Titus 1:1  Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
3  But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

For those from Ontario, you have another Conservative government for the next 4 years. You have a premier who is a blow hard who went along with the Wuhan virus deception and who supports the drug and alcohol poisoning. The premier claimed he needed a fresh mandate to take on the president of the U.S. Sad to say, but it seems the premier of Alberta has done the best job of presenting a responsible answer to Mr. Trump’s demands. I say it is sad because it is a woman that is leading the pack. I have nothing against women, but God says they do not belong in leadership positions. It is a slap in the face to men when there is no man that is willing to lead a province. Of course, it does not matter which province we look at, there is no born again Christian running anywhere. A pagan nation does not want a God-fearing person. God is still capable of putting a God-fearing man in a place of leadership, but He has chosen not to do so in our country. The only province that once had a nominal Christian at the helm was Alberta under Earnest C. Manning. He made his beliefs well known as premier but also with his radio broadcasts. His son Preston, has been a great disappointment.
The only nation that had some God-fearing kings is Israel. They rejected God as their King in the days of Samuel. God still blessed them with some good kings. Eventually, Israel and Judah fell due to their rejection of God’s leadership.
God is still using governments for His glory. He prefers Godly leaders, but He will be glorified even through corrupt leadership. God is very gracious and does not give man what he deserves in this life. He gives man many opportunities to choose life and true liberty. He does bring about conditions to help lost humanity to see the misery of their wrong choices.
Of greater importance than governments, are churches. Real change comes when a person turns to God in repentance and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. The massive corruption in churches is truly shameful. When pastors operate like politicians, things can only go downhill. True churches are not ‘people pleasers’. They are led by the Lord Jesus Christ and they give people what they need, not what they want.
We see that in the testimony of the apostle Paul. He began his earthly life with the name Saul. He had that name into his adulthood. He was trained at the feet of Gamaliel, a very well respected Pharisee. Saul moved up the ranks of the Pharisees and was given authority to go after the people of “this way”, later called Christians by the enemies of God. God allowed him to persecute Christians for a time. However, on his way to Damascus to further persecute Christians, God said, enough. God stopped Saul on the road to Damascus and there he was told very clearly that he was kicking “against the pricks”. He was physically blinded by the Lord Jesus Christ; however, his spiritual eyes were opened to the truth. He acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
In our text, Paul introduced himself as a “servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ”. The Greek word translated as “servant” speaks of being a “slave, a bond servant”. He was one who had surrendered his will to that of a greater authority, that of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his past, he had surrendered to the false teaching of the Pharisees. He was an educated man but he was willfully ignorant of the truth. We see how even the well educated are willing to believe a lie when it comes to spiritual matters. We see much of that in our day as well.
After his conversion, Jesus changed his name to Paul. He was trained by Jesus Christ for his ministry as an apostle. A New Testament apostle was one who had been personally chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to be sent out for a specific task. There are no true apostles today. There are religions that claim they have apostles. They may have chosen individuals who they send out but they are not apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christians of Paul’s day were reluctant to accept him as a born again Christian, given his prior record. However, he proved himself to be a true servant of God. True saints are changed individuals. The changes are not hard to spot. Rather than trying to manufacture a new definition for a saint, as is common today, a Biblical saint is changed and can be examined in the Light of the Word of God.
The apostle Paul became a very prominent person in the early history of true churches. That was not because he tried to please people. He did not get his message from men. He did not sit under the feet of men like Jack Hyles or Paul Chappell. He sat at the feet of Jesus and He was willing to expose the heresy of Peter at one point. There was no ‘big boys’ club that would protect each other. There was a holiness in the man of God that counted the cost and chose to accept that it was better to serve God than to be a ‘yes man’.
He was a blessing to Christians in that God directed him to write many New Testament epistles. He was able to encourage many people to trust in the true God. He suffered much as a true servant of God. He did not complain about his lot. He did not draw back from serving the Lord. He was a bold servant of the Lord.
His calling was according to the faith of God’s elect. The word “elect” tends to be a magnet to the Calvinist. It is distorted by them due to John Calvin’s heretical faith. He was heavily influenced by Augustine, a false teacher from an earlier time.
As we read here, every saved person is elected to the same faith. The apostle Paul was chosen as an apostle, but every true child of God needs to have the same faith as he had. Our faith must be in the true and eternal God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every true child of God is indwelt with the Holy Spirit and thus will be given the power to be called a son of God. Every true child of God has a particular calling and God equips each one for the call He has for them.
We see further here that this faith is according to the truth. A true servant of God does not try to twist the truth. That is why he cannot use or accept the perversions. They are all corrupt. They diminish the power and authority of the Word of God.
We are also reminded here that the truth is after godliness. Can you see godliness in the New Evangelical crowd, or in the emergent church movement? Where is the godliness in using music designed to excite the lusts of the flesh. When a man or woman parades themselves before you, dressed immodestly and trying to swallow their mic while they are trying to hold off going to the bathroom, there is no godliness there. That was certainly not how Jesus conducted Himself, nor how the apostles conducted themselves. Godliness does not ‘tickle the ivorys’ . Godliness exalts the true God and presents a clear message of hope and forgiveness to a lost and dying world.
In verse 2 we see that true godliness provides hope of eternal life. This hope is not a wishful thinking. It is an absolute truth that provides the peace of heart and mind needed to face the challenges and threats of the ungodly. We read here that God, that cannot lie, promised this eternal life before the world began. Adam was given this message as was Noah and David and all others. Those who truly possessed that hope, trusted in the true God, not in their fallible efforts.
In verse 3 we are reminded that there was a particular time when God manifested His Word through preaching. Preaching is not suggestions and it is not story telling. It is not designed to cause the hearer to get a coffee and casually sit and listen. It is designed to be guided by the Holy Spirit to speak to the heart of the hearer. The preacher preaches the truth and allows the Holy Spirit to burn that truth into the heart of the hearer. There is no room for human gimmicks.
The apostle Paul was saved to preach this message. This was a commandment of God our Saviour. Again we are reminded that Jesus Christ is God. That is why He can save all who come to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. There are thousands of self-made men and women who stand before people and feed them a processed gospel that sounds good to the deceived, but is abominable to God and to His children.
In verse 4 we see that this letter was directed to Titus. We will see that Titus was chosen as a spiritual leader. Spiritual leaders have important work to do. Paul spoke to Titus as his own son in the common faith. The apostle Paul had been blessed in being able to have a part in Titus’ faith in God.
As a true saint, there were three things that Titus needed to be able to accomplish God’s will for him. He needed God’s grace, which is the spiritual help that is needed to be a faithful servant of God. It is God’s grace that keeps the man of God from bowing to the pressure of the naysayers. It is that grace that keeps the man of God from following the deceptive ways of men like Jack Hyles or Paul Chappell or countless others.
The man of God is also dependent upon God’s mercy. He is called to be a holy man, but he will not always be holy. As we will see there are certain standards that must be met and the man of God is dependent upon God’s mercy to work in and through him to be able to function in a way that pleases God.
God’s peace is also necessary. The pressure to compromise is always there. False accusers are bountiful. The man of God can stand before people and continue to preach the truth because he is at peace with God. He can face the scowling and scoffing because he is at peace with God. He desires to help others to know that peace. It is that grace, mercy and peace, that will guide the true servant of the Lord in times of pressure like the Wuhan virus debacle. As at other times, there was not much human help to navigate that time. However, the Word of God was available then just as it is now.
We see these three necessary gifts are from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. The only way we can function as spiritual leaders is if we are born again and submissive to the Will and Word of God. We need to pray for godly men today. We need them to help us to follow the true God.
Pastor Bartel