Truth: The Mother of Godliness

Introduction to Titus and the Pastoral Epistles

0:05 Will you turn with me, please, to Paul's letter to Titus, the book of Titus, chapter 1, and follow as I read in your hearing the first four verses which constitute the opening paragraph of this epistle, Titus, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. Paul, a servant, or literally a bond-slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal, but in his own season manifest his word in the message, wherewith I was entrusted according to the commandment of God. God our Savior, to Titus, my true child after a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

1:20 The two letters of Paul to Timothy and this letter to Titus, together, have been designated as the pastoral epistles. Now, there is something both practically helpful. But also potentially misleading in that designation. That which is practically helpful is the fact that, because they are called the pastoral epistles, we are reminded immediately that they contain a rich deposit of concerns with reference to the shepherding of the people of God, and therefore all pastors ought to soak their souls in these epistles, continually.

2:05 and all who are concerned to know those perspectives and emphases which godly pastors ought to reflect in their ministries have in these epistles a basis of evaluating pastoral life and ministry. But they are not only, or the designation is not only practically helpful, it is also potentially misleading. And that designation is potentially misleading because in the very strict sense, neither Timothy nor Titus were pastors in the sense that we use that term and in the sense in which it is used in the scriptures. To quote one careful student of the word of God, the term pastoral epistles dates from the 18th century and has become current, yet it is not exact. For it leaves the impression that Paul is coaching Timothy and Titus as pastors of congregations. This is not the case. Timothy and Titus were not pastors either in the sense of the word, one or two pastors to a congregation, or in the older sense of elders, each congregation having a number of them.

3:27 Nor were Timothy and Titus head pastors. Each being a chief of a group of elders in the congregation as James was among the elders in the church at Jerusalem. They were also not bishops with Episcopal jurisdiction over a diocese. This was an office developed much later in church history.

3:51 Timothy and Titus were representatives of Paul for the guidance of the churches. The one being Paul's agent in Asia Minor, that of course referring to Timothy, the other Paul's agent or representative in the island of Crete.

4:10 Through them, Paul exercised his apostolic care and oversight. His directions are according. Do what Paul would do if he were present, and could do the work himself. So that the potentially misleading element in that terminology is that we come to regard Timothy and Titus as pastors when in reality they were apostolic representatives implementing apostolic functions in the churches to which they were called to minister or directed to minister by apostolic authority. Now then, with that little bit of clarification behind us, it is accurate to say that if we have any felt degree of desire that our church grow more and more into the divinely ordained apostolic pattern, then surely we will prize these letters commonly called the pastoral epistles. In them, the will of God for church life and practice is clearly delineated. And what I propose to do this morning, and God willing to follow up and conclude next

The Organizing Principle: Truth According to Godliness

5:31 Lord's Day morning, is to give what really is an introduction to Paul's letter to Titus and an interpretive clue or key to that entire epistle. Is there an organizing principle for Paul's letter to Titus which, if grasped, will give us a framework within which to speak? Well, I'm convinced there is such an organizing principle not artificially imposed upon the book for homiletical purposes, but right here in the letter itself. And it is found in verse 1.

6:16 Paul, a bond-slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the faith of God's elect, will give us a framework which will give us a framework which will give us a framework which will give us a framework which will give us a framework which will give us a framework. The knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. And it is this phrase, the truth which is according to godliness, which constitutes in a very real sense the key to an understanding of the book of Titus. This entire introductory paragraph is one of the richest and most profound in all of the Pauline letters.

6:57 A careful analysis of the paragraph would yield rich and helpful insights concerning many facets of apostolic ministry and of apostolic truth. However, this morning and again next week, God willing, we shall limit our attention to this fascinating phrase, the truth which is according to godliness. Now notice its connection with the preceding. As Paul identifies himself on the one hand a bond-slave of God, and on the other hand as an apostle of Jesus Christ, he says that this bond-servitude to God and his apostolic office have distinct reference to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. In other words, the apostle is an apostle as a bond-slave of Christ with respect to this great concern of the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness.

8:15 Now the word translated according to godliness is the preposition which can mean for the purpose of or according to or in accordance, with. And so the apostle is saying that his apostleship is concerned with the heart knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. His great concern has to do with the truth which accords with, which is according to, which exists for the purpose of the purpose of the purpose of the church. It's the promotion of godliness. Now if we're to understand the significance of these words, it's obvious that the two keywords are truth and godliness. Now what is truth? The question a heathen ruler asked many centuries ago.

Defining Truth and Godliness

9:20 Well in terms of the Pauline usage, truth is the body of revealed facts concerning the redemption of the world. sinners in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Truth is that, according to verse 3, which is manifested in the word of the message. To Paul, truth is not a plastic nose of wax, but truth is made of those unchangeable, substantial realities embodied in the word of the message.

9:57 That which is called in verse 4, the common faith. So you see how the apostle can move from the language of the truth to the word of the message to the common faith. And as we trace out the significance of those words in the apostolic usage, they mean nothing more or less than a body of revealed facts concerning the redemption of sinners in the person and work of Jesus Christ. But now the apostle says it is that truth which is according to godliness. And this word godliness is used broadly and translated religion, piety, or most frequently, as it is here, godliness. It refers to the duty man owes to God. It refers to the duty man owes to God. It refers to the duty man owes to God.

10:58 And the expressions of that duty in the particulars of life and of worship. Notice how it's used in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 2. We are to pray for kings and all that are in high office that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness. That is, that we may live a life in which we render to God the duty of God. And that is, that we may live a life in which we render to God the duty of God.

11:28 Duties owed to God and are able to carry out the practical expressions of that relationship in the particulars of a godly life and a godly worship. It's used in chapter 4 of 1 Timothy and verse 7. Paul says to Timothy, refuse profane and old wives' fables, but exercise thyself unto godliness. That is, the cultivation of the fulfillment of your duties to God and the practical expression of those duties in life and in worship. It's used again in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5. Paul, speaking of the aggravated expressions of sin amongst men, says, 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5, holding a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. Here are a people who hold a form of confessed or professed desire to be rightly related to God, to discharge obligations

12:40 Godward and some semblance of this in external patterns of life, but they deny its power. Now then, growing out of this phrase, the truth, that is, the body of revealed facts concerning God's saving work in Christ, which accords with godliness, that is, which is according to the true, the exercise of true religion, there are two great principles that emerge and form the framework of the entire letter to Titus. We'll look at the first principle this morning, unpack it and demonstrate its validity, and then, God willing, the second one next Lord's day.

Two Great Principles: Truth as Parent of Godliness

13:29 morning. And the two great principles are these. It is truth alone which is the parent of godliness. It is the truth which is according to godliness. But it is the truth alone which is productive of godliness. And so that's our first great principle. And that principle, as we shall see, is illustrated again and again in Paul's letter to Titus. It is the truth alone which is the parent of godliness. And so that's our first great principle. And that principle, as we shall see, is illustrated again and again in Paul's letter to Titus. It is the truth alone which is the parent of godliness. And so that's our first great principle. And that principle, as we shall see, is illustrated again and again in Paul's letter to Titus. It is the truth alone which is the parent of godliness. And so that's our first great principle. And that principle, as we shall see, is illustrated again and again in Paul's letter to Titus. It is the truth alone which is the parent of godliness alone, which is the parent of godliness, but then the second great principle is this. It is godliness which is the necessary and the inevitable child of truth. As surely as it is the truth which is according to godliness, it is also the truth which is according to godliness. And so it's just a matter of which word you underscore that will help you to grasp the two great principles. Now, for those of you who frequent this place of worship,

14:33 you'll notice that I'm sticking much more closely to my notes, and the reason is I am mentally exhausted from the past week, the preaching and the counseling some days literally from 7 o'clock in the morning till 11 o'clock at night in between the preaching, and I do not trust myself to roam far, and so you forgive me if I'm stuck more to my paper this morning. Now then, let's take up...

Explanation of the Principle: Godliness Does Not Grow of Itself

14:58 For the remainder of our time, this first great principle found in Titus 1 and verse 1, the truth which is according to godliness, namely, truth alone is the parent of godliness. First of all, I want to explain the principle, and then secondly, illustrate and enforce the principle from the epistle to Titus. In explanation of the principle, let me say first of all that given the condition of the human heart by nature, godliness will never grow of itself. Given the condition of the human heart by nature, godliness does not grow of itself. You will never find a man or woman, boy or girl of any age, in any situation, in any culture, at any point in history, who is seeking contentment. to render to God that which is His due, and seeking with all of his being to work out the implications of that relationship to God in life and in worship, you will never find

16:15 that kind of a godly lifestyle growing out of unblessed, Adamic soil.

16:25 Just as surely as you will never find a fruitful, well-arranged vegetable garden growing out of a dry, cracked, parched, weed-infested, uncultivated, un-sown, and un-nurtured plot of ground. If you go to someone's backyard and there see a lovely garden, and everything is neatly arranged in the various rows and well-weeded, you know that that didn't just happen, that there was some kind of native power in that particular soil. To give birth to lovely tomato plants and broccoli plants and zucchini plants and all of the rest, somebody's been at work. Nature didn't produce that, for since the earth was cursed for man's sake, weeds and nettles and all of the things that are counterproductive to a good crop have to be dealt with before the soil will yield the same. Well, what is true of the soil? Well, literally is true of the soil of the human heart.

17:37 Godliness does not grow of itself. All the heart produces of itself are the thorns and the nettles and the weeds of sin. For Jesus said, from within, out of the heart of man, proceed what? Does he describe love, joy, peace, long-suffering?

17:58 No. He says, for from within, out of the heart of man. And proceed evil thoughts, murders, adultery, pride, and foolishness. That's what the soil of your heart and my heart produces, unless the grace of God goes to work cultivating, planting, nurturing, and bringing to fruition something other than those things.

18:28 The universal testimony of the Word of God is that, Godliness does not grow of itself, but it only grows when grace has been at work in the human heart by means of the truth. And so in this very epistle, the apostle who speaks of the truth which is according to godliness gives two rich doctrinal statements, one concerning the work of Christ in his redeeming love and death upon the cross, and the other concerning the mighty work of the Spirit in renewing the human heart. It is the truth of Titus 2, 11-14, which alone can produce godliness. For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying ungodliness. In ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope in the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from

19:53 all iniquity and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. What is the truth which is according to godliness? I said that the truth is the revealed facts concerning the redemption of God in Christ. And that was not an imposition of my own notions.

20:14 It was simply a summary of what we have here at the end of chapter 2. Paul knew that there in the Isle of Crete, if the hearts of men were left to themselves, there would be no godliness. But thank God the gospel had come. And that gospel came announcing the wonderful truth concerning one who gave himself for sinners to break the bondage of sin and to bring men into the godly lifestyle.

20:46 And then he goes on in the second rich doctrinal section of this epistle, a section that was expounded some months ago by Pastor Nichols, and speaks of the grace of God bringing salvation to us. One in which we have, according to verse 5, this mighty work of the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. And as surely as it was the message of the gospel of God's grace in a dying Savior which came to the soil of the hearts of those Cretans, so it was also the mighty operation of the Spirit attending that word. Which brought them into a renewed state. And so when I make the assertion that truth alone is the parent of godliness, I am simply echoing what Paul has indicated in this epistle, that it was the great truth of the objective work of Christ for sinners, and the mighty internal subjective application of that work by the Spirit which had brought these people to the holy land. into their present condition. The condition of the human heart by nature is such that godliness will never grow of itself.

Explanation of the Principle: Godliness Does Not Grow from Error

22:13 But then there is a second thing I want to say in this matter of explaining the principle, and it is this. Given the nature of error, godliness does not appear as the child of error or of ignorance. Given the nature of error, godliness does not appear as the child of error or of ignorance.

22:40 And in these so-called pastoral epistles, there is this constant exhortation by the apostle to Timothy and to Titus to guard the truth. Why? Because the truth alone can be productive of godliness, and error is always counterproductive of godliness. Notice chapter 1 and verse 9.

23:04 What are elders to do? What is their specific function? Verse 9. Holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching that he may be able both to exhort in the sound or the healthy doctrine, but not only the positive, and to convict, bring to the test, bring to the touchstone of abolition, absolute truth, and convict the gainsayers.

23:36 For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped. Well, Paul, don't you believe in the liberty of every man to believe as he believes, and to speak forth his beliefs as he chooses? Isn't that the height of arrogance and intolerance to go around talking about people who've got to be shut up, whose mouths must be stopped? Why this vigorous language?

24:08 Whose mouths must be shut? Because Paul recognized that error was counterproductive of godliness. Error never, never gave birth to godliness, and so the mouths of those who speak error must be shut, not by the power of the civil government, but in the context. Stop!

24:35 Not by the clear, convincing, powerful proclamation of truth, if necessary, even such a polemic form as to show error in its true light. You find this in chapter 2 and verse 1. Speak thou the things which befit the sound or the healthy doctrine, indicating that there is another kind of teaching that is not sound or helpful, it is like rancid, putrid, infectious and diseased food. That's what error is.

25:14 What rancid, diseased food is to the body, error is to the soul. Now a man may come upon some rancid, diseased food that has been so doctored up that it tastes good to his taste buds, it will none the less make him a sick man or kill him. And if it tastes good to his taste buds, it will none the less make him a sick man or kill him. And error may be made very palatable so that it tastes good as it were on the aesthetic and mental taste buds.

25:45 But if it's error, it has no power to convey health. The apostle knew this. It is the truth and the truth alone which accords with godliness. And in explaining that principle, I set before you those two simple concepts.

Illustration and Enforcement: Vigorous Maintenance of Truth and Arrest of Error

26:05 Given the condition of the human heart, by nature, godliness will never grow of itself. And given the nature of error, godliness does not appear as its child. Now then, consider with me the principle illustrated and enforced in the book of Titus. All the way through this epistle, we find the apostle urging upon Titus the vigorous maintenance of truth and the forceful aggressive arrest of error.

26:42 Let me give you that again. All the way through the epistle, you find the apostle urging upon Titus the vigorous maintenance of truth and the forceful aggressive arrest of error. Now there are some people that don't like anything negative. Be positive. Be positive.

27:05 I'll never forget old Dr. Tozer taking on those who came to him and said, Dr. Tozer, you're too negative. Be positive. Be positive.

27:12 And you remember his classic answer. I quoted this a number of years ago. He said, I tell them, look, my friend, all of life is made up of the negative and the positive. You inhale the oxygen and you exhale the poison.

27:26 And he said, the man that's so determined to be wholly positive in his breathing process is soon a dead man. You inhale and you exhale. And so it is with us as God's people. We cannot think biblically if we have a subtle aversion to the negative.

27:49 You cannot think biblically, and in most cases, aversion to the negative is not a matter of temperament or psychology. It is a revelation of an either subtle or overt controversy with God. Because God is not wholly positive.

28:11 He loves righteousness. And therefore He hates iniquity. He will reward the righteous with life, damn the wicked with eternal destruction. How desperately in our flabby saccharine age do we need to have this vigor of biblical balance of this love and forceful and aggressive pronouncement of truth as well as this forceful and aggressive and compassionate and at times awesome denunciation of error. Well noticed specifically. And this is only suggestive. What I'm trying to do this morning and next week is to give you some key or set of keys with which you can study the book of Titus on your own and absorb the weight of its impact for our life together as God's people.

Elders' Role in Preserving Truth and Exposing Error

29:15 Let's now see the principle illustrated and enforced in Titus. Chapter 1 and verse 5. For this cause I left thee in Crete. Now why did you leave Titus in Crete, Paul?

29:31 That thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting or lacking in the churches particularly, he says, and appoint elders in every city as I gave thee charge. And then he gives this broad overview of the kind of character and gift that must be manifested in a man who is to be appointed as an elder. But now why is the apostle so concerned particularly in that historical setting that there should be more elders in the church at Crete? Is his primary concern that all the church members instead of getting a visit once a year from the elders will get visits twice a year? Is his primary concern that there should be more opportunity for individual counseling and shepherding? Well, no doubt those concerns were present. But that is not the primary emphasis of the passage.

30:33 He says, I left you in Crete to put in order the things that are wanting and appoint elders in every city. Then he gives the requirement for that office and says this. He is to be, verse 9, the voice, the verse we already looked at, one who holds to the faithful word that is in accordance with the teaching that he may be able both to exhort, to comfort, to instruct. That word exhortation is a broad word.

31:03 Not just in its more what we usually think of sort of a peroration at the end of a sermon when having laid it out you then lay it on the consciences. But the word exhortation is broader than that. That he may be able both to exhort, to instruct, to comfort, to convict in sound doctrine and, and to convict the gainsayers. Now then, he doesn't pick up that positive element again until chapter 2 and verse 1.

31:34 Speak the things which defeat the sound doctrine. And then he gives him some of the areas that he wants him to go over as answering to the task of an elder in exhorting in the sound doctrine. And so he gives directions concerning how the old men should conduct themselves, how the old women should conduct themselves, how the young men and young women, etc. But from verse 10 to verse 16 he's dealing with that negative element of the elder's responsibility.

32:08 Stuffing the mouths of gainsayers. And he describes these unruly men vain, talkers and deceivers. And then he specifies the party with which they are generally associated. He describes how they operate overthrowing whole houses.

32:27 And then he goes on to admonish Titus, verse 13, for which cause reprove them sharply. Why? Notice now that they may be sound or healthy in the faith. No one can be healthy in the faith who is eating the rancid meat of error.

32:49 It is impossible. And so his great concern is that elders should kid themselves to the preservation of truth and the exposure of error because truth and truth alone is the mother of godliness. Turn to chapter 3 for an additional example of this. Chapter 3, verse 8.

33:17 Faithful is the saying and concerning these things I desire that thou affirm confidently to the end that they who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men but shun foolish questionings and genealogies and strifes and fightings about the law for they are unprofitable in vain. A factious man after a first and second admonition refuse knowing that such a one is perverted and sinneth being self-condemned. He is telling Titus that if you have someone in the midst who is determined to continue to traffic in error who is not committed to speaking wholesome things that man must be reproved and rebuked and if there is no repentance he must be rejected. Why? Isn't that intolerant? No, it's not intolerant.

34:19 It's recognizing that as surely as no mother in this place would allow any relative in the house to serve up rancid food to her children so no godly overseer will allow rancid spiritual food to be served to his spiritual children. Truth and truth alone is the mother of godliness. Now you see then this concern of the apostle for the maintenance of pure doctrine is not simply a doctrinaire spirit manifesting itself. It is not an overly fastidious and persnickety concern of a theological nitpicker. This is not a crotchety old man who has become a heresy hunter. He recognizes that practical godliness in the church at Crete will be maintained in direct proportion to the maintenance of the purity of truth because truth alone is the mother of godliness. And you say, why is Paul so concerned then for godliness?

Christ's Purpose and the Need for Truth in Our Age

35:43 Because he knows that the end for which Christ died was to have a godly people. He says in chapter 2 the grace of God that has been revealed brings a salvation that instructs us to deny ungodliness and to become godly. And why does the message come in that way? Because that's the purpose for which Christ died.

36:08 He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to himself a people for his own possession zealous of good works. This great passion for godliness and for the preservation of the truth which alone is the mother of godliness is inextricably bound up in the apostle's passionate concern that the purpose for which Christ died would be realized in the Christians in the isle of Crete. And so the passion for maintaining the purity of truth by which alone godliness is promoted is not a matter of the resurrection of puritanism. It is the heart of the very end for which Christ died. Let me say by way of application that it is my contention that this Pauline perspective and conviction with all of its attendant fruits is especially needed in our day. The conviction that truth alone is the mother of godliness and that a balanced godliness is the child of the whole truth.

37:31 We live in an age of ecumania when people say the only thing that matters is to come to some low, minimal, common denominator of indistinct commitment to nondescript statements that can mean anything to anyone who happens to be a little religious and let's all give ourselves to the togetherness orgy and come together in the midst of this ecumania. We live in an age in which the in thing is to say that well I have some distinctive convictions but yours are just as worthy of consideration as mine. And the whole climate of our age is against saying if this is truth then that is error. And if truth is life error brings death. We live in the climate of ecumania then we live in the climate of charismania as well. And the whole emphasis is look doctrines divided us ever since the reformation for over 450 years there's been division between the great imposing church of Rome that is quote a Christian church and all the great quote Christian Protestant denominations in Christendom and that great wall of doctrine raised by the nasty hands

39:00 of Luther and his cohorts and a host of others. That wall we've not been able to tear it down with hands that bring with them distinct doctrinal convictions. But now we're being told by great leaders who influence multitudes the Holy Spirit seeing that wall and being grieved by that wall says shame, shame on that wall. But what I'll do my people are so perverse is I will give them an experience in the Holy Ghost that will catch them up into the third heavens and when they have this common experience in the Holy Ghost they will find themselves united above the wall.

39:40 And that is the passionate vision of some of the most renowned leaders in the charismatic movement in our day. And so they boast that at their great Jesus rallies they have Father so and so and the Reverend so and so and the Reverend Doctor so and so representing the whole spectrum from the most blatant kind of liberal theology to the most conservative Roman Catholic theology and they have their big banners above them all one in the Spirit. And I am not creating a caricature and oh my dear people at Trinity how desperately do we need to stand against that tide of pressure. It does make a difference what you believe. And to say that the Holy Ghost has come upon a man who dares to assert that he has the power to turn wafer and grape juice or wine into the very body and blood of Jesus to say that that blasphemy is anointed of the Holy Ghost is sheer nonsense and an affront to every bit of religious sensitivity

41:04 in the hearts of those who love Christ and Him crucified. And then we live in a climate not only where we have ecumania and charismania but a climate of relativism. There is no such thing as absolute truth. Everything is relative.

41:24 Relative to whatever you want to make it relate to. And to see the moment you say it is the truth which is according to godliness and you define truth in terms of a body of revealed facts and propositions you are out of step with the climate of our age. But if we prize godliness we must stand against that relativism and say there are absolute truths with regard to morals and ethics with reference to the deepest religious questions. Jesus said He was the way the truth, the life.

42:04 No man could come to the Father but by Him. That's absolute truth. Then we live in a day of subjectivism. Whatever you feel whatever makes you feel good and meets your needs that's all right.

42:20 Makes you live a better life makes you more useful makes you more kind that's fine. Every man for his own thing. That's the climate of our day. And oh dear people may we get hold of the significance of this pregnant phrase Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness and take that truth away and there is no godliness.

The Inviolable Trust of Truth and Its Content

42:50 Where there is no godliness there is no salvation for without holiness no man shall see the Lord. What is needed in our day we need men in our pulpits who believe who feel and who act under the same conviction as did the apostle. Men who regard the deposit of truth as an inviolable trust. Look at verse three that I read in your hearing.

43:24 He speaks of this great blessing let's pick up the thread of thought the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness in hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before times eternal but in his own season manifested his word in the message now notice wherewith I was entrusted. Paul never looked upon himself as a clever originator of truth he said I had a message that was deposited in my hands as a trust and this is why the apostle had this great passion that anyone who would dare alter the content of that trust must be exposed his mouth must be stopped this is why when there were people at Philippi not altering the trust but handling it out of wrong motives he could say Christ is preached I rejoice God will bless the preaching of Christ but there at Galatia they were tampering with the trust itself they were fooling around with the content and he says though we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we preach let him be accursed of God now how do you reconcile the two attitudes

44:52 you reconcile it only in terms of this conviction that truth and truth alone is the mother of godliness and even though some preachers had a bad motive they were holding the truth intact and preaching Christ according to the deposit of apostolic truth and Paul says I'll leave their motives to God God will bless the preaching of Christ Christ will be magnified the gospel will triumph I rejoice but when these people came along and started tampering with the essential content of the message his soul was filled with white hot and holy anger and he says let them be accursed of God why? because he knew that their error would damn the souls of men that's the spirit that needs to grip the hearts of those of us who preach the gospel but I say it's the spirit that needs to grip those of you sitting in the pew if you ever get to the place where you tolerate anything less than full blown biblical proclamation the devil will see to it that there's someone there to give you what you want the saddest commentary on the church in almost any period of its existence is the kind of leadership it tolerates the prophet Jeremiah had to say the prophets prophesied falsely

46:19 and my people love to have it so why? error always makes men feel comfortable in their sins truth is according to godliness so it goes after a man's sins so we have a built in aversion to truth in terms of our remaining corruption don't we? we have a built in affinity for error yes we do and you see the reason men embrace error is not because they have intellectual problems with the truth they have moral and ethical problems with the truth Jesus said this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than the light and they will not come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved oh dear people it's an awesome responsibility to have the deposit of the truth and to believe that under god we are charged as a people as well as official overseers to preserve and guard that truth and if you just look at this opening paragraph you say what are those great truths? those great truths that form the spectrum of the revealed message you just go through this first paragraph let me just give you a little suggestion you can meditate further at your leisure as I see my time is almost gone already look at the great concepts

47:42 Paul a bond slave of god an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of god's elect the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness in hope of eternal life is god who cannot lie promised before times eternal in his own season manifested in the word of the message do you see the profound theological concepts all bound up in a man's greetings you have the uniqueness of the apostolic office an apostle of Jesus Christ the blessedness of voluntary servitude to god bond slave of god you have the election of grace the faith of god's elect you have eternal life as the crowning blessing of the gospel god is the sovereign lord of history manifested in his own time god is the giver of a fixed body of truth these are the things dear people that form the rich deposit of truth and we have a solemn responsibility to cling to those great concepts but not only so the body of truth contains very practical things chapter two in chapter two you have the apostle delineating the responsibilities of older men and younger men indicating there are fixed domestic responsibilities

Call to Action: Study, Confidence, and Proclamation of Truth

49:08 and functions and divine guidelines for domestic relationships unchanging ethical and moral standards and he says to Titus these things you are to teach you are to exhort now what's the purpose of my saying all of this it is that we as god's people will feel the pressure of this great principle that it is the truth which is according to godliness and if that is so each of us must feel a renewed responsibility with respect to that truth I close with this very practical word of direction if we've heard anything of what's been said this morning then we've heard a fresh summons to the reverent study of the truth as it is embodied in the word of god if the truth which is according to godliness and that truth is embodied in the scriptures then we dare not allow neglect of this book either in our private reading and meditation upon it or in the public teaching and proclamation of that truth ever to mark us and I would be greatly surprised if it were not true that the disrupted schedule of the summer months has taken its toll upon many of you and there's been an erosion of the discipline of private meditation

50:36 and reflection upon the word of god an erosion of your faithful attendance at Sunday school an erosion of your faithful attendance perhaps Lord's Day evening my friend listen it is in these places that truth is taught and preached and without that truth you will not make advances in godliness and don't you say you're pursuing godliness when you neglect the very means ordained to produce it any more than you tell me that you're pursuing good health and you neglect a well-balanced diet and as we stand on the threshold of entering a new building and into new contexts in a new context of new contacts or how we need to be as a congregation as well as official servants of the word those whose souls are perpetually soaked in the truth so it's a summons to a renewed commitment to the study of the word of god privately and publicly it's also a summons to renewed confidence in the whole word of god oh that we may come to that conviction that the whole council of god is productive of a balanced life of godliness and that we'll never sit there and sigh as i've seen some of you almost do

52:03 when the leader of the service says now for our consecutive reading you ought to lean forward with all the eagerness of a man who's being fed his favorite piece of meat the reading of the word of god think of it for centuries throughout the great masses of humanity no one could stand and say that god had given the deposit to one little nation in palestine and here we have the privilege and yet we despise our great privilege don't we i say this constitutes a summons to renewed confidence and eager expectation to know the mind of god in all of its breadth and then finally it's a summons to a renewed determination to get this word of god out to others at any cost do you groan as you see the ungodliness on every hand do you have any capacity to feel inward pain at the abounding ungodliness there's only one thing that will check it and it's not putting reagan in the white house it is no platform of any political thing within the whole spectrum

53:29 the most rapid right wing to the most woolly-headed left wing which alone will give birth to godliness but that truth cannot give birth to godliness until it impinges on men's minds and then upon their hearts and upon their affections and their wills by the power of the holy ghost but the holy ghost isn't going to speak it to them directly he's going to speak it through you and through me and therefore we have a solemn obligation to pray if indeed we are praying for a return to godliness in our nation in our homes in our communities in our neighborhoods it is truth and truth alone which gives birth to godliness and god's put that truth in our hands as the people of god and oh how we need to pray and then seek with sanctified wisdom to take appropriate steps to get this word into the hands of others pastor Ernie Reisinger in his closing message at the conference spoke on soul winning and one of the things he said that so moved many of us he said there are many of you who could never by temperament and everything else walk up to an individual introduce the subject of the gospel and give them a five minute summary of the gospel but he said this

54:58 who among you cannot write a letter to a relative

55:04 an evangelistic letter who among you he said cannot sit down and just pen a few lines urging someone to consider the claims of Christ enclose a tract or a little booklet now you see the problem is not our lack of ability it's either our lack of conviction that truth alone is the mother of godliness or our lack of love for truth which is the mother or our lack of love for the ungodly who desperately need that truth and whichever it may be in any one of our cases may we cry to God for such a love for that truth which is the mother of godliness and such a love for those who are held in the grip of their ungodliness that we will be determined to bring that truth to them at any cost that was the history of the apostles life as he saw the ungodliness of the Roman Empire and he describes it in Romans 1 what did he do wherever he went he brought the truth what truth? not truth in the world's sense of that term but he brought the truth of the gospel fixed unalterable propositional truth concerning God and man and the one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus the demands of repentance and faith and then the outworkings of that response

56:32 in a life of godliness it is the truth which accords with godliness truth and truth alone is the mother of godliness I commend for your meditation the book of Titus with that principle in mind and you'll see how it is woven through the entirety God willing next week we'll take up the corollary godliness is the inevitable and necessary child of the truth let us pray our father we are indeed grateful that to us who by nature are shrouded in darkness chained by our ignorance and our love of the darkness truth has come to us in the person of your son and in the power of the spirit by means of the message of scripture and that many of us can testify that our chains which bound us to our lust to our self-will have been broken and though we are painfully conscious of so much in us that is unlike your son and displeasing to you we are equally conscious that we can say with Peter Lord you know

57:59 that we love you and that loving you we desire to please you by a life conformed to your revealed will in the scriptures right upon the heart of this congregation this great principle that truth and truth alone is the mother of godliness give us a love for the truth that we will be prepared to teach and to instruct and to admonish men in the truth and prepared where necessary to convict the gainsayers to oppose error to stand up against anything that would raise itself against your revealed mind in the scriptures we pray that from our ranks you will raise up men who will become mighty heralds of that truth who will love the truth and hate error who will preach the truth and defend the truth and then we pray for us as a congregation that you will come to us with a fresh infusion of Christ-like love to the souls of the ungodly about us and that it will be our determination to bring the truth to them oh god help us we pray that we may know that we may be graciously aggressive in seeking to bring the truth to men we pray for those who are yet in their sins to whom the truth of the gospel has never come with power we pray that they may be haunted

59:28 with the things they've heard this morning and have no rest until they too have come to embrace the truth as it is in Christ seal then your word to our hearts bless the further meditations of this day and for these mercies we will give you our praise through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen