THE ITINERANTS' OLUB.

PAUL'S ADVICE TO TITUS-TITUs iii.

HAVING in the previous chapter exhorted Titus as to the instruction to be given to the different classes in the church to which he was called to minister-aged men, aged women, young women, young men, and servants-he urges upon him the importance of himself being a "pattern of good works" as well as a man of sound speech. Paul calls the attention of Titus to the more public duties which he is to enjoin upon his people. "Put them in mind to be in subjection to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready unto every good work, to speak evil of no man, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all meekness toward all men." This rendering of the Revised Version brings clearly to our notice the general advices which Paul would give to all who are related to the community, either as fellow-subjects of the government or as members of the Church of Christ. The language is, "Put them in mind." It would seem that they were disposed to forget this, and previous portions of this epistle indicate that they were turbulent people, unwilling to submit to authority and ready to revolt on slight provocation. The advice here is the same in substance as was given by the apostle to the church at Rome. In the Epistle to the Romans it is addressed to the church itself, who are expected to read his letter. In this case it is given to the pastor to enforce upon the people. It is here enjoined that, as pastor of the church, it is his duty to maintain civil government and exhort the people so to do. It has been said by some that the system of Christianity is defective because it nowhere inculcates patriotism. Certainly the one who assumes this cannot have read carefully the letters of Paul and the words of Christ. It is needless here to call attention to passages which enforce the duty that the Christian should submit to the civil government under which he lives. The whole spirit of Paul's writings is that of loyalty to civil institutions. His own appeal, in the statement that he was a Roman citizen, proves that he expected the support of the government and was entitled to it, and amid all the persecutions which he endured even at the hands of the government he enjoined respect for principalities and powers, and exhorted Christians to be ready for every good work which pertains to the government of which they form a part. Patriotism is love for country, obedience to its laws, and maintenance of its established authorities. It involves subjection to rulers as well as obedience to God, and so Titus is urged by the great apostle to keep the church in remembrance of these things.

From this general statement of duties to civil rulers Paul very naturally glides into certain minor suggestions of which Titus was to remind the people. One of these is especially significant: "To speak evil of no man." This is often quite difficult to do. Evil men and evil workers are all around us. One can scarcely go from home or read the papers without noting how much evil there is in the world, how many people whose hearts are turned in them toward evil. In another place Paul has exhorted them to be "patient toward all men." That is certainly a great attainment, but to speak evil of no man is still greater evidence of divine grace.

He further enjoins upon them "not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all meekness toward all men." This passage needs no extended exposition. Each one can interpret it for himself. It enforces the commonplaces of Christianity-the things without which one cannot be a Christian. In doing these things Christians simply follow the example of their Master, Christ. Who was so gentle as he? Who was so meek as he? When Paul urges these things upon them it is that they may exhibit the life of the Master himself. The exhortation thus given is enforced by the fact mentioned in verse 3, namely, his former condition and that of the fellow-Christians had not been always what he is exhorting them now to be. He says they were "aforetime foolish, disobedient, deceived." He characterizes their pre-Christian state as "serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another." This picture is certainly a Pauline picture of man in the natural state. It is a fitting description of the people as presented in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. How they came to be transferred from this state of sin, and how this was to take place in the case of others, is indicated in the words that immediately follow. The mode of their conversion from this condition into that of earnest Christians is stated with great distinctness, and is intensely Pauline in its character. One feels that he is in contact with the author of the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians when he reads the next verse: “But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (verses 4-6). He charges their rescue from this sinful state to the kindness of "God our Saviour, and his love toward man." How closely harmonious this is with the statement of Christ himself, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life"! He speaks of God our Saviour. This love toward man which Christ shows is exhibited in his whole life as well as in his sacrificial death. Salvation is here set forth under the great aspect of grace. It is set forth further as an act of mercy-" according to his mercy he saved us." It is further set forth as a renewal of the Holy Ghost. Here we have the fundamental elements of Christian theology-God's love for man, and man's restoration by the mercies of God through the regeneration of his nature. How harmonious are the writings of Paul on this subject! Indeed, how harmonious are the teachings of the New Testament! In this verse Titus would find a volume of theology on which he might meditate and with which he should instruct the people.

man.

Paul further reminds Titus that salvation by grace is not a salvation without works. This is a tendency which Paul is compelled to guard against whenever he enjoins his great doctrine of salvation by grace. The inference is that salvation by grace means a salvation without works on the part of the regenerated He avoids this by telling them that "they which have believed God may be careful to maintain good works," or, as the margin of the Revised Version has it, "profess honest occupations." There is a danger, however, against which Paul must guard. They are to avoid "foolish questionings, and genealogies, and strifes, and fightings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain." Many questions arose which were not essential, and therefore they

must be avoided. It was evidently a time of great discussions in the church, and people busied themselves by questions of no real importance.

Paul next reminds Titus of the treatment of what is called a heretic, or, according to the margin of the Revised Version, a "factious" man. This does not seem to refer so much to matters of doctrine as to matters of practice. Such men are disturbers of the peace of the church. Paul seems to be giving a warning against those who are constantly disturbing the church by questionings which are unprofitable and have no essential value. Many of the most dangerous discussions of the church grow out of matters of no real importance, and to avoid these is the thing he urges upon Titus. He closes with those peaceful and gentle references which form so important a part of the apostle's writings. He is anxious that Titus, in return for sending Artemas and Tychicus to him, should visit him at Nicopolis, because he "determined to winter there." Longing for the companionship of his younger brethren in the ministry is one of the beautiful traits of the apostle. He is so intensely grand and so intensely human that he seems to be comforted in the presence of his younger brethren. He further urges the sending forth of Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollo on a mission, and concludes by urging Titus and his people to "maintain good works," or, as the margin of the Revised Version has, "profess honest occupations," so that they may not be unfruitful; and the epistle closes with the usual salutation.

It may be well for us to consider the homiletical value of this Epistle to Titus. It was especially addressed to one whom Paul designated as his "own son after the common faith," but it is to Titus as the ruler of the church in Crete that this letter is especially addressed. The exact status of Titus as a church administrator is not clearly defined in this place. There are those who regard him as a bishop of the church. He is certainly the ruler to whom under Paul's direction was committed the care of the church and whose duty was "to set in order the things that are wanting" and ordain elders in every city as Paul had appointed them. It is clear from this passage that Paul recognizes the church of Christ as under a government. The church is thus shown not to be a conglomeration of individuals held by no doctrines and bound by no usages, but it is a people separated from the world and yet under regulations and ordinances such as govern human societies. God is not the God of confusion, but the God of order, and his church can only accomplish its high purpose when it is controlled by the wisdom of those to whom it is committed, and directed in accordance with the teachings of the Spirit of God. Many discussions have taken place as to the true government of the primitive church. Into these it is not becoming at this time that we should enter. The sufficient and practical lesson that we should learn is that Paul gave to Titus a commission to rule the church in accordance with the principles which he had laid down for him and under the direction of the Spirit of God. The church in every age is to be governed by the conditions existing, always bearing in mind its original constitution through the prophets and apostles, and always recognizing the subordination of the faith to the teachings of God's holy word.

Two things with regard to church government need to be guarded: 1. The adoption of rules and regulations more than are necessary for the carrying forward of the faith and the promotion of godly practice. There may be a multiplication of regulations and laws and ordinances such as will interfere

unduly with the liberty of the individual Christian, and this becomes an evil to be guarded against most carefully by all who have to do with the advancement of the church of Christ. 2. The true church government must ever follow as far as conditions permit the regulations and principles found in the teachings of Christ and of his apostles. The necessity of order, therefore, in the church is clearly taught in the appointment of Titus to this important office as ruler of the church in Crete.

The second lesson to be learned from this letter is that the ruler of the church of God as well as the individual Christians must be persons of high personal character. Christianity is the expression of the highest ideals of life and also the richest personal experience known to mankind. No official position can be a substitute for the character of its occupant. In the minds of some persons it is thought proper to separate official character from personal character, and to claim that the performance of the functions of the church by those who are duly appointed to execute them is not invalidated by the defective or even wicked lives of the persons so engaged. Certainly official duties are in one sense independent of the personal character of him who executes them in so far as they are the outcome of law and regulations, but the Scriptures make no such distinction and recognize no official position that does not include holiness of heart and purity of life. The person in an official position must have all moral qualifications also. Hence we have in this epistle, "The bishop must be blameless, as God's steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, temperate; holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers" (i, 7-9). It is exceedingly appropriate, therefore, that the sentiment here expressed should have become a part of the ritual of the church in the consecration of its bishops. No church could long survive in the true sense as the church of the living God which does not enforce as a qualification of the utmost importance that those who are called to be its rulers should be of high personal character. It is pleasing to remember that this is recognized in the church of God and has been signally manifest in its leading representatives.

The third homiletical suggestion of this epistle is the duty of admonition to the church on the part of its ministry. The description of the Cretans in this passage is exceedingly minute, and one which from contemporary writings is exceedingly accurate. We need not repeat what already has been said in these discussions. Titus is enjoined to "rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith." We must distinguish between sharpness and unkindness. Whatever admonition the minister should give to his people it must always be given to them in the spirit of a shepherd toward his flock. In the consecration service of the bishops of the church they are exhorted to be “a shepherd and not a wolf;" so it is as a shepherd that all ecclesiastical rebukes are to be given. The purpose should be to save and not to destroy, to help and not to discourage. How to do this wisely and well is something which the minister may readily study and learn.

Another homiletical use of this portion of Scripture is the importance of doctrine on the part of the church. In the verse already quoted (i, 13) they

are to be rebuked in order "that they may be sound in the faith," and immediately connected with that is the idea of doctrine. Verse 14 says, “not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth." There is such a thing as truth which the preacher is to maintain, and if there be truth there are standards of truth, and these standards are to be found written in the sacred word. It is interesting to note that in all these practical advices there runs a flavor of doctrine. At every point we find the doctrinal system of Paul emphasized fully in his other epistles. From time to time he repeats in different connections the great fundamental truths of his teachings, especially the essential principles which are found in the Epistle to the Romans. How familiar to us are the words of the fourth verse of the first chapter of Titus: "Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour"! In the tenth verse of chapter ii we note the words, "that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." Here we have very clearly a statement of the principle that the people as well as the minister should adorn the doctrines of God our Saviour; and again we turn to verses 13 and 14 of the same chapter, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." And still again we have the same doctrine set forth in chapter iii, verses 4-7: "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." These passages which we find in this Epistle to Titus give us an epitome of the Gospel. The last passage which we have mentioned would be an excellent passage from which to outline the whole plan of salvation as given in the teachings of the apostle Paul. In order to understand it one will need to have read the Epistle to the Romans. So we find here as in the other writings of the apostle that he connects doctrine with duty, and it is manifest that he regards the latter as closely depending upon the former.

Another homiletical use of this epistle is the teaching concerning the ethical life of man. At every point in this epistle there is an exposition of the duties of men in language so clearly put that the "wayfaring man shall not err therein." We find as to the bishop that he should be a lover of good men, "sober, just, holy, temperate." Again we have the exhortation that aged men should be sober and grave and temperate, that aged women are to be in behavior as becometh holiness, that young men and young women show themselves patterns of good works. It is enjoined upon servants that they are to show "all good fidelity." It is enjoined upon the people "to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, showing all meekness unto all men." Spence in his commentary on the fourteenth verse of the third chapter says: "It was with such injunctions as these that men like St. Paul and St. James laid the foundation stones of those great Christian works of charity—all undreamed of before the resurrection morning-but which have been for eighteen centuries the glory of the religion of Christ: the glorious result of the Master's