Titus Bible Study Meeting 2 - Part 1

One of the topics of discussion of the second meeting was the phrase "manifested his word through preaching" which is found in Titus chapter 1 verse 3.  I pointed out the similarity of the discussion of the "Word" discussed in John 1:1-14 and how the Jesus is referred to as the "Word" and how the "Word" was manifest to the people living at that time when the "Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."  Paul says, however, in his day (and in our day for that matter) that the word is manifest to us through preaching.  May we continue to revere the Word of God, as the Truth of God, as the Message of God, as the Word of God revealed to us.

John Piper, the pastor for preaching and teaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN has just begun a sermon series, which if I understand correctly, will continue all the way through the book of John.  The first sermon in the series is titled "In the Beginning was the Word" and is available free of charge for download (video, audio and text) from his ministry's website.

Link to John Piper's recent message "In the Beginning was the Word"

I had the chance to listen to it this morning and I high recommend it.  Note: if you go to the link above you will also notice that there are links to the podcast versions of Piper's sermon audio and video as well.  If you subscribe to the podcast, you will automatically receive the download of the sermon just a few days after they have been preached.

Titus Bible Study Meeting 1 - Part 3

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a sermon entitled "The Common Faith" on the first four verses of Titus given by S. Lewis Johnson.  Dr. Johnson was considered by many to be one of the preeminent expository preachers of the 20th century.  He was also a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary for many years and was also a visiting teacher and lecturer at many other schools.  He was also a major influence on both Dr. Steven Lawson and Dr. John MacArthur.  Many of his sermons, which he delivered at the Believer's Chapel in Dallas, are available for download.  Included in the body of available sermons is a short, 7 message series on the book of Titus.  I have only listened to the first one so far.  It covered the first four verses, which is where our  Friday morning study is right now.  If you have the time, about 45 minutes, it is definitely worth the investment of your time.  

Link to "The Common Faith" on the S. Lewis Johnson Institute's website

I will try to make a biographical article on Dr. Johnson at a later date.

Titus Bible Study Meeting 1 - Part 2

Continuing where we left off yesterday, another answer to the question that we posted last time, "What does this passage say about God?", follows:

• We saw, as it reads in verse 2, that "God cannot lie."  We spent some time discussing this statement.  We found great comfort in it, for, if it were not true, and God could lie, then we would have great cause for questioning His promises, His Word, and even His character.  In the phrase "God cannot lie", we have a higher truth the phrase "God doesn't lie."  If Paul had written in verse 2 that God doesn't lie, he would have left open the possibility that God could lie, but chooses not to.  However, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote "God cannot lie."  This phrase is much stronger, it leaves no room for the possibility of God lying.  To do so would be out of His character, and He can do nothing that violates His character.  

The difference between "doesn't" and "cannot" is significant.  It is the difference between "inerrant" and "infallible."  Praise to the Lord that He is not only inerrant, but infallible.  For more on inspiration, infallibility and inerrancy, see R.C. Sproul's message of the same name in his series "Hath God Said?".  As of the date of this blog article, you could go to the home page of Ligonier.org, click on the video tab of the resource center in the middle of the page and scroll down to 8/11/08 and watch (or listen) to the message mentioned earlier at no charge. 

Titus Bible Study Meeting 1 - Part 1

It was good to see everyone who came to Ken's house this morning to study the Word of God and to focus specifically on the book of Titus.  

We started off basically looking at the first four verses of the book and asking the question "What does it say about God?" One way we answered that question follows:

• We saw that both God (vs.3) and Jesus (vs.4) are called "our savior."  There is an equality present here.  In referring to both God and Jesus as "our savior", Paul is equating them. Jesus is God.  Many times people separate the roles of the three members of the Trinity into specific categories.  Probably most often thinking of the category or role of "Savior" specifically with respect to Jesus.  Paul, however, writes that all three members of the Trinity have a role as Savior.  God is called "Savior" in 1:3, 2:10 and 3:4. Jesus is called "Savior" in 1:4, 2:13 and 3:6.  Part of the the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit's role in salvation is seen in 3:5 where it says we were saved "by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (KJV).  So, it is good to note that all of the members of the Godhead play a role in the individual's salvation.  
  

We should remember not to so categorize any member of the Trinity so as to exclude them from any attribute rightly due them.  

Please use the comments area to fill out our understanding of this part of our discussion this morning. 

In subsequent posts, we will add other points of our discussion to help us further remember and study for our next meeting which will be on September 19, 2008--6:00 am, again at Ken's home.

Titus Overview Sermon

Mark Dever, the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, has preached an overview sermon on every book of the Bible.  His church is in the process of making all of these sermons available for people to download.  The sermon on our Bible study topic, Titus, is one of the sermons that is already available to download.  It is titled "Beginnings: The Message of Titus."  The sermon is about 65 minutes in length, so it is a bit of a commitment to listen to it, but it is well worth your while.  

Beginnings: The Message of Titus link

If you get the chance to listen to it, go ahead and post your impressions of the sermon as comments to this article.

Becoming Familiar

It is a good idea to become familiar with a text of the Bible at a high level before beginning a close study of it.  The goal of this familiarization is to get a "forest" level understanding prior to examining each grove of trees or even each individual tree.  The most basic way of getting this sort of understanding is to read the section of the Bible over and over again. 

As we are beginning a study of the book of Titus, I would encourage you to read over the whole book, which is only three chapters long, each day leading up to the first meeting this coming Friday morning Sept. 12, 2008.  Doing so will give you an overview understanding of the book and will help down the road when we look at the text a little closer to aid in preventing taking the apostle Paul's writing out of context.  

New SPBC Men's Weekly Bible Study

This is an introductory announcement for a new weekly Bible study that all the men of Stansbury Park Baptist Church are invited to attend.  The study will be centered on the seventeenth book of the New Testament, Paul's epistle to Titus.  The initial meetings will be held in the home of Ken Blinn, with the location rotating between attending men each month.  The meetings will be every Friday morning starting at 6:00 am and going for one hour.  

Please see Ken Blinn, Jeff Wainwright, or Dave Teague if you have any other questions at this time.