Titus 1

Nothing less than a very distinct and forcible conception and assertion of things spiritual will avail in times like our own to keep alive on the mind a truth equally certain and momentous in one age as in another, that whoever is not in a definite sense a Christian is “yet in his sins,” and in peril of the future judgment. We are come to no easy and gentle mood of the world’s history. This is no hour of leisure and facility and soft persuasion. Whoever dares not speak explicitly and boldly had better not speak at all. Nothing can now avail the cause of truth but the courage which truth ought to inspire. The adherents of the gospel must then either forfeit all chance of a hearing or act with a correspondent energy and promptitude. If in any time during the course of ages there has been need, on the part of Christians, of that boldness which walks abreast with truth and wisdom, this is such a time. And it is now that whatever is capital and essential in Christianity should be clearly and strenuously affirmed. And now it is (how unutterably desirable!) that whatever overloads, encumbers, defaces our faith should be thrown aside. I. T.

The preacher’s mind should resemble a lake fed by a running stream, always acquiring fresh knowledge, and never allowing itself to be stagnant. When a man ceases to learn, that moment he becomes unfit to teach. T. A.—If a full man is required anywhere, it is in the preacher of truth, who is fixed to the same spot the year round. Nothing short of a large magazine to draw from will suffice for these frequent demands; without it the thread of his speech will soon run out the staple of his argument, and, instead of a preacher, he will become a spin-text. Blunt.

Let prayer go hand in hand with study. Let the period daily spent among our books always take as much as possible the form of a religious meditation. Let us call to mind when we read, the increased accountability under which increased knowledge lays us. Let us regard our minds as instruments in God’s hand whereby he proposes to communicate to others the knowledge of his dear Son, and let us furnish them carefully, and guard them jealously, under this view of their relation to the divine service. E. M. G.

Affect not fine words, but words which the Holy Ghost teaches; that is, sound speech, which can not be condemned. Enticing words of man’s wisdom debase your matter. Gold needs not to be painted. Scripture expressions are what people are used to, and will remember. Consider the lambs of your flock. You must take them along with you. Do not over-drive them by being over-long or over-fine. Henry.—Bring your own spirit to the fount of inspiration; live in habitual communion with the infinite truth and love, and the words you speak to men, whether rude or refined, will possess a charm, a force, a power to touch their hearts and mold their secret souls which no words of eloquent conventionality can ever attain. There will be an intuitive recognition of the divine fire which has touched your lips. Caird.—Lean only on the spirit of infinite pity and help. Keep the simplicity of childlike trust. Never measure your fidelity by the poor signals of man’s applause. Be sure your real success in the last awards will be found in the exact measure of the fervor and constancy of your communion with your Lord. The office of the ministry is to take up and carry forward, in man’s behalf, Christ’s reconciling work; by whatever methods, according to whatever theory; by communication and by incitement; by rousing and kindling the dormant capacities of the soul, and by taking the things of the Spirit and showing them; life as opposed to stupor, half-belief, spiritual indifference, or a heart split between God’s worship and mammon worship; life, not death. F. D. H.

Christian saw the picture of a very grave person hung up against the wall, and this was the fashion of it: It had eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in its hand, the law of truth was written upon its lips, the world was behind its back; it stood as if it pleaded with men, and a crown of gold did hang over its head. Then said Christian, “What meaneth this?” The interpreter answered, “The man whose picture this is is one of a thousand. And whereas thou seest him with his eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, and the law of truth written on his lips, it is to show thee that his work is to know and to unfold dark things to sinners, even as also thou seest him stand as if he pleaded with men. And whereas thou seest the world as cast behind him, and that a crown hangs over his head, that is to show thee that, slighting and despising the things that are present for the love that he hath to his Master’s service, he is sure, in the world that comes next, to have glory for his reward.” Bun.

1. PAUL, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s 2 elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; in hope of eternal life, 3 which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the command- 4 ment of God our Saviour; to Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy,

5 and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain 6 elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, 7 having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as 8 the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given 9 to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doc- 10 trine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 11 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circum- 12 cision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which 13 they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, 14 said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Where- 14 fore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish 15 fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 16 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is noth- 16 ing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know 17 God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every 18 good work reprobate.

Some sins, far more than others, are sins first of the imagination. They are such that to think of them is to be tempted by them. To harbor their images, to gaze on their portraits, is to open wide the way for the guilty realities themselves. Especially true is this of those which are secret in their very nature, loving darkness rather than light, born and nursed in hidden chambers where no eye of man can reach, till they gain the satanic strength, finally, to break openly over the bounds of law; but at any rate corroding, corrupting, and spoiling the chaste heart till it is pure no longer. So certainly teaches Christ, he who knows this human heart so well in all its weakness, when he insists that sin is in the glance of the eye and the desire of the mind. Hence the supreme importance he assigns in his teaching to the government of the thoughts, the imagination, the “hidden man.” You may say, “Unto the pure all things are pure,” and so you will go and look and listen as you please; you will let meretricious art and ambiguous literature and bold company tempt you to the full bent of their unbridled will. Yes, “Unto the pure all things are pure”; that declares a principle. But who are the “pure”? Will any one of us, right-minded as he may be, looking up honestly toward the great white throne, dare say, “I am pure”? and, if you are, how does it happen that you willingly suffer impurity to be the tolerated guest of your heart’s hospitality? F. D. H.

THE precise period of Paul’s visit to Crete, for the purpose of preaching the gospel and organizing Christians, is not certainly known. But, from the great similarity between certain parts of this Epistle and the First Epistle to Timothy, the probability is that the visit took place some time during the later operations of the apostle in Asia Minor and Greece, and that consequently this Epistle to Titus, who had been left behind to complete the work begun by the apostle, must have proceeded from his pen at no great interval from the time when he indited the first to Timothy. P. F.—Both letters were addressed to persons left by the writer to preside in their respective churches during his absence. Both letters are principally occupied in describing the qualifications to be sought for in those whom they should appoint to offices in the Church; and the particulars are in both letters nearly the same. Timothy and Titus are likewise cautioned against the same prevailing corruptions, and, in particular, against the same misdirection of their cares and studies. The writer accosts his two friends with the same salutation, and passes on to the business of his letter by the same transition. Paley.

Extremely little is known of Titus, either as a man or as an evangelist. His name never occurs in the history of the Acts, which is somewhat strange, as we know from the Epistle to the Galatians that he was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and accompanied them to Jerusalem when they went to have the dispute settled about circumcision (Gal. 2: 1-3). We learn, from the brief notice given us of what took place on that occasion, that Paul sternly refused to have him circumcised, as some of the Jewish Christians wished, because he saw that in his case the principle of gospel liberty was at stake, and must, at whatever hazard, be vindicated. It therefore appears not only that Titus was a Gentile, but that he must have also been employed chiefly in ministering to Gentiles, or to churches in which these formed the predominating element. He appears, at a later period, to have been with Paul and Timothy at Ephesus, doubtless sharing with these in the manifold labors attendant on the planting of the Church in that center of idolatry and corruption. From Ephesus he was sent forth by Paul to Corinth, for the purpose of stimulating the brethren to get forward their contributions for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8: 6; 12: 18). He rejoined the apostle in Macedonia, and cheered him with the report he brought, not only of the progress of the contributions, but also of the salutary effect produced by the First Epistle of Paul to the Church at

Corinth (7:6-15). P. F.—He is spoken of in the highest terms as being Paul’s partner and fellow-helper; and his unity of spirit and action with the apostle is confidently appealed to. For about ten years (A. D. 57-67) we lose sight of Titus altogether, i. e., until the notices which our Epistle supplies. Here we find him left in the island of Crete by Paul, for the temporary purpose of carrying forward the correction of those things that were defective. He was to work this out by establishing presbyteries, the members of which are called bishops, in every city. He was to stay there a very short time, as he was, on the arrival of Tychicus or Artemas, to come to the apostle at Nicopolis.

The only plausible account of the origin of these Cretan churches is, that they owed their beginning to some of those Cretan Jews who are related to have been witnesses of the miracle on the day of Pentecost. If this view be correct, it will furnish a complete and interesting explanation of their condition as shown by our Epistle. They had been long founded, yet were in an elementary and unformed state. The errors in them were almost exclusively Jewish, and the apostle’s visit had brought out the Judaistic element into open hostility to him. A.

1. 2. The faith and knowledge of God’s elect rested on a background of promise and hope, which, in a manner, stretched from eternity to eternity, having God’s primeval promise for its origin, and a participation in his everlasting life for its end. What an elevated thought! And how peculiarly fitted, both to enhance the spiritual attainments which carried with them the realization of such a hope, and to exalt the ministry which was appointed to bring them, instrumentally, within the reach of men!

5. The first and apparently the most prominent point concerned the official organization of the churches: and mightest appoint elders in every city, as I directed thee. Not only was the appointment of elders to each several congregation to be made, but it was to be done in accordance with the instructions which had been given by the apostle—the main part of which are doubtless embodied in the description, which immediately follows, of the qualifications to be sought in the persons who were to receive the appointment. P. F.

5-7. The name presbyter, or elder, is no doubt of Jewish-Christian origin—a translation of the Hebrew title saken, sekenim, applied to the rulers of the synagogues, on whom devolved the conduct of religious affairs. It refers, therefore, primarily to age and the personal venerableness which goes with it; then derivatively to official dignity and authority, since these are usually borne by men of age and experience. The term bishop, or overseer, is, in all probability, borrowed from the political relations of the Greeks. Hence it came later into ecclesiastical use, and made its first appearance, too, among the Gentile Christians; as, in fact, it occurs in the New Testament only in the writings of Paul and his disciple Luke. It refers, as the term itself signifies, to the official duty and activity of these congregational rulers. The demand for the office unquestionably arose very early; since, notwithstanding the diffusion of gifts, which were not necessarily confined to official station, provision had to be made for the regular instruction and government of the rapidly multiplying churches. The historical pattern for it was presented in the Jewish synagogue, in the bench of elders who conducted the exercises of public worship, prayer, and the reading and exposition of the

Scriptures. Christian presbyters meet us for the first time (Acts 11:30) at Jerusalem, when the Church of Antioch sent a collection to their brethren in Judea. Thence the institution passed over not only to all the Jewish-Christian churches, but also to those planted by Paul and his colaborers among the Gentiles. The presbyters or bishops of the apostolic period were the regular teachers and pastors, preachers and leaders of the congregations; and it was their office to conduct all public worship, to take care of souls, to enforce discipline, and to manage the church property. P. S.

As at the first settling of the Church of Israel in the wilderness, so it was in the first settling of the gospel. The first fathers of the Sanhedrin in the wilderness were endued with divine gifts; but, when that generation was expired, those that were to succeed in that function and employment were such as were qualified for it by education, study, and parts acquired. So was it with this first age of the gospel and the ages succeeding. At the first dispersing of the gospel, it was absolutely needful that the first planters should be furnished with such extraordinary gifts, or else it was not possible it should be planted, as may appear by a plain instance: Paul comes to a place where the gospel had never come; he stays a month or two and begets a church, and then he is to go his way and to leave them. Who now, in this church, is fit to be their minister? they being all alike but very children in the gospel; but Paul is directed by the Holy Ghost to lay his hands upon such and such of them; and that bestows upon them the gift of tongues and prophesying; and now they are able to be ministers, and to teach the congregation. But after that generation, when the gospel was settled in the world, and committed to writing, and written to be read and studied, then was study of the Scriptures the way to enable man to unfold the Scriptures, and fit them to be ministers to instruct others; and revelations and inspirations neither needful nor safe to be looked after, nor hopeful to be attained unto. And this was the reason why Paul, coming but newly out of Ephesus and Crete, when he could have ordained and qualified ministers with abilities by the imposition of his hands, would not do it, but left Timothy and Titus to ordain, though they could not bestow these gifts: because he knew the way that the Lord had appointed ministers thenceforward to be enabled for the ministry, not by extraordinary infusions of the Spirit, but by serious study of the Scriptures: not by a miraculous, but by an ordinary ordination. J. L.

9. It was the first part of the duty of the overseers of such a community to exhort, that is, to instruct and edify its own members; and only secondarily, and as occasion required, to resist and expose the false teaching of those who assailed the Christian faith, if so be they might be able to convince them of their errors. So that the qualification here associated with the true Christian pastor corresponds to the aptness to teach mentioned in 1 Tim. 5:2; only here it is more specifically described, and its importance indicated with reference as well to the hostile as to the friendly elements, amid which the church in Crete was placed. P. F.

12. The character of the Cretans quoted by the apostle with approbation, out of the Cretan poet Epimenides, is abundantly illustrated by the testimonies of ancient writers. Livy, Plutarch, Polybius, and Strabo testify to their love of gain, their

ferocity and fraud, their disregard of truth, and general depravity. A.—The description, of course, is to be understood as applying only in the general to the Cretan population, while admitting, doubtless, of many individual exceptions. But, being so general as to have become a kind of byword and reproach to the island, it was to be expected that the noxious qualities would not be long in making their appearance in the Christian Church; on the side especially of these qualities danger was to be looked for to the cause of a pure and healthful Christianity. P. F.