 Good morning and thank you for joining class. It's only two of you but we'll still go ahead and begin class. We waited for some time for the others to join but I think they will join after we begin. Okay, so we'll begin now. Kiran, can you please lead us in prayer, Kiran? Yes, ma'am sir. We'll pray. Father God, we come before You're thrown once again, Father God. Father God, we want to just say thank You, Father God, for everything what You've done, Father God, thanking You, thanking You, all promises, thanking You, Father God, for new month, Father God, for new blessing, for new anointing, Father God, thanking You. Father God, give Your wisdom and knowledge, Father God, to the subject, Father God, that we can understand nicely and reveal more things, Father God, that we can apply to our life and Your kingdom work also, Father God. Thank You. And those who stood in willing to join, Father God, help them to join the classes. Thank You, Father God, thanking You. Almighty Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Kiran. Okay, so last class, last Wednesday, we completed Second Timothy and we looked at the introduction to Titus. So today we will look at chapter one. We know that Paul wrote this letter to Titus. Paul and Titus, they go to Crete and they, you know, they build the church up there and there's more work to be done. There's a lot of work to be done, things to be put into order in the church at Crete. So Paul leaves Titus at Crete and then he goes on to Macedonia and maybe when he was in Macedonia, he receives a letter from Titus or he receives a report from Crete and he most likely wrote Titus from Macedonia and Paul basically writes to him, instructing him to put into order the remaining matters in the church at Crete. Okay, so we look at chapter one today. Can one of you please, I don't know if all of you can read it because you have, Kanan, will you be able to read or it's not possible? I think Erin is having connectivity issues so she's joining class Lee and it's her connection is not too strong and she's left class again now. Kanan, can you read a few verses or it's not possible? You can type it in the chat section. Will you be able to read a few scripture passages? Yes, no. Okay, no response from Kanan. Kiran, would you like to read the whole chapter one? Will it be possible for you to read or? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay, thank you. Yeah, it's okay. Kanan has responded so would you like to read a few verses as well, Kanan? Yes, no. Okay, so there's basically I think there is 16 verses so Kiran can read eight and then Kanan can read the rest eight. Yeah, go ahead Kiran. Verses one to eight. Titus chapter one versus one to eight. Okay, chapter one. Paul, Paul, a post servant of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with the goodness, godliness, in hope of internal life which God who cannot lie, promise before time began but has in due time manifest his word through the preaching which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior to Titus our true Son in our common faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Go ahead, till verse eight. Okay. For this is the reason left you in creed. For this reason I left you in creed. For this reason I left you in creed that you should sit in order the things that is lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife having faithful children not accused of disease, patience or insubordination. As in subordination for a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, not self will, not quick tempted, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable lover of what is good, sober-minded, just wholly self-controlled. Thank you Kiran. Kanan can read from verses 9 to 16. Yes. Okay, I will read. Verses 9 to 16. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who can't read it. For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped, who subword whole households teaching things which they ought not. For the sake of dishonest gain, one of them a prophet for their own said, certain are always liars, evil beasts, lazy, glutton, this testimony is true, therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but those who are effiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny him being abominable, disobedient and disqualified for every good work. Okay, thank you Kadhan. Okay, so we look at chapter one, introduction and greeting. Paul, a born servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life, which God cannot lie, promised before time began. But as in due time manifested his word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God as savior, to Titus, a true son in our common faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. So in verse one, Paul, you know, is writing his own name first, you know, and he's following the letter writing customs of his day where first the writer was mentioned and then the reader and then a greeting was given. So he was just following the letter writing customs of his day, just mentioning his name first, Paul, and this letter was written to Titus, we all know that. It was not just written to Titus but it was also written to the Christians or the believers of the church on the island of Crete. And Paul knew that this letter would be publicly read out among the churches on this island. So in the opening part of this letter, the first line or first sentence of this letter, Paul takes great care to tell the Christians of Crete what his credentials were or who he was and where he stood on important issues. So Paul calls himself as a bond servant of God. Now what is it meaning of bond servant? Why does Paul choose to call himself as bond servant? It's because he chooses the ancient word do-loss, okay? Bond servant or servant is the Greek word do-loss and this word not only meant a low slave, a slave who was very low in his standing, in social standing. It is also a word that shows us that the person is a slave by choice. In those days, nobody wanted to be slaves but they were forced to be slaves. And when Paul is calling himself a bond servant of God, he's basically saying using the Greek word do-loss, where he's talking about a slave who's very, very low in his standing as it is slaves are very low but here there's a lower standing and a slave by choice. So Paul is choosing to be a slave and a bond servant is one who is completely surrendered himself or themselves to the will or the authority of their master. So a bond servant is someone who chooses to be completely surrendered totally under the control the will or the authority of their master. So Paul chooses to be a slave who is totally surrendered to the will and the authority of God. So he chooses this word very carefully and he says I'm a bond servant means I made a choice to be a slave, to be a slave means to be under will and the authority of God. So even though a bond servant is a very low social standing, a slow place or position but yet Paul even though he chooses to be a bond servant he says he has a high place because he's why is this position high because he's a bond servant of God and it's not a small thing or it's not a low thing to be under God, to be under this great and mighty God, to serve under him, to be under his will and authority. It's never a low thing to be under God, sovereign rule, authority, reign and under his will and then Paul goes on to say that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ and he says he's an apostle of Jesus Christ and Paul is saying that God gave Paul this particular call and function of being an apostle okay and the word apostle in Greek which is apostolos means somebody who's sent with specific orders, a delegate, an ambassador, somebody who's commissioned to do some specific role assignment task, a messenger or it's also somebody who's called into the office of an apostle. So as an apostle Paul had God's authority and as a bond servant you know Paul is talking about his personal relationship with God or to God but as an apostle he points out to his official responsibility within the body of Christ. So he's here actually defining his relationship with God when he says he's a bond servant he's talking about his personal relationship with God when he's talking about him being an apostle he's talking about his official responsibility within the body of Christ and he says he's Jesus Christ apostle having been called equipped and sent forth as his authoritative messenger. So he's laying all the basic you know of who he is so that when he's writing and telling them what they're supposed to do what they're not supposed to do he's going to give them certain commands he's saying this is the authority that I have to see because God himself has made me an apostle call me to the office of an apostle and he has been called and equipped and sent forth as his authoritative messenger. So here we can see that God has given each one of us you know different gifts some of us are called to the office of teaching or some of us preaching or to be evangelists missionaries administrators help us in the in church as well you know whatever is our calling whatever is our gifts it is used for the mutual edification of the body of Christ that means whether we are helping whether we are encouraging whether we are prayer warriors whatever whether we're apostles or preachers or teachers or pastors all of us together are edifying the body of Christ edifying the believers in who are called the body of Christ and we're doing it for the glory of God. So it's important that we discern the gifts you know that God is given to us what are the gifts he's given to us and what is the calling that he has placed on our lives what is his purpose what is the place of ministry which the master has called us and we need to use our gifts accordingly okay so whatever is our gifts or the office God has called us to we must remember to be completely surrendered to his will and his authority just like Paul was even though he was an apostle call us an apostle he says I choose to be a bond servant that means somebody who's totally under the law the authority and the will of God the Father he says he's you know he's a bond servant of an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness okay so calling the faith of God's elect and acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness if you read the passion translation it says I'm writing you to further the faith of God's chosen ones and lead them to the full knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness now I put this passion translation here because it helps us understand the meaning of it okay the passion translation helps us to understand that Paul is basically saying I'm writing to you to further the faith of God's chosen ones and lead them to the full knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness so here Paul is mentioning that his mission is to further the faith of those who are God's chosen ones those who have acknowledged the truth those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior and they've acknowledged the truth that is in keeping with godliness and he says God's according to faith of God's elect God's elect are those who God chose before the foundations of the world to receive his salvation which means that God did not he's not a partial God he did not choose some for salvation some for damnation some for salvation and some to end up in hell no it's God's good pleasing and perfect will be learned in 1st Timothy that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ Jesus but when we say that God chose us before him in the foundation of the world is he knew who are the people who are going to make the choice of salvation and we know that God in his sovereignty has given us the free will to choose so we choose whether we want salvation or we want to accept God or reject God so those who have chosen have already been you know they have God knew that they will choose salvation even before the foundations of the world okay that means even before the world was created but those who must exercise personal faith prompted and empowered by the holy spirit so even as we have accepted Christ Jesus as a personal savior we do it exercising our personal faith and this has a personal faith and also being this has been empowered by the holy spirit it's the work of the holy spirit in our lives we know it's the work of the holy spirit to commit the sin of sin righteousness and judgment okay so we can identify so once we accept Jesus Christ as a God and savior we identify with God's elect because they responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ and live their lives after that gospel so we live our lives which are caused with godliness so the aim of God's truth is to promote godliness in God's people that's what God's word does it brings about correction sanctification godliness in us so Paul's ministry and mission here he says as an apostle is to preach and teach the gospel to build up the body of Christ and to establish churches sound in the faith and in the knowledge of truth so now why is he saying this because he knows his letter will be read to the people at creed and they will question his authority so he's saying he's chosen by God as an apostle and it is his responsibility is God given authority and responsibility to teach the gospel build the body of Christ establish churches in the sound faith and the knowledge of truth and he's writing this because he's trying to establish the people at creed the churches at creed the believers at creed in the sound knowledge of the truth okay and we also know that the we also learn from this that this should be the mission and the purpose of the church to date the mission and the purpose of the church is to preach and teach the gospel to edify the body of Christ build up the body of Christ and establish the church in the doctrines of sound faith and in the knowledge of the truth so our need is to promote growth and development and development of mature faith in God's chosen ones through them growing in the knowledge of the truth verse two Paul says in hope of eternal life which God cannot who cannot lie promised before time began so Paul states that his ministry and apostleship is in the interest of the faith of God's chosen ones and their knowledge of the truth and also promotes godliness and this godliness rest on the hope of eternal life now hope here is not something that we just wish or something that we just hope for will come true but hope here the Greek word for hope here means a confident expectation and anticipation so it's a confident expectation because it rests on the promises of God who does not lie and who it rests on the promises of God who not only does not lie but cannot because of his perfect and holy character so God's cannot lie and his you know he cannot lie on the promises that he has made and also God cannot lie it's because he's perfect and his character is perfect and holy now here it talks about the eternal life hope of eternal life so we know that eternal life is something that all of us as believers will possess one day but it's not something that eschatological way in the future but it is a realized eschatology that means something that we can experience right now right at the moment when we have accepted Jesus that person say that minute we are born again the rest of our lives we can taste and experience the blessings of eternal life here and now and it's not just way in the future and we know this true scripture in John chapter 3 was 36 that from that Jesus promises us the one who believes in the sun has eternal life that means already possesses eternal life it does not say those who believe in the sun will have eternal life it says those who believe in the sun has that means we already possess the eternal life the experience eternal life here and now and this eternal life is one which God who cannot lie so there are two points here the apostle is making which is the reality or the truth of God and his eternal nature of his promises so the here is we we learn the truth about God that he cannot lie because he's perfectly holy and righteous and the eternal nature of his promises that God cannot go back on his promises he will fulfill his promises and cannot lie the Greek word means free from falsehood or it's used as not guilty of falsehood but truthful so God's nature by himself is you know he cannot lie his truth and also we know that his promises that he has made is perfectly true he cannot go back on his promises okay any doubt so far are you able to understand what i'm saying yes no so the eternal promises that God makes has made you know it's not something or the eternal life that God has promised it's not something that he made a last-minute decision on the spot you know after Adam and Eve sinned and you know it's recorded for us in Genesis chapter 3 but we see that this promise of eternal life goes back to eternity past okay and we know this as we read this in verse 3 but he says but as in due time manifested his word or if you look at even verse 2 we just go back to verse 2 it says here that the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before time began so the the promise of eternal life God did not just make in Genesis chapter 3 after Adam and Eve sinned he did not just decide on the spot or he just didn't think and make a decision but this is something that he decided before eternity past and verse 3 it says that you know but as in due time manifested his word through preaching which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our savior so while the plan of salvation the plan of eternal life was kind of settled in in the mind of God was already in his plan in eternity past even before the foundation of the world and even the lamb that was slain was you know we read in Revelation chapter 13 verse 8 the lamb being slain from the foundation of the world that means that even before the foundation of the of the world Jesus is you know sacrifice the full sufficient perfect sacrifice that he would be making in history at a point of time was already a completed thing was already a done thing in the in the mind of God God had already seen it completed okay even before the foundations of the world even before it took place in history it was a conceived thing in the heart and the mind of God and was also completed done thing in the heart and the mind of God so but even though it was a completing even before the foundation of the world but the proclamation of this message was made known in God's own time according to his own purpose so we see that what created the world and how sin came in and how he brought in prophets and judges and everyone and then he sent his son so the even though it was decided and completed thing in the heart of mind of God but it God took his God's own time to bring about this and fulfill his purpose right here in history okay so we see that Old Testament you know there was an anticipation of the salvation message was spoken to the prophets and it was also portrayed to the tabernacle the priesthood the sacrifices all spoke of Christ's coming spoke about Christ's life his death his resurrection and the message has only not only been made evident by these historical events but it is it is also for us to preach and teach this truth this completed work of salvation on the cross by Jesus and the plan of God to people okay and so Paul is saying that you know it was in due time God even though it will happen in eternity past in due time God manifested his word through the preaching which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior so he says you know it's a right time for me to preach all of this because when Christianity came into the world it was possible to spread this message firstly because there was a common language greek was a common language secondly the roman empire you know was very very vast you know roman empire spread to almost the most parts of the world and so it was easy travel was very easy and also the world was looking for a messiah and a savior and so we see that it was a good time for the salvation message to be preached and Paul knew that preaching is a way you know that God's eternal work can be shared to people of today and preaching is one way where God's word is can be made manifest that means can be made evident okay and he says this preaching is committed to me and he says Paul saw this preaching or this message of the good news of the gospel and its proclamation as a treasure which was entrusted to him which was given to him the the word the greek word committed here means to have faith to entrust so the meaning here is to be entrusted with something that means Paul says he has privilege not only the privilege but also the responsibility of proclaiming the message and so also we believers have you know not only the privilege of knowing the resurrected Christ of what he's done on the cross for us the benefits of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross but we also have the responsibility to proclaim this message to speak about the wonderful benefits of the cross the wonderful benefits of what Jesus did on the cross with people okay and so the preaching of God's word is committed to all believers okay so here in Titus the letter to Titus the apostle becomes an example to Titus and to Cretans and to us you know that we are to preach the gospel we are to share the message of the risen God the risen Christ and what he's did on the cross what he's done on the cross share this message because it has been given to us as a deposit as a safe keeping not something to be hidden away not something to be cherished as a treasure which we can hold dear for our lives you know and keep it in a safe deposit like so to say in a box but it is supposed to be shared out with others okay so this God given trust is this God given treasure of this message is for us to proclaim the message and it's not something that is like a take or leave it matter for the Christians Paul had no option he had to preach the gospel and he preached it to the very end of his life and it's not also an option for us and we also see that the great commission you know we're entrusted with this command to preach and teach and baptize in the name of the father son and holy spirit and the Paul ends this verse 3 by saying God our savior which is an awesome title of God as a savior God where one that stresses a very heart in the nature of God he's a God who is concerned with man's salvation salvation from sins penalty power and ultimately from its presence verse 4 he says to Titus the true son in our common faith grace mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ so we see that Titus he calls Titus as a son somebody who he let Paul let Titus to to Christ to salvation to accept Christ as his personal savior he also mentored him and also helped him grow spiritually and appointed him for the service of serving his master okay and so he says a true son in their common faith so it's Paul and Titus had a father son relationship because of their common faith okay so here we see that this word common reminds us of that which we hold common with all believers that is our personal faith in our savior which binds us all together as a spiritual family regardless of our nationality our status or even our doctrines as important as that is to the Christian community okay so all of us have been entrusted how all of us who have trusted the Lord Jesus you know we are brothers and sisters in Christ we have one Father one God we are all his children and this provides us the basis for harmony and communion then he talks about grace mercy and peace now what is common about this three words grace calm mercy and peace anyone knows grace mercy and peace we see that Paul typically uses this as his greeting in most of his letters grace mercy and peace and we see that he never changes the order also of these blessings first it's grace what is grace what is grace come on class anyone can answer what is grace what is grace yes thank you prince it's God's favor it's God's unmerited favor that means we don't deserve it but it just God gives it to us it's a gift from God okay and this is we know it's we see this in the person and the character of Jesus Christ and then it's peace okay we know that peace is portrayed yes grace is something given freely by God peace is various the portrayed in various ways in the New Testament and we receive peace of God only after we put our faith in the person in the completed work of Jesus that means when we have accepted Jesus as a person savior we believe what he has done for us on the cross we confess with our mouths it's only then can we basically receive the peace of God so after one is despondent by faith to the grace of God as revealed in Christ Jesus we receive the peace so that's why he uses grace first then he talks about mercy and peace and then he says grace mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ when we use these words God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ he's not just using it as a formality because Paul knew that the source of all grace and peace mercy and peace is only from God and from God the Father and from Jesus Christ okay and in all of his epistle greetings Paul teaches us that they can be neither grace nor peace without a personal relationship with God the Father so even if you're born again and if you don't you know experience peace you know it's because somewhere you have you know had not abiding in the wine you are not intimately connected with God you're not you know one in your relationship with God so what is essential to receive peace and grace and mercy is one's relationship with God the Father and with God the Son because he's our savior and with God the Holy Spirit okay then he talks about in verses five to nine he talks about the qualification of elders now did we read this elsewhere does Paul write this also to someone and if we study about this qualification of elders who does Paul write to about the qualification of elders in the church where else did we read it you'll remember where Paul writes so to who does he write about qualification of elders how to choose elders how to point elders in the churches who does he write to thank you Kiran he writes to Timothy thank you Erin yes he writes to Timothy and he tells him how to he tells him explains to him how to choose elders and bishops okay so in verses five to verse nine he's talking about qualification of elders and so in verse five he says for this reason I left you in creed that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you so it says for this reason I left you in creed Paul left Titus in creed to build a mature stable church with qualified pastors for the people and this there was this there was especially this need in creed because we saw we heard an introduction that the people at creed were a wild bunch who were known as lazy people and liars and so Titus had to find and train capable leaders for the Christian for the churches in the island of creed and Paul tells him set in order you should set in order the Greek word for order here means straight in further to correct in addition and that means you know straight in further what has already been said what has already been done we know that Paul and Titus began to work at creed and Titus was to continue this work here because Paul had to leave and you know and he did not want to leave them without anyone to oversee or help them but Paul had to leave creed but he decided to leave Titus behind so that you know it will not be like they are just giving birth to a child and you know caring for the child for a little while and then abandoning it on their own left at someone else's care Paul did not want to do it because these were all the churches at creed where his own children but he had established what he had established and built and hence he did not want to leave them as orphans the hands of others so he left Titus there and so Titus had to preach and teach them so that they can grow spiritually and he needed to appoint godly leaders to build those who were you know immature or babies in their faith and so he had to set in thing in creed the things that are lacking now if you compare the work of Titus in creed in the work of Timothy and Ephesus it shows that there was much more lacking among the congregations at creed and hence Paul had to specifically tell Titus to set in order things that are lacking and we see that he does not give any such command to Timothy so he tells Titus appoint elders and we learned in Timothy when we read about the same qualification of Adelaus and Timothy you know that elders, bishops, pastors or presbyters were all terms that are used interchangeably and basically meant to those who provided spiritual leadership and so Paul is saying that Timothy you Titus you can't choose elders based on vote popular vote of people you had or you cannot choose elders based on how they promote themselves but it's your job to look for men of these kind of character and he lists out the characteristics and then he says appoint them as leaders in the congregation okay now a local church or a congregation of believers is defective if it lacks qualified elders or qualified spiritual leaders or qualified pastors okay so the reason here is why he wants Titus to choose is because God has chosen this office of elders and he has chosen their function what they have to do of shepherding the care of the flock that God has entrusted to them and you know in order to continue the process of spiritual growth so it's very important to choose the right kind of leaders and so he says choose leaders in every city that means Crete was famous for having many cities and Titus had a big job at hand here and he says I command you that means Paul is giving him the authority the instructions to appoint leaders and it was his response pretty to carry it out and then he gives out the qualifications for elders in versus six to nine will take a break here and then we'll come back after the break and we look at the qualifications