Well, I want you to slip on a pair of first century
sandals this morning. We talk about putting on
the sandals of biblical characters to try to
put us in the historical context of scripture.
So put those sandals on, go back in your mind
to a time when Rome dominated the Mediterranean
world. In fact, so much so that back in that
day, Romans would call the Mediterranean Sea
the Roman Lake. That's how much they owned that
territory. Go back in your mind to the time when
Greek philosophy and the gods of Olympus ruled
over the intellectual and spiritual world. Back
to a time when Christianity was a new religion,
a relatively minor offshoot of Judaism. But its
followers had this audacious claim, right, that
their rabbi and teacher, an obscure Galilean
Jew named Jesus of Nazareth, was the Messiah
that had been promised in the ancient Hebrew
scriptures. And the claim was that he had been
crucified by the Romans as an enemy of the state,
but three days later had bodily come back to
life, literally walked out of a tomb. That's
quite a claim. And then several years later,
another obscure Jewish man known by his Greek
name, Paul, a man who was raised in the city
of Tarsus on the southern... coast of Asia Minor,
this Paul had had a personal encounter with the
risen Jesus, and he was subsequently commissioned
to take Jesus' message to every place in the
Gentile Greek world around the Mediterranean
Sea. Now, I don't know if you've ever thought
about this, but step back for a second and think
about that calling and mission for a moment.
Now, we don't know what Paul looked like. I like
that picture. It just helps. Sometimes we see
names on the flat page and it's hard for us to
picture that this was a real man. And so I like
that picture. But I want you to step back and
think about that calling and that mission that
Jesus gave to Paul. How do you develop that strategy?
How do you develop a strategy to take a theological
message and spread it across thousands of miles
of territory in the first century? We take it
for granted in the church world today because
we have so many tools that we can use to spread
the gospel. How did he do it? Remember, you have
no rapid transportation. You have no highways,
no cars, no jets, not even a bicycle. You have
no mass media, no printing press, no newspaper,
obviously no internet, no phones to communicate
with team members. You'd have to walk everywhere
or ride an animal. Sometimes you'd have to get
on a rickety boat and hope you survived. You'd
have to write letters by hand. Anybody, old guys,
remember that? You'd have to write letters by
hand and then have them hand delivered, which
would usually take months if your messenger could
actually find the person the letter was addressed
to. We take that for granted too, like how do
we bump into people in the ancient world without
phones? And with that backdrop and all those
limitations, consider again what Paul was tasked
to accomplish on behalf of the gospel. Start
by building a team of like -minded men who are
mature enough in the faith to be able to go with
him to teach and disciple others, but also courageous
enough to turn their back on their old way of
life and risk everything, their very lives. for
the sake of this mission. To start in Syria and
Antioch and to go out with your team, travel
west across Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia and
beyond, perhaps all the way to Rome and even
Spain, plant churches in every region that you
visit, then leave team members behind to sort
of get things started, instructing them to raise
up others to stabilize and build the fellowships
and the teaching in those churches. Then keep
checking on all those churches. Keep checking
on your friends and your ministry partners as
you push forward into new territory. And on top
of all that, constantly address a whole litany
of problems that were sure to pop up. The threat
of persecution. The worry of false teachers coming
into these brand new churches and creating confusion.
The pull of the pagan world to draw people back
away from the faith. And of course, disunity
even within. the body of believers. Can you fathom
the enormity of the mission that Paul was given?
Huge. And again, without any of the modern day
conveniences that we rely upon to plant churches
and to do missions, even just to oversee a local
church like this one. Absolutely amazing. Well,
this morning we're wrapping up our study in Titus
and we're gonna look at just a few verses at
the very end of the letter. And these are verses,
if we're honest, most Christians just kind of
ignore or read right past because they want to
get on to the next book of the Bible. And at
first glance, they do just look like some personal
notes from Paul about his team members. But in
truth, they hold some really important principles
for us to learn from because they give us a window
into how Paul was actually able to reach so much
of the ancient world with the gospel, even in
the first century. So grab your Bibles. If you
haven't opened to Titus, let's go there. In fact,
I want you to go back to the very top. Go back
to chapter one. I was thinking last night about
the very beginning of this preaching series.
We started this series back on January the 12th
of this year. And it's funny, when the elder
team, we were planning out 2025, and when they
asked me, they said, well, Jeff, how long do
you think? will be in Titus. And I remember it
took like a day to sort of look over the book,
sort of quickly. And I said, came back, I guesstimated
three months, maybe four months. Well, guess
what? It's taken me twice that long. And that's
okay, right? That's one of the beauties of Oak
Hill. We're not in a rush. Jesus can come back.
We're just going to keep preaching through books
of the Bible at the pace that we need to keep
preaching. It is what it is, right? Isn't that
one of the beauties? We're not so structured
and formatted that we just have to stay on task.
God's good to us in that sense. So yeah, it's
not a long book, but it's taken us six months.
And now, having come to the end of the series
and looking back, I can see why I underestimated
it. Because when you really dive deep into this
and you study it and you do the research, you
see so many things you didn't see at first. And
there were so many... parts of the series where
I looked at it and thought, I can get through
that section in one Sunday, and then it turned
out to be three, which is okay again, right?
I read this great quote from a scholar that described
this perfectly. Here's what he wrote about Titus.
Quote, it's a condensed epistle that when you
mix it with the water of exegesis, it begins
to expand and expand and expand. And that's what
I think we have found together in this study
of Titus. There's so much packed into this short
letter. Now, when we finish a preaching series,
it's always interesting to go back to that first
week and look at how we introduce the book. And
you might recall in the first Sunday, the second
Sunday, we walked through a whole history of
Crete, which is where Titus was sent. And we
looked at the timeline of Paul's travels during
the last few years of his life. And we should
remember what a difficult assignment it was that
Paul gave to Titus, sending him to Crete, right?
Very difficult assignment. Why? First of all,
he had to straighten out churches all over this
island, not a small island, right, about 160
miles across, not a small place, go straighten
out all the churches in this place that has this
sort of creepy, dark, pagan past, going back
to ancient peoples, the Minoans and the Mycenaeans,
and a place where people, the people who lived
there in Titus' day had built this. awful reputation
in the Greek world as being lazy, gluttonous,
irritable, and full of deceit. Other than that,
wonderful people, right? So just again, let me
just show you, this was the map we started with
and to get our, you knew I was gonna do some
maps today, right? It had to happen. I got some
pictures too. So we start with, where's Jerusalem,
right? The blue dot. And then where's Rome? The
red dot, just so that we get our boundaries here.
The orange dot there is Syria and Antioch. That's
where Paul launched his missionary journeys from.
That's important to know as well. And then circled
there is the island of Crete. This is where Titus
was sent to minister. So that's important to
see. Now, what does Crete look like? We talked
about this in the first week. It's really a beautiful
island, very mountainous. It's not tropical.
It's very mountainous, as you can see there.
That's a monastery. Beautiful coastline. I'm
not a travel agent, by the way. But I understand
that Josh Smith can help you if you want to go
to Crete. Josh, there he is. Our resident travel
agent can help you if you want to visit Crete.
I hear it's beautiful. Beautiful ruins there.
The ancient Minoan palace at Knossos is there.
Some of the dark pagan background you see in
the frescoes that are found in that palace. And
there is, of course, a church of St. Titus. on
the island of Crete that's still standing from
the first century. So anyway, that's just as
a refresher so that you can remember exactly
what we looked at. Now, remember the timeline
of Paul's life here. He was first taken to Rome.
Remember, Paul was arrested and taken to Rome
twice. The first time he was taken to Rome, he
was placed under house arrest. I'll go back to
the picture. under house arrest in the year 61
to 63. That is the period of his life where he
wrote what we call the prison epistles. He wrote
letters to the Ephesians and to the Colossians
and to the Philippians and a letter to Philemon
while he was in prison. Then he was released
from custody, and we know that between the years
63 and 65, he traveled extensively around the
Mediterranean, spent quite a bit of time on the
western coast of Asia Minor, went to places like
Miletus and Corinth and Ephesus. And then, while
somewhere in Macedonia, he wrote pastoral letters
to Timothy and to Titus before getting rearrested,
taken to Rome a second time. And that time, he
didn't survive it. He was executed somewhere
around the year. Now, when Paul was writing to
Timothy and Titus, it seems likely that he knew
that his time on earth was growing short. So
the purpose of those two pastoral letters, 1
Timothy and Titus, was to prepare the next generation
of church leadership, these younger guys, these
protégés that he had been discipling in the ministry,
to get them as equipped as possible to carry
out the mission once he had passed from the earth.
And that makes the letters to Timothy and Titus
both extremely practical in their instructions
about how to plant and oversee churches, but
throughout what you also see is incredibly important
theological truths that are conveyed to us even
today. So as we wrap up our study this morning
in this book, here's my assignment for you. Here's
what I want you to do as we spend some time together.
I don't want you just to listen this morning.
for what Paul had to say to Titus in the first
century. That's important, right? We always want
to find the historical meaning in the context
it was written, but I want you to think about
how this letter might impact us here at Oak Hill
in the modern time. And I want you to think about
what we're going to see in the text commands
you and I to be and to do as members of Christ's
body. here in santa clarita there's a lot for
us to learn so let me go to the outline this
is a very simple outline that i laid out i think
in in week two of our study up three chapters
is all titus is three chapters with three distinct
applications you see there in chapter one the
focus was godly leadership in the church remember
paul started by telling titus exactly what he
needed to look for when he got to crete to go
from church to church and appoint elders in every
city he said right out of the gate titus get
there, I need you to straighten things out, and
the fastest way to do that is to appoint elders
in every single church. And he lists this group
of character qualifications that Titus would
have to locate within those local churches so
he could establish qualified leaders. He needed
men who were above reproach, which, you think
about it, was probably not that easy back in
the first century in Crete. Men who are above
reproach in the manner of life, able to hold
fast to the faithful apostolic teaching that
had been passed down. And there was a reason
for this. Not only were these Cretans and they
had this terrible reputation, but he goes on
to talk about how the Cretan churches had been
infiltrated by false teachers. And Titus needed
to appoint elders who could do two things, stand
up. and exhort the believers in sound doctrine,
but also refute these men who were coming in
who were contradicting the truth. So establishing
strong spiritual leadership was job number one.
It was crucial that these false teachers would
be confronted and dealt with, not just by Titus,
but by the elders that he established, and that
the churches be protected from these men coming
in and spreading their poison. By the way, is
that still important today? You better believe
it. This is one of the things elders have to
be able to do. Not just teach the word, but refute
those who contradict. Then if you turn over,
if you want to follow along in your Bible, turn
over to chapter 2. We see godly saints in the
home. Remember how Paul laid out instructions
for Titus. Titus, I want you to teach these five
unique categories of people in the churches in
Crete. Remember, he started with older men. Tell
them to do this. Then older women, then young
women, then young men, and then bond slaves.
And each group was given very specific areas
of character development that they should seek
to grow in. And then Paul gave Titus the reason
why that development was so important, because
Christ had laid down his life in order to what?
Redeem and purify a people for his own possession.
What does that mean for us? Listen, we are a
part of his body, are we not? He laid down his
life for you and I to redeem us and to purify
us as a people that belong to him. And so all
of us fit into one of those five categories that's
in chapter two here. And so the instruction was,
these are the character development areas that
we all need to be growing in. This is still true
today. And therefore, We should deny ungodliness.
We should deny unworldly desires, Paul writes,
so that we adorn the gospel with our lives. What
a high calling that is. Consider your life. Consider
your testimony in this valley. Are you adorning
the gospel in every way as a testimony to unsaved
people all around you? That was true in Crete
in the first century. It's true in Santa Clarita
in the 21st century. It's the responsibility
of every believer in every age. Here in this
part of the world that we live in, we need to
show our neighbors what a redeemed and purified
life in Christ looks like. So when you look at
Titus, instantly you think this is a pastoral
letter, and that is true. But it's also evangelistic.
It tells us how we can use the unity of the church
and the purity of the church and our love for
one another as a means of pointing people to
the saving power of Christ. Isn't that beautiful?
The unity of the church, the purity of the church,
our love for one another as a means of saying
this is what it looks like to know Christ. What
a high calling we have. And flip over to chapter
three, we have godly citizens in society. Once
again, Paul is concerned about the witness of
believers in the Cretan churches, and he wants
to tell them this is the way you should operate
in this society you live in, which I know is
wicked. But this is how you should function.
And Paul's counsel was this. First of all, submit
yourself to those who are in authority. Christians
have a hard time with this, don't we? Submit
yourself to those in authority. Be good citizens.
Second, don't be combative with sinners. Be peaceful.
Be gentle in the way you share your faith. And
third, always be ready to engage in good deeds
that's going to benefit the communities that
you live in. What an amazing mission -minded
set of principles that is, right? Things that
we can take for ourselves today. And then Paul
lays out this beautifully condensed version of
the gospel in verses four through seven, and
we took several weeks to work through this. He
starts with our past, right? This is who we once
were, every one of us, before we came to know
the redeeming power of Christ. We were all foolish,
he said, just like every Cretan out there. Every
one of us was all foolish at one point. We were
disobedient, and we were deceived, and we were
driven by lust, and we were filled with hatred.
But, he writes, then God saved us. And what a
but that is, right? We talked about it. But then
God saved us. We were foolish. We were all those
things. So before you go out and judge all the
Cretans around you, you were once one of them,
but then God saved you. Now, how did he save
you? according to the goodness in you. Not according
to your works, but what? According to his mercy.
What an important principle, right? He brought
our spiritually dead souls to life. He cleansed
us from all sin and then he justified us in his
sight, seeing us as pure and holy in his eyes.
And then Paul says in verse eight, Titus, these
are trustworthy things. And I want you to go
out and I want you to, to teach and preach these
things in the churches in Crete. Teach them over
and over and over again. Make sure the elders
in those churches are teaching this gospel truth
because this is what the people of God need to
know and understand. Now, last Sunday, we started
looking at the beginning of the end of the letter,
the beginning of Paul's final thoughts. First,
he told Titus what to do when he comes up against
people. We find people like this in the church
today, people who just want to stir up controversy.
They just love the drama of conflict. And he
says in verse 9, but avoid foolish controversies
and genealogies and strife and disputes about
the law. Why? Because they're unprofitable and
worthless. I feel like that's just a description
of social media. Moronic debates, moronic arguments.
So what does he say? Avoid these people. And
the word there just means turn around and walk
away from it. It's not worth your time and energy.
Just turn around and walk away. Don't engage
in foolish or moronic debates and arguments.
Next, Paul instructs Titus on what to do when
divisive people come into the church. Folks that
are coming in with bad intent, seeking to do
damage to the unity of believers. Verse 10, reject
a factious man, he writes, after a first and
second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted.
He's twisted. He's turned inside out, and he's
sinning, being self -condemned. So warn them
to stop and repent of that type of divisive talk.
If they refuse, warn them again, right? Make
it your goal to try to turn them towards repentance
and unity before you have to take this last step,
which is what? Ultimately, if they refuse, reject
them. Put them out of the fellowship as an act
of love. protecting the rest of the believers.
We can't allow divisive people to stay in the
body if they won't turn and repent. We should
be patient with that, warn and warn, but ultimately
we have to put folks like that out of the body.
Okay, finally we come to some encouraging final
thoughts. Those were rough, right? Controversial
people, factious people. Let's look at our passage
for this morning. This is some more encouraging
stuff. Look at verse two. 12 and chapter 3. When
I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, make every
effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have
decided to spend the winter there. Diligently
help Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their way
so that nothing is lacking for them. Our people
must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet
pressing needs so that they will not be unfruitful.
All who are with me greet you. Greet those who
love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
Okay, again, you can look at those and go, that
seems kind of meaningless, just sort of practical.
But there's some great stuff here. Notice we
have four names here that come down to us in
Scripture. By the way, imagine having your name
on the tip of the tongue of the Holy Spirit as
he inspires the writers of Scripture. Your name
etched for all eternity. in God's word. Amazing,
right? These are four precious members of Paul's
ministry team. Again, we sometimes forget these
are real people with real lives who are going
through the real ups and downs of life in the
ancient world, the ups and downs of ministry,
both the heartaches and the victories, all of
it. These are very real people. Each of these
men committed to changing the world. By giving
of themselves to serve alongside the great apostle.
Each man sort of a key player on the chessboard
in the spiritual battle for the souls of men.
Each of them being moved around the world by
Paul who's acting like sort of a general under
the direction of Christ himself. Developing this
strategy, executing this strategy to get the
gospel message all over the Mediterranean world.
So let's first of all, let's look at these first
two names there. When I send Artemis or Tychicus
to you, Titus, make every effort to come to me
at Nicopolis, for I have decided to winter there.
Okay, how do we, we're my Greek students. How
do we actually pronounce these names? I always
struggle with this. We have an English -American
way of pronouncing these names, and then there's
the actual Greek way. And I always debate about
which way we should do it. How do we pronounce
these names? Artemis, right? Not Artemis, but
Artemis. And then Tychikos would be the right
way to pronounce his name. We say Tychikos, we
say Tychikos. There's like 14 ways to, anyway.
But these are amazing men, right? Paul's telling
Titus, look, I'm going to send you one of these
two guys. At some point in the future, I'm going
to send at least one of them, and they're going
to come to Crete, and they're going to find you.
Now, again, let's be reminded, where is Paul
writing from when he says this? Green dot. Okay?
Macedonia. Somewhere up in Macedonia, possibly
in Philippi. So you see where Crete is circled
there. He's up in the green dot up in northern
Greece, what we call Macedonia. And he's saying,
look, Titus, I'm going to send a relief pastor
to you. It'll be either Artemis or Tychicus.
Not sure which one just yet. He's developing
that strategy, but one of them is going to come
and he's going to take your place there in Crete.
And when he arrives, I want you to brief him
on your progress. I want you to get him acclimated,
introduce him to the key leaders. And then Titus,
I want you to start traveling north and meet
me in Nicopolis because that's where I'm going
to sort of hunker down for the winter and we
need to talk. Now, where's Nicopolis? Well, it
depends on which one you mean. It's one of the
most common names for a city in the ancient world,
and you probably know why if you know anything
about the Greek. It means victory city. Nike
or Nike. Nike means victory in Greek, and polis
was a city. So any time a king won a great battle
in the ancient world, he'd be likely to establish
and build a city in that spot and call it...
Nicopolis, victory city, so that he could commemorate
that moment. But the Nicopolis that Paul's talking
about here, we're pretty sure, is a city located
on the coast of a province of Greece called Epirus.
It was a Roman colony and a commercial seaport
that was founded back in 31 B .C. by, of all
people, Caesar Augustus. He had fought a great
battle there, the Battle of Actium against Mark
Antony and Cleopatra. It won this great victory,
this naval battle in 31 BC, and so this city
became known as Nicopolis. It's the yellow dot
there. So now you have sort of the direction
here. Paul's riding from the green dot down to
Crete and saying, meet me there at the yellow
dot in Nicopolis. Does that make sense? Good.
So Paul's going to stay there for the winter.
He wants somebody to replace Titus so that Titus
can come and spend some time with him. Why? Why
do they need to meet? Well, we're not given reasons,
but we can speculate. First of all, Paul loves
Titus with a great heart. And I'm sure he wanted
to fellowship with him and spend time with his
protege. I'm sure he was dying to hear about
all the progress that was being made in the churches
in Crete. Remember, Titus couldn't wake up some
morning and text Paul. Things are going really
well here, right? Or call him. Getting news in
the ancient world would have been so difficult.
So you can imagine when you have a heart for
somebody and you know they're out there doing
ministry work, you want to get good news. And
so I'm sure he wanted, meet me in Nicopolis.
We're going to talk through everything that happened.
And then the other logical reason for meeting
with Titus would be that they wanted to do some
future planning. Okay, so I'm done with my assignment
in Crete. Somebody's replaced me. Now where am
I going? Paul, what's the next mission you have
for me? And what's cool about this, it's so fun
to go through the books of the New Testament
and piece together the relationships and all
the movements of these people. We know exactly
where Titus went next. In Paul's last letter
to Timothy, 2 Timothy, he says that he sent Titus
to a place called Dalmatia. Dalmatia is modern
-day Albania. And you can guess I have a dot
for it. The purple dot. Modern -day Albania.
This is where eventually Titus is sent. And guess
what? His name disappears from the record after
that. Now, we don't know what happened. I'm not
saying he died. We don't know. He just continued
to minister, perhaps in that region. But the
last thing we hear of Titus, he's up there in
Dalmatia. Are you getting the chessboard? It's
okay to talk to the preacher. It's okay. All
right, what do we know about these two men? Well,
this is the only time that Artemis is found anywhere
in Scripture. Definitely has a Greek name, so
he was probably a Gentile convert to Christianity,
probably under the preaching or teaching of Paul
at some point, possibly part of a place where
Paul planted a church. And this would have been
a man that Paul would have seen great promise
in. The fact that he was willing to send Artemis
to replace Titus in such a difficult location
as Crete tells us that he must have been a very
competent, faithful leader. And based on future
events, it seems that Paul did end up sending
Artemis to Crete. And we know that because Paul
ended up, we have actual scripture that tells
us that Paul decided to send Tychicus to Ephesus.
So that appears to be what Paul did from Macedonia.
I want Tychicus to go to Ephesus, and Artemis,
I want you to go to Crete. But that's all we
really know about this one guy. Now, Tychicus
is well -known to us. Let's put these names up
again. Tychicus is well -known to us. He's mentioned
in five different New Testament books. Acts,
Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Timothy, and here in
Titus. Also a Gentile believer, by the way. And
we know he was from the western coast of Asia
Minor. He and Timothy... had traveled with Paul
on his third missionary journey. You'll find
his name in Acts chapter 20 during Paul's missionary
journey. Later, he was with Paul while he was
under house arrest in Rome. So when Paul was
under house arrest, he was able to take visitors,
and Tychicus was one of those men that came to
minister to Paul while he was in chains. What's
cool about this man is he is the guy who then
leaves Rome with the original letters. written
to the Ephesians and the Colossians. He is the
messenger. Now, again, how cool would it be to
have the original letters written by Paul in
your backpack? Divinely inspired word of God
written out in your backpack for delivery to
some other place in the ancient world. I wonder
how much he understood that mission, exactly
what he was doing at that time. I still want
to meet all these people in heaven, right? I
want to hear all the stories. We have all eternity
to hear the stories, right? But wow, this guy
was carrying those letters. And so here's how
Paul commends him in the letter to the Colossians.
He says, as to all my affairs, Tychicus, our
beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow
bondservant in the Lord, he will bring you information.
So it wasn't just bringing the letter, but when
you get there, Tychicus, Tell the church about
all that's happening. This is the way they communicated
back then. Tell the church how I'm doing while
I'm under house arrest in Rome. Let them know
I'm okay, that the ministry's continuing, that
the gospel is spreading. And also, Tychicus is
mentioned at the end of the Ephesians letter.
He says to the Ephesians, but that you also may
know about my circumstances, how I'm doing, Paul
writes. Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful
minister in the Lord, will make everything known
to you. I have sent him to you for this very
purpose so that you may know about us and that
he may comfort your hearts. This is an important
guy on Paul's ministry team. As I said a moment
ago, Paul later sent him to Ephesus on a more
permanent basis. Tychicus becomes the guy who
relieves Timothy as pastor in that city so that
Timothy could possibly get back to Rome to visit
with Paul before he was executed. Now, let me
share with you one last passage that Paul wrote
to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4. This is the very end
of his life. I want you to listen for Paul's
state of mind as he's facing death. He knows.
At this point, he is not going to escape Rome
again, that his execution is coming. And what
is he concerned about? He's concerned about his
ministry partners, his guys, his team, and what's
happening, where they've gone, right? And you
get a sense that in these last days, he's feeling
sort of lonely because he loves these men. with
such a loving heart. And he wants to see Timothy.
He wants to talk to Timothy before the inevitable
happens. So this is what he writes. He says,
make every effort to come to me, Timothy, soon.
Now look at this. Look how heartbreaking this
is. For Deimos, having loved this present world,
has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Heartbreaking.
One member of the team walked away from the Lord
and abandoned Paul. But then Crescens has gone
to Galatia. That's good news. Titus to Dalmatia.
Only Luke is with me. He's the last one with
Paul at his execution. Only Luke is with me.
By the way, Timothy, pick up Mark along the way
and bring him with you for he's useful to me
for service. But Tychicus I have sent. to Ephesus.
So man, we get all these incredible liner notes
here about all of this team members and where
they're headed and what's going on. But you can
sense in Paul this sort of foreboding feeling
that this is the end and I miss my guys. I miss
my guys. All right, let's look at the other half
of the team mentioned here in Titus 3. Look at
verse 13. Diligently help Zenos, the lawyer,
and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking
for them. Now, these two men were the guys who
brought Paul's letter to Titus and Crete. They
were the messengers who came with this letter
that we've been studying now for the last six
months. These two guys. Zenos is like Artemis.
This is the only time his name is mentioned in
Scripture, but as far as I know, he's the only
lawyer. I was gonna make a lawyer joke there,
but I'm learning to show restraint. He's the
only lawyer we find in the church in the first
century. But like Tychicus, don't throw things
at me. Like Tychicus, we actually know a lot
about Apollos. He's found in three different
books in the Bible. We're introduced to him in
Acts chapter 18 in a relatively remarkable way.
Let me share some of this so you can get a feeling
for who Apollos was. It says, Acts 18, now a
Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth. So
think about that. He's Jewish, but he's born
down in Egypt in Alexandria. An eloquent man.
He came to Ephesus and he was mighty in the scriptures.
So this is a, Apollo says, you read about him,
extremely gifted man. He combines the two things
you need to be an effective preacher. He is skilled
in rhetoric and he has a strong grasp of the
scriptures, which by the way, would have been
a reference to the Old Testament scriptures,
right? The Hebrew scriptures mostly. And then
we find out in the next verse that he also has
the necessary passion for ministry. It says,
this man had been instructed in the way of the
Lord and being fervent in spirit. He was speaking
and teaching accurately the things concerning
Jesus. And that is all very high praise, isn't
it? This is a gifted man. But then we see a limitation,
being acquainted only with the baptism of John.
What does that mean? Well, it means that he was
only familiar with that original baptism of repentance
that John the Baptist was preaching about prior
to the public ministry of the Messiah. Apollos
hadn't yet heard about the baptism of the Holy
Spirit that comes with salvation in the name
of Christ. And that gets fleshed out in the next
chapter in Acts chapter 19. So he was limited
in that. So it says, he began to speak out boldly
in the synagogue. Notice there he seems to have
a specific ministry to the Jews in the synagogue.
But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they
took him aside. and explain to him the way of
God more accurately. So this is a mature husband
and wife team in the church of Ephesus. They
recognize in Apollos that he is incredibly gifted,
but there's a gap in his knowledge. So they pull
him aside and they teach him privately and disciple
him to fill in that knowledge gap. Verse 27,
and when he wanted to go across to Achaia, that
is Apollos, the brethren encouraged him. And
they wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And
when he had arrived, he greatly helped those
who had believed through grace, for he powerfully
refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by
the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. So
again, we see him challenging his fellow countrymen,
the Jews, letting them know, this is your Messiah.
He's come. Receive him. Interestingly, all of
this information about Apollos, he's one of those
guys, books and books have been written about
him. And if you combine what we learn about here,
first of all, his eloquence and the way he speaks,
his grasp of Old Testament scripture, and his
heart for his fellow Jews, this is what leads
some people, some people, to believe that he
is ultimately the author of the book of Hebrews.
Now, I'm not making a declaration. I'm not saying
I know that for sure, but I'm just telling you
it's a very interesting theory out there. Many
believe that Paul wrote it, but in my opinion,
based on the historical considerations, based
on the internal content of the letter itself
and the writing style, it's possible that this
was the man who wrote the book of Hebrews. We'll
find out in heaven, won't we? Elder team, we'll
discuss next week. Okay. Before we move on, note
once again Paul's instructions to Titus about
these two team members. Back to verse 13. He
says, listen, Titus, Zanus and Apollos are bringing
you this letter. Just know that this has been
a long journey for them. They're going to be
exhausted. So what? Make sure that nothing is
lacking for them, he writes. You see it? In other
words, receive them and show them hospitality.
Supply them with whatever they need before they
have to move on to the next assignment I give
them. Whatever it is they need, it might be spiritual
encouragement, it might be physical needs, food,
housing, whatever it is, Titus, you take care
of them. This is what the body of Christ does
for each other, right? This is what we do. This
is the kingdom mindset that every single one
of us ought to have for our brothers and sisters.
Now, look at verse 14. Paul says, our people
must also learn to engage in good deeds, to meet
pressing needs, so that they will not be what?
Unfruitful. Now, let's read that verse in relation
to the previous one. When Paul says our people,
he's talking about believers. By extension, he's
talking to every believer in this room today.
He's talking about church members like you and
me. And he's talking about the responsibility
that we have towards one another. Just as Titus
was to make sure that Zanus and Apollos had everything
they needed, every single church member, even
today, is to respond to every other believer
in this same way, to meet practical needs. What
do our fellow brothers and sisters need? Do they
need spiritual encouragement? Do they need material
stuff, right? Do they need a meal, a ride somewhere,
a place to sleep? Whatever it is. Are we open
to meeting those needs? And this is something
that I think we do really well here at Oak Hill.
We really do. I think you guys get this. And
where this shows up often is on Church Center.
If you don't have the app, get on the app. Because
this is where pressing needs pop up. People are
like, hey, I need this. I could use a meal. I
need a ride to the airport, right? And folks
just jump in. It's a beautiful thing to watch.
As a pastor, I just sit back there and smile.
I look at it and go, oh, this is so sweet. This
is so great. That need got met in five minutes.
And it was like, I need to ride to the airport
at 2 a .m. Five minutes later, somebody's like,
I got you. Now, is everybody at Oak Hill doing
that? No. It seems that the same. continue to
pop up, the people that are meeting needs. So
I want to encourage all of you guys. This is
the spirit of service that every single member
of this church ought to have. It ought to be
a race. Hey, I want to jump on that need first.
I want to beat others to it. Not just a handful
of people, but all of us should be meeting needs
that pop up. By the way, this is the fifth time
in this very short letter that Paul talks about
doing good works. Look at this impressive list
of this. In chapter 2, verse 7, in all things,
show yourself to be an example of good deeds.
2 .14, Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us
to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify
for himself a people for his own possession,
zealous to do good deeds. 3 .1, remind them,
Titus, to be subject to rulers, to authorities,
to be obedient, and to be ready, ready. for every
good deed. 3 .8, concerning these things, I want
you to speak confidently so that those who believe
God will be careful to engage in good deeds.
Be an example of good deeds, be zealous for good
deeds, be ready for good deeds, and engage in
good deeds. That is an impressive list of things.
So lest any of us make the mistake that has been
so common in the evangelical world over the last
30 years that one day we can just pray a prayer
and then we can go on living a lukewarm, self
-centered life, serving no one, and expect to
be saved in the end? Think again. Think again.
I said it last Sunday, and I'll say it again
today. We're not saved by good deeds, but we
are saved for good deeds. It's those good deeds.
It's those things that give evidence that we're
actually saved, that we engage, that we're zealous
for, that we're prepared, that we're ready. to
engage in good deeds on behalf of our church
family. We're to be a fruitful people, Paul says
at the end of verse 14, right? Fruitful. As believers
and members of a church family, listen now, we
should be constantly examining our priorities
to make sure that we're being fruitful, that
we're not isolated from body life. We're to stay
connected. We're to stay ready. We're to be prepared
to jump in and volunteer when pressing needs
arise. Every single one of us. Connected, ready,
and prepared. And that spirit of sacrifice has
a two -fold purpose to it. This is important.
Not only does it bless those within the church
family, but it's also a powerful witness to those
outside the church when they see how we love
each other. How we meet those needs. Remember
what Jesus said? They will know that you are
my disciples by your love for one another. And
you're like, really? By responding on church
center? Yes. Yeah, it can be that simple. Let
the world see our love for one another, the deeds
that we do for each other. So Paul's exhortation
here is simple. Pour your lives into service
to one another so that you yourself will be fruitful,
but also so that you can point people to Christ
by your life. To full purpose. Make sense? Last
verse. Here's the glue that holds it all together.
Verse 15, all who are with me greet you. Greet
those who love us in the faith. Grace be with
you all. So all the believers who are with me
up here in Macedonia, greet everybody down there
in Crete. Across the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds
of miles between them. The connection that the
believers have. I've got a group of folks over
here who love you and now you've got a group
of folks over there who love us. Do you sense
that connection, that love for believers all
over the world? It's an interesting question.
Who should you be more connected to? A brother
or sister on the other side of the world or an
unbeliever here in Santa Clarita? Who should
you feel more love for, more camaraderie with?
It's an interesting thing to consider because
we've got a bunch of believers up here in Macedonia
and we love you guys down in Crete. And I know
you've got people down there in Crete that love
us. So let's pray for each other. Let's lift
each other up. Let's look to serve each other
in whatever way we possibly can. So Paul's final
thought is love. It's love. Love for fellow believers
that is felt, that is expressed, and that is
practically lived out in good deeds. that meet
pressing needs it's really simple isn't it and
then he closes with his favorite word grace grace
be with you all because apart from god's grace
nothing in this letter can happen let that be
the bow that you tie on the end of the book of
titus without grace none of it happens amen so
let me wrap up with this is there is there a
practical takeaway for us in these Again, what
looked to be very simple verses at the end of
the letter, and I think there is. And it's rooted
in the good news of the gospel that we read about
in chapter three, right? Verses four through
seven. I mean, if you really want a passage to
highlight, put on your bathroom mirror, whatever,
chapter three, verses four through seven is it.
Based on the truth in those verses about the
beauty of the gospel, we're to live a life that
actively responds to what Christ has done for
us. Not passive, not taking it for granted, not
feeling entitled, not like, well, it's really
great that I get to go to heaven someday. No,
actively responds to that good news because unfruitfulness
is not an option for God's people. Our lives
are to be marked by consistent, sacrificial love
and service. Lives that bless our others in the
church family, lives that are a witness to unbelievers.
We engage in good deeds in the Lord's name. We
seize every opportunity that comes our way. And
sometimes, you know, look, I understand this.
People ask the question, well, what am I supposed
to do, Jeff? Well, start with this. Be prepared
for anything that comes across your table, your
desk, your vision. Anything that comes your way,
be ready. Because that's God saying, here you
go. Here's an opportunity. Start there. Become
a willing and fruitful team member. Become a
Tychicus or an Artemis or a Zanus or an Apollos
or a Luke or a Mark or any of these folks. Become
this team member. Play your role. All those names
we mentioned today, they were different human
beings with different gifts. Play your role.
Strive to be a faithful minister in the things
that God is calling you to. Friends, do you want
the secret ingredient for how Paul was able to
live out this mission? It was God the Spirit
working through men like that who were willing
and faithful. God works through people like us.
Is that not a miracle? And he worked through
those guys. And they weren't super saints. They
were just guys that said, here I am, Lord, send
me. Put their hands out and said, I'll work.
I can do that. I can get on a boat and travel
somewhere and share the gospel. That's the secret
ingredient, God the Spirit working through willing
and faithful men and women. I thought about this
yesterday, about this question. I'm not sure
I have an answer to it yet, but I'm gonna ask
you the question for you to consider. We're gonna
have some prayer time at the end of this as well
that you can ask the Lord about it. Here's the
question. Just take Tychicus as an example. What
makes a man like him? To go from being just a
new believer, an average church member in a local
church, to being this laser -focused servant
who's willing to give up every part of his life
to build the kingdom of God. Why is Tychicus
like he is? What happened in his life? How did
he get there? What makes a man like that? Think
about that for a second. Why are there so few
men and women like him? in the church today?
Why do we have so many passive church members
in churches all over this valley who just come
on Sunday for a good cup of coffee to sit in
the back of the room and then leave and say that's
Christianity? Where are the Tychicus's? That's
a hard word. When the average church runs on
the 90 -10 rule where 10 % of the believers do
90 % of the serving while everyone else sits
around and watches. Not talking about Oak Hill,
but I'm talking about churches in general, where
churches have to keep hiring more staff because
they can't motivate enough volunteers to do the
work of ministry, so they just keep hiring. Why
isn't every Christian in every church as committed
as Tychicus? This is the question that God put
in my heart. I don't know if I have the answer
to the question. Surely the gospel is great enough
to motivate every one of us to give everything
we have, right? Am I right? I think so. And by
the way, I'm grateful for God's grace because
I know I don't meet that high standard. I'm not
what I should be. But still, that's the desire
of my heart, and I hope it's the desire of every
heart here, to truly die to ourselves. To pick
up a cross, to follow after Jesus, to strive
to love the Lord your God with all of your heart
and all of your soul and all of your strength.
To see him use you mightily as he used Titus
and Artemis and Tychicus and Zanus and Apollos.
To see people come to the saving knowledge of
Christ and to see your fellow church members
built up in the faith. So here's my final challenge
for you this morning as we wrap up this study.
What are the things that prevent you from giving
everything you are and everything you have for
the sake of the kingdom? When you get to heaven
someday and you see Christ face to face, what
are you going to look back on and say, what was
I doing? What were my priorities down on earth?
How I would have loved to have given more of
myself to the work of the kingdom, to become
more like the faithful men that we studied. here
this morning? Are you willing to take even a
small step toward laying aside whatever obstacles
are in the way today to glorify the one who gave
up everything for you? What are those things
that get in the way? And are you willing to take
a step towards saying, Lord, strengthen me to
get beyond these things, to see the greatness
of the gospel in a new light and to recommit
myself 100 %? That's my goal, Lord, to serve
you and to serve the kingdom. Father, we are
encouraged and challenged by the example of Paul
and the example of Titus and the example of the
men that we read about today, Lord. And God,
I'll pray for myself. I know that it's a standard
that I want so badly for myself, but God, I let
things... Get in the way of being the man that
you want me to be. And so I pray, Lord, that
you will work in my life, work in the lives of
my brothers and sisters here, that we might become
even more committed to the things of your kingdom.
That whatever drags us down, whatever entangles
us in this life that causes us to become passive,
to become apathetic, to stop praying, to stop
studying your word, becoming inconsistent in
church attendance, to stop serving others, to
ignore needs, all these things that can so easily
drift into our lives, Lord, that we would have
the courage to ask you, God, to strengthen us,
to lay those things aside, and to put out our
hands and say, use me more and more, God. Change
me from within so that I might impact the lives
of fellow believers and impact this community.
and see people come to know Christ. Lord, like
Paul's mission, this is too big for us individually.
We know we can't do it. We can do nothing apart
from you. So God, I pray that you would light
fires in our hearts today based on the gospel,
based on what we read in this letter. Light fires
in our hearts, God, to change, to grow, to mature
in the faith, and to love others better. And
Lord, may the motivation for all that be your
glory. and the good of your people. We thank
you for our time together this morning. In Jesus'
name, amen.