Five Links in a Golden Chain

Five Links in a Golden Chain

(No. 2439)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1895,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
NOVEMBER 6, 1887.

"To Titus, my own [or, "true"] son after the common faith: Grace,
mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our
Savior." Titus 1:4.

AMONG the friends of Paul, Titus was one of the most useful and one of
the best beloved. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles and Titus was a
Gentile. I should suppose that both his parents were Gentiles and, in
this respect, he differed from Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess.
Timothy would well serve as a preacher to the circumcision, but Titus
would be a man after Paul's heart as a preacher to the Gentiles. He
seems to have been a man of great common sense, so that, when Paul had
anything difficult to be done, he sent Titus. When the collection was
to be made at Corinth on behalf of the poor saints at Jerusalem, Paul
sent Titus to stir the members up and, with him, another brother to
take charge of the contributions. Titus appears to have been a man of
business capacity and strict honesty, as well as a man who could order
the Church aright and preach the Gospel with power.

Paul was, on one occasion, comforted by the coming of Titus. At another
time, he was sad because Titus was not where he had hoped to meet with
him. Though we know little about him from the Acts of the Apostles, or
anywhere else, he appears to have been in every way one of the ablest
of the companions of Paul–and the Apostle takes care to mention him
over and over again in his Epistles to the Galatians and to the
Corinthians–rendering honor to whom honor is due. It is a great pity
when eminent men forget those who help them and it is a sad sign when
any of us do not gratefully feel how much we owe to our coworkers. What
can any servant of God do unless he has kind friends to bear him up by
their prayers and their help? Paul did not forget to mention his friend
and helper, Titus.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, in this particular verse, which I have
chosen for my text, it seems to me that Paul has brought together five
points in which he was one with Titus. It is a great blessing when
Christian men are in union with each other and when they are willing to
talk about the bonds that unite them. The more we can promote true
unity among Christian men, the better. "First pure, then peaceable,"
must be our motto. First, the Truth of God– afterwards, unity in the
Truth. We must not be content with merely contending for the faith–we
must next fight the battles of life–and do all we can to note the
points in which true Christians are agreed. I desire, at this time, to
"stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance," to refresh your
memories in regard to all the love that we have borne to one another in
the days and years that are now past–and to exhort you to a still
closer union in heart unto the Glory of

God.

There are five things in which Paul seems to me to bring out clearly
his union with Titus. I might call them, "five links in a golden
chain." I shall only briefly speak of each of the five and try to apply
them to ourselves.

I. First, Paul says of himself and Titus, that THERE WAS A CLOSE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM– "Titus, my own son."

This was a very close relationship–not that Titus was Paul's son after
the flesh, for there was no natural relationship between them at all.
Probably, in the early part of their lives, they had been total
strangers to one another. But now, Paul views Titus as his son. We
know, Beloved, many of us, that the Grace of God creates relationships
of a very near and tender kind, relationships which will endure through
life, relationships which will outlast death and be, perhaps, even more
strong and vivid in eternity than they are here! Up yonder, where they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, I should think that the
relationships which come of the flesh will, to a large degree, be
merged in their celestial condition, but there, the sonship of Titus
towards Paul is even stronger than it was when they were here below.

How comes that sonship? It comes, often, through God blessing a
ministry to the conversion of a soul. Henceforth, he who has spoken the
Word with power to the heart bears to him who has heard it the
relationship of a father to a son. There are many in this place to whom
I stand in this most hallowed relationship. You recognize it, I know,
and I desire to express my intense and fervent love to the many of you
who have been born unto God by the preaching of the Word here. I do not
know of anything that has more greatly comforted me during the last
week or two, in the time of sharp contention for the faith, than the
reception of so many letters from persons of whom I have never heard
before, saying, "You do not know me, but you are my spiritual father,
and now, at such a time of trial as this is to you, I must write and
send you a word of good cheer." It is always a marvel to me that my
feeble testimony should ever be blessed to the conversion of a seeking
soul, but when I think of the hundreds and the thousands–yes, I am not
exaggerating when I say thousands– whom I have met with here on earth,
and the many more, at present unknown to me, whom I hope to meet with
either here or in Heaven, I do rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice! And I
cannot help expressing my great love to all those who have been brought
to the Savior by the words which I have preached and published.

The Apostle Paul not only said of Titus that he was his son, but he
called him his "true" son. The Revised Version correctly translates it,
"My true child." We have, alas, some who have called us, "father," in a
spiritual sense, of whom we have cause to be ashamed. There are
converts and converts. There are those who say they have received the
Word and, perhaps, they have after the poor fashion in which the brain
can receive it, but they have never received it in the heart– so,
after running well, for a while, they grow weary and turn aside. And
then the gainsayer says, "That is one of your converts!" They throw
this in our teeth and we do not wonder that they should do so. These
base-born ones, these who have no part nor lot in the matter, though
they pretend to have it–these are a perpetual grief to us–a wound in
our spirit which is hard to bear. But, oh, what a mercy it is when we
know that many of our converts are our "true" spiritual children, in
whom the work of repentance was deep, and whose profession of faith was
sincere–who are not the products of free will, but the products of the
Holy Spirit–and who bring forth fruit, not of themselves, but their
fruit is found in Christ Jesus to whom they are eternally joined! Oh,
those of you, between whom and myself there is this intimate
relationship, let us feel some touch of this sacred kinship and rejoice
before God that we feel it!

But, Beloved, many of you are joined together by spiritual ties in
other relationships. You, also, have been the means of bringing souls
to Christ and there are those sitting by your side who, for that
reason, look upon you with great love. Others of you are Brothers and
Sisters in Christ–there is a brotherhood produced by the Christian
life that will remain when other brotherhoods have all disappeared. An
ungodly man may be the literal brother of a saint, but they will be
separated in that day when there shall be weeping at the Judgment Seat
of Christ. And they shall be eternally separated, for, though they
seemed to be of one family, they were really of two families–the one
an heir of wrath, the other receiving Grace to become a child of God.

But Beloved, as many of you as believe in Jesus Christ are members of
one family. You are related to one another in the highest possible way
through the kinship of the spiritual life. Therefore let us now salute
each other in the Lord. Standing or sitting in our places and without
using any outward sign or symbol, let our hearts go out to one another
in loving greeting. As one family we dwell in Christ, knit to one
another by ties of sympathy, love and mutual delight, because knit to
Christ Jesus the Lord! I want you to feel that blessed union. Let us
make this service a sort of family gathering, as when the father stands
up at the head of the table at Christmas time, or on New Year's Day,
and says that he is glad to see all the family at home once more. I
seem to stand among you, thus, not as the oldest in years, but still
the chief official member of this Church–and I salute you all, and bid
you rejoice together because of ties of love which time cannot loose
and death, itself, cannot dissolve!

II. Then the Apostle, wishing to show how real was the union between
himself and Titus, next mentioned that THEY WERE BRETHREN BY A COMMON
FAITH–"Titus, my true son after the common faith."

Yes, Beloved, and our faith is also common. It is the same faith in two
respects. First, because we believe the same truths and, secondly,
because we believe them with "like precious faith." We who are rightly
members of this Tabernacle Church have believed the same Truths of
God–there is no dispute or discussion among us about the fundamentals
of our faith. To us, there is one God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To
us, there is one Mediator–Jesus Christ the Savior. We believe in the
election of Grace by the Divine Father. We believe in the vicarious
Sacrifice of the Eternal Son. We believe in the regenerating work of
the Holy Spirit and in the need of it in the case of every living man,
woman and child.

We believe in "one Lord, one faith, one Baptism." I feel intensely
grateful for this unity of faith. A Church divided in its
doctrine–what can it do? If it has to spend its strength in continual
debate! What force has it with which to conquer the world? But knowing,
as we know, that the Scriptures are our unerring guide, that the Holy
Spirit is the Infallible Explainer of the Scriptures, we come to one
common fountain to learn what we are to receive, and we receive it with
one common anointing, even the anointing of the Spirit of God!

This unity of the faith is one of the things in which we ought
continually to rejoice. I hope that I love all Christians, yet I cannot
help saying that when I sit down and talk with a Brother who believes
the Doctrines of Grace, I feel myself a great deal more at home than I
do when I am with one who does not believe them. Where there is the
unity of the faith, there seems to be a music which creates
harmony–and that harmony is delightful to the renewed spirit. God
grant, dear Friends, that none of us may err from the faith, but that
we may be steadfast, immovable, firmly fixed in our belief of the great
Doctrines of the Gospel, for this is the way in which we are made truly
one!

Then Paul says that he and Titus were one, "after the common faith,"
that is, the one faith was believed by them in the same way. There is
only one faith worth having. Paul calls it, in the first verse, "the
faith of God's elect." It is real faith, cordial faith, childlike
faith, God-given faith! It is not a faith that springs out of human
nature unaided by the Holy Spirit, but it is precious faith–faith
which is the gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit! Now, if we
believe only intellectually, we do not enter into sympathy with one
another as we do when we both believe spiritually, with heart and soul,
from the very depths of our being.

Beloved, I trust that I can say of myself and of you, also, that we
have received faith as a gift from God. Here, then, is another sacred
tie binding us together. You have that jewel of faith gleaming on your
bosom and here are others who have the same precious gem–and by that
very fact you are drawn to each other. Your faith and my faith, if they
are both true faith, are, "the common faith." I may have very little
faith and you may have the full assurance of understanding, but your
faith and mine are of the same sort. Your faith may be but as a grain
of mustard seed and your friend's faith may have grown into a tree, but
it is the same faith–it clings to the same Christ and will produce the
same eternal results in the salvation of the soul! Come, then, let us
spiritually shake hands, again, over this second point. First, we are
closely related to one another. Secondly, we possess a common faith,
which is a wonderful bond of union between us.

III. Carefully note the third link. It is this–WE HAVE A MUTUAL
BENEDICTION, for Paul wishes for Titus,

"Grace, mercy and peace." This is just what Titus would have wished for
Paul if he had been sending him a benediction! And I wish to you,
Beloved, "Grace, mercy and peace," and I think you are, in your hearts,
wishing for me, also, "Grace, mercy, and peace." We all alike need
these three choice favors!

First, we need "Grace" to help. I know how it is with the weak
Believer–he sees some brave Christian doing mighty works for God and
he says, "Oh, I wish that I were like he is! Oh, that I were as strong
as he is!" And he gets the notion that this more prominent worker has
no fainting fits or weaknesses such as he has. Oh, no–he supposes that
his Brother's head is bathed in everlasting sunshine and that his heart
is continually flooded with rivers of delight! That shows, my Friend,
that you are greatly mistaken, for the most eminent saint has no more
Grace to give away than the least in the family of God has! I sometimes
wish that I could rid the minds of our dear trembling friends, Miss
Much-Afraid and Mr. Despondency, of the ideas they have concerning some
of us to whom they look up with esteem. I am not going to let you into
all our secrets, but, believe me, our heads ache as much as yours and
our eyes are sometimes as wet with tears as ever yours are! Yes, and
our hearts get quite as heavy as yours do.

"Yes," you say, "very likely, but then, somehow or other, you are
stronger than we are." Just so, but suppose you have to carry 50 pounds
and you can carry that and no more? Well, you have strength enough for
your task. If another man has to carry 100 pounds and he can just carry
that, and no more, he is in exactly the same condition as you are! Here
is a Brother who has a large measure full of manna which he is carrying
for the supply of his family. Here is another who has quite a small
measure and, as he carries it into his tent, he says to himself, "Oh, I
wish that I had that great bushel of manna that my Brother took into
his tent just now." Yes, but listen–"he that gathered much had nothing
over, and he that gathered little had no lack." Mark you, I do not
discourage the attempt to gather much Grace, I would urge you to get
all you can of it, for, however much you gather, you will have none too
much, but I would discourage your despair if there should seem to be
but little falling to your share, for you shall have no need! The fact
is, all of us need Grace. You who preach the Gospel, you who are
deacons, you who are elders, you who teach the infant class, you who
can only give away a tract–you must do all these works with Grace or
else you will not really do them at all! And our need of Grace is a
common meeting place for us all. Only Grace can save you and only Grace
can save me–and the Grace of God shall be given to us and all
Believers as we have need of it.

Our next need is, "mercy" to forgive. Titus, perhaps, thought to
himself, "Well, Paul wishes mercy for me, but can hardly wish it for
himself, for he is such an eminent servant of God, so holy, so
consecrated, so zealous, so self-denying that he does not need mercy."
I reminded you, in our reading, that Paul, in writing to a Church,
says, "Grace be to you, and peace," but when he writes to a minister,
he says, "Grace, mercy and peace." It looks as though ministers needed
more mercy than their people did! And it is my firm conviction that the
more eminent is their office and the more remarkable is their
usefulness in the service of God, the more mercy they require!
Brothers, how can we meet our responsibilities unless we constantly
cry, "Lord, have mercy upon us"? How can we deal faithfully with the
souls committed to our charge and be clear of the blood of all men,
unless the Lord shall have mercy upon us, and upon us beyond all
others?

All of us, then, need mercy. I do. Do not you? You are only a plain man
with a family growing up around you, but you need mercy for your sins
as the head of the household. Perhaps you are only a domestic servant,
my Sister, but you need mercy even in that humble calling of yours.
You, perhaps, dear Friend, are very rich–oh, you need much mercy! And
you, on the other hand, are very poor–I am sure that you need mercy.
Some of you are in good health. You need mercy lest you should pervert
that strength to an evil purpose. Others of you are very sickly–you
may well cry for mercy, that you may bear up under your many pains and
depressions of spirit. We all need mercy. So that is another point in
which we are one.

The third word of the benediction is "peace" to comfort. I hope that
many of us know what peace of conscience means, what peace with God
means and what peace with man means. If God has given us His peace, it
is a treasure of untold value, "the pearl of great price." To be at
peace with God is better than to be a millionaire, or Czar of all the
Rus-sias. Peace of mind, restfulness of heart, quiet of spirit,
deliverance from care, from quarrelling, from complaining–I know that
I need that kind of peace–and you need it, too, do you not? You need
it in your family, in your business, in your own hearts! Well, then,
here we meet, again, having this same need of peace and, when we get
it, we meet once more in finding the same delicious enjoyment of it! I
wish to you, Beloved, now and henceforth, Grace, mercy and peace! And I
believe that you wish the same to me. And herein, again, we join our
hands and bless God that we feel true union of heart.

IV. Upon the next part of my subject, which is more weighty, still, I
must say but little. It is this–"Grace, mercy and peace, from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." That is, WE ARE ONE IN THE SOURCE OF
EVERY BLESSING.

All good comes to us from God the Father through the one Mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. I love to think of this–that all the
Grace, mercy and peace that come to you–and all the Grace, mercy and
peace that come to me, come from the heart of God! How many wagons
there are upon the road of Grace and all of them heavily laden! One
stops at that Brother's door and another waits at this Sister's gate,
but they all started from one spot. Look on the side of the wagons and
you will see the name of the same Proprietor on every one of them! "The
chariots of God are twenty thousand," but they are all the Lord's, so
that whatever Grace, mercy and peace come to us at all, come from the
same place! Get to the very foundation of this Truth of God and you
will see that we who believe all eat bread baked in the same oven, our
clothes come out of the same wardrobe, the water that we drink comes
from the same Rock! Yes, and the shoes that we wear were made by the
same mighty Worker who bade Moses say to Israel of old, "Your shoes
shall be iron and brass; and as your days, so shall your strength be."
You have not anything that is worth having but what your Father gave to
you! And your Father is my Father–and the hand that passes the
blessing to you passes the blessing to me and to the whole family of
Believers!

These blessings not only all come from the same source, but they all
come by the same channel–"the Lord Jesus Christ." There is the sacred
blood mark on every Covenant blessing, whether you have it, or your
Brother has it, or some Christian far away in India gets it. It all
comes by the same Divinely-appointed Channel–the Man, the God, Christ
Jesus our Lord! I do not know how you feel about this matter, but it
seems to me as if this ought to bind us very closely together. I
remember when I first left my grandfather, with whom I had been brought
up as a little child, how grieved I was to part from him. It was the
great sorrow of my little life. Grandfather seemed very sorry, too, and
we had a cry together. He did not quite know what to say to me, but he
said, "Now child, tonight, when the moon shines and you look at it,
don't forget that it is the same moon your grandfather will be looking
at." And for years, as a child, I used to love the moon because I
thought that my grandfather's eyes and my own somehow met there on the
moon! How much better it is to think that you, dear Friend, going so
far away to Australia, are looking to the Savior, while we are doing
the same thing, here, and so our eyes meet! You go to God at the Mercy
Seat in prayer and that is just where we go–so, after all, we pray at
the same sacred spot and our petitions meet at the great Throne of
Mercy! Thus we are made to feel our blessed union in Christ.

Some people say that they try to remember other people, but if you
really love them, you will not "try" to remember them–you will not be
able to keep from remembering them! Their image will come up before
your mind's eye. You cannot avoid it and you will not wish to avoid it.
So, dear Friends, we will not say that we will try to remember each
other while we are parted a while–but every blessing that comes to us
shall remind us that it comes from our Father, through Jesus Christ our
Mediator–and so we shall feel that we are truly one.

V. Then, to close, there is one more point of union and that lies in
OUR COMMON RELATIONSHIP TO OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. See how Paul puts it,
"The Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."

I must dwell briefly upon every word of this title. First, Jesus is
Lord to all His people–and equally to be obeyed by them all, and
adored by them all. It is important that, with bowed knee and reverent
love, we call Him Lord and God. We put our finger into the print of the
nails and the wound in His side, confessing that He is and must be real
Man, but, at the same moment, we cry with Thomas, "My Lord and my God."
I cannot pretend to have any union with the man who cannot, from his
heart, say that! If you do not count Christ to be God, well, go your
way, my fellow man, and I will go mine–but your way and my way cannot
be the same. We know that this is the Christ of God, and he who does
not know it needs to be taught of God the very first principles of the
Gospel. So, you see, we have a true unity in the Lordship of Christ–we
desire, as one man, to be obedient to all His commands and to worship
Him as "very God of very God."

Then comes the next word, "the Lord Jesus Christ." That will come again
when I speak of the word, "Savior," so I pass on to the following word,
"the Lord Jesus Christ." He is, to all of us who believe, the Anointed
One, so anointed that every Word that Jesus Christ has spoken is to us
Infallibly Inspired. We believe in Jesus, not only as men say they do,
today, but we really believe in Jesus, for we believe in His Doctrine,
in that which He, Himself spoke, and in that which He spoke by His
Inspired Apostles. We cannot separate between Christ and the Truth He
came to preach, and the work He came to do–nor will we attempt to do
so. He is to us the Anointed of God, as Prophet, Priest and King–and
we accept Him in all the offices for which He bears that anointing, do
we not, my Brothers and Sisters? I know that we do! As Brothers and
Sisters in one common faith, we rejoice in the common Christ whose
anointing has fallen upon us, too. Though we are but as the skirts of
the garment of our Great High Priest, yet the holy oil upon His head
has come down even to us, as it is written, "you have an unction from
the Holy One."

The Apostle further writes, "The Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."
Sometimes, in the Bible, we find the Lord Jesus Christ called, "a
Savior." "Unto you is born in the city of David a Savior, which is
Christ the Lord." That is good, but it is not good enough for what poor
sinners need. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not a Savior among other
saviors, though He does instrumentally make His people saviors, as it
is written, "saviors shall come up on Mount Zion; and happy are they
who, as instruments in His hands, save souls from death, and hide
multitudes of sins." But Jesus is also called "the Savior." He is "the
Savior of all men, specially of those that believe"–the Savior,par
excellence.

Then, next, He is my Savior, as Mary sang, "My spirit has rejoiced in
God my Savior." Oh, that is sweet, indeed–to get a personal grip of
Him and to know that He has saved me from despair, from sin, from the
power of evil, from death, from Hell! But there is, in some respects, a
superior sweetness in this plural pronoun, "our Savior." Selfishness is
gone when we come to feel an intense delight in this Truth of God–that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of many more beside ourselves. "Our
Savior"–does not this bind us to one another? A common delight in one
person is one of the strongest bands of sympathetic union that can bind
men together–and a common obligation to some one superior Being
becomes a great reason for our being knit together in love. My Savior,
your Savior, our Savior–"The Lord Jesus Christ our Savior." Whenever
we feel any disposition to break off from this Brother and from that,
whom we know to be, after all, saved in the Lord, let us come together
with a fresh clasp of the hands as we say to one another, "We rejoice
in our Savior and we are one in Him."

What I want to say–as a parting word, before I leave you once more for
my season of rest–is just this. Let us keep close together, now,
shoulder to shoulder, if ever we did so in all our lives. "Close your
ranks!" must be the message to the faithful in these evil days. Let us
feel heart touching heart in the deepest and truest Christian
affection, for, in proportion as we are welded together in love, we
shall be strong for all the practical purposes for which the Holy
Spirit intends a Church to be used.

These 34 years–is not that the number?–they are so many, I begin to
forget the number–a third of a century have I served among you as a
preacher of the Gospel! I am always fearing that I shall get "flat,
stale and unprofitable," and that my voice will cease to have any music
for you, but there is one thing I know, from the first day I came among
you until now, I have preached nothing but "the glorious Gospel of the
blessed God!" "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified!" And I am not afraid
that that Gospel will ever get "flat, stale, or unprofitable." And this
is the golden chain which has bound us together in holy fellowship.
This is the foundation on which we have built–"One Lord, one faith,
one Baptism." Yes, one Baptism–there are others who hold another
baptism, but we know of no outward baptism but the immersion of the
Believer into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! And
upon this point we are all agreed, as we are upon the rest of the
articles of our faith.

So, being one, let us show to all the world what the power of Christian
unity really is! Keep together in the Prayer Meetings. Never let those
precious gatherings decay or drop. If you have come together in large
numbers–and you have in my presence–do so much more in my absence.
Let each one feel bound to meet with his Brothers and Sisters in
prayer. I am longing for a genuine revival of religion–a revival of
religion everywhere–and I think I can see signs that it is coming. I
find that many of the Baptist ministers who love the Gospel are going
over the groundwork, preaching the fundamental doctrines more than they
ever did –that is a good thing. I find that the Churches are meeting
together for prayer at this juncture more than they have done, seeking
that God will help and guide them to be faithful–that also is a good
thing.

And people are talking about the plan of salvation–on the tops of
omnibuses and in the railway carriages– everywhere it comes up as a
subject of debate! In the daily papers the same theme is brought
forward, for which I thank God. And though I have had to bear my share
of reproach for the Truth's sake, yet I joyfully accept it. Anything
which can call public attention to the Gospel of Christ is a help to us
and I believe that the attention called to this question is hopeful,
that the discussion of it by so many is still more hopeful and that the
firm adherence to the faith, which I see in so many, will be attended
by an intense zeal for the conversion of souls–and then we shall see a
revival. God has been hindered and hampered by the false doctrine and
heresy that have been cherished in so many of the churches–and the
Spirit of God has been grieved and driven away by the utter rottenness
of worldliness that has been indulged in by so many professing
Christians. By God's Grace we have let a little light into this
darkness. By God's Grace we have opened a door, here and there, and a
clear cold draft is blowing out some of the fog and the evil gases of
the stagnant atmosphere that has been poisoning our people far too
long.

Now is our time, Brothers and Sisters! Let us, as one man, pray God to
send this benediction from on high– "Grace, mercy and peace." I charge
you, while I am away, to be instant in and out of season about this
matter and to let this be a special object of supplication with the
members of this Church–that we should have a revival of religion here,
at any rate, while the pastor is away. It is better for it to come
while he is away, for nobody will then put the credit of it upon any
instrument. Break out, heavenly fire! Descend! Descend! Descend! Let
the sacrifice be consumed!

As for you who do not know and love the Lord, we love you, we desire to
bring you into the blessed circle of love by the door of faith in
Christ. Look alone to Jesus Christ, who is the only way of salvation
for you as for us. Oh, that you would look to Him and live! God grant
it, for Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: TITUS1; 2

While reading this chapter we must understand that Titus was sent to
Crete to superintend the preaching of the Gospel throughout that
island. Crete was, at that time, inhabited by a people who were only
partially civilized, and sunk in the very worst of vices. Paul,
therefore, tells Titus to speak to them about things which would hardly
be mentioned to Christians nowadays.

Titus 1:1-4. 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 has in due times
manifested His Word through preaching, which is committed unto me
according to the commandment of God our Savior; to Titus, my own son
after the common faith: Grace, mercy and peace, from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. You have probably noticed that Paul's
benediction, when he is writing to a minister, is always. "Grace, mercy
and peace." Writing to Churches, his usual formula is, "Grace be to you
and peace," but God's servants, called to the work of the ministry,
need very special "mercy"–as if the higher the office, the greater the
liability to sin and, therefore, in his Pastoral Epistles, whether he
is addressing Titus or Timothy, Paul wishes for his sons in the faith,
"Grace, mercy and peace." Oh, what a mercy it will be for any of us
ministers if, at the last, we are clear of the blood of all men! If,
having been called to preach the Gospel, we shall do it so faithfully
as to be acquitted and even rewarded by our Lord and Master, it will be
mercy upon mercy! [This "charge" of the beloved Pastor has even more
force and pathos now that he has gone "away" to Heaven.]

5, 6. For this cause left I you in Crete, that you should set in order
the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had
appointed you: if any are blameless, the husband of one wife. For there
were many converts, there, who had two or three wives. Whatever
position they might be permitted to occupy in the Church, they could
not become offi-cers–they must keep in the rear rank.

6-12. Having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a
bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not
soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy,
temperate; holding fast the faithful Word as he has been taught, that
he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers,
specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who
subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy
lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own. According
to Jerome, this was Epimenides, a prophet-poet who lived in Crete in
the sixth century before Christ.

12. Said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. They
were a degraded people and, therefore, those who would teach them had a
most difficult task and needed great Grace. Paul exhorts Titus that
only specially fit men– men whose example would have influence and
whose characters would have weight–should be allowed to be elders in
such Churches.

13-16. This witness is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they
may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish fables, and
commandments of men that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things
are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing
pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that
they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and
disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. This was bad soil, but
it had to be plowed, sown and, with an Almighty God at the back of the
Gospel plower and sower, a fruitful harvest came even in Crete! We need
not be afraid of the adaptation of the Gospel to the lowest of the low.
If there is any quarter of the town where the people are more sunken in
vice than anywhere else, there the Gospel is to be carried with more
prayer and more faith than anywhere else! Depend upon it, God can bless
His Word anywhere–among Cretans or among any other sort of degraded
people.

Titus 2:1. But speak you the things which become sound doctrine. There
are certain things which are suitable to go with sound doctrine–they
are meet and fit and appropriate thereto.

2. That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in
charity, in patience. Among the heathen, old men often gave themselves
up to drunkenness and gluttony. So, now, this is the teaching that is
to be given to aged Christian men. They need faith, love and patience,
as well as the virtues of sobriety, gravity and temperance! The
infirmities of old age often create petulance, so the Grace of God is
to make the venerable Christian to be full of faith, love and patience.

3. The aged women, likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes
holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good
things. Old women also among the heathen were often addicted to the
taking of much wine, so here they are cautioned against it by the
Spirit of God. They are also tempted to spread slanderous reports
against people–having little to do in their old age, they are apt to
do that little by way of mischief–so they are warned that they are not
to be "false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good
things." And how beautifully can an aged Christian woman, by her kindly
example, be a teacher of good things! There is no more charming sight
under Heaven, I think, than that of an elderly Christian lady whose
words and whose whole life are such as becomes the Gospel of Christ.

4, 5. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their
husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at
home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not
blasphemed. There were some women who supposed that the moment they
became Christians, they were to run about everywhere. "No," says the
Apostle, "let them stay at home." There is no gain to the Christian
Church when the love, the industry and the zeal, which ought to make a
happy home, are squandered upon something else. The young women of
Crete appear to have been such that they needed to be taught "to love
their husbands." That expression does not occur elsewhere in Scripture.
Christian women do not need to be told to love their husbands, but
these Cretans, just brought out of the slough of sin, had to be taught
even this lesson. Oh, what a blessing is love in the marriage
relationship! And what a gracious influence love has upon children! How
are they to be brought up aright except the whole house be perfumed
with love?

6. Young men, likewise, exhort to be sober-minded. That exhortation is
as necessary in London as it was in Crete! Young men often know a great
deal, or think they do–and they are very apt to be intoxicated with
the idea of knowing so much and being able to do so much–so that the
exhortation to them is to "be sober-minded."

7-9. In all things showing yourself a pattern of good works: in
doctrine showing incorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that
cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be
ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants–Or, as it
might and should be rendered, "bond-slaves."

9, 10. To be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well
in all things; not answering again; not purloining. Not picking and
stealing, which very naturally was the common habit of slaves–and who
wonders at it in their wretched condition?

10. But showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of
God our Savior in all things. Is not that a wonderful passage? Here is
a slave, able to be an ornament to the Gospel of Christ! This blessed
Gospel is not sent only to kings and princes! When Paul preached it,
the great mass of the population were in cruel bondage, treated like
dogs, or even worse. Yet the Gospel even had a message for them–it
told them that they might, by a godly character, adorn the doctrine of
God, their Savior!

11-15. For the Grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should
live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; looking for
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our
Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himselffor us, that He might redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all
authority. Let no man despise you.