Trustful Expectation, Hope! (2) Series

Series Title: Pastoral Leadership, By Example (Titus)

Message Title: Trustful Expectation, HOPE!

Scripture: Titus 1:2

Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

In our previous message concerning Titus 1:1, we were able to dig into the Word and find several pearls of promise that we can incorporate not only into our pastoral tool bag, but into our daily walk with God as well. These pearls are easily found, but there is a word of caution, which I will present with an illustration.

I love to cook. In our house there are several cookbooks that are rather in-depth in their discussion concerning how to prepare most dishes. Some of these dishes are plain, or easy, or quick, or hard. But, they all have one thing in common. Until I read them over, gather the necessary ingredients, and prepare them for the first time, I’m not 100 percent sure what will be the end result. I must experience the ‘doing.’ And, once I have experienced the doing, I’m able to do it even better the second time, and I am able to explain it to others. But, they, in turn, will not fully understand the end result until they do it themselves at least once.

A further illustration, if I am seeking directions on how to get to a different part of a major city, or state, that I have never been to before, the first thing that I do is to look for someone that has been there. It would be useless for me to get information on my final destination from somewhere that has never been there before. As an example, suppose you were going to the airport. You look at the map and you consult some friends. Your map is a good one, but all of your friends, except for one, have not been to that airport in the last three years. Every one, except for one, that you speak to has very good directions and even some good advice, but that one friend tells you that last week, due to security reasons, two of the access roads to the airport, which were on the map, are closed. He also tells you that, since you are only ‘dropping’ someone off, that you should stay in a specific lane because traffic makes it impossible to get into that lane past a certain point. He is speaking from experience.

The emphasis is not just on getting the information [the pearls], but the ‘doing’ as well. Until you cook that first batch of barbecue ribs you will not be able to fully understand how to cook ribs. Or, until you have taken your friend’s advice on how to get to the airport and actually go there yourself, you will not fully understand how to get there, nor will you really be able to tell someone else how to get there.

That is what the Bible is all about. It is packed with pearls of promise in virtually every verse. However, until a person digs them out themselves and studies them he or she won’t know what they are. But, that is not all. We must also experience them, we must put them to our own personal use.

This brings us to our discussion on verse two of the book of Titus.

Again, that verse:

-2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

Let’s recap Titus 1:1, where Paul says,

an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness-

We have already found out that the faith of God’s elect refers to the belief system of the Christian [i.e. What I believe concerning Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.]. Further, we know that we must experience or ‘do’ the knowledge of truth in order to fully express godliness in our lives…our walking the talk. I can try to talk about the truth that I read about in the Bible, but until I express them in my life by doing and following them, they will not really have anything to do with godliness.

-2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life

Now that we know what this faith and knowledge of truth are, we are able to look at where they have their foundation. And, that is resting on the hope of eternal life.