CHARACTER COUNTS

CHARACTER COUNTS

2 Corinthians 7:4-7 (KJV)

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

A case can be made that Titus, along with Timothy, are Paul’s two closest friends.

Paul only wrote four personal letters

·   One to Titus

·   Two to Timothy and

·   One to Philemon

But the letter to Philemon is on a whole different level. It is an appeal on the behalf of another.

It is obvious that Paul had a great relationship with Philemon but it was different than that with Timothy and Titus.

Paul says of both Titus and Timothy that they are his “sons in the faith.”

Considering their closeness I find it to be very interesting that Titus is never mentioned by name in all of the book of Acts.[1]

The greatest people in all the world

·The most helpful

·The most useful

·The most necessary

Are not the ones whose names get plastered in the newspapers and the history books.

The ones upon whom everything that matters rests are the ones whose names will never be known, or can only be found with much searching.

Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt had a son also named Theodore?

Young Roosevelt got to live in the White House as a child

He was governor of Puerto Rico and

Governor General of the Philippines

He served in both World Wars I and II

And led the first wave of American Troops on Utah Beach  during the invasion of Nomandy.

And He did it on a cane.[2]

He died of a heart attack just one month later and is buried in Normandy.

Both he and his dad received the medal of honor.

But I would guess that most people have never or just barely even heard of Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

What I am trying to get at is that we don’t all have to be the ones everybody knows.

My favorite president is John Adams.

When the framers of our Constitution had finished their work, there were only two men they considered for our first president

·   George Washington and

·   John Adams[3]

Legally Adams was probably the most influential man of the Revolutionary movement.

·   He proposed the writing of the Declaration of Independence

·   He proposed Jefferson to be the writer of the Declaration

Adams was an ambassador to France, helping with Benjamin Franklin, to negotiate their help in the war effort.

He was our first Ambassador to England after the war (imagine how challenging that would have been).

It was Adam’s genius that created the Continental Congress.

And in the very earliest days of the Revolution, it was generally held that he was the driving force behind the Revolution.[4]

He was the first of our presidents to live in the White House in Washington, DC.

But there is no monument to him there and he is the first and one of only a handful of one-term presidents.[5]

But the time his one term was finished, he was quite disrespected.

Do you do why? Because 

·   He wanted respect.

·   He wanted to be known

·   He wanted to be recognized for his efforts

And he wasn’t quiet about it.

What I am trying to say is, there is nothing wrong with being the guy who gets things done behind the scenes.

Titus was just such a man.

He was likely as close to Apostle Paul as anyone alive had been, but he wasn’t the one whose name got written.

It’s a bit challenging to build a biography of Titus.

We only find his name 15 times in the Bible.

But from what we do know, I want to give you three things to consider about his character:

Note first,

I. HIS CONVICTION

Galatians 2:1-3 (KJV)

Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

I told you that the name of Titus is not found in the book of Acts – the account of almost the whole ministry of Apostle Paul.

But Paul tells us here that Titus was there.

The event to which Paul refers is found in Acts 15:1-3 (KJV)

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.

It would be pretty safe to accept that among those “certain other with them” is Titus.

He was a Gentile, a Greek.

The culture under which he had been raised would not have practiced circumcision, and he had not been circumcised after his salvation.

The members of the “original church” in Jerusalem were getting all upset because these Gentiles were getting saved but not getting circumcised.

·   It’s pretty bold of Paul and Barnabas to go to Jerusalem to challenge them.

·   It’s more so for this Gentile Titus, who was one of the very ones about whom they had a problem, to go with them.

All right, so they get to Jerusalem and meet with the church

Acts 15:4-5 (KJV)

And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

See this?

Paul and Barnabas and the “other with them.” Met with the apostles and elders and certain of them[6]demanded, even commanded that Titus (and other Gentile believers there, if there were any) by circumcised right then.

Paul said Titus held firm in his convictions.

·   He didn’t let the pressure of this bunch compel him to cave into their demands and neither did

·   He let them drive him away from serving the Lord

Here’s the thing. If you can be shown from the Word of God that a thing is right, you ought to be humble enough to do the right thing.

But if you have studied a thing, if you have sure convictions from the Word of God, you ought not let others pressure you to do something just because of their pressure.

By the way, neither should you let pressure drive you away from God or His church.

Most people who quit church quit

·   Because they have no heart for God anyway or

·   Because they are not strong enough to stand against disagreement

·   Don’t quit

·   Don’t get angry

·   Don't get sullen up

Just be faithful to God.

Pray for those with who you might disagree.

Understand that each of you will stand before God for your own convictions and not those of another.

Titus had convictions. 

Note secondly

II. HIS COURAGE

2 Corinthians 8:16-17 (KJV)

But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.

For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you.

Various Bible students have noted a difference in temperaments of Timothy and Titus.

It seems like Timothy might have been a more introverted personality.

1 Timothy 5:23 (KJV)

Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.

Perhaps Timothy was more prone to illness.[7]

It’s not always the case but sometimes people who suffer with often infirmities are less aggressive personalities.

1 Timothy 4:12-14 (KJV)

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

If Timothy is more timid in nature, 

·   He might be easily intimidated by his youthfulness

·   He might be easier to distract from the important things

·   He might be easily pressured to neglect his calling

For what people want rather than what God wants.

Hebrews 13:23 (KJV)

Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.

At least some students of the Bible read into this that Timothy might not have been as dependable as was Titus.

Timothy might find a reason not to do what Paul wished him to do.

Titus, on the other hand, Paul says, not only accepted Paul’s exhortation but was “more forward” to do it.

I do not know if these commentaries have Timothy right

But I am sure they have Titus right.

He’s the kind of man who does what is asked of him.

The character of Titus

·   His convictions

·   His courage

Note thirdly

III. HIS COMFORT

2 Corinthians 7:4-7 (KJV)

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

Besides this passage I find one other that speaks of Titus’s gift of comfort of Paul

2 Corinthians 2:12-13 (KJV)

Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,

I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.

This would have been on Paul’s second of his three missionary trips.

He had been in Ephesus and was about to leave for Asia when “the Spirit suffered him not.”

Acts 16:6-11 (KJV)

Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.

And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

I don’t want to say that it wasn’t the Holy Spirit that led him to go to Macedonia (and Corinth) instead of Asia, but Paul said he had no rest in his own spirit when Titus wasn’t in Troas.

Titus had the kind of character that brought comfort and rest to the spirit of Apostle Paul.

I’m going to ask you to consider today

Are you the sort of person who brings rest to your pastor’s spirit so he can hear from the Holy Spirit?

Are you the sort of person: 

·   Whose presence comforts him? 

·   Whose news bolsters and supports him?

Conclusion

Titus isn’t the most often mentioned of Paul’s companions.

But 

·   He was a man of strong convictions (similar to Paul’s own)

·   He was a man whom Paul could trust to get the jobs done he asked of him and

·   He was the kind of man who was a comfort and a blessing to Apostle Paul

One last verse concerning Titus

2 Corinthians 8:23 (KJV)

Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you….

You wonder about Titus? Let me just tell you; he is my partner, and my fellowhelper.

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[1]He is there in Acts 15 as we can surmise from the book of Galatians, but he is not mentioned by name.

[2]One title I found for him was “the toughest man in WWII.”

[3]Who served as the first vice president and the second president.

[4]Though in those days he understood that his brusque Boston manners were more likely to hinder than to help the cause so, rather than being the voice everyone heard, he worked one on one, guiding others whose voices (namely the Virginians) would be more likely heeded.

[5]I think he lost his second bid for election because he was an honest man and Jefferson was not.

[6]Not the apostles and elders, but others in the church.

[7]This is no permission to drink wine. It was medicinal in this case. Paul expressly told Timothy that the bishop must be sober and not be given to wine. (1 Timothy 3:2-3)