[0:00] Well, good evening. Stay focused. Stay focused. That's how Paul ends his letter to Titus. Stay focused on the gospel. Stay focused on preaching, on advancing the gospel. That's how he ends the book of Titus. And that's what we've come to tonight. Jesus said in the Great Commission, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you.
[0:28] So go, make, teach disciples. That's the goal. That's the mission. Jesus laid it out. Paul pursued it, his whole apostleship. And now he tells Titus to stay focused on it. So are there distractions today? Are there distractions? Side roads, dead ends, rabbit trails? Yeah, there are those kind of distractions today.
[0:58] There are distracting people that would waste our time. And as we're going to see here, to be blunt, they are a waste of time and energy. And we don't mean to be mean, but we're going to meet some of those people at the end of Titus.
[1:18] And they're simply to be ignored after you've worn them a few times. So staying focused is not so much about what you say yes to as what you're willing to say no to.
[1:33] So you want to save up an emergency fund. That's your goal. And then really, it's a matter of what you're willing to say no to to achieve that goal. You have to say no to the McDonald's or a new shirt or going on vacation.
[1:49] Getting to the end, finishing the job, getting the job done. It is about saying no to everything that doesn't help you to accomplish and achieve that goal.
[2:02] And Paul says to Titus, some people, in order to achieve your goal, you have to say no to. And that's what we see here in the last bit of Titus chapter three. And so if you have your Bibles open or if you have your Bibles with you, turn to Titus chapter three.
[2:21] And let's read the last chapter one last time together. Titus chapter three. Paul speaking. Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and to show true humility toward all men.
[2:49] At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
[3:03] But when the kindness and love of God, our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
[3:14] He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, who he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior. So that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs, having the hope of eternal life.
[3:32] This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.
[3:43] These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. But avoid, avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
[4:03] Warn a divisive, a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time, and after that have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful.
[4:15] He is self-condemned. As soon as I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.
[4:28] Do everything you can to help Zenos, the lawyer, and Apollos on their way, and see that they have everything they need. Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.
[4:46] Everyone with me, send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Let's pray.
[4:58] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the clarity and the simplicity of your word that it meets us in the problems of life and the situations that we are going to face, that we as pastors are going to face, that we as a church are going to face.
[5:20] And your word is a light for our path that shows us the way to go. It shows us what to look at and what to look out for. So we want to understand your word.
[5:35] We want the Holy Spirit to come and teach us your word and convince us and convict us and to encourage us. And we want to be gospel-focused people, not to be distracted, but in what we do and how we act, that we would focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ, that gospel through which we have been saved.
[5:59] So please help me, help those who are listening and watching at home, come and be with us all. And may it be true that the grace of God would be with us.
[6:12] I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, we started the book of Titus so many months ago, and we started with what we think about.
[6:24] What we think about. The church in Crete was in a mess. It needed to be put together. It needed to be put right. And you start that building process with big gospel thoughts.
[6:39] The only way we as Christians, the only way we as a church get started on the right foot is to have a big understanding of God's grace.
[6:51] And that's where we start. And that's where tonight, that's where we end. Stay focused on the gospel. And so we've come now full circle.
[7:04] The gospel is not something that you merely begin with. It's what you begin with, and it is what you end with. And so that's what we see. Staying focused on the gospel. And so we're going to look first at verses 9 through 11, and then we're going to look at verses 12 through the end of the book.
[7:21] So verses 9 through 11, and it's our first point. And it's the point that we're going to spend the most amount of time on. And that is don't get distracted. Don't get distracted with foolish arguments.
[7:35] Don't get distracted with foolish arguments. If you're going to stay on track, if we as a church are going to stay on track, then we cannot get bogged down and distracted with waste of time arguments and divisive people.
[7:55] So verse 9 says, avoid foolish arguments. The word there is that you see something and you see it on the horizon and you immediately turn away.
[8:10] You avoid these foolish arguments. Avoid means you see something coming and you go the exact opposite way. And so you don't get tied up in them. You don't put your foot in the trap and then try to get yourself out of it.
[8:22] You don't get bogged down in these arguments. You avoid them. Avoid them. Now, maybe you're not like me, and I'm not saying this is a good thing, but sometimes I see someone I went to high school with at the grocery store at Kroger or something, and honestly, there are times when I'm not feeling the whole awkward exchange thing.
[8:48] I just don't want to deal with this. And so there they are. They're looking. They're down there looking at the bacon and putting things in the cart.
[9:00] And I take a hard left turn into the cereal aisle because I don't want to deal with that right now.
[9:11] And that's exactly what we should do with foolish controversies. Now, maybe that's not a good thing that I'm doing in the grocery store, but this is a good thing with foolish arguments.
[9:24] You avoid them. And Paul here has in mind these foolish, these esoteric, and honestly nonsensical Jewish arguments that were going around in his day.
[9:39] And maybe it would be helpful if we spent a long time talking about some of the things that the Jewish teachers and rabbis and people were arguing about in his day.
[9:52] But let me just sum it up, some of it. They were talking about these mythical genealogies, arguing about the stupidest things in regard to cleanliness and uncleanliness, ceremonial cleanliness and ceremonial uncleanliness.
[10:10] So a question that was argued, that was debated, that was important to some of these people was if you pour water from a clean, a ceremonially clean jug into an unceremonially clean pot, does the uncleanliness go from the pot up the flow of water into your ceremonially clean jug?
[10:35] So if you pour clean from a clean jug into an unclean one, does the unclean one now defile the clean one? Well, that's a really super important issue.
[10:48] That's a real hill to die on. And some said yes, and some said no. And they went on and on, and it was all useless. It was a wasteful time of energy.
[10:59] Time and energy. And it had really nothing to do with the heart of God. It had nothing to do with the glorious and wonderful thing that God was doing in Jesus Christ at that time, in right now, in the moment.
[11:19] So I recently read a book called The History of Judaism. It's not a history of the Jews. That's what I thought it was when I bought it.
[11:30] It's a history of Judaism. It's the history of the religion. And I stuck with it for two-thirds, three-quarters of the book. And it's not a small book.
[11:41] I got all the way up to the 17th century, so the 1600s. And finally, I just could not take it anymore. And I gave up on the whole thing.
[11:52] Because I felt so far away from anything that was relevant or important. So they started with the Old Testament, with the Torah. And that's good, I guess, as far as it goes.
[12:05] And they built on top of another layer, the Mishnah. And the Mishnah was all these arguments about the Torah between these rabbis. And this rabbi said this, this is how you do a Jewish wedding.
[12:17] And another rabbi says, no, this is not, that's not how you do a Jewish wedding. This is how you do a Jewish wedding. And on the Sabbath, do you say this prayer before you read the scripture? Or do you say that prayer before you read the scripture?
[12:28] Or vice versa. And they went on and on. When you visit the sick, what time of the day do you go? Do you go in the morning? Well, no, you can't go in the morning.
[12:39] Because that's usually the sick person's best time. And you don't want to waste their best hours. Well, do you go in the evening? No, you don't go in the evening. Because that's when they're generally at their worst. And you don't want to make it worse for them by being there.
[12:52] And when you visit the sick, do you sit on a stool or do you stand up? And that's not just a polite question. They made it a religious question. Super relevant stuff.
[13:07] All of this tiniest, of the tiniest minutia that has nothing to do with the heart. Nothing to do with who God is or what he's doing. Nothing to do with real living relationship with God, with faith and hope and love.
[13:26] Now, if that wasn't bad enough, they went from that to the Talmud. And the Talmud took the Mishnah and they wrote commentaries on the Mishnah.
[13:37] So now you have commentaries on commentaries. And then there was another layer of the compilers who went through the Talmud and sorted it out and tried to make them all agree with one another.
[13:49] And on top of that, there was all this esoteric and mystical and magical. And maybe you've heard of some of that. You had to find the mystical and the magical meaning of the Talmud.
[14:01] So here I am. Now, that's a long illustration, but this is the point. Here I am reading a history book about arguments and commentary on arguments and commentary on arguments and commentary with a dash of the mystical and the magical thrown in.
[14:21] And at last I said, who cares? Who cares what all these people are saying? We started with the Bible and now we are 100 miles away from that.
[14:34] I don't know what happened. I don't know how we got to where we are. This is pointless. This is useless. I felt like I was in the movie Inception.
[14:45] I was five layers deep into a dream world of controversies that don't matter. And all I'm learning from all of this is that there is no end to how deep people will go into things that don't matter.
[15:02] There's no end to some arguments. Now, none of you, I really doubt any of you are ever going to read that book. I doubt any of you are ever going to get wrapped up into the kind of Jewish arguments that Paul is telling Titus to stay away from, to avoid.
[15:21] But there are principles here. There are principles here, aren't there? The first one is there are some arguments and fights that are not worth having.
[15:33] They're just not worth having. They don't lead to godliness. The gospel, Paul says in Titus 3, is useful. It's profitable.
[15:45] It leads to godliness. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness. The gospel is useful. And so we preach the gospel routinely and continually because it is continually useful.
[16:02] What Paul is teaching Titus and telling him to pass on to the people in Crete was useful and profitable for everyone, verse 8 says. But in contrast to that, there are some things that are useless.
[16:22] That are a complete and utter waste of time and energy. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy and told him that, told Timothy, that these kind of arguments promote controversies, not God's work.
[16:40] Now here's something that we need to think about. These divisive, these argumentative people think they are doing God's work. They are convinced in their mind that what they are arguing about is necessary and useful and essential.
[16:58] And Paul says they're not. And that's a warning to anyone. It's a warning to me. It's a warning to you and anyone who gets into religious arguments.
[17:09] Just because you think, just because you think that what you are arguing about is essential, doesn't necessarily mean that it is. Being convinced in and of yourself is not to say that what you are doing is right.
[17:24] And in the inane, the nonsensical part about all of this is that these people who get involved in these arguments don't even know what they're talking about.
[17:39] A word that keeps on appearing in Paul when he's warning against the false teachers is the word stupid. There's a lot of stupid arguments.
[17:50] These people don't know what they're talking about. First Timothy 1 7. They want to be teachers of the law. And you say that's a good thing as far as it goes. But they do not know what they are talking about.
[18:03] And what they so confidently affirm. So they're confident. And they're ignorant. They're confident that they are right.
[18:16] But they don't know what they're talking about. Later he says they're conceited. They're full of themselves. They're big bags of hot air.
[18:27] Convinced of their own rightness. And yet they understand nothing. So the more they talk. The more stupidity.
[18:40] And ignorance. Comes out. And that's one reason why you don't waste your time. Continually debating them. They don't know what they're talking about.
[18:51] And maybe you've noticed that. And I'm sure you have. That most of the time. It is the most opinionated.
[19:03] People. The people with the strongest. Opinions. Who are. The proudest. And at the same time. The dumbest.
[19:16] The most ignorant. Those who don't understand. What they're even talking about. That's what Paul found. Conceited. And understanding nothing.
[19:28] At the same time. And so what do you get when you get bogged down into this? What happens? Well you have arguments. And not the good kind of upbuilding arguments.
[19:39] That iron sharpening iron. No you don't get those kind of arguments. You get envy. And malicious talk. Back talk. Evil suspicions. Constant friction.
[19:50] That's what 1st Timothy 6 talks about. And so wherever these people go. With their opinions. With their ideas. With their thoughts. Wherever these people go.
[20:01] People are talking. And people are fighting. And is that God's work. To be always at it. With people. To always be at it.
[20:15] Always finding someone. About something. To argue about. No. Stay focused. That's what Paul is warning Titus. And telling them.
[20:26] To tell the elders. And tell the church there. To stay focused. Don't get bogged down. With pointless arguments. And so what should you do? How should you handle these kind of people?
[20:39] Well should you humor them? No. Should you try to convince them? Should you try to convince them at all cost? Should you constantly be going back to them.
[20:52] And dealing with them. Over and over and over again. No. Paul has a very succinct way. And plan. For what you do. With these kind of people. Warn them once.
[21:05] Warn them twice. And then have nothing. To do with them. I think Paul is just taking. What Jesus said. What Jesus said. In Matthew 18. And condensing it.
[21:17] Into a very. A brief sentence. He's condensing it. Down into something very succinct. Warn them once. Warn them twice. And then don't have anything.
[21:29] To do with them. Quit trying to convince them. Get them off. The stage. Get them. Off the center stage. Don't let them rob you.
[21:40] And your church. And your church's time. And attention. A lot of times. These people want to argue. Because it makes things. It draws attention to them. Don't give them that.
[21:52] And after that. After you've. Gotten them off. Taken them off. The stage. Don't doubt. Whether you've done. The right thing. Don't fret.
[22:04] Don't fret. And think. Oh no. Did I handle that correctly? Don't fret. Their loss. There is such a thing. As addition. By subtraction.
[22:15] And this is one of those situations. Where the church is actually built up. By removing. Certain individuals. And certain people. And so verse 11.
[22:25] Makes it clear. That this is one of those situations. Where you are. Taking out something. That is poisonous. That is distracting. Verse 11. You can be sure that such a man is warped.
[22:36] And sinful. He is self condemned. They're warped. That means they're crooked. Like you can't. They don't.
[22:47] They can't draw a straight line. They can't see things. Clearly. They're warped. They're bent. And so. Yesterday. I went to the eye doctor.
[22:58] And the doctor. Uptown here. And actually. In Bremen. And the doctor said. She said that. I have a pretty. Bad astigmatism. In my right eye.
[23:09] My cornea. Is warped. It's bent. And I can't see. Clearly. That's these people.
[23:21] They're warped. They're sinful. Sin has blinded them. So. Thinking that they see. They don't see. So.
[23:32] It doesn't do any good. To let them into the church. It doesn't do any good. To continually. To deal with them. Over and over again. To give them more and more chances. He says. They're self condemned.
[23:44] You. You don't need. A long trial. Because their whole life. Speaks to their condemnation. It's like their whole life.
[23:55] Is so evidently. And clearly. And blatantly. Wrong. That. Their whole life. Is a confession. Of their guilt. And so. After a criminal. Has confessed.
[24:06] You don't have a big. Long. Hard. Difficult trial. And that's what's. Going on here. That's how he's dealing. With them. And so. Don't get bogged down. In their arguments. Don't have anything.
[24:16] To do with them. But. Here's where we need. To have. An aside. Here's where we need. To make some. Just to think. A little more carefully. About this. Because. I can hear someone.
[24:27] Saying. But isn't there a place. For controversy. Isn't there a place. For argument. In the church. For the truth. And the answer is. Yes. There is a place. In the church.
[24:38] For. For arguing. And contending. For the truth. Well then. How do you know. What's the right. Kind of argument. And what's the wrong.
[24:49] Kind of argument. What is. Who's going at this. With the right spirit. And who's going at this. With the wrong. Kind of spirit. Well the first thing is.
[25:00] What are you arguing. About. Is it. Does this significantly. Affect. The gospel message. Again.
[25:10] This is gospel focused. And so we don't take. Our own mind. As to say. What's important. Or what's not. We say. The gospel. Is a first importance. So is this.
[25:21] Of the highest magnitude. Of importance. Does this significantly. Affect the gospel message. Does it really threaten. And I really mean that. And I underline that word.
[25:31] Really. Does it really. Threaten. A basic tenet. Of the gospel. Jesus is the God man. Justification.
[25:42] By faith. Alone. The truthfulness. Of God's. Word. Word. If it's. Touching on something.
[25:53] That is absolutely essential. Then we need to contend. We need to have arguments. We need to have controversy. Over it. But here.
[26:04] Is. The problem. Here. Is. The danger. And here's. The danger. With dealing. With the people. That Paul. Is warning. Titus. Against. There are.
[26:15] Some. People. That manage. To think. Everything. That they are. Fighting. For. Everything. That they are. Arguing. About. Is. Absolutely.
[26:26] Necessary. Every. Fight. Is. Worth. It. Jesus. Took. Five. Loaves. Of. Bread. And he. Multiplied. Those.
[26:36] Five. Loaves. Of. Bread. To feed. Five. Thousand. Men. He. Took. Something. Little. And he. Multiplied. It. Into. Something. Huge.
[26:47] And it's. Like. These. People. Have. The. Same. Kind. Of. Power. They. Take. Every. Mole. Hill. And they. Manage. To. Stretch. It. And to.
[26:57] Grow. It. Into. A. Mountain. That's. Worth. Arguing. About. So. How do you know. These. People. When you. See. Him.
[27:09] How do you know. If you're. Maybe. One of. These. Kind. Of. People. Brian. Chappelle. Chappel. Is. Really. Helpful. Here. And. I.
[27:19] Want. To. Read. A. Quote. From. Him. And. I. Think. It's. So. Helpful. There. Is. A. Difference. Between. Needing. To. Divide. And. Loving. To. Divide. A.
[27:30] Divisive. Person. Loves. To. Fight. The. Differences. Are. Usually. Observable. The. Person. Who. Loves.
[27:41] The. Peace. And. Purity. Of. The. Church. May. Be. Forced. Into. Division. But. It's. Not. His. Character. He. Enters. Into. Arguments. Regrettably. And.
[27:53] Infrequently. Did you hear that? Regrettably. And. Infrequently. When. Forced. To. Argue. He.
[28:03] Remains. Fair. And. Truthful. And. Loving. In. His. Responses. He. Grieves. To. Have. To. Disagree. With.
[28:14] Her. Brother. Those. Who. Are. Divisive. By. Nature. Lust. For. The. Fray. They. Incite. Its. Onset. They. Delight. In. Being. Able. To. Conquer. Another.
[28:24] Person. They. Love. To. Win. At. All. Cost. That's. What. He's. Saying. For. Them. Victory. Means. Everything. Divisive. The. Divisive. Person. Frequents. The. Debates. Of. The.
[28:34] Church. As. A. Result. The. Same. Voices. And. Personalities. Tend. To. Appear. Over. And. Over. Again. Even. Though. The. Issues.
[28:45] Change. That's. The. End. Of. The. Quote. So. These. People. They'll. Just. Show. Up. At. The. Fight.
[28:56] Again. And. Again. And. Again. And. The. Issues. Might. Change. But. They're. Always. Seeming. To. Be. In. The. Heart. Of. It. In. The. Middle. Of. It. Now. There's. Something. There. For. Everyone. To. Think. About.
[29:07] Are. You. One. Of. Those. Personalities. Is. There. A. Line. In. Your. Past. In. Your. History. Of. Divisions. And. Arguments. And. Falling. Out. Is.
[29:17] That. You. But. Yes. Sometimes. We. Have. To. Contend. For. The. Faith. Sometimes. We. Have. To. Confront. And.
[29:29] That's. Right. Here. On. The. Surface. Of. What. Paul. Is. Telling. Titus. You. Have. To. Warn. Shouldn't. Be.
[29:40] The. Habit. That. Shouldn't. Be. The. Ongoing. Course. Of. Your. Life. That. You're. Always. Doing. This. With. Everyone. James. Chapter. Three. Talks. About. The.
[29:50] Wisdom. That. Is. From. Above. The. Wisdom. That. Is. From. God. And. He. Says. This. It's. First. Of. Pure. Then. Second. Of. All. Peaceable.
[30:02] Wisdom. That. Is. From. God. Is. Peaceable. It. Creates. Peace. It. Makes. For. Peace. Wisdom. From. Hell. Is. Divisive. Second. Timothy.
[30:13] Two. Flee. Useful. Lust. And. Pursue. Listen. To. This. List. Of. Things. That. We. Are. To. Pursue. Righteousness. Faith. Love. And. Peace. Hebrews.
[30:23] Chapter. Twelve. Pursue. Peace. With. Men. And. The. Holiness. Without. Which. No. One. Will. See. The. Lord. Peace. And. Holiness. Go. Together.
[30:35] Peace. And. Holiness. Go. Together. Holiness. Is. Not. Some. Sort. Of. So-called. Spiritual. Maturity. And. Insight. That. Is. Always. Finding. Some. Theological.
[30:45] Or. Practical. Point. To. Argue. About. And. I. Think. Some. Christians. Think. That. That. Holiness. Is. Having. This. So-called.
[30:56] Theological. And. Practical. Insight. That. There's. Always. You're. Always. Nitpicking. You're. Always. Finding. Fault. Nothing. Is. Ever. Good. Enough. No. One. Is. Ever. Good. Enough. You. Can't. Leave. Anything.
[31:07] Alone. Holiness. Is. Living. In. Peace. So. How. Do. You. Stay. Focused. We. Don't. Get. Bogged. Down. In. These. Kind.
[31:17] Of. Arguments. Stick. To. The. Good. And. Useful. Gospel. Fight. For. The. Good. And. Useful. Gospel. Now.
[31:29] That's. The. Only. Way. We. As. A. Church. Are. Going. To. Survive. And. Keep. Going. We. Have. To. Keep. The. Main. Thing. The. Main. Thing. Stay. Focused. On. The. Gospel. Now.
[31:39] Quickly. And. Briefly. To. The. To. The. Second. Point. And. That's. You. See. In. Verses. Twelve. Through. The. End. These. Practical. These. Personal. These. Personal.
[31:50] Words. To. Titus. And. Here. What. You. Find. Is. What. Staying. Focused. Actually. Looks. Like. In. In.
[32:00] Life. As. You're. Doing. Ministry. As. You're. Doing. The. Work. Of. Carrying. Out. The. Gospel. These. Personal. Comments. At. The. End. Of. Titus. Everything. About. Them. Everything.
[32:10] About. These. Remarks. Shows. Gospel. Focus. Paul. Is. Consumed. And. He's. Bringing. Along. Titus.
[32:20] And. All. Of. These. Men. And. He's. Training. Them. And. Teaching. Them. And. Showing. Them. And. Leading. Them. In. A. Gospel. Focus. So. He. Says. To. Get. Or.
[32:35] Tychicus. To. You. He. Didn't. Know. Exactly. Which. One. At. The. Time. I'm. Going. To. Send. One. Of. These. Men. To. You. And. They're. Going. To. Take. Your. Place. And. When. They. Come. I. Want. You. To. Go. Up. And. Meet. Me. In. Nicopolis.
[32:46] So. Remember. Cree. Is. This. Island. Down. In. The. Mediterranean. Nicopolis. Is. A. City. On. The. Western. Side. Of. Greece. On. The. It's.
[32:56] A. Coastal. City. On. Greece. And. What. Is. So. Important. For. Paul. In. This. Situation. Is. He's. Going. To. Winter. There. He's. Going. To. Spend. The. Winter. Over. There. And. The.
[33:06] Reason. For. That. Is. That. A. Lot. Of. People. A. Lot. Of. Ships. Put. In. To. Nicopolis. To. Wait. Out. The.
[33:16] Stormy. Winter. Months. So. For. A. Few. Months. In. The. Wintertime. Nicopolis. Became. This. Hub. Of. People. From. All. Over. Ships.
[33:27] From. All. Over. The. Mediterranean. Would. Put. In. Their. Ships. And. Their. Crews. Would. Would. Wait. Out. The. Winter. And. What. Paul. Is. Saying. Is. That's. Where. I'm. Going. To. Be. Now. Titus. You. Come.
[33:37] Up. And. We're. Going. To. Meet. Me. There. I'm. Going. To. Be. Here. I'm. Going. To. Be. Working. I want. You. To. Meet. Me. There. Now. It. Seems. That. Titus. Stayed.
[33:47] In. Nicopolis. For. A. Little. Bit. And. And. From. Nicopolis. Paul. And. Titus. Parted. Ways. For. While. And. It. Seems. Like. From.
[33:57] Second. Timothy. That. What. Titus. Did. Is. He. He. He. He. Didn't. Go. Back. To. Crete. And. Said. He. Went. Back. He. Went. North. Up. Into. What. Was. Called.
[34:07] Dalmatia. Which. Is. Present. Day. Mission.
[34:18] There. And. If. You. Read. About. Dalmatia. It. Wasn't. An. Easy. Place. To. Be. Either. But. So. That's. Where. Titus. Ended. Up. Going.
[34:30] So. What. Was. Here's. The. Point. What. Was. The. Agenda. For. Titus. For. Now. Well. He's. To. Get. Ready. To. Go. He's. To. Get. Ready. To. Go.
[34:40] To. To. To. Work. For. A. While. And. Then. After. That. A. New. Frontier. Crete. Was. The. First. Place. Titus. Labored. It. Wasn't. The. Last. The. Field. Is. Now. Expanding. And.
[34:50] Titus. Needs. To. Get. Going. And. The. Gospel. Is. Advancing. So. In. The. Meantime. He's. To. Get. Ready. To. Go. But. In.
[35:00] The. Meantime. Help. Zanus. And. Apollos. On. Their. Way. And. See. That. They. Have. Everything. They. Need. These. Two. Brothers. Zanus. And. Apollos. Probably. Carried. The.
[35:11] Physical. Letter. Of. Paul. To. Titus. That. We. Have. In. In. The. Book. Of. Titus. They. Carried. The. Letter. From. Wherever. Paul. Was. To.
[35:21] Where. Titus. Is. But. The. The. Thing. Is. Is. They. Aren't. Staying. They. Have. More. Work. To. Do. They. Have. Other. Places. To. Go. And. So. They're. Going. To. Need. Money. They're. Going. To. Need. Food. They're. Going. To. Need. A. Place. To.
[35:31] Stay. They're. Going. Need. Refreshment. And. Paul. Says. Give. Thing.
[35:51] They. Need. Is. That. Gospel. Work. And. That. Is. Gospel. Work. Is. That. To. Be. Gospel. Focus. Do. You. Have. To. Be. A. Missionary. To. Be. Gospel. Focus. No.
[36:02] Again. You. See. The. Focus. The. Mission. Needs. To. Go. On. Some. People. Are. Going. Other. People. Are. Helping. Them. Verse. 14. And. This. Is. This. Carries. On.
[36:12] That. Idea. Our. People. Must. Learn. To. Devote. Themselves. To. Doing. What. Is. Good. Taking. Care. Of. These. Missionaries. In. This. Case. And. Working.
[36:22] And. Earning. Money. In. Order. That. They. May. Provide. For. Their. Daily. Necessities. And. Not. Live. Unproductive. Lives. Again. This. Is. Practical.
[36:33] Gospel. Living. We. All. Aren't. Going. To. Get. Up. And. Go. We. Not. All. Going. To. Be. Missionaries. But. All. Of. Us. Have. A. Gospel.
[36:44] Job. To. Do. And. Part. Of. That. Work. That. We. Are. Doing. Just. In. Our. Everyday. Lives. And. Our. Normal. Routine. Jobs. Is. Providing. For. Our. Family.
[36:55] And. Being. Productive. Helping. Again.
[37:06] And. Again. The. Focus. Is. The. The. Gospel. Needs. To. Go. For. Titus. What. He's. Doing. Artemis. And.
[37:16] Tychicus. And. Zenos. And. Apollos. All. These. Men. And. Even. The. People. Staying. In. Crete. And. Just. Working. Their. Job. There.
[37:27] To. Focus. On. Getting. The. Gospel. The. Gospel. Is. The. Message. That. Is. Going. To. Save. Sinners. The. Gospel. Is. The. Message. That. It's. Going. To. Take.
[37:38] Turn. Crete. From. An. Uncivilized. Backwoods. Into. A. Better. Place. The. Gospel. Is. Going. To. Change. Lives. And. The.
[37:48] Church. That. Was. In. Crete. The. Church. In. Here. In. Bremen. Is. The. Pillar. And. The. Foundation. Of.
[37:58] That. Truth. It's. The. Lighthouse. There. Is. One. There's. Only. One. Divinely.
[38:10] Ordained. Lighthouse. Pillar. Of. The. Truth. And. It's. The. Church. And. So. We. Cannot. Get.
[38:21] Bogged. Down. In. Anything. Else. To. To. Theologically. Get. Bogged. Down. In. Arguments. To. Forget. That. Practically.
[38:33] With. What. We. Do. With. Our. Money. And. How. We. Treat. People. How. We. Treat. These. Missionaries. And. And. Sending. And. Going. And. All. Of. The. Rest. To. To. To. Forget.
[38:44] That. Practically. Is. A. Terrible. Tragedy. It's. To. Push. The. Lighthouse. Down. For. The. Light. To. Go. Out. And. It's. More.
[38:54] Than. A. Tragedy. It. Is. Really. Unfaithfulness. To. What. Jesus. Has. Called. His. Church. To. Be. And. It. Really. Is. Betraying. Betraying.
[39:06] The. One. Who. Lived. And. Died. For. Us. We. Do. Have. A. Savior. To. Proclaim. A. Savior. Sinners.
[39:18] Desperately. Need. And. To. Lose. That. Focus. In. Our. Lives. To. Lose. That. Focus. In. The. Church. Is. Really. To. Lose.
[39:28] Everything. To. Practically. Forget. It. So. It. Has. No. Real. Part. In. Your. Everyday. Life. Is. To. Lose. Everything. And.
[39:38] Haven't. Many. Churches. Lost. Everything. Take. Heed. Lest. You. Fall. And. Jesus. Takes.
[39:49] Away. Your. Candlestick. So. Do you see. The whole point. Of. The book. Of. Titus. Then. Yes. It's. To. It's. To. Get. The church.
[39:59] Up. Off. The ground. It's. To. Get. It. In. The right. Place. It's. To. Put. It. Back. And. Put. It. In. The way. That. It needs. To be. The book. Of. Titus. Is. About. The first. Steps. The essential.
[40:10] Things. But. It's. Not. Necessarily. The last. And. It's. Not. The end. All. It's. It is. For. Jesus. Christ. And. His. Kingdom. Sake. And. So. The. So. That. The grace. Of.
[40:20] God. That. Had. Begun. To. Shine. There. In. The island. Of. Crete. Would. Shine. Brighter. And. Brighter. On. That. Island. And. Then. From. There. To. Other. Places.
[40:35] It. Was. About. This. Grace. Of. God. This. Titus. Is. So. Full. Of. The. Grace. Of. God. That. Brings. Salvation. Has. Appeared. To.
[40:45] All. Men. All. Kinds. Of. Men. Evil. Men. Religious. Men. Appeared. To. All. Men. Jesus. Christ. Gave. Himself. For. Us. To.
[40:55] Redeem. Us. From. All. Wickedness. At. One. Time. We. Too. Were. Foolish. How. Did. God. Find. Us. Foolish. Disobedient.
[41:07] Deceived. And. Enslaved. To. All. Kinds. Of. Passions. And. Pleasures. But. When. The. Kindness. And. Love. Of. God. Our. Savior. Appeared. He. Saved. Us.
[41:18] Not. Because. Of. Righteous. Things. That. We. Had. Done. But. Because. Of. His. Mercy. There. Is. Good. News. That. Came. Into. Our. Lives. And.
[41:28] There. Is. Good. News. For. Sinners. For. Guilty. Hardened. Deceived. Hell. Bound. Sinners. That's. The. Light. That's. The. Message.
[41:39] Jesus. Christ. And. Him. Crucified. God. Undeserved. Kindness. To. Undeserving. Sinners. And. We. Need. To.
[41:49] Stick. To. It. So. As. We. End. Titus. Where. We. Began. We. Started. With. God's. Grace. And. So.
[41:59] How. Does. The. Book. Of. Titus. End. Grace. Be. With. You. All. So. How. Do. Older. Men. And.
[42:10] Older. Women. And. Younger. Women. And. Younger. Men. How. Do. How. We. Live. The. Christian. Life. In. A. Dark. World. That's. Titus. Two. Well.
[42:22] We. Can't. Do. It. By. Ourselves. And. You. Know. That. We. Can't. Do. It. By. Ourselves. Grace.
[42:34] Be. With. You. All. That's. How. We. Do. It. So. How. Does. The. Church. Keep. Shining. In. A. Dark. World. How. Do. We. Stay. Focused. With. All. The. Distractions.
[42:44] With. All. The. Satanic. Attacks. With. All. The. Other. Things. That. Are. That. Are. Yelling. And. Screaming. For. Our. Attention. Will. Grace. Be. With. You. All. God. In. Grace. Saved.
[42:55] These. Cretans. And. In. Grace. He. Forgave. Them. He. Transformed. Them. And. Now. Was. He. Going. To. Leave. Them. No.
[43:06] Grace. Be. With. You. All. And. Will. He. Leave. Us. Will. He. Leave. Us. These.
[43:16] Are. Difficult. Times. A. Lot. Of. Uncertainty. A. Lot. Of. Confusion. A. Lot. Of. People's. Lives. Are. Getting. Changed.
[43:27] And. A. Lot. Of. Difficult. Ways. Has. God. Left. Us. Will. He. Leave. Us. No. Paul. Says. Grace. Be. With. You. All. That's.
[43:38] His. Prayer. That's. His. Wish. And. That. Is. The. Reality. So. There's. A. Lot. In. Titus. There's.
[43:48] A. Lot. To. Think. About. There's. A. Lot. To. Do. There's. A. Lot. Of. Practical. Things. To. Learn. And. To. Apply. But. God's. Grace. Is. With. Us. Right.
[44:00] Here. With. Us. Again. We. Need. To. Always. Remember. We. Can't. Separate. Grace. From. Who. Jesus. Is. Jesus. Christ. Is. With. Us.
[44:11] I. Will. Be. With. You. To. The. Very. End. Of. The. Age. Full. Of. Mercy. Full. Of. Love. Full. Of. Strength. And. So. May. God's. Grace. Be.
[44:22] With. Us. Oh. How. We. Need. It. And. So. Let's. Without. Any. Fear. Without. With. Great. Confidence. Let's. Keep. On. Living.
[44:33] On. Him. Let's. Pray. Heavenly. Father. We. Do. Thank. You. That. Your. Grace. Is. With. Us. The. Grace. Of. Our. Lord.
[44:43] Jesus. Christ. So. Please. Help. Us. To. Stay. Focused. To. Not. Be. Distracted. Help. Us. To. Not. Be. These. Kind. Of. Argumentative.
[44:53] People. Help. Us. To. Be. Peaceable. Help. Us. To. Be. Gospel. Oriented. As. A. Church. To.
[45:04] Keep. Going. To. Keep. Thinking. To. Keep. Looking. To. Keep. Planning. Just. Like. Paul. Is. Showing. Us. Here. And. Help. Us.
[45:15] To. Continually. Come. Back. To. The. Gospel. Of. Grace. As. We. Try. To. Live. Our. Lives. In. A. Difficult. World. In. A. Difficult. Situation. With.
[45:26] Sin. On. The. Inside. And. Sin. On. The. Outside. With. Temptations. Within. And. Without. With. A. World. That. Doesn't. Love. Us. And. A. Devil. That. Certainly. Hates. Us. And.
[45:37] We. Are. We. We. And. So. Thank. You. That. You. Are. Strong. For. Us. You. Are. Our. Righteousness. And. Our. Wisdom. You. Are. Our.
[45:47] Ever. Present. Help. In. Times. Of. Trouble. So. We. Live. On. You. And. We. Confidently. Expect. For. Your. Grace. To. Be. With. Us. Help. Us. Then. To. Live. Upon. It.
[45:58] In. Jesus. Mighty. Name. For. His. Sake. For. His. Glory. Amen.