Commitments of a Powerful Leader, Pt. 4
Titus 1:4
Take your Bible and open now to the book of Titus. We're still trying to get our way through this introduction and we find ourselves at verse 4. Some of the messages that we have given have been somewhat deep and doctrinal as we've sort of moved through this. This will be more practical and personal, a refreshing look at the man Titus and something about the whole life and ministry of Paul as it relates to people. Let me read you the opening four verses.
"Paul, a bondservant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen of God in the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago but at the proper time manifested, even His Word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, to Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior."
Just a notation of Titus' name here brings to mind the tremendous devotion of Paul to partners in ministry. And as I was looking at this verse and wondering how we could just take one verse and talk about it for a whole Sunday morning, one which is so very apparently simple in what it ascribes, I thought to myself, "What better way than to come to grips with Paul in terms of his relationship to other people." In fact, you will remember that as we've moved through this section we've had a little outline based upon Paul's commitments. We said that what made him the unique man he was was he had commitments. He was committed to God's mastery. We saw that in that he designates himself as a bondservant and a messenger of Jesus Christ, one under command under orders. That he was also committed to God's mission and we noted that in verses 1 and 2, that mission involved evangelism, edification and encouragement. And then we said he was committed to God's message, namely the Word, God's Word noted in verse 3. And then last time that he was committed to God's means which is the kerugma, the proclamation with which he had been entrusted by the commandment of God.
Here was a man then who had as the foundation to his ministry certain commitments, a commitment to God's mastery, mission, message and means. And that leads us to the fifth point which we find in verse 4 and we could simply call it he was also committed to God's men. He had a way of multiplying himself by pouring himself into the lives of others. And that's really the word here that I think the Lord would have us look at. Titus is a part of Paul's team. He's a major player. In fact, it wouldn't be stretching the point at all to say as Paul looks to the end of his life, he writes to two men...Timothy and Titus...and we could conclude from that they were the two most important leaders for the next generation. So here is a man about whom we know less than we do Timothy but about whom we need to know more because Paul gives him weighty responsibility in this letter and in other places has already done that and will yet do that as we shall see when we get through this message. Here then is Paul's devotion or commitment to others.
And this is certainly a part of powerful leadership. Nobody is a powerful or effective leader who can't delegate. Nobody is a powerful or effective leader who can't disciple other people to do what he does, that's precisely what Paul was involved in. He functioned in a very, very large network of people that he was continually influencing in one way or another.
When you think about Paul you probably start out thinking about his early companion, Barnabas. You probably think about Silas or as he is called, Silvanus, you probably even think about Luke or as Paul calls him on occasion, Lucas. Paul had from the very outset association with men who were partners in ministry. And as his ministry went on from the early days, the network of people around him just grew and grew and grew.
To illustrate the point of how involved he was in a common ministry with other people, we need only to look at Romans chapter 16. And I want you to look at it just by way of an introduction this morning and I want you to meet some of the people in Paul's life, some of his friends who came alongside him and assisted him because I think the greater point to be made is this man was very intensely and on a very wide scale involved in the lives of people. And that is why his ministry was so far reaching. He was not an isolationist, quite the contrary, he was a people guy and he was involved on all kinds of fronts in relationships with people which he encouraged and which he thanked God for repeatedly.
Let's look at Romans 16 because more than any other chapter in the New Testament in relation to the life of Paul, we get a feeling for his involvement with people. Having written 15 chapters of great theology as we all know the book of Romans to be, and culminating with some tremendous practical truth from chapter 12 on, he comes to the last chapter of Romans and all of a sudden we get a long, long recitation of the names of people and somewhat minimal information about what it was they were engaged in with regard to partnership and ministry alongside Paul. But it is a good look at how involved he was in team building.
He starts out in verse 1, "I commend to you our sister Phoebe who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you for she herself has also been a helper of many and of myself as well." Having written this glorious epistle which is so marvelous in terms of its doctrinal content, when it was completed he gave it to this woman named Phoebe, no doubt, who took it to Rome to deliver it to the church. He had been writing in the city of Corinth and it was somewhat of a journey to get it there and Paul put it into her care to be delivered. She was a very special woman in his life. He designates her in three ways--sister in verse 1, servant, that's diakonos, one who waits on tables, one who serves and then as supporter down at the bottom of verse 2, the word "helper" means to support, it's an old Jewish word usage...I should say an old Jewish usage of this word referring to a patron, someone who financially underwrote some kind of activity.
So here was a woman, maybe wealthy, she was a servant of the church at Cenchrea, a port of Corinth about nine miles from Corinth on the Saronic Gulf, probably a sister church to the Corinthian church which Paul planted over an 18-month period, had been planted there, it may well have met in her house. She was a supporter of the church. She had been a supporter of Paul as well, probably meaning she had contributed to his needs perhaps in a very generous way. God has always used women in His Kingdom, still does and all of us who minister are dependent on many of them who serve loyally with joy and devotion and sacrifice. So Paul starts the chapter by introducing this wonderful lady who has been such a tremendous helper of many and even of the Apostle Paul.
Then in verse 3 he introduces some more of his friends, Prisca which is a diminutive form or a familiar form or sort of a nickname form of the word "Priscilla." This woman is called Priscilla a number of times in the New Testament, Paul prefers to call her Prisca which is certainly because he had familiarity with she and her husband, they were good friends. "Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus." They were also tent makers, by the way, who met in the synagogue because synagogues seated people according to trade. And on one occasion the Apostle Paul was allowed the privilege to sit with these people and consequently to make their acquaintance. You can read about that in Acts chapter 18. He calls her by this diminutive form four out of the six times she appears...her name is first, it could well be because she was a noble Roman who married a humble Jewish tent maker, we're not too sure about that. But Paul had met them in Corinth there in the synagogue in chapter 18 and a really great friendship ensued. Two years later they moved to Ephesus and now they're back at Rome. They show up later on in Ephesus again, according to 2 Timothy 4:19, after Paul's first imprisonment. They're best known, I think, for discipling Apollos, the great and powerful Old Testament preacher. They're also well-known for having a church in their house in Ephesus, according to 1 Corinthians 16:19, they had a church when they lived in Ephesus and now here. Obviously these people are again giving their lives and probably in verse 5 we are safe to say that there's this major church that meets in their house, again noting they may have been people of means. So they were very devout, they were ministering, they were discipling, they were teaching people, they were having church in their own home very sacrificially giving up their home for that purpose.
Their service is commended in verse 4 in a unique way. It says, "For my life they risked their own necks, they put their heads on the chopping block." We don't know what incident that records. We don't know the specifics of where and when. So he says, "I am not only the one giving thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles." Everybody is thankful that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for my sake because, of course, of the effect of the Apostle Paul. Everybody would be grateful for their endangerment of themselves because the ministry of Paul was benefited and carried on because of their sacrifice.
So all the churches were indebted to them for sacrificial service. Here is a couple in whom Paul put great trust and made great effort for their own development spiritually and they paid immense dividends in his life. In verse 5 we note that the church in their house is to be greeted.
Then in verse 5 also we start to get another list of people, "Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia." Asia Minor, the area of the seven churches of Asia Minor noted in Revelation 2 and 3, that region which would be modern Turkey. He says the first convert there was a man named Epaenetus. The fact that he says the first convert is indication that there were a lot more to follow but this man was first and of special note and well beloved by the Apostle Paul.
Verse 6, he says, "Greet Mary," now there are six Marys in the Bible, this is one of them, an unfamiliar one. All we know about her is she worked hard for you, she was very hard working, kopiao, to the point of sweat and exhaustion, with regard to the church at Rome she was a servant, a diligent hard-working servant of that church. Paul had come somehow to know her and she was a part of his life and a part of the team and a very faithful friend of those in Rome.
Verse 7, we meet Andronicus and Junias, and frankly, we are not sure whether they are male or female names so we can't make any conclusion about them. They could be a couple. They could be two men. In fact, they probably could be two women. He says, "My kinsmen," it could mean that they were Jewish, "And my fellow prisoners" certainly means that in their ministry they had also experienced imprisonment like the Apostle Paul had. He had many imprisonments, according to 2 Corinthians 11. And here were some who also had been imprisoned in the preaching of the Word of God. He then says about them thirdly, "They are outstanding among the Apostles and they were also in Christ before me." They came to know Christ before the Apostle Paul. In fact, they may have been targets for the persecution that was led by Saul of Tarsus against the Christians while they were still in the Jerusalem church for if indeed they are Jews, as noted by kinsmen, then they were probably a part of the church at Jerusalem, having been converted before Paul's conversion, and may well have been feeling the heat that was breathing on their necks from his own fury. They may have prayed for his conversion. Who knows? But by now when once they were converted they were such faithful servants they have become of note among the Apostles. That is they're highly esteemed by the Apostles, they have an eminent reputation as godly people, fellow servants of the King of kings and Paul notes that about them.
Then in verse 8 there's an interesting name, Ampliatus, and he says, "My beloved in the Lord." Here's another guy we don't much about. That's a slave name. In fact, freemen usually had three names, slaves only had one. This particular slave name was somewhat common in the imperial household. Just a thought of note, I'm not sure we can make an absolute connection, but it's an interesting thing as a possibility. There's a cemetery that is one of the earliest catacombs. You remember, the Christians buried their dead in catacombs in the ground. I've traverse through those catacombs in the city of Rome, it's quite a fascinating experience. They were the graves of the early Christians. And one of the very earliest ones has a tomb that is highly decorated and there's only one name over it. That's a bit unusual because freemen always had three names and very often there were more than one person...there was more than one person put in one of those little tombs with slits. But this one has one name and a single burial apparently took place there, it's a very ornate tomb and the one name that is over it is Ampliatus, this very name. We know it's a slave name, again because it is a singular name, and freemen always had three names at least. And so here we find a tomb obviously a tomb of some note because it is decorated the way it is. And what it tells us is that in Christ there is neither bond nor free. There was no respect of persons. Here was a simple and humble slave name with a very ornate tomb which means he became highly beloved and honored by the church. Rank and social strata meant nothing in the early church as it should not mean.
Then in verse 9 it gives us the name of Urbanus, again that's a common name suggesting a native Roman, probably a Gentile. He says, "Our fellow worker in Christ." Our helper in Christ, both Paul and the church, the "us" there would incorporate the church and Paul, this guy had helped them both.
Then you meet Stachys, my beloved. He has tremendous love and affection for these people. Stachys is really a funny name, an uncommon Greek name meaning "ear of corn." I can't imagine a mother in her right mind naming her child after an ear of corn but this poor guy bore that stigma all his life. And he is identified...actually if you want to know what his name really means, if you're wondering about that, it's "cob." So he was "cob." And in spite of his name he was beloved by the Apostle Paul for ministry.
And then in verse 10, "Greet Apelles, Apelles, the approved one in Christ," a tried man, a tested man, a proven man, faithful and dependable, lived up to the standard of faith which Paul had established by revelation. What a wonderful commendation. Here's another team member we don't know much about.
And then interestingly enough in verse 10 he says, "Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus." Now we would say here probably Aristobulus is not a believer, that's safe to say, or he would have said, "Greet Aristobulus and his household," perhaps. There's reason to think that Aristobulus may not have been a believer, but there were many in his household or some in his household that were. So that's why he says, "Greet those of Aristobulus or of the household of Aristobulus." Lightfoot has an interesting suggestion, Lightfoot is an eminent Greek scholar, he says, "This man, Aristobulus, was the brother of Herod Agrippa I and the grandson of Herod the Great," the one who would have killed the Lord Jesus Christ. "This man," also says Lightfoot, "was on very intimate terms with Claudius." Claudius was the current Roman Emperor, the current Caesar. And so, "Aristobulus was a very intimate friend of Claudius. When Aristobulus died, his entire household and everything he possessed became the property of the emperor. So the household of Aristobulus would have passed into the control of Claudius therefore whoever the Christians were in the household of Aristobulus would have been Christians right in the Imperial Court...right in the very palace of the Caesar." Servants of the Lord, fellow Christians with Paul, right in the main heart of emperor worship cultic life, faithful in the hardest place, and Paul wants to be sure they're greeted in Rome.
Then in verse 11, "Greet Herodion, my kinsmen," another Jew identified there as such, perhaps by the kinsmen term he does mean those who are Jewish. Some think that because there maybe some Jews in here who aren't identified as kinsmen, he may be referring to someone who is his relative, but we can't be certain.
Then he says, "Greet those of the household of Narcissus," again, like Aristobulus, Narcissus appears not to have been a Christian but there were in his household some who are in the Lord, those of his household who are in the Lord. This is quite an interesting thing because the most famous man named Narcissus at this time was a freeman who was the secretary to Claudius. You can find this in some of the Roman history. Claudius the emperor had a secretary. And the secretary did what any secretary does, secretary opened his mail, that's basically it. And the secretary therefore determined what he saw. Now that was a position of tremendous power, tremendous power because you could literally filter what got to the emperor. The record tells us that this man, Narcissus, became a multi-millionaire by today's terms, accumulated a massive fortune because of the notorious influence he exercised over Claudius. And how did he do it? Basically bribery. Everything that came to the emperor had to come through him. And if you wanted to make sure the emperor saw it, you paid. So he was literally in a position to make a fortune, which he did.
When Claudius was murdered and Nero came to power, Narcissus survived a little while longer and eventually committed suicide. When Narcissus committed suicide, by the time he had done that he had a huge fortune which would show up in possessions and slaves. And his whole fortune passed immediately into the possession of Nero. So when the Apostle Paul here in verse 11 identifies Christians in the Lord in the household of Narcissus, again he may be making clear reference to a group of slaves who belonged to this household which had now passed into control, which eventually, I should say, passed into the control of Nero when he took charge, right there in the palace, right in the heart of Rome, right in the Imperial Court. Christianity had penetrated to the slaves of the emperor himself and they were part of the ministry team of Paul in strategic places.
Then in verse 13...I'm sorry, verse 12...you have those two names, probably women and maybe twins, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. It says about them that they were workers in the Lord, kapiao again, their work was exhausting, they worked to the point of sweat and exhaustion again. Their names mean "delicate and dainty." Now I hope they were small because if they weren't they probably had to battle snickers all their life. But anyway, Delicate and Dainty were two women who...whose work wasn't delicate or dainty, they worked very hard, two precious friends.
And then there is Persis which literally means a Persian woman. We don't know much about this woman but she was the beloved who also worked hard. And the indication is there she may have worked harder than Delicate and Dainty even, labored much, beyond the two prior names. Perhaps she was older since the past tense is used, her working was in the past. But she also is distinguished as one who is beloved, deeply loved by Paul as a part of his team.
And then in verse 13, "Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine." Now this is really fascinating. Rufus had a brother named Alexander, apparently Alexander wasn't a believer, both of them are mentioned in Mark 15:21. You know why they're mentioned? Because they were the two sons of Simon the Cyrene, the man who carried the cross of Jesus. And this man who carried the cross of Christ obviously became a believer, his wife obviously became a believer because in speaking of his wife Paul says that the mother of Rufus was also my mother, so somehow this dear Christian woman not only the mother of Rufus, making her the wife of Simon, but also in some way had a motherly role in the life of the Apostle Paul. She was a part of ministry, a partner in some way in meeting the needs of this dear Apostle. And her son Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, likely refers to him being selected for special leadership, in contrast sadly to his brother Alexander who apparently was not a Christian at all. Must have been a heartache to the family, such a sad thing when your father could tell you the wonderful story about carrying the cross of Jesus Christ to have you reject Christ whose cross your father carried.
In verse 14 he goes on to say, "Greet Asyncritus, Phelgon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them." And we don't know who these people are, five men perhaps of one household, maybe the leaders of a local house church within the larger Roman church.
And then in verse 15, "Greet Philologus and Julia," and again we don't know much about them but some more team members. Then this interesting name, "Nereus and his sister and Olympas and all the saints who are with them." Now what about this Nereus? Well, it's an interesting note. In A.D. 95 there was a great event that shocked Rome. Two of the most distinguished people in the Imperial Court, two of the highest people in Caesar's court were condemned to death. And the reason they were condemned to death was they had become Christians. They were husband and wife and the husband was named Flavius Clemens, he had been the consul of Rome. The wife was Domitia who was of royal blood. And so they were a very prominent...in fact, I guess by name you would have to say the most prominent Christians that we know about in ancient times. She was the granddaughter of Emperor Vespasian, Titus Vespasian had conquered and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. She was the niece of Domitian who was the reigning emperor at the time in A.D. 95. In fact, the two sons of this couple had been designated to be the successors of Domitian in imperial power. So this is a royal family and this is a very high-up family and they become Christians, the husband and wife. Flavius was executed. Domitia was exiled, banished to the island of Pontia.
You say, "What's the point?" The point is, when you look at the Roman records they had a chamberlain, that is one who was most intimately associated with their personal family life. And the chamberlain who took care of their personal needs was named Nereus, the very same name that is used here in verse 15 and his sister. Could it be that slave Nereus was the instrument whom God used to bring the gospel to this couple which ultimately resulted in the husband losing his life and the wife being banished. Interesting.
Now all of these looks and glimpses here...you say, "Why did the Lord include all of this?" Well the Lord included it to let you know that Paul was a man who was involved with people, that he was not isolated. And there were more and so he just says all the saints who are with him and just give everybody a holy kiss and all the churches of Christ greet you. I mean, his life was just filled with people. And so he gives greeting to all of those people.
Drop down to verse 21 and find that he sends greeting. He not only gives it he sends it from some folks. "Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you." We all know Timothy, his protege, son in the faith and beloved. Then he says, "So do Lucius," that is perhaps a form of the word Lucus which Paul used on a number of occasions, such as Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24, 2 Timothy 4:11 to refer to Luke. And then he also mentions Jason. Jason was Paul's host on his first visit to Thessalonica, according to Acts 17. Sosipater was a traveling companion with Paul at this time. You'll see his name in Acts 20 and verse 4, another of his kinsmen, a Jew. And then he notes Tertius who was the amanuensis writing down Paul's dictation in the letter of Romans. And then there was Gaius, also called Titus Justus in Acts 18, a man who worshiped God and lived next door to the Corinthian synagogue, a Gentile whom Paul baptized as noted in 1 Corinthians 1:14. And then there was Erastus, by the way, Gaius was also a host not only to Paul but the whole church, he had a church in his house. Erastus was the city treasurer. Interestingly enough in the city of Corinth where Romans was written