The The New Testament book of Titus is a short book, but it is one that is packed with biblical truth.

And today on Truth for Life weekend, Alistair Begg focuses on the opening verses of the Apostle Paul's letter to Titus,

to help us understand his concern for the church,

his position of authority, and his purpose in writing.

Paul has left Titus in Crete to shepherd and teach the church.

Crete is not a very nice place. I'm not saying today.

It was not a very nice place. One of the historians at the time said it was almost impossible

to find personal conduct more treacherous or public policy more unjust than in Crete.

Paul's concern for the church there, we could summarize in three

words. He was concerned that it would be tidy, tidy in the sense of verse 5. I left you there

so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every church. Another kind of tidiness that some of us are capable of,

where we pile things into a closet and manage just to make the door close, hoping that no one will

ever have occasion to open it, because then they will see just how untidy our attempted tidiness

has been. But rather, the tidiness that comes about as a result of doing things

God's way, and particularly ensuring that the leadership of the church is put together according

to God's plan. To that will come later. Tidy, and secondly, healthy, that the church there would

be healthy. If you look at verse 13 of this

opening chapter, you will see that the people who are teaching falsehoods are to be rebuked

sharply with the purpose that they may be sound in the faith. That word their sound might equally

be translated healthy. In other words,

spiritually healthy. And you find it coming immediately at the beginning of Chapter 2. As for you,

teach what accords with sound doctrine. Healthy. Tidy, healthy, and lovely. Lovely. He says of the slaves that they shouldn't be argumentative,

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