Jeremiah 49:23-50:46, Titus 1:1-16, Psalm 97:1-98:9, Proverbs 26:13-16
Today is the 26th day of October, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is fantastic to be here with you today, as we continue our journey forward taking the next step forward, which is going to lead us back to the book of Jeremiah. We will finish the book of Jeremiah this week and it is a longer book and so we’ve camped out for a while now, but we are reaching its conclusion. When we get to the New Testament, we will enter a new letter from the apostle Paul. Of course, we finished second Timothy yesterday so, we sort of bid farewell to the apostle Paul because that is thought to be the last writing of his life, and it’s pretty well indicated in the letter itself, but we still have a couple short letters left to work with as we move through the New Testament that are from Paul and Titus is one of them. So, we’ll talk about that when we get there, but first we’re reading from the New International Version this week. Jeremiah chapter 49 verse 23 through 50 verse 46.
Introduction to Book of Titus:
Alright, so as we we’re talking about just a few minutes ago when we started today, we have a new letter to move into, this is known as Titus. It is a letter from the apostle Paul. Although many scholars dispute these pastoral epistles in terms of whether Paul wrote it or whether it was in the next generation of Pauline school of theology and thought, not that there was such a thing, but this was passed down and then these were written by a later generation. And we already talked about that when we talked about I Timothy. The reason, well, there’s a number of reasons that specific kinds of scholars would think things like this and it’s not to denigrate the New Testament in any way it’s just thought that certain structures, certain ways of doing things in the early church, church governance type things were developments that didn’t happen in Paul’s lifetime and it’s not a new phenomenon, like, this is been thought, these kinds of disputes, have been thought for a long time, centuries. But tradition certainly gives us this from Paul and it is part of the three letters known as the pastoral letters. And we’re like a little bit out of order because we read I Timothy and probably in time chronologically, what would’ve happened is that I Timothy and Titus were likely written simultaneously or pretty close together, whereas II Timothy is thought to be the last thing Paul wrote. And so, the way that the scenario goes is that Paul was imprisoned in Rome, was kind of house arrested, like had some mobility, had some freedoms but was still under arrest to stand trial before the Emperor and was subsequently released from that first imprisonment. And so, Paul goes on another missionary journey then and during that travel is when I Timothy and Titus were probably written and then was rearrested under Emperor Nero and was thrown into the dungeon that he described in II Timothy that we read yesterday and then from there, was executed. And so, if Paul’s released and Titus accompanies Paul to the island of Crete and they’re going to share the good news there and the Cretans had never heard the good news, they didn’t know about Jesus and they were known to be very carnal people. But when Paul shared the good news, faith arose and a little church formed. So, Paul left Titus to form the church and to form the leadership around the church so that they could navigate their culture like all of the other churches. And this wouldn’t be work that Titus was completely unfamiliar with. Paul had sent him to do this kind of thing to be an ambassador, carrying the letters to different churches, going into difficult situations in churches and reporting back to Paul. This would be something that Titus had experience with and so Paul then leaves Titus on the island of Crete to form this church and then departs. And while he’s traveling, then, right, I Timothy, a letter to his son in the faith and the pastor in Ephesus, Timothy and also writes a letter and sends it back to the island of Crete to Titus. Certainly, encouraging Titus to continue his work. The work that had been assigned, but also now it’s in writing, right, so Titus has this letter that grants him apostolic authority from the apostle Paul and it’s in writing and so as we’ve seen in other letters from Paul people came in after Paul left and tried to change all kinds of things and started questioning all kinds of things, especially Paul’s authority. So now this late in the game, Paul understands some of this, so this letter in writing authorizes Titus to essentially work in Paul’s name in organizing this congregation that is being established in Crete. And church governance structure that’s found in the pastoral epistles tells Titus about pastors and criteria, and deacons and criteria to look for in them, very similar to what we read in I Timothy. But for Paul to put it in writing in a letter to Titus and send it back not only gives Titus, Paul’s authority but also gives instructions so these Cretins who have accepted the good news they don’t know what a deacon is a pastor is and so Paul puts it in writing for Titus so that Titus can say see this, this is how we do this this, this is what Paul is telling us to do. And again as we move through those portions of the letter, we will recognize this criteria and again anyone in seminary or moving toward ordained ministry is likely to encounter these passages in the New Testament, it is likely to be a part of a discernment process, it’s likely to be part of, of the ordination process because as, as we’ve talked about before, it may look like an easy job, but it is not an easy job to lead God’s people. So, with that in mind, Titus chapter 1.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and thank You for this new territory that we are in the letter to Titus and even as we round the corner and move to conclude the book of Jeremiah, we invite You Holy Spirit, to come, lead us into all truth, lead us into what we need to absorb from the Scriptures and apply these things to our lives, shifting paradigms, changing the entire story because that’s what You do and that’s what You have done. You have changed our entire story. The ending of our story is very different than the one we were living before we understood how desperately You love us. And so, we are grateful and we come to the Scriptures each and every day to be fed by You that You might lead us into all truth, that You might lead us in the way that we should go. That You might give us context and understanding. Holy Spirit, come we pray in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here so, like always stay tuned, stay connected in any way that you can and in any way that you want to. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop either on the web or in the app. There are resources there for the journey that we are on, everything from fresh roasted coffee that can be delivered to you or freshly sourced tea that can be delivered to you or even, even our Windfarm travel packs, steeped coffee, which is my go-to for travel but I’m a little bit of a snob when it comes to coffee, not everybody’s like that, but yeah, we have the solution where you can steep your own Windfarm coffee that’s available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Written resources, things for you to write in, the Daily Audio Bible Journal, the black wing pencils, things to wear, just check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop to extend this adventure of a lifetime that we are sharing together as we continue our journey through the Scriptures.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. And thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s awe-inspiring that day after day, for all of these years we keep taking steps forward together, together. And so, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.
And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.
And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hello DAB family this is Tony the Truck Driver. Just checking in, I know I haven’t called as much as I used to but I’m still listening every day, still praying for everybody and all that, I was just real encouraged to call in cause I heard my brother, CoolBrother2003, gave me a shout out and it just dawned on me how many lives we’ve touched, you know, praying for each other and over the years I’ve been listening for probably about the same time, over ten years. It just, never stops amazing me, the community and the family that we have here, that we can pray for each other and just be connected. I just want to thank Brian and Jill and the whole DAB family for this platform and thanks you guys, just never-ending doing God’s work. And I just want to encourage everybody that we continue to do His work, to be His hands and His feet in this world. With so many things going on that we have thing Global Campfire to come to that we could just fellowship with each other and pray for each other is amazing. And I just wanna give a shout out to everybody there, Asia this morning, I know she’s been listening for a while. We just lift you up Asia. Whatever you’re going through, the Lord knows you and He knows what you’re going through and just trust Him to see you through. And for everybody here DAB family, I love you. Let us continue to be His hands and feet. Shout out to my brother Blind Tony and let us just continue to do our Father’s work. Thank you DAB, love you guys. Bye Bye.
I’m calling from Georgia and I was just calling to say how grateful I am to the Daily Audio Bible with all the people who call in for prayer requests, for the reading and just the explanation of the Scriptures. Like many of you, I’ve had my spot on my porch, 5/530, the darkness and my dog. And I just sit here and pray and hear what is said and it is just a very, very refreshing time of my day. And I just wanna say I’m thankful for it, all the work that goes into it and all the people who are so willing to participate and share. My prayer request is I am a teacher and a coach in the public school system. And I just want to claim Ephesians 6 that I will work as if I’m working for the Lord that I will shine for Him and be a difference that people see. I wanna be successful at it, I want to be helpful and I want God to be glorified to do what I do. So, I just ask that you pray for public school teachers and coaches as we are in the midst of an educational world that doesn’t necessarily want God to be a part of it. So, thank you.
Hi Daily Audio family. My name’s Kate, I’ve been listening to Daily Audio Bible for a good ten years now. This is my first time calling in actually. I’m in the UK here and just asking for prayer for mine and my husband’s financial situation. My husband was running a business that really struggled through the pandemic and just about came out the other side and then it just, a couple things happened where it just kind of fell, fell flat really. So, he had to get a job. He’s looking to close the business that was six months ago but now He’s just lost that job, it was a temporary position. We thought it might go on longer but he just left the job and then the business just took a severe turn in the last 24 hours as well. So, financially it’s not good for the business and us personally. There’s gonna be a lot of debt involved and his lawyers were taken out in our names and it just is gonna fall back on us. So, if you could pray for our financial situation, my husband could get a job and that we could pay of these debts. We have two small toddlers, if you could pray that everything is covered. We would really appreciate that, thank you. And then just pray that we just continue to walk in peace. We know God’s got it but it’s hard emotionally sometimes, especially in the last 24 hours, there’s been a lot of tears. So, thank you so much for praying, love you all.
Hello everyone. I don’t know how to say this and I have been trying over and over and over again to say it. I just want someone to hear that I am going through some struggles, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I have confessed and I believe that Jesus is my savior but I have walked away and not been as active as I used to be. And I go through a struggle that many of us also do. And it’s very depressing. It’s a very depressing thing to want to know and to glorify God and yet fall into the same, same struggle over and over again. I’m just asking for prayer. Just asking for an ear to hear my voice and to know that I am not alone in this struggle. Thank you for hearing this. Have a great rest of ya’lls day or night, whatever time it is.
Good morning, everybody this is God’s Smile here. I’ve been having quite a few thoughts this week as I do with the Lord and I thought I’d just share with everyone. It’s no great revelation it went in deep and it just blessed me. I was thinking about seeds and you know, seeds can line a package in the drawer or in your green house or in the shed and their dormant, there’s all the potential in them yet nothing happens while there in that package. And what happens to the seed it gets planted into a dark place; it gets planted into the soil. And I was thinking about our lives and seeds and the growth in God and most of all pain comes from, sorry our understanding and growing comes from planted in that dark place being placed being found ourself put in. And this seed needs a couple of things: it needs light, warmth and water. And that’s what God does to us, He brings His light upon the soil of our life and He waters it and feeds us with His word. And the warmth of His love upon us and all these things encourage us to grow our roots deep and to spring forth and push through that dark place. I was also thinking about bread too, and you know bread needs to be left to rise up to be allowed to have time for it to grow too. These pictures are just really strong in my mind and I just wanted to share them with you. Time’s ticking away again would you believe it. I love you everybody.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible, this is Aussie Bear from Australia. I’ve been just listening to the community prayers and encouragement this morning, it’s Saturday the 23rd of October and it’s just before 8am. And, I just heard a caller from Sydney, Australia, I mean, hello fellow Aussie, that just makes me so excited to hear another Aussie voice on this platform. But listening to her call, my heart just wanted to embrace her and surround her in prayer and in love and in sistership. She was talking about how she’s dealing with a lot of the aftermath from childhood abuse and I am I just wanted to tell her you are so, so courageous, you are so brave to have made the call that you made and to open up the lines for us, as listeners, to pray for you. I just, I don’t know, I went through childhood abuse myself so I can empathize with what you’re dealing with and I just pray that you know that you are being prayed for that you are being loved on and that God has you, God has you. Even though there’ve been probably so many times when you feel like you’re in the dark and that you are so lost, you are not lost to God. And He loves you and He’s got you and He will walk every step of this journey with you. And so, I just wanted to say I love you and I’m praying for you. God bless you sister.