 Let's begin reading here together in Titus chapter 3. We'll begin at verse 8 and read to the conclusion of the chapter and get into our study. Beginning at verse 8, reading to verse 15. Paul writes, this is a faithful saying and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions and strivings about the law for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. When I send Artemis to you or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Xenus the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. Now let me give you a summary of Titus and move into our conclusion that we'll be looking at here in verses 8 through 15. We need to remember that Paul has been instructing Titus, the pastor in Crete, and he's been instructing him to set in order those things that are lacking in the churches. There in Crete he was especially commanded and we saw this in the first chapter to deal with the intrusion of false teachers. Now as we have already seen, false teachers began to enter the church very early in the history of the church. These particular false teachers were bringing in Jewish legalism and when they brought Jewish legalism in, it began to undermine the work of grace. And so Paul was describing, and we saw this, describing these false teachers and he used certain words that I'll remind you of. He spoke of them as being insubordinate. The word insubordinate means to reject authority. They were rejecting biblical authority. In other words, they were unwilling to submit to the word of God. These false teachers will not submit to God's word too. He said they're idle talkers. An idle talker is someone who speaks of things that really don't matter. They have been called preachers of nonsense. He spoke of them as being deceivers. These people were not only themselves deceived, but they were also mentally seducing other people. Deceiving other people when Paul was speaking of this in Romans 16 verse 18. He said, for such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people. And so these false teachers are not submitted to godly authority. They are preachers of nonsense. They themselves are deceived. They are deceiving other people. And then he said they are subverters. The word subvert means to overturn or overthrow. It speaks of undermining or corrupting, disrupting or upsetting. So Paul said that they were doing this and the reason they were doing this he gave to us was for the sake of dishonest gain. The motivation of their quote unquote ministry was greed. Their motives were based on the love of money and they were making merchandise of people. There's a commentator that I will use. His name is Albert Barnes. And Albert Barnes said religion is the most powerful principle that ever governs the mind. And if a man has the control of that, it is no difficult thing to induce men to give up their worldly possessions. In all ages, there have been imposters who have taken advantage of the powerful principle of religion to obtain money from their deluded followers. And that's what was taking place. We have that to this day where people will send blessed handkerchiefs or blessed prayer mats or I've even heard of someone who was sending out blessed wallets, wallets that would never be empty. But what you had to do is send him $100 and he would send you this blessed wallet that would never be empty. I can't help but wonder why he doesn't just use one himself, but that's something else. These teachers are influencers of people. And because they are, Paul said to combat this we need elders to be established in the church. We went through this. We saw how elders were to be men of character, men of character who were also well versed in scripture. He had said that these elders are to be able by sound teaching to exhort as well as to convict those who are opponents. You see, the false teachers were teaching Jewish fables, but they were also giving commandments of men. And neither of these things would develop people into mature believers. So he said, stop their mouths. So in contrast to these things, Titus was to constantly communicate what would be called healthy or sound doctrine. Because by doing so, the church would become mature and would be in a place that was safe. We saw how he had spoken to the older men, the commands that were given to them. They were to age gracefully. They were to exhibit faith and love. They were to exhibit patience. Older women were to be reverent. They were to avoid gossip and to resist drunkenness. Instead of the bad, they were to do the good. So they were to teach good things, especially to younger women. He said that these older women were to teach younger women how to love their husbands, how to love their children, how to create a loving home, how to be discreet and pure, how to live out the gospel so that's not blasphemed. He said younger men were to be serious minded and slaves were to be the best servants. They were to avoid stealing from their masters and be respectful. Now concerning Titus, Paul commanded him to be an example of what a Christian is. He's to be a pattern he said of good works. In doctrine, he was to have integrity and reverence and incorruptibility and to have sound speech that cannot be condemned. He said in light of the fact that we will all stand before Jesus, we must patiently await his appearance and as we await him we should be living pure lives that are known for good works. He said encourage the church to be good citizens, to be prepared for every good work. He said teach them to be careful in what they say and to be gentle and to be humble. Remember, he said that you were once sinful, so show concern for those who are still lost. Because of God's great mercy and God's grace, he reminded him that God had sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us. It wasn't our works but his mercy that made it possible for us to be saved. He said it's through the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit and the result is, Paul said, we're justified and we're heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We have eternal citizenship, he told Titus, will be glorified in the presence of Jesus. This is something Peter said in 1 Peter 1 3 and 4 when he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven. So this is what we've seen up to this point and so with this in mind Paul is about to close this very short letter to a pastor by the name of Titus and so verse 8 he says, This is a faithful saying, these things I want you to affirm constantly that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to all men or to men. Again, how do you influence a pagan society? Not that we live in one, but how do you influence a pagan society? Well, we're to reach people instead of resenting people. We're to live the kind of life that will cause people to desire the life that we're living. Isn't that an interesting thing to say, but it's true. The life that I live as a Christian should be attractive to the one who doesn't know God. The life that I live as a believer should cause people to wonder what it is that I have that they don't have and should be something that could very well provoke somebody to ask me about this hope that lies within me. Instead of me joining in with the lost crowd to identify with them and act like them and in many ways to appear like them to have the same values as they do. Instead of moving in that direction, my life should be a light that so shines before men. Jesus said that they will glorify my God in heaven. It ought to be such a different life that people will wonder and question about it. And that's what Paul is saying. He's saying a mature church is a church that causes people to wonder about the God they worship. That's a very important thing that's being lost, I think, on churches today, and I could go into this for some time. I actually have the ministry that God has given to me to actually instruct pastors and things like this. And if I were speaking to pastors, I would be saying to the pastors, be very careful that you don't become so current that you forget the gospel in your message. Because it's very possible to do that, to be caught up so much with what's going on around me right now and the solutions for that that I forget, that my main function is to preach a gospel that transforms lives that produces a changed culture. And I need to remember that, and sometimes I can get caught up with the things that are extraneous. They're outside of what I need to make sure that I center on. And so Paul is saying, you need to constantly affirm this. That's what he's saying in verse 8. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly. The things that we've seen up to this point, the things that I just summarized, are the things that you should be teaching the pastors, as well as the sheep that are entrusted to you. These are the things that you should be doing. These are the things that will help them to know the Lord. It's interesting how he uses the word affirm. You notice that he uses that word when he says, I want you to affirm these things. The word affirm means to assert confidently. It speaks of speaking with confidence as well as spiritual authority. And so these are the things you're supposed to affirm as a pastor, Titus. Titus constantly affirmed God's love towards people. Let people know that there is a God, but the God that rules this universe is a God of love. If we were to create a God of our after man's likeness, let's look at that for just a second. And if we were to create a God after man's likeness, then the way that we live, we know that dog eats dog. We know that the bigger has the tendency of praying on the lesser, right? I mean, that's what happens. You see a little fish floating, and then the big fish comes and eats that little fish, and that's just a lot of nature. That's what happens. We see that. The little is devoured by the big. Well, think about that for a moment, and then ask yourself, how is it that God is the most powerful being in the universe, and yet he doesn't destroy that which is less than him? That's called grace and love, and we should be affirming the love of God, because people already know what pain is and anger is. But not everybody knows what love is. Quite a number of people use the word, but don't know what it means, right? Some of us have been victims of people who've said, I love you, but in fact they didn't. They were using us. And so we learned that very early in life. Well, he says, no, you need to constantly affirm these things. Affirm the fact that God loves. God loves so much he sent his son. It wasn't works of righteousness. Sorry, I just, we just read that last week. It's not works of righteousness which we have done, but he saved us. He did it by the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit. So affirm God's love constantly. Constantly affirm the work of the Holy Spirit. Constantly affirm the work of God's spirit as it pertains, especially in the realm of regeneration, how that it isn't works of righteousness, but it's God's grace and mercy. And it's the Holy Spirit who brought conviction in, who indwells us and makes us God's child. So constantly affirm the work of the Holy Spirit. Constantly affirm the grace of Jesus Christ towards us. Constantly remind people, Titus, that Jesus loves us with these legalists who are entering into the church and trying to get them into works, righteousness, rituals. Remind them it's the grace of God. Remind them that they did nothing to add to their salvation outside of the sins that Jesus forgave them of. Remind them of the grace of God. And remind them that they may become great on the face of the planet, but we are heirs of eternal life, citizens of heaven. So constantly assert the importance of salvation. Titus as a pastor and as a leader, faithfully preach and faithfully teach the message of the gospel. It's like what he told Timothy in his last letter that he ever wrote. It's 2 Timothy. And when Paul was closing his letter to another one, the only other one in scripture that he ever refers to as my son, Timothy, he says to him in 2 Timothy 4 verse 2, he says to Timothy preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. Now this command is given throughout scripture. Believers are commanded to take this message and to declare it to others. We saw that in chapter 2 verse 15 where he had said, speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. This is something believers are commanded to do. Like it says in Psalm 40 verse 9, I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly. Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, oh Lord, you yourself know. I've mentioned this on a few occasions recently. I'll remind you one last time as we study this passage here in Titus. I remind you of what the apostle Paul's last words were to the elders that he was meeting with who were from the church of Ephesus. He said in Acts 20 verses 18 through 21, you know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. I constantly reminded you of these things, share and preach that message. Of course this isn't just to Titus, it's to all of us, it's to all believers for all generations because we also have received a command to take the gospel and we have also been commanded to share it with other people. And as we do, please remember to share it with confidence because sometimes we almost apologize for what we believe. Say it with confidence, don't say it with arrogance and don't say it with a self-righteousness. Of course we proclaim the word of God with humility but don't be ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God into salvation. There's no other message that God ever gave that will save somebody and we believe that don't we. I do, we believe that message. And that's how we got saved is by believing that message and since we have believed and received we ought to also give it with the same confidence. And so, for the proclamation of this message we need the power of the Spirit of God. It's not simply human confidence. Remember that before Pentecost the apostle Peter denied the Lord three times. Three times I don't know him. Three times he denied the relationship with Jesus Christ. Three times before Pentecost he did that. But Jesus was resurrected and Jesus had made a promise and the promise he made to his followers was a simple one. He said, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, unto the uttermost parts of the earth. You shall receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost when it had fully arrived the Spirit fell on the 120 who were awaiting, baptizing them in the Holy Spirit, gifting them and they went out as we know and began to proclaim the wonderful works of God. That came through the power of the Holy Spirit. So before Peter had received that power he was in courageous but after he received that power he stood up and proclaimed and doing so as we look at Acts chapter 2 we see that some 3000 or so came to faith in Christ in that one message. It was the power of the Spirit that made him what he is. We know that he preached but he preached with confidence and so along with preaching those who have believed should be careful to maintain something. What does he say to maintain? We're to maintain good works. It's not simply the preaching it's also the living. It's a combined reality. If we believe the message the message that we believe changes us. And so a great messenger is somebody who has been transformed by the great message. Sometimes people will preach what they're not living. That's called hypocrisy. Now that doesn't mean that we always live up to everything that's why grace is so important but we don't make excuses and continue in sin so that grace may abound either. We're aware of who we are and how weak we are without the power of the Lord. So we need to be careful to maintain a life and a life especially he's saying here that that is filled with good works. Now obviously all Christians are to be known by good works in Ephesians 2 verse 10 Paul said we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has beforehand prepared that we should walk in them. In 1 Timothy 6 18 that verse commands us to do good. He said be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to share and again in Hebrews 10 24 let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. And so good works are part of being saved. We're saved by grace but that doesn't remove the responsibility of living right. Our daily walk reflects the new nature, our new life. That's why James 2 26 says as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also. So works result in a reward for us but not salvation. Salvation is a gift but works produce rewards. Psalm 62 12 says to you O Lord belongs mercy for you render to each one according to his work. Ephesians 6 verse 8 says you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does. And so in verse 8 when Christians perform good works it shows God's power the power of God to change lives. You have that testimony don't you? I still you know because I'm aware of the fact that we're in December and my spiritual birthdays soon I can't help but sometimes just remember when I got saved and the transformation that took place at that time and the impact that my life had my dad said that it was the changed life that he saw happen in me that caused him to be open to hearing what a gospel message really was. Because I grew up in a home where my dad didn't want my mom to have a Bible. I never knew my mom to disobey a desire of my father. My mom as an unsaved woman was still somebody who was terribly in love with my dad. I was privileged to live in a home with a wife my mom as my dad's wife who really loved her husband and my mom was terribly in love with my dad and I saw that. Not a perfect marriage not like mine. Not a perfect marriage but a good one. Mama said to me she said daddy and I were married for 25 years as unbelievers which that's how long they had been married when they got saved. She said the first 25 years were good she said but these last years with your father are so much better because we now have Jesus and see that's how it works. My mama never really didn't do what my dad wanted of her except for one thing she hid a Bible my dad didn't want Bibles in our house because the only person my dad ever knew that read the Bible was in his estimation was a crazy woman so he didn't want his wife to become a crazy woman so you stay away from the Bible my dad said but mama hid a Bible and when he wasn't around she would read it and she told me one day because she said Dave you know how I got saved and I remembered praying with her she told me to receive from you I said no mama she said I was reading the Bible and there's this passage somewhere it's in the book of Isaiah but she said this is somewhere that says and a little child shall lead them. Now she didn't understand the context of that her interpretation was totally wrong but she said it says a little child shall lead them and so when you got saved you were my little child she said and so I thought maybe that's how I'm supposed to know God through this one whom I've always seen as my little child and so she had read that in the Bible misunderstanding it and yet became open to the truth of the gospel good works have a way of impacting people because what you are so loudly that sometimes people can't hear a word that you're saying but when you're living a life that is different people will begin to wonder not everybody is curious not everybody thinks it's good for that matter some people think you're weird some people think man what's wrong with you don't you ever smile anymore how come you're so weird I had that said to me today and you haven't apologized yet no I've I had that kind of thing said to me what happened to you you used to be so much fun what happened to you somebody hear ever hear something like that what happened to you you've changed too much I don't like the way you are I heard that but you know what I wasn't saved to please them I was saved to please him and so I attempt to live at peace with all men and when my ways please the Lord well the scripture says he makes even his enemies to live at peace with them I do the best that I can in the Lord but there needs to be the evidence of good works and that's what Paul is speaking about there to maintain good works because that reveals the power of God to change lives it's the redemption that is preached that actually changes people and as he's saying this verse 9 goes on to say but avoid foolish disputes genealogies contention reviving about the law for they are unprofitable and useless so as you're doing good avoid that which is not good avoid that which is not profitable avoid foolish disputes that word foolish the word foolish is a root word for the word moron avoid moronic arguments avoid useless arguments that revolve around genealogies avoid wrangling about the things that don't matter he's saying avoid arguing about the law of moses you see these false teachers were bringing into the church things related to the law of moses and were trying to bring the church under the law now Paul had plenty of experience with those who did such a thing he had experience with false teachers like this and so he said avoid them you see if they were interested in the gospel then by all means share with them but if they want to argue well I've had enough experience with these and I'm encouraging you just avoid the arguments in 2 Timothy 2 24 through 26 the Lord servant must not quarrel instead he must be kind to everyone able to teach not resentful those who oppose him must he must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do as well don't argue but live in such a way that they will see a life that is well lived because if they're interested they will listen I mentioned to the church not that long ago that while in Israel we have over the years in Israel we will have our guides and many of the times as a matter of fact I'd say the majority of the time that we've had tours in Israel we are guided by non-believing Jews they're not believers in Christ sometimes they are agnostic or sometimes they have been Orthodox Jewish but we've only had on a few occasions what we would call messianics and I was teaching one time with a new guide his name was Yossi I had mentioned Yossi perhaps some of you were at one of the services I don't remember when I shared this it was recently and I mentioned that Yossi didn't know us he was new to us he had never heard me teach because I was rotating teachers and we were in the city of Capernaum and while in Capernaum we were in a synagogue there and I opened up a passage in Scripture that relates to a teaching and event that took place in that location I share about 15 minutes or so and Yossi is standing off to my right I can still see him from the corner of my eye he's standing off and he's just listening that's unusual because normally the Jewish guides have heard so many people preach you know they just walk away and speak amongst themselves you'll see him off here talking to the bus driver that's what they do they're not disrespectful they're just not interested but Yossi was standing there I assumed well he wants to kind of get a sense of who I am how I teach so he can work better with me that's what I'm thinking so I'm teaching about Christ what Jesus does and I pray and then Yossi comes up and I'll never forget how he said what he said is true and I'm looking at him I had never seen that before I've had guides look at me put their hands kind of on the ears and go like this and walk away kind of like my church does every Sunday I'm kind of used to that but I have never seen I had never seen a Jewish guide do what he did he walks up what he said is true you need to listen to him and he added to what I said and I was shaking my head now I knew that Yossi had guided a lot of churches and I thought well this is interesting well we started requesting him as our guide and he became not only our guide but very dear to us he came to know some of my children he would see me and say how is Corinne, how is she doing she reminds me of my daughter how is David how is Joseph how is Anna he would ask his questions and I grew to love Yossi so one day after a few years one day we're driving and as we're driving we're coming from an area called Jericho and we're moving towards the city of Jerusalem and I always go through this long tunnel to get there I've already prepared the church on the bus I'll say off to your left when we get through this tunnel you're going to see Jerusalem for the very first time for many of you for first timers it'll be off to your left and I say so everybody be looking in that direction when in reality it's over there no it's not I always play this corny song and it is a corny song you know Jerusalem Jerusalem it's a very powerful voice but it's anyway so they sing this song and it moves you it'll move your heart oh Jerusalem oh Jerusalem and then as the song fades then the guide Yossi in this instance says the history of Jerusalem comes back to us and he begins very early and he very slowly with great drama is introducing to you your first experience with this amazing city loved by God I've heard this many many times and I'm moved every time I hear it and then at one point we're just about and I had told the people when you see us coming out of the tunnel look to your left and you'll see the city it explodes on you he says something like this he said this is the city of the great king David and this is the city of Jesus Christ and I'm used to hearing that and then Yossi says your Messiah and my Messiah I hear him say that and I go did I hear him say that did I hear him say that I heard him say that so later on I'm in my room and Yossi comes in sit and visit with me for a while and he says you know there's a rabbi from Brooklyn people think is Messiah and you would see banners with this man's face on it Messiah has come he said I had people knocking on my door I opened the door their representatives of this man's followers and they say to us they said to me David they said to me Messiah is here and Yossi tells me that he says to them why would I believe in a Messiah you say has come when the true Messiah came 2000 years ago so I went to the owner of the company that we use a friend of mine and I said has Yossi come to faith in Messiah has Yossi come to faith in Jesus he says I believe that he's this close if he has not already entered in pray for him the next year we came and the next year I speak to my friend Samuel has Yossi come to faith in Jesus Christ he says I believe that he has and he says tell him that he needs to start getting to church well Samuel's a pastor he wants Yossi to go to his church he says because he loves him he works for Samuel and Samuel love Yossi and so Marie and I were rejoicing over the reality John has met Yossi and others in this on our staff and he became very dear to me but I was saddened to hear just a couple three months ago that Yossi died and he went to be with Jesus Christ I'm not sad that he went to be with Jesus Christ every choice but I'm sad that I have lost somebody that is so so dear so dear to me that meant so much now why did I tell you that story I felt like crying no I if they are interested they will hear if they are interested they will hear but you don't need to argue over things that's what Paul is saying you don't have to argue but be consistent share with confidence tell them who Jesus Christ is and if they have a heart God will reach them so he goes on he says in verse 10 reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition knowing that such a person is warped being self-condemned when he speaks of a divisive man it speaks of a follower of false teachings we use different words schismatic heretic, factious what they are are opinionated people who place their opinions above what is true and sometimes they're very intelligent sometimes they are well spoken sometimes these people are very likeable but often they're argumentative and they get angry easy and these are people who cannot be corrected these are people who will not consider a different view these are those who will not submit to a godly leader in the church and they reject what the word of God says to them and the sad fact is is they often influence others and draw them away after themselves and so if these are unrepentant schismatic people who are drawing people to themselves and differing with everything they hear and never wanting to be never being willing to be corrected he says well approach them bring correction to them twice but if they don't respond let them go in roman 16 17 he said to the church in Rome I beseech you brethren mark those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned and avoid them you see believers who are causing problems are to be doubt with but the reason you avoid the schismatic is because that person is influencing and infecting other people they're undermining the gospel notice he says in verse 11 such a person is warped and sinning being self condemned so he's like a building that has become a ruin is what that means and there's no hope of restoration he is willfully rejecting Christ and the message of grace he's denying the Lord and the result is he's rejecting the only means of salvation and in doing so he's condemned himself so in ministry when there's someone who is so in seeds of discord and attempting to undermine the faith of some when we've approached them I do so in the spirit of meekness hoping to share with them and show them this is what God's word says but sometimes I've had to say you know there's nothing I can do this really isn't a place for you if you're not going to listen this is not a place for you because I've had people who've actually come even into this room and tried to start arguments with me after church services debating me about various points of theology and things and sometimes they just are very argumentative very difficult and if it's somebody that has been in our fellowship which I've had on a few occasions over the years we try to correct and bring them to a place of seeing this isn't exactly the way that Lord would have us to be and I hate it when I have to say you know you can't be here anymore unless you're willing to listen to what the scripture say and that's what Paul's saying here that's what he's telling Pastor Titus and finally verses 12 following and we'll conclude when I send Artemis to you or Tychicus be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis for I have decided to spend the winter there send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste that they may lack nothing and so Paul is about this is interesting now Paul is about to send a replacement for Titus but he's not yet sure who it's going to be so when the one Paul sends arrives Titus is going to be free to come and join Paul that's why he says when I send Artemis to you or Tychicus be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis the word Polis means city so Nicopolis simply means a city where everybody's name is Nick no that's not what it means just seeing if you're listening so he speaks of Artemis Artemis like the majority of Christians is unknown except for this one mention now Tychicus is mentioned several times acts 20 Ephesians 6 2 Timothy 4 he was a Thessalonian and a beloved laborer and brother with Paul as he says in Colossians 4 7 Nicopolis is one of various cities at that time that were named Nicopolis this one is probably in southern Greece in verse 13 we have Zenus and notice he's Zenus the lawyer so God has done a miracle he saved the lawyer no Zenus the Dave Dave who comes here and gives us all his little CCs and DDs and all of that when he does both Dave's a lawyer so I can tolerate lawyers but he was either an expert in Jewish law or a practiser of Christian law you have Apollos is well known you see him in the book of Acts in chapter 18 you see him in 1 Corinthians he was a Jew born in Alexandria Egypt the scripture describes him as being eloquent and mighty in scriptures you see that he's bold he has the heart of an evangelist he's also very humble and very loved by the apostle Paul and so all this means is these were trusted men and Paul told Titus to care for their needs generously in verse 14 let our people also learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful and all who are with me greet you greet those who love us in the faith grace be with you all amen and so we'll close with just a couple of thoughts I want you to see this verse 14 let our people also learn to maintain good works and meet urgent needs people have to learn to maintain works and meet needs it's really an outpouring of the love of God to those whom God loves that's what good works are and we learn to perform good works by observing others that's why he says teach and encourage them so be a model of good works live a good life Titus and encourage others to and teach them you see good works benefit others but good works also result in rewards and good works will testify to the unsaved in first Peter 215 this is the will of God that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men now he says meet urgent needs we cannot meet every need but we should remain sensitive to those that are most urgent and there are times when there are things that we need to move immediately on and that's when you do but you can't meet every single need that there is so you learn to maintain good works be ready to do something good but to be able to discern when something needs to be done right now and then finally he says that they may not be unfruitful instead of being unfruitful there to produce fruit like John 15 8 says by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so you will be my disciples so bearing fruit you don't want to be fruitless you want to be bearing good fruit through good works and maintaining those things and then he closes by simply saying all who are with me greet you greet those who love us in the faith and grace be with you all amen all who are with me greet you and greet those who love us in the faith that reveals that Christians love one another but it also reveals that people get to know one another and one of the things that I think is a great challenge for us it's been one for me for over the entire lifetime of my walk with God is to get to know people some of us in this room and I'll say this quickly we're going to enjoy communion in a moment that symbolizes our unity in Christ but some in this room are pretty much like I am shy Marie and I went to get coffee today and I'm sitting in the car waiting for her and she goes in and then she gets a lot of people in the shop and she comes out with our coffee and sits down with me and all of a sudden I have to hear about these great people that are in that coffee shop and I say you know sweetie I said you are so friendly she thinks she's not you are so friendly I said me I'm shy if I go into the coffee shop it's just a bunch of strangers around me and I just kind of I'll take that thank you so much smile I'm polite but Marie will come and we have to you know that's Marie and I say you're so friendly I'm not like her but I'm sure glad I have her because she has taught me over the years to be more friendly she's helped me to come out of my shell of shyness and for that I'm eternally grateful because I'm not as cold as I pretend to be when I'm sharing with you but my girl makes me look really cold because she we're sitting on a plane this Jewish woman sits next to her and Marie turns and I said oh boy we're flying from Israel home it's 16 hours I said oh this is interesting and I'm thinking honestly thinking I wonder how long it's going to be until she's crying with this woman she turns and speaks to her and the woman speaks in Hebrew broken English and says I don't speak English and I heard her so I said oh this is great how is she going she's gone to I know how and I'm just pretending to Marie looks at her and I see her she's scoping around she's looking at her head to toe there's gotta be a way she speaks Spanish to the woman the woman is a Spanish Jew all the way home at the airport the woman is kissing me kissing my kids crying with Marie I bless God for that God help us God help us to be loving and friendly with people God help us to know these people who sit around us you know some of us in this room I know where you're sitting every week and I know when you're not here because somebody else is sitting in a chair and either you're not here or you're mad sitting somewhere else looking that's my chair I know you're doing that love one another get to know one another greet those who love us in the faith and all those who are with me greet you isn't that what a church is supposed to be it's not just a group of people hurting in and hurt it out it's a community of believers who love one another that's why Paul closes by saying that and he says, grace be with you all Amen