The Ministry – part 4
Titus 1:1-4 (3b)
February 9, 2025
As you know, we have started our study of the book of Titus
And we are dealing with the issue of ministry.
We are all ministers.
We all have a ministry.
It is true that our ministries may be diverse
In regard to size and scope and audience,
But we each have a ministry to which we are called to be faithful.
Here in the opening verses of Titus
We are gaining some clarity regarding the basics of ministry.
• We are certainly examining Paul’s ministry,
• But in reality his ministry was meant to be an example for Titus
• And ultimately us as well who now possess this great letter.
In this opening segment there are 6 main points that we take away from Paul’s ministry.
#1 HIS CREDENTIALS
Titus 1:1a
“Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ”
Paul identified himself as one with authority.
• Commonly the Old Testament prophets were recognized as God’s servants, a title that would have been recognizable to the Jews on Crete.
• And certainly the New Testament reveals to us the apostles as those endowed with God’s authority.
Paul didn’t just speak, he spoke the words of God
And as such this letter came with authority.
Titus was not a prophet, nor an apostle,
But he would stand upon Paul’s authority every time he read this letter.
WE DO THE SAME.
Our credentials are that we have the words of God
Preserved for us in the Bible
And the words of God deserve to be proclaimed and obeyed.
#2 HIS CALLING
Titus 1:1b-2a
“for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life”
Paul’s ministry was clear.
• Evangelism
• Edification
• Encouragement
And as we said, that is our ministry too.
• It may not be behind a pulpit…
• It may not be on a foreign mission field…
• It may be primarily in your living room…
• It may be primarily amongst a co-worker…
But the ministry is the same.
• We seek to evangelize the lost.
• We seek to edify the redeemed.
• We seek to encourage the weary.
THAT IS THE CALLING.
#3 HIS CONFIDENCE
Titus 1:2b-3a
“which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word,”
We discussed this Sunday night as we recognized
How important confidence is in the ministry.
Those who have no confidence
Typically either neglect their ministry or they distort it.
• They either fail to participate out of fear of failure or reproach,
• Or they seek to twist what God has called them to do to try and be more successful by their own ingenuity.
A LACK OF CONFIDENCE IS A PROBLEM.
Self-confidence is also a problem
• Since it stinks of pride which comes before destruction,
• And it was Jesus who told us that “apart from Me, you can do nothing.”
So we don’t want self-confidence, but we do want confidence.
WHERE DOES TRUE CONFIDENCE COME FROM?
The sovereign character and promises of God.
Paul taught us that God “cannot lie”.
• It is totally against His nature to do so and therefore impossible.
• It cannot happen.
And that is good news
Because we know that God made an interesting promise.
God promised eternal life to those whom He had chosen.
And according to Paul, He made this promise “long ages ago”
• Literally that phrase means “before time began”
There were no humans there before time began.
There were no angels before time began.
But there was God and He was making a promise.
But if God was the only One who was He making a promise to?
The answer: HIMSELF
It was a promise from the Father to the Son before time began
Of a redeemed bride who would honor, worship, and adore Him
For all eternity.
You see Jesus reference this several times in both John 6 and John 17
As those whom the Father had given Him.
So before time began God promised Jesus a redeemed bride
And since God cannot lie, we have no doubt that it will occur.
And that promise was “manifested” to us in God’s word.
THIS WAS THE SOURCE OF PAUL’S CONFIDENCE.
• He knew that his preaching would result in the salvation of the lost,
• He knew his preaching would result in the sanctification of the saved,
• He knew his preaching would result in the satisfaction of the elect,
Not because he was such a good preacher, but because the Father had promised the Son that He would accomplish it.
Since God cannot lie, we know it will happen.
You can have confidence in that as well.
You can know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Well THIS MORNING let’s move forward again.
It is about time we started talking about the methods
Paul would use to fulfill this ministry calling he had been given.
WE NEED TO KNOW THIS.
What method are we to use to fulfill the calling to evangelize the lost, edify the redeemed, and encourage the weary?
#4 HIS COMMISSION
Titus 1:3b
“His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted”
As we look at this commission, I want us to focus in on two words here:
1) “PROCLAMATION”
It is no surprise to us that Paul reveals the method
Through which he was to fulfill his calling was preaching.
Paul was commissioned to proclaim the word.
More specifically he would proclaim,
• The promise that God had made to the Son before time began…
• The promise to save a bride for His joy and glory…
• The promise to sanctify them and grant them eternal life…
• The promise which God had revealed through His word…
Paul was commissioned to go and proclaim that message.
I’M GOING TO HOLD BEFORE YOU THAT THIS IS OUR COMMISSION TOO
NOW,
No one is going to miss the fact that
The book of Titus talks a lot about methods.
And repeatedly laid before us is the call to “good deeds”
• We saw it in our intro to the book:
• 6 times in this letter Paul talks about the importance of “good deeds”.
No book in the New Testament concentrates more
On the importance of good works than Titus.
This letter hinges upon the command of Jesus:
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
So it would be very easy to say, “No, the method in the book of Titus is not preaching, the method is good works!”
It would be very easy to say, “The method through which we are called to evangelize the lost, edify the saved, and encourage the weary is to do good deeds in their midst.”
Beyond that:
• We know that good works are vitally important.
• We are going to be called to participate in good works.
• A church without good works is in a terrible condition.
So obviously we are NOT SAYING that
Good works aren’t an important method of our ministry,
Or that we have not been commissioned to good works.
HOWEVER:
It is very important that we keep all things
In their proper order and for their proper purpose.
Paul will also be very clear in this letter to Titus
What is the purpose of those good deeds.
He says it several ways, but perhaps the most clear is when Paul speaks about young women, saying:
Titus 2:5 “[encourage the young women] to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”
The good deeds given as the responsibility of young women
Comes with a purpose and that purpose is
“so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”
That statement brings great clarity to the purpose of good deeds.
We might throw in what Paul says to bond-servants:
Titus 2:10 “not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”
Again, their good deeds come with a purpose and that purpose is to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”
So we learn that good deeds are meant to
Protect and adorn our proclamation of the word of God.
Good deeds serve to supplement the doctrine we preach.
And in their role, they are very important.
BUT DO NOT REVERSE THE ROLE.
Your works are meant to adorn your preaching,
But they are not designed to supplant it.
People do not just need to see your good deeds,
They must hear the gospel and then see your good deeds.
And I fear much of the “humanitarian” type ministries of the church today miss this point.
I hear people say things like, “We do everything we do ‘In Jesus Name’”
But let’s be honest for a second about that.
What does that mean?
I know what it likely means to you.
• It means that you are doing the things you do for Jesus’ sake.
• You are doing them to highlight Christ’s love and compassion.
• You are seeking to emulate Christ’s behavior towards the least of these.
• In submission to Christ you are doing the things Christ called you to do.
And there is nothing in the world wrong with that.
In fact, that is a noble calling and a noble purpose and a noble motive.
BUT let’s consider the person you are doing the good deeds for.
Let’s consider the recipient of your generosity or compassion.
You go to some foreign country
• Where they may have never even heard the name of Jesus,
• And even if they have, they don’t really know anything about Him.
And you drill them a water well “in Jesus Name”.
What are they supposed to do with that?
They don’t even know who He is.
Or let’s bring it closer to home.
You go and pay a water bill for someone in Spur,
Or you go and mow someone’s yard
And you tell them you are doing it “In Jesus’ Name”
Surely they have heard about Jesus.
Surely they know who He is.
BUT DO THEY?
In America what version of Jesus do you suppose they’ve been told about?
Do you suppose they know the Biblical Jesus or one of the many distorted versions of Him?
• Have they been told about the Jesus of the gospels or the Jesus of
Catholicism?
• Have they been told about the Jesus who demanded righteousness and then
fulfilled righteousness?
• Have they been told about the Jesus whose greatest concern was not your
poverty, but your sin?
• Have they been told about the Jesus who paid the penalty for the unrighteous
on the cross? And who bids you leave sin and follow Him?
• OR do they only know about the Jesus who doesn’t care what you do so long
as you are true to yourself?
• OR the Jesus whose only goal is to make you healthy, wealthy, and happy?
DO YOU SEE MY POINT?
Doing good deeds, even “in Jesus Name”
Is not enough and it is not sufficient.
Those good deeds are only effective after the truth is proclaimed.
And so while Paul will certainly emphasize
The importance of good deeds throughout this letter,
It was NOT good deeds that he listed as his primary mission.
Paul’s primary mission is “proclamation”, good deeds come later.
People must hear the word of God.
Now think back for a moment to the calling that Paul revealed on his life.
Evangelism – “for the faith of those chosen of God.”
Edification – “the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness”
Encouragement – “in the hope of eternal life”
But the question we are dealing with now is:
HOW DO YOU ACCOMPLISH THOSE GOALS?
What was he supposed to do?
Was he supposed to go out and feed the poor
And just hope that it motivated the lost to salvation, the redeemed to godliness, and gave the hope of eternal life to the weary?
It would have to be a pretty spectacular lasagna to accomplish all that.
No, Paul’s tool was God’s word, and Paul’s method was to preach it.
And listen, Scripture speaks volumes on this.
Consider the calling to EVANGELISM.
And consider the word as your tool.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
And there are many many more texts we could reference to make this point,
But I think this is enough.
You see that if your calling is to evangelize the lost;
If your calling is to call out the chosen
Then the tool you want to use is the proclamation of God’s word.
Paul actually told Timothy that this would “ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
He later told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist”
And this was done by being faithful to “preach the word”.
If you want to be faithful in evangelism
Then you must be faithful to proclaim the words of God.
Consider the calling to EDIFICATION
And again consider the word as your tool.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
What is it that works in those who believe?
It is “the word of God”
Remember what Peter taught?
2 Peter 1:2-3 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”
Peter said that God has given us everything we need “pertaining to life and godliness”
And this comes “through the true knowledge of Him who called us”
We teach the word to those who believe
Because it is the knowledge of Christ in His word
That will lead men to godliness.
Even the method of Jesus:
Ephesians 5:25-26 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,”
How does Jesus sanctify His bride?
He washes her “by the washing of water with the word”
So how are you going to fulfill your ministry
Of taking the redeemed and pushing them to godliness?
What good work that you will do is going to accomplish that in someone’s life?
What benevolent gift are you going to give to make someone look more like Jesus?
And I might even throw one other thing in here.
• Even people who already have access to the word of God.
• Even people who you might be tempted just to attach a bible verse to your benevolent gift.
Consider this point:
Acts 8:26-31 “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”
There was a man who had a bible and was reading it,
But still needed someone to explain it to him.
The Bible is meant to be proclaimed and explained
By those who know it and understand it.
Ephesians 4:11-12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”
• If you want to see the lost saved…
• If you want to see the saved be sanctified…
Then God’s word must be proclaimed.
Or consider your calling to ENCOURAGEMENT
And again consider the word as your tool.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
Paul took the truth, revealed in Scripture and told the Thessalonians to use those words to “encourage one another and build up one another”.
• The Thessalonians were heavily persecuted
• They needed the hope of eternal life,
• Nothing could supply that like the revealed truth of God’s word.
And you know this:
Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
It is through “the encouragement of the Scriptures”
That “we might have hope.”
Have you not seen the encouragement of the Scriptures in your own life?
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
This list could truly go on forever if we started down the path of quoting Bible verses that gave us hope in times of despair or uncertainty.
Now someone might say, “Yes, but don’t you think a good deeds is encouraging?”
Like when someone loses a loved one and you take them a meal?
Doesn’t that act of love lift their spirits?
IT ABSOLUTELY DOES.
• There is absolutely encouragement in knowing that people care about you.
• There is absolutely encouragement in having a temporal burden like food
removed from you.
We aren’t saying that good deeds can’t encourage.
But we’re not talking about just any old routine encouragement are we?
We are talking about “the hope of eternal life”.
We are talking about the type of encouragement
• That takes a person completely out of the burden of the moment
• And lifts their hopes to the reality that God has created something better for those who love Him.
Again, that better be a tremendous lasagna.
Only the truth of the word of God does that.
So while good deeds are important, necessary, and commanded,
Don’t misapply the purpose.
Good deeds adorn the gospel, they don’t replace it.
If Paul truly wanted to fulfill his calling
Of evangelism, edification, and encouragement
Then first and foremost he must be one
Who proclaimed the revealed truth of God.
God’s word is the power that is needed
To accomplish everything you have been called to do.
Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”
And nothing can stop it.
2 Timothy 2:8-9 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.”
We love the history of the Reformation and the great work which God did through simple men.
I love the quote of Luther regarding his work to reform the church.
“What is Luther? The teaching is not mine. Nor was I crucified for anyone … How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call the children of Christ by my evil name? … I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”
He knew where the power came from.
• It was not his boldness or charisma
• It was not his charity or compassion
• It was not his good deeds or tireless efforts
• It was the word.
When Spurgeon spoke of missionaries he wrote:
“…there is not enough preaching by ministers and missionaries. They sit down interpreting, establishing schools, and doing this, that, and the other. We have nothing to find fault with this; but that it was not the labor to which they should devote themselves: their office is preaching, and, if they preached more, they might hope for more success.”
(Spurgeon, Charles Haddon: “Spurgeon’s Sermons – Volumes 1-2”; [Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516, Fifth Printing – October 2007] pg. 332)
He understood that the greatest power we possess
• To rescue sinners from bondage,
• And see men put aside the flesh in sanctification,
• And see men rescued from the pits of despair
Is to give them the power of the word.
Another famous saying by Spurgeon:
“Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best ‘apology’ for the gospel is to let the gospel out.”
That is another way of speaking of the power of the word of God.
LET IT OUT.
• Proclaim it and see the lost saved.
• Proclaim it and see the saved be transformed into Christ-likeness.
• Proclaim it and see the weary encouraged.
If we are serious about our calling
Then we must acknowledge the tool that will fulfill it.
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
So you see the importance of the word “proclamation”
There is one more word in this segment that I want us to focus upon.
2) “ENTRUSTED”
Paul said, “the proclamation with which I was entrusted”
The reason you need to grasp that word is because
It gives us great insight into the value of the word of God.
When Paul speaks of God’s word he speaks of it
As a precious treasure that must be guarded.
THAT IS TO SAY,
We don’t just proclaim God’s word,
But we defend it and make sure that it is proclaimed accurately.
A distorted proclamation of God’s word won’t help anyone.
We have plenty of that in our world already.
• We need those who will rightly divide the word of truth.
• We need those who will preach the whole counsel of the word of God.
• We need those who will study to show themselves approved.
Jude 1:3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”
Most people today read that and think Jude wants you to go into apologetic training through scientific research, but that is not Jude’s point.
He wants you to study harder and learn more thoroughly
“the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”
He is not calling you to study science, philosophy, reason, and archaeology to better argue with a non-believer.
Jude is calling to you study the word even more
So that you can spot a distortion and correct those who malign it.
Wasn’t the one of Paul’s points to Titus?
Paul said elders must know the word for this reason:
Titus 1:9-11 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”
Listen to how Paul spoke to Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
2 Timothy 1:14 “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
And because Timothy had been entrusted with such a treasure,
He was to fight to preserve it.
2 Timothy 1:18 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,”
2 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
What we are discussing here is your perspective on the word of God.
Understanding this will help you better appreciate
Why Paul was so eager to proclaim it.
It was Paul’s love for the word that prompted his commitment to it.
He saw himself as one who had been entrusted with
The greatest treasure humanity had ever received, the very words of God.
1 Corinthians 4:1 “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”
Colossians 1:25 “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,”
Ephesians 3:1-3 “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.”
Ephesians 3:8-10 “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”
That is not nearly all, but again, you get the point.
It wasn’t just that Paul recognized the usefulness of the word,
He recognized the value of the word and the mandate to protect it.
Think about that word “entrusted” for a moment.
In the Greek it is PISTEUO, most familiarly translated as “believe”
It is the word we use when we talk about what you must do with Christ.
• You must believe in Him, more than that you must entrust yourself to Him.
When we call a sinner to salvation
We DON’T JUST ask him to believe that Jesus was real or that He really did die or that He really did rise from the dead.
Satan knows all of that.
What we are asking is for that sinner to entrust his soul to Christ’s care.
• We are asking him to forsake his own works and goodness in exchange for
Christ’s works and Christ’s goodness.
• We are asking him to trust in Christ’s atoning death.
• We are asking him to trust that Christ was successful as proven by His
resurrection.
• We are asking them to “deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow
Him”
1 Peter 4:19 “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”
That is the same word Paul uses here
Of what God did to Paul in regard to his word.
God entrusted His word to Paul.
• Paul understood His mission to defend it, preserve it, and to proclaim it so that he might fulfill his mission.
AND CHURCH WHAT A GREAT PICTURE FOR US.
God has commissioned us on a great mission.
• He has called us to the evangelization of the lost,
• The edification of the redeemed,
• And the encouragement of the weary.
For this mission God has entrusted us with the tool you will need
To penetrate the sinners heart, remove the saints filth, and uplift the weary soul.
That tool is the word of God.
• So cherish it.
• Protect it.
• Defend it.
• Adorn it with your good works.
• But most of all use it!
1 Corinthians 4:2 “In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”
That is your encouragement this morning church.
You cannot fulfill your calling
Without a commitment to the proclamation of the word of God.
God has given it to you.
God has entrusted you with it.
He intends for the church to use it.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
Here is your practical encouragement for the week.
When you go to the lost for evangelism,
• Don’t just tell them to believe in Jesus,
• Take the word and make sure they know who Jesus is.
When you call the redeemed to sanctification,
• Take the word and make sure they know what God’s word calls them to be.
When you go to encourage the weary,
• Give them the Scriptures so that their hope transcends the temporal
encouragements of this life.
You have this tool.
God has entrusted it to you.
Use it.
