Amen, well if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Titus. The plan this evening is to conclude this series through our walk through this letter of Titus. Our text this evening is chapter three, verses 12 through 15. Hear now this, the word of the living God. 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 Zenos, 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. Please be seated. Let's go to the Lord in prayer together. Our Father in heaven, we approach you this evening knowing with full expectancy that you use all of your word, Even the closing of a letter like this, we believe it's inspired, we believe it's useful, profitable to your people, that we may be built up into the likeness of Christ, that we may be reproved by it, edified by it in every way. So use your word to this end, I pray, and I pray even that any who might hear this who are not in Christ, that they might this day come to know him as Savior, as Lord, as God, and as friend. It's in his name we pray, amen. Well, earlier this week, I spoke with someone who appears to have recently become a Christian, and speaking with him, It's a young man. He was able to tell me his need for forgiveness. He admitted he was a sinner, and he was able to explain the gospel of Christ. But this young man has no counsel that I'm aware of. He has nothing. He believes truth, but he does not know what to do next. Nor does he know that there is anything to do. He just believes certain bare facts of the gospel. So I have a question for you. If you were in my situation, what would you say to this young man? What would you say to someone who recently became a Christian? I'll tell you what I said. I said, go to church. Get in a good, healthy church. That's the refuge new believers need. That's the refuge old saints need. That's where God meets the needs of his people. This young man, he does not need one or two bits of advice. He needs a lifetime of help. Like a little child who needs its mother, this young man needs a mother, and the church is that mother. You may recall as I opened up this series through this book, I shared a quote that it's made its way down through church history. I think it's helpful. I think it's fitting as we close this series to remind you of it. First stated by Cyprian, one of the church fathers, he says this, to those to whom God is a father, the church must be a mother. This quote was picked up by John Calvin and others. Calvin says this, he says, it's the church into whose bosom God is pleased to collect his children. not only that by her aid and ministry they may be nourished so long as they are babes and children, but may also be guided by her maternal care until they grow up to manhood, and finally, to attain the perfection of faith. A church, indeed, is like a mother. It's God's means of nourishing, providing for his people. And this letter from Paul to Titus that we've been walking through shows us the importance of the local church. It shows us something of the structure of the local church, and it shows us how to maintain health in local churches. And I'm persuaded this letter, like all of scripture, is relevant in our own day. In it, we get a sense of what Paul would have said to that young man. I think Paul would have said, go to church, young man. For we, like the Cretans, we live in an increasingly pagan society. And like Crete, things get a little more interesting because we have a number of religious people in our society. That's what Crete had as well. There were liars, there were Judaizers, myth makers, storytellers. We spoke last week about people who would go on and on about genealogies and the like. What sort of place can one go where they can learn the truth about God and how to live and how to honor Him? Well, it's the church. And this letter is all about the goodness of the church. So as we close, I'll have five really applications for you, but these are five reasons to join a healthy church. So if I speak to this young man, which I hope to do, these are five reasons and they're all found here in the last several verses of this letter. So let's go through this together. Our first heading this evening, first reason to join a local church is because it's in the local church that grace is found. It's in the local church that grace is found. This letter begins with grace, and you'll notice it ends with grace. Notice the very last line. A salutation, but more than that, it's a blessing. It's not empty words. Paul says, very close, grace be with you all, amen. How fitting. That's the apostle's sincere hope. Grace is what Paul preaches, and it's only by grace that God saves sinners. Church is established, and it is by grace that we continue getting along in the faith together. If you remember, Paul introduced the letter by acknowledging that God promised eternal life to his elect before time even began. Father, Son, and Spirit planned the redemption of mankind before the foundation of the world. We took time to consider that, but consider it once again. It is a triune covenant of redemption. Chapter 1, verse 2 says our salvation was promised. There was a promise before time began to save God's elect people. And if any truth in the Bible should humble us. It's that truth that before you were born, before your parents were born, before the earth was formed, God had planned to save you. In other words, you do nothing to save yourself. You do nothing. God alone saves you because he has covenanted to do so. The father sends the son, the son accomplishes salvation, and the spirit applies the work in the hearts of those who believe. God is not surprised by sin, because he saved you before you sinned. He is unlike the creature. He is over and above all things, and in him all things hold together. And by this plan, you must learn something more of humility, something more of grace, So why join a healthy church? Because that's where grace is found. And Paul does not confine the theme of grace to the very beginning nor the very end of the letter. This letter is just full of it. There's these various quotes, long exhortations to recall the gospel. Here's one of them, chapter two, verse 11 and 12. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared. The epiphany, if you remember that. It's appeared to all men, teaching us that. Denying ungodliness, worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, godly in the present age. Why do we put on holiness? Because grace has appeared in Jesus Christ. Recall also that it's according to his mercy that he saved us. Father, Son, and Spirit, the one true God, he saves you according to mercy. Not anything in you, it's something in him. So the letter begins with gospel, ends with gospel, and it's interspersed with gospel. This letter is full of grace. Second reason to join a healthy church. People do good works for you in the church. People serve you in the church. Notice also. let our people learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs. Do you have urgent needs? I could preach this the opposite way, and I will in a moment, that we should be meeting urgent needs, but I also want you to dwell upon this fact, that why should you join a healthy church? Because if needs come up, this is the place to be. For this is the place where God meets urgent needs. The people around you are instructed to meet your needs. This is the place to come. What would I say to that young man? Join a local church, because you're going to have urgent needs come up. And this is a point I've emphasized in recent weeks, but the command is here once again in the text. It's good works. But I'm compelled, this is what we do here, it's expository preaching, I'm compelled to draw your attention to it once more because good works is a repeated theme. I know it's come up, but briefly, notes that healthy churches should abound in doing good. Consider what the church on Crete must go through in order to abound in good works? Just consider for a moment, just back up just a moment, we look at verse 12. Paul is planning to send Artemis to the Cretans, or Tychicus, and when one of these brothers comes, to Crete, it is Titus' job to meet Paul in Nicopolis. Note that in verse 12. Presumably, Titus would be with Paul in Nicopolis for the winter. This is Paul's habit. He would often call one of the brothers to come be with him, to refresh him. And then notice also Zenos, the lawyer, and Apollos. They're gonna be helped along with haste on their journey. But note what's expected of the churches on Crete. They must go without Titus. This is their most trusted leader, the most prominent leader. and they're gonna have to go without him as he goes to see Paul. And they will not only need to send him, they will need to provide for him to get there. And they're also instructed to provide for Zenos and Apollos. These two men are presumably with him, or about to arrive, and they must prepare ahead of time to send these brothers out. So think a moment of the financial stewardship that must take place before they send the brothers out. Some of these new believers may have really had to cut back on their spending somehow in order to be ready to give a gift to these men so that they may continue on with their missionary work. It requires dying to self to cut back in order to send out, this is three different missionaries. The text says, make sure they are sent with haste, that they lack nothing, And the benefit here is for the men being sent out. But it requires good works to send them out. But consider how this would mature the believers on Crete. Paul does not back down from sending these various missionaries out. Consider how it would mature them. What a blessing and opportunity to serve God by sending out these men. But consider also if they had let this opportunity pass them by. Imagine the Christians on Crete. Imagine for a moment if they didn't provide for the missionaries. If they quibbled with Paul and said, no, can't do that. We just don't have enough. It's an opportunity to serve the Lord by sending out these men. And would it be that Christians everywhere, including us, see ourselves, despite status, gifting, may we all see ourselves as gifted by God with an opportunity to participate in the establishing of new churches in the world. I have a missionary friend, and he writes, you know, missionaries, they have to write letters to raise support, and this missionary friend, he wrote it, and I kind of chuckled the first time I read it, because he wrote it, and he said, this is an opportunity for you to participate in the gospel going forth to the nations. Now, that almost sounds like a marketing gimmick, because he's the one raising money. We're the ones. being asked for money, but he said it's an opportunity for me to give to him. In the eyes of the world, that does sound like something of a clever marketing idea, but it's true. It is an opportunity to participate in the gospel. That's what fellowship is. That's what we are to do. We're to partner together. to serve one another for the sake of the gospel. Furthermore, consider what it would mean to lose some of your best resources that these men might go out to other churches. This is before telecommunications, before Christians had many books, if any books at all. The New Testament's not yet complete, the writing of this letter. They may have had few copies of the Old Testament. So what are the Christians depending upon to learn more about God? It's Titus. It's Apollos. And now, they're being asked to send these brothers out to help other churches. Titus is being asked to go visit with Paul for a time. I was listening to a round table discussion of pastors and they brought up this text, the Lord's Providence. One pastor mentioned how churches should send out their best. We should send out our best to go start new churches. One of the reasons is it proves it's not about us. It's not just about Grace Baptist Chapel. It's not just about our community of Hampton. It's about the glory of God in the world. And our call Yes, it's to have a healthy church here, but our call is also to make disciples of all nations. And these believers had that in mind. If I were a Christian on Crete in this time, would I want to see Titus go away for the winter? Would I want to see Apollos go away? Zenos? You remember Apollos, he's talked about elsewhere in the scriptures, this gifted preacher, spent much of his time in Corinth. This gifted preacher who was able to refute the Jews in public, we read about that in Acts. And on Crete, they had a problem with the Jews coming into the churches and spreading these false teachings. What better man to have in Crete than Apollos? Apollos was known for refuting the Jews in public. Who else would you want? And now the Cretans are being asked to provide for him and send him away. That is self-sacrifice. That is a good work. providing for this brother to go off and help other Christians. How much that requires of the Christians on Crete. They are surely going to have to grow in their trust for God. No one wants to send out Apollos or Titus, but they do. And I fully expect, we don't know exactly what happens afterwards, but I fully expect that church grew in health, even as a response of sending these brothers out. It is more blessed to give than to receive. And what an opportunity for the Christians on Crete early on in their church life to be able to send these men out. It's a humbling effect. We also see The Christians on Crete, busy providing for their own urgent needs, not neglecting their own. We don't know what needs there were, but they didn't even have elders in all of their churches. And yet, they are to live in such a way they are to be ready to maintain good works, be prepared. If an opportunity comes, be able to meet it in as much as you can. Verse 14 says, let our people learn to maintain good works. Take note of that. I won't linger here since I've spoken about this in recent weeks, but it says, let our people learn to maintain good works. meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. And this is part of that planning ahead. We need to plan ahead in order to be ready to do good works. That's what's highlighted here. But it's implied here that doing good works is not easy. There's a process. Imagine working 20 hours a week for years and then suddenly being asked to jump to 40. Perhaps if someone graduates from college and goes out into the career field for the first time. Working 40 hours a week is different. You have to learn to endure through a 40, 50 hour work week. And I think that's what we should expect of new Christians and even of ourselves. We learn to do more and more for the church. Learn to maintain good works. Make it a lifestyle. This should be something that we regularly do. We can grow in our ability. The Lord gives grace. We can do more and more over the years. We should consider, even this week, consider how might I abound? How might I grow in this area? What can I learn about doing good works for the sake of my church, for the sake of my neighbors? Third reason to join a healthy church, I've actually already touched on this. Diversity of, well, we'll get there. Partnership. And the diversity of gifts is found in the in a healthy church. Look at the names listed here, I've listed them for you, Artemis, Tychicus, Zenos, Apollos, all of these men gifted in different ways. But think also of Ephesians, how the Lord has blessed many in different ways for the equipping of the saints. Recall Ephesians, God gave some to be apostles, prophets, some to be evangelists, some pastors, some teachers, all for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And what you have in this group of men is you have different men all gifted in different ways for the ministry. What Paul does is not what Zenos does. What Paul does is not what Apollos does. But all of these men are gifted for the ministry in various ways. Tychicus, in fact, is listed elsewhere in the scriptures, and he plays more of a deacon-like role. He's not a deacon, but he was a servant. He's the one who accompanied Onesimus back to Philemon. Tychicus is the one who accompanied Paul when Paul was imprisoned in Rome. Tychicus is the one who carried the letters to Ephesus and to Colossae And Tychicus is the one who is coming to relieve Titus. Tychicus plays a servant-like role. It's not the role of Paul. But God has gifted him. He's a minister, but his role is different. In a similar way, Ryan and I and Chad, various deacons, we all have different and we play different roles within the church, but within this apostolic band, you even see different roles. And I think this is a good model for the Cretan church to see. They see a model of various brothers working together for the sake of the gospel in the world. And in recent weeks, if you recall, Pastor Ryan's actually talked about, preached about the associations that is spoken about in our confession. Confession talks about associating and helping other churches. I think we can learn something about that from the closing remarks of a letter like this, where you see various churches serving one another, various brothers going to this church and that one going to this church, even if just for a time. Some will play a more prominent role, some a lesser role. Tychicus somewhat behind the scenes, all gifted for the ministry. So God blesses ministers with different gifts, all able to preach to varying degrees. And then God also blesses his church in a different way. Those of us within the body have different gifts, different skills that we might serve one another, that we might all be built up and to the likeness of Christ on the last day. Join a healthy church and God will find a way to use you within that local church. Stay faithful to that local church. Fourth reason to join a local church, godly leaders can guide you in the local church. There are godly leaders found. We all need godly leaders, every single one of us. Join a church because there are mature saints in the church. Join a church because there are mature Christians who can guide you, who can build you up. You have questions about life, marriage, parenting, whatever it is, join a healthy church. There are gonna be people there who can help you, especially the ministers. This letter takes this issue very seriously. Much of the letter's dedicated to this. You'll remember there's a description about qualifications a man must meet in order to be an elder. It's an important issue. Elders are not only to instruct in word and sacrament, the elders are to be models for the rest of the young Christians to emulate. It's another reason to join. Elders are by God's design. They're necessary for the health of the church. But it's also proper for church members to respond respectfully to church leadership. And I brought this up a moment ago, but I want you to dwell upon this for a moment. Imagine, because I've never done this before, but just imagine if the Cretan churches rejected Paul's counsel. That can happen. And it happens in our city where churches will rise up against the elders or the deacons and say, I just don't like that plan. And then they want to tweak it. It's imperative for the church to learn to submit to the leadership, to benefit from it. I think that's something we even pick up here. Because Paul tells Titus in multiple places here, teach them with authority. Now imagine they read this letter publicly to the whole church. Now the whole church is hearing, Paul is telling Titus that he's the authority. It's good to keep in mind we must respect and submit to our local leadership. As an American, I think you might bristle against this. I know I do, especially compared to some other cultures. Americans, we can be a little independently minded. We push against leadership, we question everything, don't we? We fire football coaches after four games. You lose four in a row, you're done. It's really American to do such a thing. Now our independence, I want to make a caveat, our independence can be an asset, it can be good to be independently minded. To push back against leadership, hey, we're not going to take that, you're crossing the line. But if anyone does that too quickly, it's Americans. There are downsides to being too independently minded. There's downsides to always assume that you can pick yourself up by your bootstraps. We are more susceptible to falling for the lie that me and the Bible, that's all I need. Just me and a Bible. Beloved, that's a lie. from Satan. God tells us that we need the church. We need leaders too. It's a particular lie from Satan that works better here than most places in the world. We need the church. So might we learn something from the Christian church's dependence on good Christian, good Christian leadership? They depended so heavily upon these traveling preachers coming and going. It was God's provision to them. And how thankful must they have been when they received Titus. And then they received Tychicus. And Lord willing, if Titus comes back, we will receive him with open arms again. The Christian church knows what a gift it is to have one of Paul's very own. companions and friends to be their leader. They know it's a blessing. Fifth reason to join a healthy church, you need a refuge from the world. A healthy church is that place. Notice verse 15, Paul says, all who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. That's an interesting phrase, greet those who love us in the faith. I think that's noteworthy. It's possible Paul is saying this to highlight his love for the church or their love for him. But it appears, I think, that Paul is actually highlighting there's a difference between those who love me, love the apostle, and those who don't love the apostle. Remember, there are some there who are creeping into the church teaching false things. Paul does not greet them. He does not greet the Judaizers. He does not greet the false teachers. He greets the brethren. He greets The Christians, he makes a distinction here. And he spends so much time talking about how elders are needed to separate the sheep from the wolves in this letter, gather the sheep into healthy churches, keep the wolves out. He tells the elders in chapter one to rebuke the false teachers sharply. So I think this is a nod to true believers, greet those who love us in the faith. I think Paul's making a distinction. He's not extending the right hand of fellowship to the wolves, but to the believers. And this distinction is necessary for the local church. This is our refuge, isn't it? I enjoy coming here after a week working in the world. I do, I see Pastor Ryan on Fridays, I come here, whew, oh, this is nice. And then I come here on Sunday, oh, this is my place. I know many of you feel the same way. This is our refuge from the world. We sing good things here, we talk about good things here. If you get out of line here, somebody's gonna say something about it. If wolves come in here, they're gonna be kicked out of here. Church membership, It's exclusive in that way. Only Christians can join. That's a common refrain. There needs to be some form of separation from the world. Yes, we're in the world, but we're not to be of it. We're not to act like this is our home. So what would you say to that young man? This is yet another reason for him to join a local church. You need a refuge. You may not know it yet, but you need a break from the world each week. You need to go to church to sit and be with God's people for a while. That's what this young man needs. Recall the scripture, 2 Corinthians 6. God has said, I will dwell in them. That's where God is. God is here in you. I will walk among them, I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. This is a command. This is a reason to join a local church, a good, healthy church. You need to be separate from the world. You need a refuge from the world. The people around us, there's something about the relationships here that are closer than even natural familial bonds. We call each other brother for good reason, sister for good reason. Even Jesus, even Jesus said such a thing. While he was talking to the multitudes, his mother and brothers stood outside of a house waiting to speak with him. And one said to Jesus, look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside waiting to speak with you. But he answered and said, who is my mother? Who are my brothers? And he stretched his hands towards his disciples and said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Something special about the church. There are many reasons to join a local church. I've mentioned five, but I'll end with where I began. If you give counsel to someone who has no clue what to do upon coming to faith in Christ, what would you say to them? There are a number of things you might say, but I hope somewhere at the very top of your list, you tell that person, get into a healthy church. They don't need one or two or three pieces of advice. They need a lifetime of care. And beyond that, that's where they're gonna find their calling. That's where they're gonna find a place of service. And to conclude this series, I wanna once again point to this sweet truth from Titus chapter two. This is verse 14. Regarding a letter that's all about building up a good, healthy church, Paul says this, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, He did so that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. That's you, church. He saved you that he might have his own special people. That's the church. We're saved from our sins to be his people. So we must gather. Do not fall back in your old ways. Come to church. Means of grace are in the church. Christ is found in the church. Sacraments are found in the church. What a blessing we have, week in and week out, to come to this place, our refuge. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for this letter of Titus, and we pray that you would build us up through it. We pray that you would maintain the health of this church, increase the health of this church, show us any grievous way that might be in us that we may walk in the path of life. And I pray for any who hear any part even of this sermon that they would come to faith knowing that Christ died paying the penalty that sinners deserve, that they might live forever with Him. It's in His name we pray, amen.