practical atheists. 2. Hypocritu ofU/11, prof1JBs grml knowkdge of God. 3. Even in apostolic timl!B the communion of tlUJ <Jhwrch was considerably miud. There is no trace of a pure Church anywhere on earth. The Church in Crete had unbelievers in its visible membership. ll. THEIR DENIAL OF GOD TOOK A MOST PRACTICAL SHAPE. Their conduct gave the lie to their profession. They were: 1. Abominable in the sight of God. They were morally abandoned. They were as. hateful in the sight of God as the idols of the nations. 2. Disobedient. They were refractory and incorrigible, despising all order and repudiating obligation. 3. Reprobate unto every good work. They were as useless for, the service of God as reprobate silver, which cannot bear the fire of the refiner. (1) They did oo good works. (2) They had neither knowledge nor inclination to do good works. (3) Therefore they were quite useless in the service of God and man.-T.O. Ver. 1.-<Jhristian ministry. "A servant of God." One of the great revelations of the gospel is the dignity of service. "To be ministered unto" was the end of Roman ambition. Pri<le and precedence ruled supreme. The Jews sought to be "Herods;" the Gentiles sought for consulships and praitorships. Everywhere we see patrician selfishness in proud palaces, aod, as a dark opposite, whole colonies of slaves. The words that fell from the lips of the Master were illustrated in his life: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." I. A SERVANT OF A STRONG MASTER. God I None can stand against him. In the end sin will reveal its weak1,ess. It may storm and plot and fume against his will, but it is impotent at heart. "The Lord reigneth." The dominion of sin is undermined, and through the cross its leadership in the prince of this world is destroyed. Christ is "henceforth expecting till bis enemies be made bis footstool" He must reign l II. A. SERVANT OF A KIND MASTER. One who will not expect more service than we can render, and who knows and appreciates the kind of service we can render, and who will "reward every man according to his works." Kind in the law of service, which is a law of blessedness; causing it to lie not a yokedom, but the joy of a child's freedom. " Blessed are they that do his will." Happiness never to be attained when sought as an end, is here found in the highway of duty. . III. A. SERVANT OF A F.&.ITHFUL MASTER. One who will stand by his servants in all times of disbeartenment, obloquy, and difficul1y. One who keeps his promises, so that they are all "Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus." Ever faithful to bis holy tryst. "Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you." Faithful to his vouchsafed protection. "Giving his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Faithful to the great Messianic promise, that to his Son "shall the gathering of the people be." Paul gloried in such a service, and be would have Titus know him by no higher name than "a servant of God."-W. M. S.
Ver. 1.-Truth and life. "The truth which is after godliness." This was to be "acknowledged" or obeyed. For truth is not a library for the leisurely, or a mine for the curious. It is the present truth-the 1,ractical truth; a truth that is always to be translated into life. I. THIS IBA DIVINE TEST OF TRUTH. •• Arter go,lliness." Like inspiration, it is profitable for instruction in righteousness. It is a seed whose preciousness is tested by the golden grain in its ripened ear. It does not pro,luce a mere" pietism" or sentimental emotion- alism; it produces godliness. Some are valiant for theoretical and doctrinal truths who bring forth no ".fruit unto holiness." We are able to take the vantage-ground of Christian history, and to argue that there are no lives like Christian lives: that in this type of character are all the essentials of godliness-a life within, which cleanses the heart, energizes the will, quickens the conscience, elevates the taste, and purifies and sanctifies the life. This is the Divine test of truth: "By their fruits ye shall know them." II. THIS IS A DIVINE MARK OF THE APOSTOLATE. Paul claims to be "nn apostle of Christ, according to the faith of God's elect." He does not say that the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Joh11, gave sacred and special commission to him; for 14 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. [oH. 1. 1-16.
there is no record the.t they did. He does not cle.im, like Peter, to have been with Christ on the holy mount; or to have been with those disciples who were with Christ at bis ascension, when "he led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifted up his hands and blessed them," or to have he.ard the command thcu given, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gosp<'I to every creature." Nor does he rest his apostolate on anything ceremonial or formal aJ .. ne. By the manifestation of the trut-h he commended himself t-0 every man's conscience in the sight of God. The trnth of his message was one ground of authorit\' and the godliness of it another, and those two bases of authorit_y-truth and goodne.~s-11.re strong and eternal. None can shake the temple built on such g1~anile foundations as these. Philosophies may change and councils may err, but these abide for ever. So Titus had to learn that his ministry was connected with a truth that must be lived, as well as a truth that must be tuught.-W. M. S. Ver. 2.-The immorfxil hope. "In hope of eternal life." How often these words have been inscribed over the resting-place of the dead I How restful they are I How such inscriptions in the dark catacombs tell of the new and blessed era that Christianity introduced! Ilut it would be a mistake to connect them only with heaven. "This is life eternal," we read. "to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." I. HOPE AJ\'l) LIFE ARE HERE CONNECTED. It was not so in paganism. Men lost hope. They lived in and for the present day, and when tired of life committed suicide. Hope, such as the great Christian hope, hrightens all human duties and joys. Life is real and earnest, all through the years. Age does not dim the brightness of the eye of the soul. So "we are saved by hope "-saved from ennui, disheartenment, and misery. We find Paul rejoicing in hope and patient in tribulation because of the life within, that was bid with Christ in God. II. SERVICE IS AS,0CIATED WITH ETERNAL LIFE. Paul is a servant of God, and that service is quickened by faith and sustained by hope. The Christian teacher sees not only rna.n in his fa.II and misery, but he sees the ideal man in him--one who may be re-created in Christ Jesus. The desert blossoms as the rose, as hope cheers the sower who plants the immortal seed of the kingdom in human hearts. The ineasure of our life is the measure of (1) the cheerfulness and (2) the continn<tnce of our service. And what hope! It includes glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life.-W. M. S.