Titus

[0:00] I sing and feel and know What is the rest of sin and love How all my soul needs to prove What gjith dj A brave sest dj A brave 하 CORSEL G challenging CHOIR SINGS

[1:13] CHOIR SINGS Turn through God's Word to Titus chapter 3.

[1:51] As God shall help us.

[2:01] Or rather, Titus chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13. Titus 2, 12 and 13.

[2:15] Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[2:33] This is a scripture that reminds us, dear friends, that we have a religion.

[2:44] The Christian religion is declared in God's Word that includes not only much blessing in this life for the people of God, but far more blessing prepared for them in the hereafter.

[3:01] In consequence of which, they have a hope which is termed here a blessed hope. And the Word of God declares that man by nature are without hope and without God.

[3:21] And what makes the people of God differ from the unbeliever, the ungodly of this present evil generation and all the generations before us and to come, lies in this particular.

[3:38] That there are those who are without hope.

[4:08] It's only by the work of God's Spirit illuminating a man's understanding that he can come to the truth of the gospel.

[4:19] And the gospel includes this having a blessed hope. The Lord Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross to save poor sinners and all who believe on him by the grace of God have eternal life.

[4:34] And he promised it. He said that they that believe on me shall have eternal life and in the same breath. He said they shall never die. They shall live forever.

[4:47] And the apostle Paul could say that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

[4:58] But now have Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. Now the apostle Paul is directing Titus as a minister.

[5:13] Titus. These are, as you know, pastoral epistles. 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Where the apostle Paul is directing Timothy in two letters and Titus in one.

[5:26] And how they should operate. Perhaps just a word about this. That they were classified as evangelists. And the review, the view of the Puritans and the Reformers concerning evangelists had nothing to do with the idea today of those that turn themselves evangelists.

[5:54] There are no evangelists today. Those that call themselves evangelists. I would rather turn them as traveling preachers.

[6:07] Because according to what I see in the scripture and according to the teaching of the Reformers and the Puritans. An evangelist was second only to an apostle.

[6:20] He was one that had great authority. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ spread very rapidly in the gospel day.

[6:35] And in consequence of this, with the preaching of these men, you could imagine a situation today. You can imagine a man perhaps who felt a call to go to some territory in the world where the gospel had never been preached.

[6:54] And instead of laboring on, as many in other parts are, year after year and gathering a few believers around them, he would have another problem on his hand.

[7:11] He preaches one sermon in 2000. I'm called by Grace through that one sermon. What a problem. What a problem. 2000 from heathen darkness into gospel light and liberty in one sermon.

[7:26] And he was going to travel on the next day and preach elsewhere. But the call of 2000 would come. You're not going to leave us, are you, now?

[7:39] What would he do with us? And if he traveled on the next day and he preaches again, another 3000 called by Grace into gospel liberty in another sermon he preached.

[7:54] Now 5000. What's he going to do with them? He would have to give up for the time being preaching. And he would have to constitute these people into causes, churches, groups of people, and begin to instruct them how to behave.

[8:16] He would also have to look out as God gave him wisdom and help, men who obviously seemed capable men to be pastors.

[8:30] And he would have to say, I'm going to ordain you to be a pastor. And you are to be a pastor of this flock. Where is there a man today who has the authority to do that?

[8:42] This was the situation that confronted them in these gospel days. And so they had to have the authority given by God, which as I say was second only to an apostle, whereby they could tell the churches how they ought to operate.

[9:00] They could ordain elders in every church and they could tell those elders and pastors how they ought to operate. So you see an evangelist in New Testament terms was a man of great authority under God.

[9:15] He had to be. We don't have evangelists like that today. But I didn't come to speak to you about evangelists tonight, but about that blessed hope that these things I feel on my heart, even as I have been speaking to you.

[9:32] Now these were evangelists anyway. But the apostle Paul, who had an office greater than an evangelist, he is speaking to them. He writes to Timothy and Titus to tell them how they should go on in this work of evangelism and as evangelists, the office of evangelists, you see.

[9:52] And you can imagine it in these days, dear friends, as I was intimating, a man did preach somewhere in another part of the world and had great success with the attendant great problems he would have to face.

[10:07] He may feel quite inadequate. He may be looking to someone in this country, what should I do? And then letters would go to that person saying how they ought to instruct these people.

[10:18] And this is what the apostle Paul did for Timothy and Titus. He writes his letters to tell them how they ought to go on and how they ought to instruct those who were ordained as pastors and preachers and how those pastors and preachers under their instruction should operate.

[10:34] And so he comes here and says that you should encourage them, Titus, to be looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[10:51] And there are good reasons, as I believe, and as God to help me, dear friends, perhaps we could look into some of these reasons, why it is important that the Lord's people should have this brought before them continually, that they have a blessed hope.

[11:08] And not only that, not a blessed hope, as you will see, to be put on the shelf, but a blessed hope that they should be looking for. Looking for that blessed hope.

[11:20] Teach them to be looking for it. But let's consider the Lord helping us, something about this hope that the Lord's people do have.

[11:33] And we need to look further in our text, first of all, because the text tells us that it's a blessed hope. Blessed hope. And blessed means, as one has told us or intimated to us, blessed means happy times happy.

[11:56] And you couldn't go beyond that for joy, which is the blessedness which God declares in his word. We may not have much in this world to make us happy, but thank God for all the joys of this life that he bestows upon us.

[12:15] But whether we have things to make us joyful here below or not, if by the grace of God we have a hope in Christ Jesus, we have a blessed hope, a hope to consider and to look forward to.

[12:31] And those lovely words at the end of Jude that speak, you know the words I dare say, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

[12:52] Exceeding joy. It comes from a Greek word, hyper, which you can think of as hyper, excessive, hyper joy.

[13:03] You think of hyper martyrs. It is hyper joy. And he's going to present you before the presence of his glory with joys that cannot be expressed.

[13:17] The Lord's people have a great hope, a blessed hope, which should cheer them as they journey through life here below. But this hope is also a sure hope, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began.

[13:41] The Roman Catholics tell us that we can't be sure of it. It's sheer presumption for a man to say that he has a sure hope. But that's because, you see, their vicar of Christ is the Pope.

[13:58] So they say. But the believer's vicar of Christ, vicar meaning vicarious, Christ having gone into heaven, who has he left upon earth as his representative?

[14:11] They say the Pope. We say the Holy Ghost. Another comforter will I give you to represent me. And not in a holy, mystical way in the church, but coming in an assured way into the hearts of his people whom he had chosen before the foundation of the world.

[14:35] And it's only by the Holy Ghost in a person's heart that that person can ever come to a knowledge of the truth of the gospel and of salvation.

[14:47] So it's the Holy Spirit's work to bring the assurance of this. And as we call upon him, if we have in any way a hope, if we have a hope of a hope, we should seek the Lord to call upon him as he helps us that he may establish that hope the more within our hearts.

[15:09] Because it's a sure hope and it's the Holy Spirit's work to assure the heart, the tender heart of his believing people, of this hope.

[15:21] As God before the world began, cannot lie, hath promised us. And when the Apostle Paul was writing to the church at Colossae, he says, the Apostle Paul, we give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.

[15:59] And so, the Apostle Paul is writing to Titus and telling him you must get them to be looking for that blessed hope.

[16:11] It's God's will that God's people should be looking for that blessed hope which is a blessed hope. It's better than anything we could know here below as we journey on.

[16:23] The Lord's people are as those who were on a journey and we should never forget this. We were journeying up yesterday to come up to stay with your dear pastor and his wife and we were looking forward to coming.

[16:39] Well now, we had to face all sorts on the road and hold ups that we could have well done without and places where the road was up which we didn't know about which held us up and we found that there were one or two or three or four more or one or two or three or four hundred more motorists that seemed to be going to the same place as we were and you see the journey had a variety of things attached to it and we're not going to say we had a miserable journey oh there was a lot of joy about the journey but we kept on going and there were lots of things we would rather not have had on the journey but what kept us going was we had a good end in view we were going to stay with our dear friends you know that's the picture in the scriptures for the Christians right here below you remember how Bunyan was inspired as some people say certainly to write the Pilgrim's

[17:48] Progress showing the Christians life as being a journey and if we think of it in a journey like this you've all done journeys of some sort or other when you're on a journey you know you can be on a journey and have a stormy scene and hold ups you may have trouble with a car but you also see lovely views and you travel along it may be a lovely day you may have a variety of things happen to you on the journey and so you have the journey of life is like this many happy days many joyful days sunshine days then there's the storms there's the troubles that you'd rather do without and the hold ups and the disappointments and the frustrations in the life but like with a journey somewhere what keeps you going in spite of all these things is that you have somewhere to go the unbeliever has nothing to look forward to like this but the lord's people are on a journey and if we bear these things in mind it is a help to us and we have somewhere wonderful to go bunions celestial city a place where we shall go and if we had a welcome when we got to the pastor's house yesterday nothing like the welcome we were going to get by and by by the grace of god when the trumpet shall sound on the other side and god has declared for his believing people to be so a blessed and a sure hope but he says just below our verse looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great god and our savior jesus christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people jealous of good works which is a reminder to us dear friends and if you are one of the lords you won't query this it's not a hope which we are going to obtain by our good works it's not a hope you are going to get or obtain by our religion or our prayers it's a purchased hope who gave himself for us and you will be able to sing with some assurance from your heart that my hope is built on nothing less than jesus blood and righteousness try and speak to the unbelievers of the world about these things my friend and they will either change the subject or laugh you out ah but very precious for the people of god the fact that the lord jesus christ the only hope for the poor sinner he died upon that cross at calvary to save them from their sins and he gave himself for us who are the us why they are the chosen people of the lord and they will all be brought by god's grace with the wills and the shells of the gospel they will all be brought and the way they will be brought is this way of seeing themselves as sinners and if they are brought you won't need to argue it out with them that they are sinners who deserve hell and damnation when they die oh it is a fact you speak to any of the lord's crickened people and they won't rise up against you over this question if you say what you deserve they'll say i deserve to die and go to hell that's what i deserve i can think of people in our chapel your friends who on a time would they hated me for those sort of things but now with tears some of them will say ah that's it it's only hell that we deserve and if god now should send me to hell his righteous law proves it well and these are the people of god and if i'm to attain that celestial bliss it won't be for anything that i've done it will all be because of a precious christ and he purchased that hope and then we shall hope to cast our crowns before his feet and crown him lord of all he gave himself for us and we have a blessed hope to look forward to and it's that and the hope includes of course and includes in a chief way the hope of being with the lord jesus christ now the man of the world won't want to be wouldn't want to be with the lord jesus christ i recall reading some years ago some of you may have heard this of an incident that happened in america where on a bank holiday the sunday schools of the district had hired a boat and they were going on a boat trip out into the river and they'd hired this passenger boat and they were going to sing the songs of zion together they were going to have ministry of the world together they were going to eat and drink together the children were going to play games together and they were going to have happy hours and then come back together but there was another boat and this boat was full of people that were going on a gambling expedition they were going to be living it up with all the drinks and the things that had been laid on the boat for them to have a time of gambling and all sorts of wickedness that had been laid on for their pleasure and as the boat with the

[23:58] Sunday school children and the teachers and the chapel people was just leaving a man came tearing down the key a few he'd missed the boat and he leapt he literally leapt onto the boat as it was leaving only to find he leapt onto the wrong boat he then had to spend the day with the Sunday school children and the teachers and the people from the chapel was he happy about this they were exceedingly happy to be together he was exceptionally miserable he should have been on the boat where they were enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season and the story has it that when the boat came in at night he went to the nearest hotel where he drank himself hopelessly drunk to make up for the misery of the day the man of the world has no desire in his heart and there's no sense of appeal for that man that he goes to be to live for the Lord

[25:14] Jesus what it tells us of the Lord Jesus Christ he was despised and rejected of men is still the same still the same for men in this world if there is a heaven they'll get there their own way that's how they will get there and they will do their own thing when they get there if there is a heaven but not so for the people of God my dear friends no they're looking forward to be being with the dear son of God and they can say of him who loved me and gave himself for me waiting to receive me it's a purchased hope purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ some of you may have heard of John Sennett and he wrote some hymns and he was contemporary with George Whitfield and Howard Harris and Daniel Rowlands and those in the 18th century and it says of

[26:17] John Sennett that as a young man he came under such conviction of sin he felt he wasn't worthy to live on God's earth and he went out on Salisbury Plain and therefore almost two years he ate frogs in snails and grass and his beard grew and he was dirty and unkempt he felt he wasn't fit to be seen of men and in an amazing way and it always is an amazing way the grace of God touched a man's heart having brought him to this low condition because of his sin to reveal to him a precious Christ who died to save poor sins and he was in his early thirties John Sennett when he came to realize this that God had sent his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and as by the work of

[27:28] God's spirit it dawned the more upon him that all his sins on Christ were led John Sennett said this he said no one's ever loved me like this I want immediately to go and put my arms around and thank him for such love to such an unworthy sinner he was shown that there was a work for him to do and many souls were blessed through that man's ministry but when I read that life story I was convicted somewhat by this you see we have dear friends and we like to be with them but there is no friend like the lowly Jesus no not one and how we should desire within us to be with him and how it should stimulate us on life's journey that we are going to be with him as the people of

[28:36] God if he has wrought that work within our hearts it's a purchased hope but you notice in the verses around it should be an affecting hope it should be a hope that affects us as we live our lives you can see it in the scriptures clearly as I can verse 12 says teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we shall live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and if we are looking for that blessed hope then it should help us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present world who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people who's out of good works these things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority let no man despise thee and we believe in a devil the lord's people believe that there is a devil and we need to take our hats off to the devil as it were metaphorically because he's good at his job you know the devil is one who opposes god on everything he hates god in everything to do with god and the lord jesus said of him the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy and one of the ploys of the devil who's the enemy of man's soul is to steal away the truth of the gospel from the hearts of the lord's people and to cause them to be more taken up with this life to live like the unbelievers of this world because if it is a fact as the word of god declares it that as they look for that blessed hope it's going to help them to hold on with a loose hand a light hand to the things of this life and give a spring in their step this doesn't please the devil this doesn't please him so just as the god of this world blinds the minds of them that believe not with the hypnotic power of the things of this world how he loves to do this to the people of

[31:03] God so that he can charm them away with the things of this life from considering that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God in our Saviour Jesus Christ so that for most of us if we are honest about it dear friends although it's declared in the scripture to be there for us we can live our lives as though these things were not so we can live our lives sometimes like atheists as though there was no God and yet how rich it is for a man to have such a blessed hope and only death stands between that blessed hope and this poor mortal life here below now this tells us that it should be an affecting hope and you may remember that the apostle John said that it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and every man that hath this hope in him purify himself even as he is pure and so the more the

[32:18] Lord ministers by his spirit the truth of this blessed hope to our believing hearts then the more my dear friends we are going to seek to give ourselves to purify ourselves to keep ourselves unspotted from the world and so I come back to say what I said earlier and I say it to my own heart that if we do have a hope we should seek God and cry unto him to establish it the more in our hearts because there is no doubt it does affect the Lord's people he that hath his hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure and I think we are very favoured that God doesn't say well I give you my law and then whip us into obedience to his word isn't it kind of him to tell us so much in the word about the hope that's set before his people as a stimulus going back to my earlier remarks about life being like a journey and the stimulus on the journey is where you're going going on holiday going to see friends or whatever that's what keeps you going with all the problems you don't when you meet a few problems say oh

[33:45] I'll give up the journey let's give up and go home or whatever no you keep on keeping on and that is the hope of the end so it should be for the people of the Lord but I feel it on my heart to speak further about this hope that it should be an overcoming hope it should be a hope which helps us to overcome the problems and the difficulties as on the journey the Christian life is likened to a race in Hebrews chapter 12 you remember and it says that we should run our race looking unto Jesus but we shouldn't be looking unto Jesus as we live our Christian lives and run our race just for the help that he gives but it suggests we should be looking unto

[34:51] Jesus to see how he ran his race so the apostle says we are running a race look to Jesus to see how he ran his race so that it will be help to you to run your race like he did looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God how how did the Lord Jesus run the race how did he face the journey of life how did he live his life unto God here below the example set before us here thinking of the overcoming he had to face Gethsemane he had to be put in the hands of wicked men they were going to whip him and scourge him the crown of swords the spitting of the soldiers this is what he had to endure he then was going to be taken to that cross where he was going to die the just for the unjust that he might bring us to

[36:09] God and it pleased the Lord to bruise him do you remember his words as he prayed when his sweat was as great drops of blood let this cut pass from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done oh that tells us dear ones that we have not a priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was tempted in all points like this we are yet without sin couldn't we have gone into the garden of Gethsemane and said to the Lord Jesus you shouldn't pray that prayer you are here to drink the cup he represents us as our great high priest he ever liveth to intercede for us tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin and as he represents his dear people at the right hand of the majesty on high he's well equipped to do it and has there ever been a time in your life when you said not so

[37:27] Lord and you know this was the way you have to walk in or how you have one who loves you in the heavens who intercedes for you on that particular because he remembers death let let this cut pass from him but he was able to get to that point where he says nevertheless not my will but thine be done friends I believe that was the victory for the Lord Jesus Christ as he faced the cross at that point and it's the victory for all of us if by his mercy and grace we can get there when we face the trials of life nevertheless not my will but thine be done oh what rebellious hearts we can have we want to leave it there let this cut pass from me I don't want to go that way but oh if we can come there nevertheless not my will my will never really counts for anything it's his will not my will but thine be done the

[38:37] Lord Jesus never frinched thereafter he went to the cross blessed God for the victory secured in the garden of Gethsemane for us poor sinners ah but this is telling us concerning that lets us into a secret here you see of how he was helped not only to face the cross but it says that he endured the cross despising the shame how could he do this looking for that blessed hope that's what it says who for the hope that was set before him the hope of joy he shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied that there was something on and beyond this that kept him going so that he could endure the cross despising the shame suggesting almost that if you could have taken from him the joy that was set before him he would have gone down under the pressure of the cross but he was able to be an overcomer with all that the cross meant to him because he was looking for that blessed hope and so I say that when the apostle Paul was telling

[40:05] Titus to have them looking for that blessed hope it's because it helps them to overcome here below it helped the Lord Jesus Christ to overcome here below but there's a remarkable incident recorded for us just before that in Hebrews 10 34 where the apostle Paul says to these people it is a remarkable incident I wonder if you ever thought of it when you read it he says for he had compassion of me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods how about that imagine if someone came and took all your house and all your property away and you say oh well I suppose not a single shaft in it till the

[41:11] God of love sees fit he took joyfully the spoiling of your goods how could a man do it how could anyone take joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance little wonder that he goes on to say cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward we are told to remember those that are in bonds as bound with them you may have read about some of our persecuted brothers in Russia a number of pastors are being severely persecuted remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and we read in the courthouse because the man has been teaching his children the gospel or in another case that they took the children of prisoners who were poor children on holiday to account and because they taught them the scriptures and the authorities discovered it they come to court and they are sent away and here is a pastor who sent about two and a half to three thousand miles away from home and he's going to suffer hard labour you see and in the court his wife and three boys and that's the sentence three to five years and then the spinning blow and confiscation of all property what does that mean it means that when his wife and boys go back to the house they left that morning there will be a soldier with a dog on the door and if she says can I go and get something off the dresser he says there's nothing in there that belongs to you now where does she go with her boys the spoiling of your goods now she goes off on his long train journey with that in his ears what's happening to my wife and boys

[44:08] I'm still wondering what's happened to my wife and boys because all property composted this is what's happening my dear friends in other parts of the world remember them that are in bonds is bound with them but there are some here who took joyfully the spoiling of your goods and when we remember those who are in bonds today it's good if we can pray for them and ask that the Lord will remind them of the blessed hope that they have because it does help to overcome the things that can happen to us here below and we don't know what may happen to us here below or that the thief may not come to steal and to kill and to destroy do you remember

[45:13] Christian Bunyan's Christian when he came to the house beautiful and met those sisters and one of their names was Prudence Prudence asked Christian by what means he finds the annoyances of life overcome she was anxious to know she says you know there's lots to annoy you as a Christian how do you overcome them and this was Bunyan's Christian's reply when I think what I saw at the cross that will do it and when I look upon my broidered coat that will do it and when

[46:20] I look into the role that I carry in my bosom that will do it and when my thoughts wax warm about whither I am going that will do it looking for that blessed hope that will do it it will help us to overcome the annoyances of life we shall be looking for it the apostle writing to Titus looking for that blessed hope there's no permanency here below all all is vanity says the preacher and we know something about this but this word looking for has the thought in it of expecting it's not just a casual looking for it but it's like someone who's looking for a friend to come you know going back to the journey sometimes you turn into the street where your friend is living and you find that they're already out by the gate looking for you to come and wave as you come now this is the word looking from the original it's not just a casual look as you might look up to the sky but you're looking with expectancy for that blessed hope that's it it could be translated heeding heeding that blessed hope you should live every day God helping you heeding it taking heed to the fact you have a blessed hope it could be translated from the original allowing in your life for that blessed hope righteously godly in this present world allowing in all your thinking in all your planning in all your thoughts in all your joys in all your sorrows allowing for this in your thoughts that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great

[48:46] God and our Saviour Jesus Christ To be to Sarah Thank you.

[49:47] Thank you.

[50:17] Thank you.

[50:47] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[51:49] Thank you. Thank you.

[52:21] Thank you. Thank you.

[52:51] Thank you.