change. Also the lord keeps his promises, and does not lie about them.

So why is the word hurting, why are we hurting, well mainly because of sin. Sin has corrupted this world. but remember, the Lord keeps his promises.

And what did the Lord promise? from the beginning of time the Lord has had a plan to save and redeem the world and His people. His plan the whole was to redeem the brokenness and sin of the world. But what has he promised us? He has promised us joy with in himself. He has promised us a a joy filled life, a holy life. What he did not promise us is the good life, he didn’t promise us health, wealth, or happiness.

I don’t really care how many books Mr Osteen writes saying that is what God promises, he’s wrong and leading people to a gospel that does not save, and gospel empty of the cross, and a Gospel where the Tomb is still occupied. The Gospel does not promise us the Good life, but he promises us that we will have Himself. He will be our God.

How do we know this? Look at Paul’s life, Paul was arrested and put in to a roman prison, he was literally shipwrecked, at the start of his ministry no one trusted him, he was poor, he was sickly. His country had rejected him. But for Paul, that was okay, because he had God, he had the Gospel. Paul’s hope was not found in things of this world. And y’all that should be our hope as well, our ultimate joy is found in Christ, and the full presence of Himself.

Remember the Lord keep his promises. No matter the changing circumstances, if you think your life is awful or things are not going your way, God doesn’t change. His Promises do not change. His promise to be with you does not change. If you are a believer in Christ and your life you feel has gone crazy, or this world is getting the best of you, come back to christ. If you do not know Christ, then know that anything you place your hope in is going to let you down, it is going to fade away and you will be destroyed with it. Ask the Lord to save you and give you the hope of Himself.

let’s keep going.

The Lord is Working

Look at verse 3 with me.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

Look at what Paul is saying about God here. The Lord who is Eternal has ordered the world to play out in His perfect time. Paul has gone from a murderer who persecuted the church to being a messenger entrusted by Christ to preach the Gospel.

Look at the word preach there in verse three. I know what you normally think about when you hear the word preach and that is, what I’m doing at this present moment. This is all we think about when you hear the word preach. but the word it is translated from literally means proclaim, tell folks about it. And fun fact, in the original greek, the word is gender neutral. This is saying we are all called to proclaim the gospel. we are all called as a messenger of Christ. The Lord is Working in the world. if you are writing things down, write this down, The Lord is Working. As sons and daughters of God, we are invited to join in his work with him, we are invited to join in the building of His Kingdom.

How many of you like BBQ? I love BBQ, i love the whole process of BBQ every aspect. and in my family, it is kind of a thing that we do. I can remember smoking meat with my grandad out at his shop, I can remember really being taught by my dad how to do it, how to make smoky good bbq. every year, my family gets together the Saturday after thanksgiving, to cook what seems to be about 50 pounds of meat all day, and watch college football. But we get up every year early on that Saturday and smoke meat. It is just what we do in my family, we all do it. I look forward to that day every year. My wife, Lauralee looks forward to that day, when she joined in to the family she has embraced it and it has become a part of what she does. I don’t have kids yet, I’ll let you know when we do, but I know that they will also learn how to smoke meat, and join in with what my family does.

and that is what proclaiming the gospel is, that is what building the kingdom of God is. We are joining with our father, and being apart of His work.

We are all called and invited in to join God in the building the kingdom. It is not just for some people but it is for all of us to do. To proclaim the good news of Christ.

So why are we talking about?

So why talk about this? What is the point in all of this?

It is because we don’t always live our lives in this manner. How do we miss this? It is because we have a diminished view of God, we have a diminished view of Christ. All of us at some point in our lives have taken God off the throne, and placed ourselves on the throne. We have created a new throne for ourselves in our lives. We have looked at God and said, “you know what, I can do that. I can have my own throne.” But what we find out, really quickly is that we can’t. We cant keep it together, at some point the party is going to come to an end. The throne that we have set up in our life, and put ahead of God is going to crack, and rot, and decay, and we will be left sitting cold and wondering what on earth happened?

And what happened is, we went after the pleasures of this world, the pleasures have become king and we can barely hold on. This world is broken and the things in it will break us if we let them.

But what is this passage saying?

It is saying the Lord keeps His promises. God is either calling us to himself for the first time or He is call us back to him. God is saying, I am here, I have always been here, let me take your burdens, and you take mine, for His are light. Paul is setting up the rest of the this letter to Titus by saying, you know my story, you know where i have been, you know what I have done, but remember, the Lord Keeps his promises. This life may be hard, but the Lord Keeps his promises.

So why does this matter?

Because this text is calling us to really examine our lives? If you are a believer this text is calling you to look at your self and see what may have slipped in to the place of God in your life. How can you join in the work of Christ?

If you don’t know God, this text is calling you to step off your throne, and allow God to reign in your life. This text is calling you to come and see God for who he is. To see Him as Lord and submit your life to his Lordship, to let Him direct your life, because His ways are better than ours.

The Lord is good, because the Lord keeps His promises.

Pray with me.