Introduction.

When strangers meet they usually exchange three vital bits of information; their names, what they do for a living, and where they live. The data packed into this information reveals your social and economic standing as well as your education level. On the basis of the information gleaned from this data most people determine whether or not they would like to know each other. While this might seem rather superficial, it is nevertheless the way the modern world operates. In our shallow modern world most people determine whether or not you are worth knowing by answering the question, ‘What can this person do for me?' In our world if you do not offer some kind of benefit to others you are not worth knowing. Kevin Rudd understands the superficial nature of the world we live in therefore he introduced himself to the Labor Party Conference saying, "My name is Kevin, I'm from Queensland and I'm here to help." This was a very clever thing to say as it held out a promise of help which would be of benefit to the party.

Listen to Paul introducing himself in the first three verses of his Epistle to Titus; ‘Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and ??the acknowledgment of the truth ? ?which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who ?cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Saviour.' Paul tells us his name, his relationship to God, what he does, and why he does it. Why does Paul introduce himself this way to Titus whom he knew, loved and respect as a brother and fellow-worker in the Gospel of Christ? Did Titus need to be reminded of these matters concerning Paul? Some think Paul gave this full introduction of himself because the letter, while addressed to Titus was also to be distributed among the churches. The introduction was not for Titus who knew Paul well, but for a wider audience who had simply heard of Paul. This explanation may well be true, but I also think that Paul's purpose was to remind Titus of how Paul thought of himself. Paul did not want Titus to think of him in any way that detracted from the grace, goodness and glory of God. Paul's desire was to be known and seen primarily as a servant of God. Paul believed it was necessary to remind Titus that he was a servant simply doing the will of his glorious and loving Master. Looking at how Paul introduces himself, I would like to challenge you this morning and next week to answer the question; ‘Who do you think you are?' This is not the same as asking; ‘Who do you say your are?' It is easy to introduce yourself using your tongue to utter pious platitudes. The question who do you think you are? is answered by your attitudes, activities, and ambitions. What does your life communicate to others? What is the lasting impression your life makes on others?

Paul thought of himself as a servant of God, do you think of yourself as God's servant.

1. We are all born with a burning desire to be masters. We regard and count being a servant as second best and hope for the day when we will be masters. We all want to be the boss, number one in the pecking order, the one who gives the orders and not the one who submits and obeys. Put four five year-old children together and they will fight among themselves about who is going to be the boss, give the orders and dictate the play. Jesus during his earthly life called twelve men to be his disciples and they argued about which of them would be the greatest among them. In Matthew 20:21 the mother of James and John made this request to Jesus, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine ??may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.'  She wanted her sons to be important and influential rulers in Jesus' kingdom. Many teenagers find the idea of obeying their parents very unfair and unacceptable. Most wives find God's command that they submit to their husbands very difficult, demanding and even a little bit demeaning. We find life very difficult when we are always designated to play second fiddle. Most people I meet who play second fiddle are convinced that the one playing first fiddle is totally incompetent and needs to step aside. The sin of Adam and Eve in the garden was all about being the master and not the servant.
   
   
2. In our society the term servant is not used frequently. Technically people like George Bush, John Howard and Peter Beattie are servants, but you would not think so by the way they act. What does Paul mean when he calls himself a bondservant of God? The Greek word he uses in Titus 1:1 is ‘doulos' which would be better translated as slave as it describes a person who has given himself up to another's will.  A servant or a slave of God consciously and deliberately refuses to be ruled by self will and commits himself to be ruled by the will of God. Jesus gives us the perfect example of what it is to be a servant or a slave of God. Listen to what he says in John 5:30, ‘?I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me' and in John 6:38 ‘For I have come down from heaven, ??not to do My own will, ?but the will of Him who sent Me.' Our Saviour expresses the concept perfectly in the Garden of Gethsemane when according to Matthew 26:39 he prays, ‘?O My Father, if it is possible, ?let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, ?not as I will, but as You will.?' and again in verse 42, ‘?O My Father, ?if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.?' A servant is more concerned and committed to the will of his master than his own will even if it involves his own death. George Matheson captures the longing of every servant of God in the fourth verse of his hymn ‘Make me a captive Lord' when he says, ‘My will is not my own till Thou hast made it Thine.' If you are a servant of God you are totally committed to knowing and doing the will of God. If you are a servant of God, then his will rules over your own will in every department of life. You are totally committed to being submissive.
   
   
3. When Paul calls himself a slave or a servant of God, he is emphasising that he is no longer a slave of sin. Before he was a slave of God, he was a slave to sin. Grasping the fact that we are either slaves to God or to sin, is extremely important. When Paul wrote this letter to Titus there were three ways in which a person could become a slave.
1. You could become a slave by conquest.
   
   
2. You could become a slave by birth. Any child born to parents who were slaves automatically became a slave.
   
   
3. You could become a slave because of debt. Many poor people sold themselves or their children into slavery to pay off their debts. The Bible teaches us that all men are slaves to sin in each of these ways. David in Psalm 51:5 says, ‘Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.' The truth David is expressing here is that there was never a moment in his existence that he was not a sinner thoroughly contaminated by sin. Sin has conquered us and rules over us. Listen to Paul expressing this in Romans 7:17-20, ‘But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that ?in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.' From birth sin rules over us and makes us live according to the flesh. We are also slaves by debt. When Paul in Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, he is telling us that the debt of sin can only be paid by death. The only currency in which sin trades is death. Paul was a slave of sin, now he is a slave of Christ Jesus. The Bible teaches us that all men and women are born with sin as their master. When Paul says that he is a slave of God he is declaring that God and not sin is his master. A radical change and important change had taken place in Paul's life and he always gave praise to the Lord Jesus for changing him.
   
   
4. By saying he is a slave of God, Paul reveals that his life is given to doing the will of his master. The truth of Paul's claim to be a slave of God could be verified by the obedience he gives to his master. A slave lives to obey his master's every command. A slave who did not obey his master was severely beaten. Disobedience was interpreted as an act of insubordination and defiance which belittled the master. As a servant of God, how should I interpret my sin? My sins are always needless actions of defiance against the God of grace, mercy and love. My sin always belittles God because in my sinful action I say, I agree with Satan. A Christian, who solves a problem using sinful ways, communicates by his actions that Satan's solution is better than God's. You have set yourself up as a judge, giving yourself the power and right to determine whether God or Satan provides the best solution and then follow your own wisdom. Who do you think you are sitting in judgment over God? When a Christian sins his actions declare that he has judged his Master and found doing his will unacceptable. Do you see the gross arrogance, defiance, rebellion, and treachery exercised by the Christian who sins against his Master? The Apostle John uses this very argument in 1 John 3:7-8, ‘Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.' Again in verses 10-11 he says, ‘In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, ??that we should love one another.' If you are a child of God, you do the righteous will of your Father. Doing the will of the Father is something you have to do consciously and deliberately by the power of the Spirit that dwells in you as a believer.
   
   
5. Paul constantly thought of himself as a slave of God and doing the will of his Master was uppermost in his mind. He constantly asked himself the question, ‘Am I doing the will of my Master?' Paul viewed his life as a deliberate and conscious effort to do God's will. Listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ‘Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified' (Living Translation). Paul likens the Christian life of serving God to a race. All believers are participants in the race. Believers are not to run the race as if it is a fun-run, but to win. If you run a race to win you do so with a great degree of effort, preparation and concentration. If you run to win you practice strict self-control, you do not do what you want, but what you need to even when it is painful and you feel totally exhausted. If you run to win you fix your eye on the finishing line with resolution and determination in every step you run. When you run a race to win your body protests as you push it to the limit, therefore the athlete disciplines his body, training his body to do what it should. The metaphor Paul uses emphasises the conscious, deliberate, purposeful, and disciplined sustained effort and training needed by the athlete. You will never run as an athlete committed to winning if you do not put in the maximum effort. The same dedication and commitment is needed to be a servant of God. Without maximum effort you will be a slothful servant. In your everyday thinking does serving you Master feature prominently? Do you commit yourself to being a servant as you begin the day? As you live through the day are you conscious of being a servant?
   
   
6. There are two false teachings that have sought to destroy the very nature of Christians being servants of God which we need to be exposed. The false teaching of legalism is one of the most devastating challenges to the true faith of the Gospel. The lingering legacy of legalism is found in answering the question; How do I know if I am a Christian? The answer given is, ‘If you do the will of your Master you are a Christian.' The Scripture used to support this answer is Matthew 7:21 where Jesus says, ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ??‘?Lord, Lord,?' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who ??does the will of My Father in heaven.' In the light of what I have emphasised in this sermon the answer seems to be spot on. The problem is not the answer but in determining whether or not you do the will of the Father in heaven. The method legalism uses can be called the default method, which basically calls the commandments to mind and asks you to put a tick or a cross in the box. In the most general sense do I steal? No. Do I commit adultery? No. Do I tell lies? No. Do I go around killing people? No. Do I covert my neighbour's things? No. Do I take the name of the Lord in vain? No. Do I have gods other than the Lord? No. Do I make idols to worship? No. Do I honour my father and mother? Yes, Do I go to church on Sunday? Yes. Because I pass this test. I congratulate myself on being a Christian. The idea is that you are a Christian until you break the commandments and do wicked things. Using the default method would have meant almost all the Pharisees of Jesus day could have said I am a Christian. The rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22 used the legalistic method and could say of the commandments, ‘All these I have kept since my youth. What do I still lack?' When Jesus says to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" he breaks the legalistic method by asking the rich young ruler to demonstrate that he loved God with all his heart, mind and soul by giving away everything that he had. The rich young ruler's action revealed that he loved his possessions more than he loved the Lord. The matter of loving God is always the vital issue. Christians keep the commandments because they love God and desire to please him. The Christian exercises obedience deliberately and purposely to show love for the Lord. A servant of God purposely, deliberately and mindfully obeys his Master because he loves him. Legalism ignores the need to be actively involved in a living loving relationship with the Lord. The default method has left many covenant children content about their spiritual standing with the Lord when their hearts are cold towards the Living God. The default method has falsely taught many sinners in the world not to fear God's wrath. The default method asks us to conceptualise God primarily as a police officer looking for law-breakers. If you are not a wicked law-breaker God will leave you alone and you do not need to worry. Love for God must motivate and drive your deliberate and purposeful obedience.
   
   
7. The second false teaching that seeks to destroy the very nature of Christians being servants of God is the error of perfectionism. A favourite text used to promote the error of perfectionism is 1 John 3:7-8, ‘Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.' Perfectionism interprets these verses in absolute or black and white terms. If you sin it demonstrates very clearly that you are not a Christian. If you are a Christian you are righteous in all you think, say and do. If John meant us to interpret these verses in this perfectionistic way he would never have written 1 John 2:1, ‘My children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' Believers will yield to temptation and sin. When they sin God has made provision to deal with their sin through Jesus Christ the Advocate. Somehow even though we know this truth, we doubt our salvation when we fall into sin. When a brother or sister sins and refuses to repent some say, ‘I wonder if they were ever saved at all'. Perfectionism makes believers servants who are accepted only on the basis of their sinless perfection. If you struggle with sin, how can you be a servant of Jesus Christ?  Many Christians know the theory that they are servants of Christ but do not serve, simply because they feel that they need to be perfect before they serve. A servant who does not serve is a contradiction in terms.

Conclusion.

Do you think of yourself as a servant of God? Do you live everyday mindful of the fact that you are serving your loving and gracious Saviour? Do you give deliberate, purposeful and conscious obedience to show your love for your Heavenly Father? Do you love the Holy Spirit too much to grieve him by refusing to obey the will of the Lord? As a servant of God do you pray, ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?' Do you long and strive to serve the Lord as the angels do without compromise, wavering, complaint, hesitation, and with love and delight. Does your life convey to others that you are a servant and that God is your Master?