Broadway Baptist Church Maryville Tennessee

This week, on October 31st, we will mark the 500 year anniversary of one of the most significant events in church history. On October 31, 1517 a frustrated Augustinian monk nailed a document to the church door in Wittenberg containing a list of 95 theses for debate concerning the matter of the sale of indulgences. This monk's name was Martin Luther!

Although this attempt at reforming the church is the most famous, it is certainly not the first. The reformation was preceded by numerous attempts to call the church back to the Scriptures. Among these men and women were:

Peter Waldo (Died by 1218)

John Wycliffe (1330-1384)

Jan Hus

William Tyndale (1494-1564)

Not only were there these forerunners of the reformation, there were also numerous contemporaries of Luther that God used to shape the reformation. Two of the most notable were:

Ulrich Zwigli (1484-1531)

John Calvin (1509-1564)

Paul's letter to Titus proves to be both extremely practical in calling all believers to be engaged in “good deeds” and extremely doctrinal in declaring how “we are saved” by God's work of grace. Paul would hold that there should be no contradiction between what a person believes and how a person behaves. Paul emphasizes a faith that produces “good deeds”. Then he reminds us that the good work of God has given us the spiritual life to produce the fruit of good works!

This morning's sermon on Spiritual Maturity is presented by Keith Ross.

Paul instructs Titus to remind the Christians in Crete that their conduct was to be reflective of a changed, transformed life. The culture of Crete was notoriously evil and pagan creating a dark backdrop on which the light of the gospel can be displayed.

Question: Should the Christian (and the church) seek to reflect the holiness of God or should we seek to look, act and think like the world in order to win them? Evangelical churches are divided on the issue.

This morning we gather together as the faith community that meets at Broadway! We are united this morning by the bond of faith and the work of grace that God has wrought in us. We are all broken, needy sinners who have by the grace of God been redeemed! We are vastly different, yet each of us are in a process whereby we are being transformed into the image of Christ!

One of the main themes of the book of Titus is the relationship between grace and good works. The same grace of God that brings salvation at the moment of faith, is the same grace of God necessary for the continuing work of sanctification.

Today we move into the final epistle of the pastorals, the letter to Titus. Before we examine the salutation found in verses 1-4 let's refresh our memory concerning an introduction to the pastoral and to Titus.

Paul's major emphasis is upon encouraging Titus as he had Timothy, to be faithful! The major theme of the Pastoral Epistles would involve, “the faithfulness of leadership and the orderly function within the church brings the greater glory to God and the Gospel”. Paul's objective was to encourage these young men to be “firm in the faith” and to teach the church how to relate to one another as to the best bring glory to God.

Paul, the aged warrior, closes his letter to Timothy with thoughts of the many friends, co-laborers and associates. Paul lists no less than 17 individuals in these closing verses, the kingdom's work is vast and requires a host of workers. Paul was a great disciple-maker, he had poured his life into the lives of others and they were now actively engaged in carrying on the ministry while Paul was sidelined in prison.

Chapter three is a chapter of great contrast! The contrast between a hardened, calloused, depraved Christ-rejecting culture and the clear, exhortation for Timothy to proclaim the God-breathed, Holy Scripture that is able to “give you wisdom that leads to salvation”. This morning we will only examine the first half of the chapter dealing with the “perilous times”, and then next week we will focus on the “precious truth”.

Paul continues his instruction to Timothy concerning being an approved workman in light of the false teachers that were so common and prominent in Ephesus. If we are going to be useful to Master, we need to pay attention to Paul's instruction to Timothy.

Paul urged Timothy to remind his hearers that they needed to be faithful workmen, diligently searching and studying God's word.