Putting into Order

Putting into Order

Titus 1:1-9

Main Idea: God’s church is rightly ordered when we hold to sound doctrine, pursue godliness, and follow exemplary leadership.

I. Eternal Gospel Hope (1:1-4)

Paul’s ministry as a servant and an apostle was for the sake of the “faith of the elect.” This faith is marked by two components, a “knowledge of the truth” that “accords with godliness.” 

We can have confidence in the hope of eternal life because of:

  1. God’s Promise (“...promised before the ages began”)

  2. God’s Character (“God, who never lies…” cf. Num. 23:19)

    “This is very comforting to the Christian, that whatever God has said in the divine purpose is never changed. The decrees of God were not written upon sand, but upon the eternal brass of his unchangeable nature.”
    ~ Charles Spurgeon, “What God Cannot Do!”

  3. God’s Word (“at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching…”) 

2 Timothy 4:1–5: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

II. Exemplary Gospel Leadership

Titus must “put what remained into order” by appointing elders (or pastors) who are “above reproach” in:

  1. Marriage & Family (1:6; cf. 1 Tim. 3:5)

  2. Character & Conduct (1:7-8)

  3. Doctrine & Instruction (1:9; cf. 1 Tim. 4:16)

“[Pastors] have the responsibility of explaining what God has said in his Word, declaring what God has done in his Son, and applying this message to the hearts of people.”
~ Tony Merida, The Faithful Church Planter 

“The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both; for he who is deeply skilled in it will be able both to govern those who are teachable, and to refute the enemies of the truth.”
~ John Calvin

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