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Title: Show and Tell Text: Titus 3:12-15 FCF: We often struggle showing and speaking our love for our fellow Christians. Prop: Because we are united in faith that produces love for each other, we must show and speak love to our brothers and sisters. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Titus 3. Today we will wrap up Paul’s final words to Titus. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Paul stays remarkably on theme, even in his closing remarks to Titus. It is almost as if Paul cannot help but put this message into everything he says. And what is that message? Don’t worry – this week are you going to hear it a few times. [Slide 2] Doctrine received in true faith produces a person conformed to Christ. Today, Paul teaches by way of implication. He tells Titus to show and tell true Christian love which flows from the unity of those who are in the faith. Lord willing we will see this theme easily enough. I will begin reading in verse 12. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1346. Transition: And so, although this sermon is not a long one – it does attempt to conclude all that Paul has said to Titus. And in doing that, it cuts to the heart of the matter for many of us. I.) Unity in faith produces love toward one another, so we minister to one another through acts of love. (12-14) a. [Slide 3] 12 – When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, i. As Paul closes out his letter to Titus he has some final words for his hammer. A couple final instructions for the man he knows will see it done. ii. First, is that he is sending relief. iii. Relief in the form of either of these men coming to replace Titus. iv. What is clear is that Paul does not know which he will send. v. But who are these men? vi. The first man Artemas we know nothing about. He is not mentioned anywhere else in scripture. vii. The second man, Tychicus (which is really fun to say), we do see mentioned in a few places. 1. [Slide 4] In Acts 20, we see him as a companion of Paul from the province of Asia. This doesn’t mean China or Russia, rather this means Asia Minor. He is from the south western part of Asia minor which is just in view on your map. He is listed with another from that province, Trophimus, who we learn in the next chapter of Acts is from Ephesus. Perhaps his brother? 2. Tychicus was sent with Onesimus to deliver the prison epistles which are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon although he is not mentioned in Philippians or Philemon. 3. We will also see him again in II Timothy, being sent to Ephesus. It seems that he has a lot of history in Ephesus. Perhaps like Trophimus he was from there, especially if they were brothers. 4. So what we can say about Tychicus is that he has a history of being a faithful companion of Paul’s. It seems as though his primary function is to be sent to established churches to check in and reinforce teachings and practice. viii. Given that 2 Timothy says that Tychicus is sent from Paul who is in prison in Rome, that probably means that Artemas got the nod from Paul to come to Crete. ix. But why was Titus was being relieved. b. [Slide 5] Do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. i. [Slide 6] It appears that while ministering in Macedonia, in the midsummer, Paul writes to Titus to accomplish his mission there in Crete, and meet him in Nicopolis. ii. As you see on your map, Nicopolis is just south of Macedonia. Because we find out later that Titus is later sent to Dalmatia in 2 Timothy, we can reasonably suspect that Paul was headed further north before being imprisoned again. In fact, Paul may have been arrested in Nicopolis during this winter. The next letter has him in prison writing to Timothy, probably only a year or two after this was penned. iii. Why would Paul stop at Nicopolis if he desired to go further north? One word… winter. iv. Winter on the Adriadic sea is fairly tumultuous. It is a good way to be shipwrecked. Paul was no stranger to that of course – but probably many ships were docked for the winter. v. Paul needs Titus to come to him. Probably because Paul planned to go with him to Dalmatia. vi. But Paul is not just planning to send Titus a replacement – he is also giving him another task to accomplish before he leaves. c. [Slide 7] 13 – Make every effort to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; i. Most likely, these two men carried the letter we are finishing today to Titus. ii. Once again, we are given two names. And once again we know nothing about the first name and a lot about the second. iii. Zenas is not mentioned at all in the New Testament except here of course. We know he is a lawyer, but even in that description it is difficult to know exactly what Paul means. 1. Many times, in the gospels when someone is called a lawyer it is because they are an expert in the Mosaic law. This may still be the case since Apollos, even though we haven’t gotten to him yet, is a Jew who knew the Old Testament well. 2. However, it is just as likely that this is his profession, meaning an expert in civil and Roman law. iv. With Apollos we know much more! 1. First we find him in Acts 18 preaching. He was a Jew from Alexandria, and a disciple of John the Baptist being taught about Jesus but without having ever met or being taught by Jesus. Aquila and Pricilla take him under their wing and refine his understanding of Christ. By the end of their tutelage, he becomes a skilled refuter of those who were still clinging to Judaism and in proving Jesus to be the Messiah. 2. After this, we see him remain in Corinth, no doubt after Paul had visited, to continue discipleship there. Unfortunately, he gained a following which pitted him and his teaching style against Paul and others. Paul writes to correct this after Apollos had moved on. He even says that Apollos will visit them again soon. v. So where are these two going? What is their mission? Well… we don’t know. vi. All we know is… d. [Slide 8] Make sure they have what they need. i. They are coming through Crete, and they are going to need some things. ii. Titus is tasked with making sure that they are given all they need. iii. But this is not just an assignment for Titus to fill. e. [Slide 9] 14 – Here is another way that our people can learn to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful i. This is another opportunity for Paul to get right back to the point of the entire letter. ii. [Slide 10] Doctrine we receive by true faith produces lifestyles conformed to Christ. iii. So what do those who have received Christ’s teaching by true faith do when they have an opportunity to care for traveling preachers of the Word? III John anyone? iv. Care for them! v. So now, not only can Titus prove His true faith- but he can also show the Cretan Christians what to do also… f. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: So in Paul’s final words to Titus he encourages Titus to look up from Crete and look to the future phase of his ministry. But in so doing, he must keep one eye on his role there in Crete toward the body. In the end, Paul conveys God’s people, being united in faith, do lovingly care for one another as an expression of that true faith they possess. g. Passage Application: In application, Titus is to demonstrate how doctrine received in true faith produces a life conformed to Christ, by loving those whom Paul sends. But not him alone. All the Cretan Christians must join in this work too. h. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: As we expand this out to all of scripture, we do find a consistent theme. The heart of the second half of the decalogue is the love for your neighbor. The majority of the moral and civil code for the Jews was basically, love for their neighbor. The entire law can be summarized in two commands, one of which is love for their neighbor. And Christ gives a new law to His disciples, which is to love each other as He loved them. This is not new. God’s people have always been expected by God to give of themselves to each other. i. Broader Biblical Application: And so in application CBC, it is very simple but not very easy. We must be busy about the business that God has set out for us. We minister to true believers both within our small congregation and without, knowing that we share one faith, and are united in love because of it. Transition: [Slide 13 (blank)] So the unity of our faith produces a love for one another which is naturally expressed in works of righteousness toward believers, done in love. But what else should it produce? II.) Unity in faith produces love toward one another, so we must encourage one another in the church. (15) a. [Slide 14] 15 – Everyone with me greets you. i. This is a personal message of encouragement for Titus. This is the singular “you” and not intended for all the rest of the church. ii. How uplifting it would be to be knee deep in all this work on the little island of Crete and be given a letter to remind you of all the work you have to do, and at the very end – hey… everyone here says we love ya and we have been praying for you! b. [Slide 15] Greet those who love us in the faith. i. Now Titus is to take that same love, care, and devotion and tell the Cretan Christians there… ii. Hey, from all of us, we love you all. iii. And not because you are lovable. Not because we are gracious. But because our God is great, our Savior is merciful, and the Spirit binds us! We are one in the Spirit! That is why we can say that we love you… and that is why you can say you love us. iv. And so, again – Paul emphasizes that love comes from faith. And faith comes from the Spirit. v. [Slide 16] Doctrine we receive by true faith produces lifestyles conformed to Christ. vi. We love God and others because God first loved us! c. [Slide 17] Grace be with you all. i. And Paul’s more traditional ending for many of His letters. ii. Grace be with you all. iii. Paul especially, but New Testament writers in general had a love of grace. iv. Favor of God, uncalled for, unseen, undeserved. But power and passion to do as He desires. Ability and Desire gifted by God to His dear children to be what He wants them to be. v. And Paul’s desire is that grace is with them all. He cannot force it to be so, but it is his truest desire. vi. As should be our truest desire and hope for all God’s people. And we can hope in this because God has promised a constant supply of His grace to His people. d. [Slide 18] Passage Truth: Paul continues this theme of unity in faith and how that leads to us loving each other. He demonstrates that by offering encouraging words to Titus and the Cretans there. e. Passage Application: Titus must, in turn, encourage the body with the words from Paul. f. [Slide 19] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to all of scripture we understand that a key part of expressing love toward fellow believers, is by our speech. We encourage, train, edify, communicate the word, exhort, and even rebuke – all with our words. Down through the ages, anyone God has used to minister to His people, have had key roles in speaking life to them. g. Broader Biblical Application: So as we apply this text today – we must be people who love one another in deed. But also in word. We must teach, encourage, edify, exhort, rebuke, build up, and admonish one another. Conclusion: [Slide 20] And so as we reach the conclusion of the book of Titus, we can look both for how this specific text applies to us and how the entire book applies to us as a church. Let’s actually start with the whole book’s message to us. Because the application of the text today fits nicely under it. I’ll repeat it one more time. Hopefully it is sinking in. [Slide 21] Doctrine received in true faith produces a person conformed to Christ. What we have come to believe. What we have been given in faith, produces a people who live differently toward sin, toward God, toward those who share this faith, and toward the world. That is what Paul said to Timothy in 1st Timothy. That is what Paul has said to Titus. And That is what the entire New Testament says to all people who read it. At the risk of being overbearingly redundant. You can decide anything you want. You can pray whatever prayer you want. You can believe all the right things. You can say yes to every doctrine of the church. You can have 100% accurate theology, but if your life is not being conformed progressively to Christ, if your disposition toward sin and God has not changed, if your actions show that you hate God’s people and love the world, being obsessed with its passions and pleasures. My friend, you do not have true faith. You do not have faith given by the Spirit. Mentally agreeing to doctrinal truths and biblical belief are not the same thing. All who receive these truths by true faith, are conformed to Christ. And so, if you claim to be of Christ, the application is – to work out your own salvation. Do so in awe and wonder because as you continue to mine out the good works that God has prepared for you to do, you must know that He is the one that provides to you the power to dig, and the passion for the work. But if you lack passion to do all that God commands, if you lack power to do all God commands, then you must start asking yourself some serious questions. And the first should be – Am I a child of God? Taking this concept and turning it more specifically to this text we see, that one aspect of lifestyle change is that we obey the new command that Christ has given to His disciples. We take the love with which He loved us, and we love one another the same way. Both in deed and word. My friends there are many who are going through difficult times in this small congregation. Things that you know about – and things you’ll probably never know. Trials of great difficulty and temptations of tremendous power. So… how are you being the hands and feet of Christ to these people? And maybe… maybe I don’t need to elaborate on that too much. Maybe that question is piercing enough. How are you being the hands and feet of Christ to one another? Although we are a small body – I hope… I hope that you will invest yourself into one another. That is, after all, how the world will know we are His disciples. By our love for one another.