Paul's Philosophy of Ministry | Titus 1:1-4

Grant Castleberry preaches "Paul's Philosophy of Ministry" from Titus 1:1-4 at The Lord's Day Service at The King's Chapel, Sunday, March 22, 2026.



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Transcript

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Would you bow with me one more time? Lord, open our eyes to the truth. May your spirit make the word live in our hearts and in our minds. In Christ's name. Amen. We'll turn back to Titus chapter one, and we are going to be looking at verses one to four this morning. I grew up in the church. I was saved at an early age by God's grace. As a result of my father's death, the Lord brought me to a saving faith in Christ. And my mom remarried a very godly man. We moved to Dallas, Texas, and we grew up at a church that faithfully preached the word of God. And what I saw growing up in the church, growing up within evangelicalism, is I've seen the trends and the fads come and go. And evangelicalism really is a movement of trends and fads, of different ministry philosophies. And so in the 90s, there were a couple elders in our church, and they they read a book called The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren. And they said, we want our church to be, they use this language, a seeker-sensitive church. We want to be sensitive to the ideas and the feelings of the seekers. Well, that's not what our church was. But they said this is what our church needs to be. We need to change the church to fit this paradigm. And it caused all sorts of issues in the church, and the church inevitably split over this, and the church is no longer there today. So I saw that. And then in the 2000s, I saw the emergence of what was called the emergent church. And the emergent church was the result of postmodernism. Postmodernism is this idea that we can't know absolute truth, that truth is relative, that you might have your truth, I have my truth. So we really shouldn't be dogmatic about doctrine. After all, how do we know what's actually true or false? And so the emergent church focused on liturgy and silly things, kind of like prayer labyrinths and candles and a sort of aesthetic for doubters and seekers. And the emergent church morphed into a type of progressive Christianity, which said actually, we do kind of care a little bit about truth. We just don't like the truth of the Bible. We want to push forward into what the culture is doing. And it was motivated by feminism, and then with the acceptance of homosexuality, it pushed into that and said, you know what, that's okay. You can be gay and you can be a Christian. All of this. You've all seen this. And it eventually led into what was called wokeness and the idea of social justice and that you evaluate people's level of repentance based on how much injustice they've all of that. And then as a result of that, there was now really an ethnocentric movement on the far right that is pushing back against that progressivism. And so we've seen so many of these fads and ministry trends. But the ministry philosophy that has won the day in evangelicalism by far is the charismatic movement. The charismatic movement, you know, it never really went away. But in the 2000s, the 2010s, through Hillsong and Bethel music, you know, all of these groups, the charismatic movement has essentially taken over evangelicalism. And what the charismatic movement is searching for, looking for, its purpose is emotion. It's emotionalism. And so it says that the object of our ministries is to get people to a heightened sense of emotion all in the name of Jesus. And so the music is catered to that, and the preaching is catered to that. Here's the problem with all of these different types of emphasis, is none of them are an apostolic ministry. None of them are the biblical ministry of the apostles. And what's amazing about this opening salutation in the book of Titus, you know, in so many of Paul's letters, he says, you know, to the church of Corinth, you know, called to be saints, grace and peace. He he just says basic things that everybody would say in a salutation. But in the book of Titus, it's it's really remarkable because in these first four verses, he gives this philosophy of ministry. He gives us an inside perspective into his mind and how he thinks about what ministry should be like. And so I think it's really important for us as the modern church to say, look, what is the apostolic philosophy of ministry? We're looking at Titus to become a biblical church. So let's look at this. This is Paul's philosophy of ministry. And let me just give you the outline. I'm not sure if we'll get to all of these today, but you see in verse one, he says, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. That is the purpose of his ministry. That's a purpose clause. Then you see in verse two, the motivation of his ministry. He says, in hope of eternal life, which God who never lies promised before the age began. Verse three, you see the method of his ministry. He says, and at the proper time manifested in his word. Look at this, through the preaching with which I have been entrusted. So his method is proclamation of the truth. And then fourth, you see the people of his ministry. Paul was concerned with people. It was never just abstract ministry. It was always reaching people with the gospel, training his associates, Timothy, Titus, Apollo, so many of the evangelists. So right there you see in a nutshell his philosophy of ministry. Let's look at his purpose in verse 1. It's amazing how he lays it out. It's a purpose clause right here. He says, I am a servant of God. I am appointed as an apostle. We looked at that last week. And then he says that this is grounded in God's eternal purpose of election. Notice that phrase, for the sake of the faith of God's elect. What a starting point. Welcome to the King's Chapel. When was the last time you heard somebody talk about ministry? Like actually ministry, not philosophy, but ministry, and say we have to begin with the doctrine of election. That's exactly what Paul does. The word elect means chosen one. It speaks of God's choice of people for salvation. And this is the way that Paul referred to Christians. He referred to Christians as those that God had chosen. Romans 8.33, he says, Who then shall bring a charge against God's elect? Colossians 3.12, put on then as God's chosen ones, as God's elect ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Here's the amazing thing. When did God choose those who would believe? Answer before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. That's mind-blowing. That God, if you are a believer in Christ, that God chose you for salvation before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, he predestined us for adoption. What is the basis of this choosing? Now some people say that what God does, what God did when he chose you, is he it's kind of a switcheroo. It's that God looked forward in time and he chose you on the basis of him seeing that you would choose him. Listen to what Paul says. This is 2 Timothy 1 9. He says, God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Romans 9 16, he says, so then salvation depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. Paul says, remember in 1 Corinthians, he says, God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, the foolish of the world to shame the wise. This is humbling, isn't it? Puritan Thomas Watson said this. He says, Let us then ascribe the whole work of grace to the pleasure of God's will. God did not choose us because we were worthy, but by choosing us, he makes us worthy. Now you think, okay, if God chose people for salvation before the foundation of the world, doesn't that stop us from sharing the gospel? And doesn't that that impede the command for people to repent and believe the truth of the gospel? If God's already chosen who will believe, then what's the point of history? What's the point of the suffering? What's the point of evangelism and proclamation and all those things? That's one thing that I hear. But that's not how Jesus looked at it, and that's not how Paul looked at it. They looked at it as there are people who will come as a result of the proclamation of the gospel. That the mission, that the mission Jesus has given us has never been in doubt. That there is a remnant who will respond to the truth. Listen to Jesus. John 10, 16. He says, I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. He calls those who will believe. They're already his sheep. They haven't even heard his voice yet, but he says, They will listen to my voice. He says in John 6 44, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. That word draw is the same word that's used to describe pulling a bucket up from a well. Question, how much work does the bucket do in getting up from the well? Not much. It's being drawn. And that's what Jesus said the gospel does for the elect. Another Puritan, Thomas Goodwin, he said this therefore despise not this doctrine of election. Therein lies all your hope that there is a remnant who shall infallibly be saved. When I was in junior high, I think it was about ninth grade, I was on a youth trip to Pine Cove. And, you know, we had all the youth vans and just the smells in these youth vans, unimaginable. And so I would like to sit up front in the captain's chair, get there in the captain's chair, ride up front, let the riffraff in the back deal with the smells and everything else. And I remember we were going, uh we were at the camp and we were we were parked, we were about to leave, and I remember our youth pastor for some reason was sitting in the back of the van, and I was sitting up front, and somebody asked him, they said, Do you believe in the doctrine of predestination? And all of a sudden the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I'm listening, and I'm thinking, surely he doesn't. That's absurd that that God would predestine things. Obviously, he's gonna say no. I repudiate that to the highest degree. That's what I'm thinking he's gonna say. And then he said, Yes. And I said, That can't be true. Right? Isn't it whosoever believes? Doesn't the gospel go out to everyone? Doesn't God make it available, but I have the final choice in this matter? This is what I'm thinking, and so I set out to disprove it. I set out to prove him wrong, and I thought about it the next two years. In my junior year in high school, I said, I'm gonna read through the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation, and I am going to figure this out. I'm going to disprove it. There's no way this can be true. Question Does the Bible always teach what we want it to teach? I figured that out. And I started reading. You know, you get to Exodus on Mount Sinai, and God says, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. You're like, wait a second, what? I will harden whom I harden. You're confronted with this reality of the sovereignty of God, and then you're also confronted with this reality of the depravity of man. That apart from divine grace, no man would ever choose God. That man is dead in his trespasses and sins. And so, as I'm reading all these things, it's almost like I had a second conversion. And I cried, Uncle. I said, Okay, God, I will believe whatever you say in your word. And then it calls me to glory all the more in my salvation because I realized I was in Christ. Not because I was more intelligent, that I was uh more devout than somebody else who heard the gospel. I was in Christ because God reached down and grabbed me. I heard Tommy Nelson say, this was at the Cove this weekend. He said, salvation is like when you go to Denny's and they have that little uh machine for kids with the claw and it has all the little stuffed animals in there, and you put in the coins and you and you navigate the claw and the claw, goes down, grabs the chase Paul Patrol doll, and comes up and you know drops it in the thing. That is the picture of salvation. As you were running contrary to the truth, like the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road, an enemy of God, and then but the grace of God, God intervened on the basis of God's election of you. And so, therefore, contrary to being opposed to evangelism, Paul says, this is the impetus for my evangelism. 2 Timothy 2.10, he says, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. I endure all the suffering because I know God has his elect out there and they will come. Luke says in Acts 13, 48, therefore, as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. So the elect inevitably respond to the truth. That's how you know if you're elect or not. You whenever you introduce this doctrine, people always ask, Well, how do I know if I'm elect? How do I know? Answer you believe. The elect always respond in faith and repentance to the gospel. Again, 1 Thessalonians 1:4. Paul says, For we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you. Whoa, how do you know the eternal decree of God? He says, Because our gospel came to you, not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. And you so do you see how this is driving the apostle Paul? That this is this is part of his psyche, that God has his people. He is going out and preaching the gospel, and he knows that the Holy Spirit will draw in the elect, those who God has chosen. He says, I endure everything for their sake, and I know that they will indeed believe. So there's several errors to avoid here. One is called Arminianism, and that is this idea that we as humans can manipulate salvation. And this is part of the problem with evangelicalism, is we've said we can manipulate the results. If I can just coax a decision from you, then we'll have salvation. If I can just get to an emotional response from you. Question, are there emotional responses in the Bible that don't result in saving faith? Look at Judas. Listen to Jesus. Many will say to me on that last day, Lord, Lord. And you say, Depart from me. I never knew you. Saving faith is more than an emotional decision. On the other hand, you have hyper-Calvinism, which says if God has chosen people, then we don't need to share the gospel, and we don't need to do missions, and we don't need to plead with sinners to believe the truth. That's wrong as well. You see, God has ordained the ends, and he's also ordained the means, which is evangelism, apologetics, and missions. So this is right here at the foundation of Paul's ministry philosophy. And like we said, the doctrine of election always results in saving faith of the elect. So notice it brings about faith. This is what Paul is motivated by, the faith of the elect. This is what he labors for. Now, the same Paul who said this, that he labors for the faith of the elect also says in 1 Corinthians 9, I became all things to all men that I might win some. So Paul is working to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 1 5, he says his apostleship is for the obedience of faith. Romans 3 25, he says God put forward his son as a propitiation by his. Blood to be received by faith. Romans 4.16, he says, this is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring. Romans 5.1. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Present tense in a famous verse, Ephesians 2.8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. Faith is the conduit in which you receive all of Christ's benefits. Faith, the writer of Hebrews says, is the conviction of things not seen. The assurance of things hoped for. Faith is described in so many different ways. In the Gospel of John, it's described as believing on Christ, coming to Christ, John 6.35. Faith is feeding on Christ's flesh and drinking his blood in John 6. Faith is receiving Christ in John 1.12. Faith is looking to Christ in John 3.14. Faith is fleeing to Christ, Hebrews 5.18. Faith is laying hold of Christ in 1 Timothy 6.12. The point is that faith is not just an intellectual endeavor. It's not. It's not easy beliefism. Faith is a conviction of the heart. It is. It's something that happens in your soul that's a work of the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus describes the seed going out, and he describes the seed being planted in the soil. And this is what happens when you hear the gospel. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And so faith is, it takes root in your soul, and it begins to grow. That's why Jesus compared the kingdom to a mustard seed that takes root and grows and grows and grows. And in many ways, that's the picture of our faith. And therefore, faith often comes as a result of a crisis moment in your life. Sometimes I talk to people and they say to me, I've always been a Christian. I've always been a Christian. Well, were you able to exercise faith when you were in your mother's womb? No, you were not. At some point, at some point, you were born a sinner and you were convicted of the Holy Spirit. You came through this moment of conviction and trial and you looked to Jesus. Just like those who were in the wilderness bitten by snakes, and Moses lifted up the bronze serpent and they looked, you looked to Jesus to receive all that he had done for you. That has to happen in order for you to become a Christian. You have to come to the end of yourself and repent of your works righteousness. Repent of your sins and see that Jesus Christ is the only hope for salvation. All other religions say you can do it. Just do some sacrificial work, just do some good works, and you'll earn God's favor. Christianity says you can't do it, but Jesus did. So look unto him all the ends of the earth. Come to the end of yourself. It's a crisis moment that happens when you're converted. I was reading about a pastor, a Scottish pastor named Robert the Bruce. And who knows who if you've heard the name Robert the Bruce before? Maybe you saw Braveheart, the King of Scotland. This Robert the Bruce was a direct descendant of that Robert the Bruce. His family was a Roman Catholic family. And he went to a university called St. Andrews. This is in the 1500s. And he heard a preacher with a long beard named John Knox. John Knox. And he's hearing John Knox, and he's hearing John Knox talk about sola fide, faith alone in Christ. Not faith in works like Rome was teaching. He's coming under conviction. That Christ alone saves. His parents send him to France. He's training to become a lawyer. Becomes a lawyer, comes back, and he's so wealthy. He lives in his own castle. He lives in his own castle. But every day he's miserable because he's under conviction of sin. And he realizes that if I'm going to truly follow Christ, I must repudiate my Catholicism and trust in Christ alone and declare it to be so. Left it all and became a marvelous preacher of the gospel. That's the Christian life. As God, the Holy Spirit, intervenes in your life, you come under that conviction of sin and you come to Christ as a beggar. Say, Jesus, save me. And he saves you. And it's the work of God and it's wonderful. I'll never forget when I was converted. I was just so despondent as a little boy after the death of my father. And asking all these questions, where is he? And I learned about this terrible place called hell that everyone deserves to go. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wage of sin is death. That hell is for eternity, and people are going there. And I heard about the work of Christ. That Jesus came to save sinners. It's the most glorious news. I didn't have to work for this, I didn't have to earn this. I could come to Christ in faith. I'll never forget it. It was like the eyes of my heart were opened. And I saw the truth. I said, this is too good to be true. And it is because that's why we call it the gospel, the good news. So, where are you with the Lord? Don't worry about whether you're elect or not. The question is, have you believed? Because if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. And if you believe, Paul says you're a left. That's the question. Children, listen to me. You're not a believer because your parents are believers or your grandparents are believers. You must repent of your sins and trust Christ in faith. You must. Now, notice the next phrase that Paul mentions here in verse 1. He says, the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth. So his goal is to bring the elect to faith, and then that they might have knowledge of the truth. And he says, this knowledge is what leads to godliness. You see, we're we're justified not by faith and works, but the faith that saves alone is never alone. It always leads to godliness and good works. This phrase, the knowledge of the truth, is really synonymous with saving faith. Let me give you a couple examples. 2 Timothy 2.25, Paul says, May God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. So that's synonymous with faith, that God would grant them a knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3.7, he says, people are always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. So you must understand the gospel. The gospel is not something that you arrive at on your own. You can't just lock yourself up in a room and come to an understanding of the gospel. You must hear the gospel or you must read the gospel. The gospel is propositional. It's words. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ. It's divine revelation. The gospel is news that comes to us from God. It's not something that we invented, it's something that God invented. And the gospel comes to us. This glorious truth of the great exchange, that all of our sin is imputed to Christ, and that all of his righteousness is imputed to us by saving faith. Therefore, his resurrection becomes our resurrection on the last day, and we have eternal life with him. Wonderful, glorious truth. Do you remember what we said was the prevailing ministry philosophy of our day? The charismatic movement. The problem that I think has happened in the evangelical church is people are being whipped into a fervor of emotion. And hear me say this: God made our emotions and our affections. So I'm not against the affections. The affections are important. God made us with emotions. But the emotions should come as a result of the truth. That's why Paul says in Romans 12 that we're to be transformed, not by an emotion, but what does he say? Through the renewing of the mind. And so our affections for Christ, our affections for God, they come as a result of our knowledge of the truth. And so hear me say this: like, I want you to have your heart warm for Christ. I want that. I want that for myself. I'm praying for that. You want that. But it needs to come as a result of truth, not just for emotions' sake. And that's why Jesus says we worship in spirit and truth. So it's so important in the church, so important. That we're not chasing the emotions, but we're lifting up the truth of the gospel. And then believers are built up. We want to be built up in the truth. That's why Paul says in 1 Timothy 3, the church is to be a pillar and buttress of emotion. No, a pillar and buttress of the truth. And then the emotions will come. That's what Jonathan Edwards taught in The Great Awakening. Religious affections. The affections come when you see Christ as he really is, and that comes through the truth. When I was in high school, my my father, Preston, when he was in California, he heard a guy on the radio named John MacArthur. And Grace to You Ministries. And he started supporting that ministry. And Grace to You started sending these things called CDs in the mail. And my father would give me these CDs. And they started sending books in the mail. And I started reading these books. And an amazing thing happened is yes, I was a believer, but I began to be built up in the truth. And as I was being built up in the truth, you know what happened in my heart? There was a desire for obedience. There was a desire for worship. So we can't get these things out of order. I praise God for that because in the midst of a shallow evangelicalism, MacArthur and later, you know, I was exposed to R. C. Sproull and Alistair Begg, my father-in-law, Carl Brogie, so many others that were teaching believers to obey all that Christ commanded. Whereas so much of evangelicalism turned even the church's worship into a Billy Graham crusade. That's not the point of the church. Listen to Paul. He says, this is Colossians 1.28, Him, Christ we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. So that's what it means to be godly or to fear God, that we would be built up in the truth. That word godliness, it's the Greek word eulobia, and it means the fear of God in the heart. So he's not talking about just you do godly things. You know, a lot of people think that if you're a Christian, you just obey the Ten Commandments. No, no, no, no, no. If you're a Christian, the result is you fear God in the heart. You fear God in the heart, and that leads you to do godly things. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come. You're a new person, you do new things. So Paul understood that the elect would believe, they would come to this knowledge of the truth, they would be built up in the truth, and then the truth would lead to godliness. And that's his purpose for ministry. Now let's look at his motivation. Verse 2. His motivation. This is amazing. In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began. That word hope is the Greek word elpados, and it means something that you are looking forward to, that you are certain of. It's a different, it that's a different meaning than how we use it. You know, every year in August, I'll say to somebody, I hope the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year. Every year. I've said that since 1995. What is that? It's wishful thinking. As long as Jerry Jones is the owner, right? It's wishful thinking, right? It's this way with any sporting event. We we might hope that something will happen. We mean that we wish that it'll happen. That's not what Paul's saying. When he says that we hope in eternal life, he's saying we're looking forward to something that we know will happen. It's a certainty, it's fixed. How do we know it will happen? Look what he says. How do we know? Because God promised it. And he says, God never lies. And he promised it. When did he promise it? Look. Before the ages began. Whoa! There's three things that God cannot do. God cannot deny himself, 2 Timothy 1.13. That means you ever heard that philosophical conundrum. Can God create a rock that's too big for him to move? No. Because God cannot deny himself. God cannot do something that is contrary to his character. God, secondly, cannot be tempted with evil. That's James 1.13. And third, God cannot lie because God is truth. Remember, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth. In him there is no falsehood, there is no darkless, darkness. Even Balaam, the false prophet in Numbers 23, knew this. He says, God is not a man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. God's truth never fails because God cannot lie. You came here this morning because somebody told you our service started at 10:30 a.m. And you said, I can trust the word of those people. I'll be there. You came, you believed there was a service, lo and behold, here we are. If you can trust the word of a man, how much more can you trust the word of God? And when he promises this, he promised it before the cosmos began. That's the language that is used. Before the space-time continuum, before God created the world, God created space, God created time, God decreed that there would be a savior, God decreed that there would be a people. Really amazing to think about. Think of a highway. Think of a road that never ends. And it goes as far back in eternity as you can think about. And then it goes as far forward into eternity that you can think about. This hope that Paul's talking about of eternal life is in the future, but it was promised in eternity past. Here's the implication for Paul and for us. What are you living for? Where was his mind focused? His mind is focused on the spiritual realm. His mind is focused on eternity, on the promise of God, the hope of God, isn't it? Jesus said, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He says, this is in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, right at the end of chapter 4. He says, we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Wow. How often are we inclined to think about all that we can see and all that we can touch? I mean, this is how we live, isn't it? And Paul's saying, no, no, no, my hope, my hope is on the promise of God in eternity, and I'm banking everything on this. So that's the motivation of his ministry. Look at verse 3. Here's his method. Here's his method. Everybody will tell you that this is an outdated method. He says, God has commanded me. Notice that phrase at the very end. He says, I've been entrusted by the command of God our Savior. It's military language of a command that God has commanded him to do this. And he says, He has entrusted him with a manifested word. That's the truth of the gospel. We looked at that last week. It's what we've talked about of how Jesus came to save sinners, his death for ours, his righteousness for ours. But how is he to save sinners? It is through, notice this phrase, the preaching. The preaching. They did not have a modern mail system. They did not have. Electronic means of conveying information. The way that a king would convey information to his people is through what was called a herald. And a herald would receive a message from the king, and then the herald would go out into the kingdom, and he would say, Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye the message of the king. And they would proclaim that message to everyone by the authority of the king. That's the word that Paul uses to describe his ministry. Question: If you are given a message from the king, can you change the message? Can you alter the message? Can you change the medium? Can you say, well, the king told me to go and proclaim the message, but you know what I really would like to do? I would really just like to gather people in a circle and a small group and ask them, what do you think? I'd really just like to just kind of just kind of have a pow-wow. I really don't want to come across as authoritative to people. I really don't want to say, no, this is the way, and there is no other way. That just seems seems so obtrusive and offensive, doesn't it? No, no, that's not the picture, is it? The picture is of proclamation that Paul says we are to preach the word, he tells Timothy, in season and out of season. So we have a responsibility, don't we, to open our mouths. You can't share the gospel without opening your mouth. And we have a responsibility to proclaim the truth. Paul says, How will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Answer, they won't. And how are they to preach unless they are sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. If you are a believer, you are here because somebody told you the good news. Are you not? So important. So important. Our job is to proclaim the message. And then notice he calls God our Savior. God will save the sinners, not us. God will save them. God will intervene in their lives. But our job is to be faithful to proclaim the truth. So from here until Jesus comes back, what are we to do? What's the method? Proclamation. Proclamation. And then fourth and finally, notice the people of his ministry. To Titus, my true child in a common faith. That phrase probably means that Paul was the one who won Titus to the faith. Remember that the church is a family. And when Paul uses this language, my true child, it denotes the fact that Paul was the one who took Titus under his wing, who instructed him in the faith, and he was the one by whom Titus believed the truth. And notice he says a common faith, that term that that speaks to what they believe together, that we share a common faith. All true churches share a common faith. And he says to Titus, Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Really interesting phrase there at the end. Christ Jesus our Savior. Notice in verse 3, who does he call God? Our Savior. Here he calls Christ Jesus our Savior. Why does he do this? Answer, because Jesus is also God. Jesus is divine. This is the doctrine of the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God, three persons. It's important, I think, to note here at the end that Paul was concerned about people. Paul was concerned about people. Paul ministered to people. Paul had a heart for people. And Paul would preach the gospel far and wide, but then there's something important that he would do in his ministry, and that is he would bring people along and employ them in leadership. And I think the church has forgotten this. You know, the parachurch ministries, they do this really well. The parachurch ministries bring people along, they raise them up, they use them, they develop them, they train them, and they say, now you go and do likewise. But the churches, so many of them, it's just proclamation, it's just preaching, and people come and they, you know, they they they maybe hear a message, but there's no development of the people. But that wasn't Paul's strategy. Paul's preaching everywhere he goes, but then he's raising up these guys. He's raising up, you might call them the all-stars. These are the people that the Holy Spirit has gifted to be teachers, to be evangelists, to be future preachers, to be missionaries, to do works of ministry. So Paul has an eye for this. When I was uh this weekend at the Cove, I Kenny and I were sitting there with Tommy, and I just asked him, I said, what are your reflections on pastoring for 48 years? What are your reflections on this? What were your keys to success? He said, four things. He said, hold forth a doctrinal standard. There's a doctrinal standard for the church. Two, expository preaching. Open up the word, teach it, explain it, apply it to people's lives. Third, protect the children and the youth. Protect them. Don't let somebody take advantage of them. And then fourth, he says, raise up your all-stars. Raise up your all-stars. You have to have a place for your Titus and your Timothy, for them to grow and to develop, and then eventually to be sent out. So it's very simple. This is Paul's philosophy of ministry, his purpose to bring about the faith of the elect and the knowledge of the truth, which accords to godliness, the motivation. It's a fixed hope. He knows what God has promised: eternal life. The method is very clear. It's proclamation, it's proclaiming the truth, opening up our mouths. And then along the way, it's reaching down and helping the next guy and the girl up. What you have heard from me in the presence of faithful witnesses, trust of faithful men who will be able to teach others also. It's very simple. And this is what my heart is for this church. It's not a fad, not for us to be chasing the new shtick in evangelicalism, but to return to the apostolic ministry of the church. Heavenly Father. Pray, Lord, for those who came here today, not yet trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We pray, Lord, that you would open their eyes, that they would repent of their sins and believe the gospel, the glorious news. This hope that you've given us, this hope that you decreed, that you promised before the world began that goes all the way into eternity future. We thank you, Lord, for this hope. Where would we be without this hope? Help us, Lord, to be faithful as a church. Lord, we want to be faithful. We want to be used by you. So, Lord, let us rely on your methods of proclamation, proclamation across all the ministries, all the services, that we would be faithful to proclaim the message. And Lord, may we be faithful to raise up the Titus' and the Timothy's of the next generation. We pray all this in Christ's name for your glory. Amen.