“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness: in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began; but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour” (Titus i. 1-3).
THESE words, as you may have observed in the reading of this portion of God’s Word, are addressed to Titus. He was fortunate in having such an instructor as the great Apostle of the Gentiles. This epistle forms one of what is known as the Pastoral Epistles. These Epistles deal to a large extent with matters that concern the well-being of the various Churches where the Apostle had been preaching, and the instructions are intended to be a guide to Timothy and Titus as to how they ought to conduct themselves in the administration of the affairs connected with the House of God on earth, and we, who have lived a goodly number of years, realise how much we need that guidance, and especially is this so if we have one to look to who can teach us in the right way and direct in the right way. Hence, both Timothy and Titus were especially favoured in having the great Apostle of the Gentiles to be their instructor, and in connection with this particular passage, you will notice that the Apostle before he proceeds to give instructions to Titus, presents his credentials, and these credentials of his are of no ordinary kind. He has not received them from men. He has been made a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and he has a certain work to do in connection with that commission that has been given to him in reference to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. In order to impress them with the greatness of this subject, the Apostle directs their attention to a promise that was given in the eternal ages, and forward to a hope that has respect to the ages that are coming. In connection with this, the Apostle says that to him it was given that, through preaching, he might fulfil his great commission, and in this way strengthen the faith of God’s elect and also strengthen them in the knowledge that they had of the truth that was after godliness. This was one of the great purposes for which he was preaching, and this ought to be one of the purposes for which the ministers of Christ ought to be preaching. They have received certain credentials, and in the carrying out of these credentials, as far as God’s people are concerned, it is for the strengthening of their faith and for the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. It is to this great and important subject that I purpose to direct your attention for the time at my disposal.
In the first place, let us consider the credentials of the Apostle as here presented at the beginning of his Epistle. He describes himself as a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and secondly he tells us the matters that were entrusted to him in order that he might strengthen the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. Then in the third place, our attention is directed to the fact that behind this faith of God’s elect and the truth which is after godliness, there is the great promise that was given, as the Apostle says, “before the world began”—in the eternal ages. Then, fourthly, there is a hope stretching on to the future, the hope of eternal life. All these are very intimately connected, and if we could just get a glimpse of the connection, we would see how great was the trust with which he was entrusted when he was commanded through the Lord Jesus Christ to carry out his great commission.
Paul tells us that “He hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour.” It was through preaching—the foolishness of preaching, that he was to carry out all that was implied in his commission. Now that gives a dignity and honour to preaching, which, I am afraid, even the preacher himself is not ready to acknowledge at times, and which, I am sure, many a time the hearer is not ready to take into account. We are ready to forget the greatness of the matters with which we have been commissioned. It is told concerning one of the eminent scholars in the United States, that in his valedictory address to his students in the last year of their theological course, he directed their attention to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when He announced to His Apostles and people that “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” and then He gave them the commission to go forth to preach the gospel. Well, this eminent divine said, “Remember this, when you go forth to deliver that message, all the might of the eternal Godhead is behind it to make it effective to everyone for whom it is intended.” That was a noble utterance, but an utterance that is in keeping with the truth, and it is an utterance we ought to pay some attention to, for many a time after declaring the messages that has been committed to us, we leave the pulpit faint-hearted, and wonder if there is to be any blessing at all upon the message, but let us never forget, behind that message there is the whole might of the eternal Godhead to make it effective for everyone for whom it is intended. Having said so much by way of introduction, I wish to direct attention to what the Apostle says here about himself, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
1. First of all, then, let us briefly consider what is implied in being “a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ,”
It is a great honour to have a place as a servant in the Royal Palaces in this land. It is an infinitely greater honour to have the place of a servant in the house of God. There is no honour to be compared to it. In connection with this servanthship, you are all aware that things have changed materially even in our own time in regard to the relationship of servants to their masters. There have been great changes and changes we hope in the majority of cases for the better, but there is a great difference between the position of a servant in our times and the position of a servant in the times of the Apostle Paul. When we speak about him being a servant as was understood then, it meant that a price had been paid for him. He was not a slave in the sense that simply a price was paid for him and that he had no right to wages; as a servant a certain price was paid for him and he was entitled to receive wages. That was not true concerning a slave—a slave was bought, but there was no wages given to him. Now, this is very important, although it may seem, as I am stating it, of no importance at all. It is important because it brings plainly before us that as a servant of God a great price had been paid for him. This was no ordinary price which was paid for the Apostle—it was not in money, in silver or gold that the price was paid, but in the blood of Jesus Christ—the most precious price that was ever paid, “Ye are bought with a price,” it is said elsewhere and he could never forget that this was the price which was paid for him in order that he might become a servant of God. Another thing that was true concerning the servant was this, that he could not leave the service of his master until a price was paid for his redemption. You see, in our day, the servant is free, after he gives notice, to leave the service of his master at a stated time. It was altogether different with the relationship that existed between the master and a servant in the times when the Apostle was writing—in order that the servant should go free, it was necessary that a price should be paid for him. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ has paid a price for His servants, and He has taken them out of the kingdom of darkness, and He will never throughout all eternity accept any price on the part of any one to take them out of His service. They are safe in His service for ever and ever. There was never a Master so kind—there was never a Master so willing to help in every time of need, and when the Apostle speaks about himself as a servant of God, it suggests these two ideas—first of all, that a price had been paid for him, and in the second place, that he was to continue in that service for ever. He gloried in being a servant of Jesus Christ, or as we have it in this particular place, a servant of God.
When we speak about a servant, the thought of a master naturally rises before our minds. The servant sustains a certain relationship to his master, and you remember that on one occasion, the Lord Jesus Christ in addressing His Disciples said, “Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am.” That was a wonderful statement coming from the lips of the Lord of Glory. It implied a great deal, and the Christian stand in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ as His Master—the Lord is his Master and his Lord. He is in duty bound to take the servant’s place, and to do the Master’s work.
Now, the Apostle as a servant of God, received certain work which was committed to his trust, just as a servant among ourselves receives work that is to be done—so God entrusted to His servant Paul a great work, and that work was the declaration of the eternal truth as it is in Christ Jesus the Lord. So when he speaks about himself as a servant of God, he is bringing before us this thought, that a price has been paid for him, and that he is to be in that service for ever, for God will accept no price to buy him out of that service, and he stands in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father, as his Lord and his Master.
Not only does he speak of himself as the servant of God, but also as the Apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, we learn from the Scriptures that it was required of the Apostles that they should be eye-witnesses of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in connection with this matter, you remember that Paul in writing to the Corinthians says, “Am I not an Apostle? . . . . Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” When did he see Jesus Christ his Lord? Well, on that memorable day when he was arrested, for his eternal good, on his way to Damascus, it was then that he got a view of Jesus Christ as the risen and glorified Saviour. He was arrested by Him on his wicked mission, in order that he might be made an instrument in the hand of God for the accomplishment of the great purpose that he is speaking of here. Now, the Apostle was very jealous of the honour of his office. We find that on certain occasions he spoke about himself as the least of all saints. The late Mr. MacFarlane, Dingwall, used to say that the Apostle Paul had a grammar of his own—”Less than the least of all saints”—but when it came to his apostolic office being called in question, he stands on the defensive and says that he is not one whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles although he be nothing—that is, so far as he himself is concerned, he is nothing, but he has received his office from God, and it is because he has received that office from God that he is so deeply concerned that it should be honoured, and he stands up in defence of it when any attack is made upon it, and we, as ministers of the gospel, should never forget the honourable office that is ours, and we should be jealous of maintaining its honour at all costs, and should never forget that God has called us to this office for a definite purpose—to carry out His great purposes in the salvation of sinners.
In connection with this designation it is also to be borne in mind that the Apostle, as one sent, came with a message—the great message of the gospel—which he was under obligation as an Ambassador of the Court of Heaven, to deliver, as he received it, without adding to it or taking from it. The Apostles, Paul among them, were commissioned to deliver the gladdest message that ever fell on mortal ears. This message was not the outcome of their own thinking but was given to them from heaven. Hence the Apostle Paul says: “I certify you, brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. i. 11-12). And in connection with that message he further says: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed” (Gal. i. 8-9).
II. Now, having said so much about the credentials of the Apostle, we proceed, in the second place, to say something about the matters in connection with which he had received these credentials, and it will be noticed that it is first of all the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.
That is one great purpose for which the Apostle was made a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, that he might exercise his office in connection with the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledging or the setting forth of the knowledge of truth that is after godliness. Now let us briefly consider these two points—first of all, the faith of God’s elect. What is meant by the faith of God’s elect? Is it something that is not very important after all? Is it something that the world can afford to dispense with, and that God’s people themselves may lightly esteem? No. He says he has received this commission for the very purpose of confirming and strengthening the faith of God’s elect—that is true faith—the faith of God’s elect—a people that were chosen of God. Now, how did it come about that this faith over became theirs? Was it because they had a keener insight than their fellows, and were able to grasp more quickly than their neighbours the great truths which were presented to them in the preaching of the gospel? Is that what the Scriptures tell us? No. The faith of God’s elect was a gift that was given to them—it is not a thing that came naturally to them by the exercise of some natural gifts that God bestowed upon them, but is a gift that has come to them direct from Heaven. Faith is the gift of God. Now, in the preaching of the gospel by such men as the Apostle, who had been commissioned as the servant of God and the Apostle of Jesus Christ, the message is strengthening the faith of God’s elect. A real gospel message is not weakening the faith—it may weaken and shatter many a kind of faith which is not the true faith of God’s elect—but behind the preaching of the gospel, when it is coming with authority and power, it is strengthening and encouraging the faith of God’s elect, so that in listening to the preaching of the Word, God’s people are uplifted and encouraged by what they are hearing. Is that not so? I speak to some here who, I am sure, can say that they have had happy experiences in regard to these matters when they were listening to the gospel declared with authority and power—it made them think of Heaven, and time and everything passed away from their view altogether. It strengthened their faith. Well, the Apostle as a preacher and servant of Jesus Christ said he was commissioned to do this great work, and oh! what a noble work it is that we should cheer and gladden the hearts of God’s redeemed. We, who preach to our fellow-men, is it not a great honour that it should be said of any of us that we cheered and comforted and strengthened those who were disheartened and faint-hearted and were ready to give up altogether, so that they took fresh courage and went on their way rejoicing? Is it not worth while preaching if it produces this effect?
Paul speaks, not only, of the faith of God’s elect, but the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. We hear in our time a great deal about men claiming to be searching after truth—the scientist says he is searching for truth—the philosopher and others say the same thing, but the truth here spoken of is clearly defined—it is the truth that is after godliness—it is truth that is of this nature, that wherever it is received, it has an effect upon the life of the individual. This truth which is here spoken of cannot exist in the life of any individual without producing godliness—that is the very nature of this truth. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” When the word is entering into the heart as the truth of God, it has a sanctifying influence—it is at war with everything that is unholy—everything that is unjust—everything that is against God. It is the truth that is after godliness. Here again, in the message the Apostle was delivering we may ask was he weakening the truth that is after godliness? Was he making them think less of it, and to say, after all there are so many opinions, and you may hold this opinion, and another may hold that opinion, and it will not affect you very much for eternity what opinion you hold? Is that the effect of the preaching of the gospel when God’s truth is being declared and received. No, the very nature of it when declared and acknowledged, although it is condemning us to our very face, it is leaving this impression that this is something that shall stand fast for ever and ever whatever becomes of us;
“His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.”
and the gospel strengthens that conviction. The message of the preacher is strengthening that view of God’s truth—the truth which is after godliness—and instead of encouraging men to be indifferent to its claims it stiffens their opposition to error and combats the false view that it does not matter what we believe, we are all going to the same place at last. This teaching is, alas! too common in our day. But no one is to be in Heaven but those who have been prepared for it, and don’t let us be deceived in that matter. Let us also keep this in mind, that it is not everything men call truth that is truth after godliness, and if we find what we believe to be the truth, is having a detrimental effect upon godliness, it is high time that we were searching into it, and questioning ourselves. Is this really the truth of God? Is it something that will stand? Is it to stand fast for ever? or is it something after our own imagination that is soon to pass away?
Well, that is one effect that the preaching of the gospel has as is indicated by the Apostle when writing to the Thessalonians, he says that they received the truth in much assurance—“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (I. Thess. i. 5)—that is not personal assurance of one’s salvation, as some take it to mean, but the assurance that this is the very truth of God. One may have been listening some time to a gospel message, and as the preacher was going on and presenting God’s own blessed truth, one felt this response within the heart, oh! this is heavenly truth—there is no doubt about it, and although it is condemning me, I can put my amen to it that it is the truth of God. You are receiving the truth in much assurance and in joy of the Holy Ghost—you had a happy time, and a time that will be long remembered. You will never forget receiving the truth of God in much assurance, with joy of the Holy Ghost.
Now, great and important though this faith and this truth is, which is set before the hearers through the preaching of the gospel, the Apostle adds that there is a great background to all this—that these things are connected with something connected with the two eternities. There is the promise that was made before the world began—or before the eternal ages, and there is the hope of eternal life. All this is set before us here as something to impress us with the greatness of the matters that he is bringing before his hearers. The Apostle Paul was not one who looked merely on the surface of things, but sounded the great depths when he preaches the gospel. On other occasions he took the minds of his hearers back into the great eternity that was past, and, at other times, he cast his eyes towards the future that was awaiting God’s elect and the deathless hope that was theirs—“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” There was a majesty in the truth as it appeared to the Apostle Paul and as it was presented by him, which I am afraid we very seldom get a glimpse of at all, and which if we did get a glimpse of it, I am sure, would make us think less of the things of this world, and more of the things of eternity. This brings me now to say something about the background of the truth we have been speaking of and of the faith of God’s elect. The Apostle calls attention to the promise which was made by God, that cannot lie, before the world began. Was that not a beautiful conception? A grand conception of the truth which he was presenting to his hearers!
This message that he was delivering to them was not concerning matters of time at all. No, there was the great background of the eternity that is past when the God of truth, that cannot lie, made a promise in connection with these matters, and this is now being presented in the preaching of the gospel. These things were hid and unknown until through the abundant mercy of God, they were made known to perishing sinners through preaching. Now, think of what a wonderful thing it is that all this—the faith of God’s elect and the truth that is after godliness—should have a connection with a promise that was made before the eternal ages!—before the world began, and it was made by the God that cannot lie. Oh! how sure, and how certain is the messages of the gospel after all. It is not some figment of the imagination—it is not something that was wrought out in the brain of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, it went farther back than all that—it went farther back than the beginning of time—it went back into the eternity that is past, and there a provision was made in connection with the salvation of God’s elect, and all that they required in time, a promise made by the God that cannot lie. This was a very wonderful view that the Apostle got of the message that he had to deliver—it was connected with transactions that took place and provisions which were made, in a past eternity.
But it is not only that the message was connected with transactions and provisions of a past eternity, but it had respect to the great future that is before them—”In hope of eternal life.” This truth—the faith of God’s elect and the truth that is after godliness—is intimately connected with the promise that was made before the world began, and also with the hope of eternal life. It was a message pointing them forward to the future and setting before them a great hope. You remember how the Apostle, we quoted part of his words already, says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”—that is the effect of the gospel so far as the present time is concerned, but in regard to the future it also teaches us to “Look for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” This is the effect that the gospel ought to have upon us, but I am afraid that the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is largely in the background of our preaching, if we preach about it at all. But do not let me be misunderstood—we can hold the doctrine of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ without being Premillenarians, are we not told that “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven?” The Church of Christ should never forget this. The early Christian Church never forgot it, and you see what a large place the preaching in connection with the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ has in the Epistles of the New Testament. I am afraid this pre-millenarian view is making us go to the opposite extreme—because they are wrong is it right of us to say we are not going to speak about His Second Coming at all? When guarding against one error we may be falling into another, and we must keep this in mind. One effect of the gospel preaching is this, that it is teaching God’s people to look for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Now, in connection with this, the Apostle goes on to say, “But hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour.” It is through the preaching of the Word that all this is to be brought before those for whom it is intended. That is the method that infinite Wisdom has chosen. What is the view that the world has of this method? Is it not foolishness to them?—the foolishness of preaching, and does it not look very foolish at times?—a man getting up and delivering a message? But it is the most wonderful message that was ever uttered by mortal lips, and that ever fell on mortal ears; and yet, in the preaching of it, when we come to think about it, and when we take the view of the world of it, what is in preaching? It is nothing but foolishness. Yet it was the infinite Wisdom of God that ordained that it was through the preaching of the Word that the great things of eternity should be brought before us, and when we think of some who were honoured by God to preach the gospel with authority and power, oh! how near they brought Heaven to their hearers. It is told of John Brown of Haddington when he was a young shepherd lad, that he used to go over the hills to where Ralph Erskine was preaching, and this is what he says, “We were brought face to face with the God of Israel.” When I read that I was greatly impressed with it, and the feeling I had was this, how real must have been the message of Ralph Erskine when it made some of his hearers feel that they were face to face with the God of Israel! The Apostle is here presenting these great matters through the preaching of the Word which was committed to him, and whatever we may think of preaching—whether we have the opinion of the World, and God forbid we should, or whether sometimes fainthearted we say, “There is very little fruit” when we see the preaching having so little effect—let me repeat once again, and let us remember it in the hour of our despondency, when we are ready to give up altogether, what was uttered by the eminent American Theologian that I have already quoted, “Behind that message, there is all the might of the Eternal Godhead, to make it effective to everyone for whom it is intended.” It was through this preaching the Apostle was making known the great things of the gospel, and, surely we who have this as our life work to declare the gospel, can bear this testimony, that the happiest moments we have had in this world were when preaching this gospel, although sometimes it was like hard-labour when we were preaching to our fellowmen; yet, notwithstanding, we can bear this testimony, that the happiest moments we ever had were moments when we were declaring the gospel from the pulpit, and God’s people can say this in like manner, that the happiest moments they ever had in this world, were the moments when they were drinking in the blessed message of truth, and, in doing so, they “drank in the gospel and gorged all their sorrows,” as was expressed by a worthy hearer when he was listening to Charles Calder of Fernitosh. Would it not be a good thing for us, in listening to this gospel, if we could say the same. That is what it has been to many, and God can make it so to you and to me. In connection with the many things which are agitating our minds at the present time, I think it would be well if your thoughts and the thoughts of the members of Synod should be directed to the matters I have endeavoured to bring before you, and that our attention being fixed on this, whatever goes on in our Church, we might rise above troubles in Church and State and that these matters are worth proclaiming and worth striving for, and may we, through grace keep this before us, and if that be the case, then our troubles will not appear so great as sometimes they appear to be.