Preached on Sunday, February 21, 2010
from
Titus 1:9
Theme: This passage describes the doctrinal faithfulness that must characterize an overseer of God’s household.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We’ve been concentrating on a subject over the past few weeks that, I suspect, doesn’t gets preached on very often from pulpits on Sunday morning—the Bible’s qualifications for pastors.
These qualifications are found in Paul’s introductory words in his letter to Titus. In Titus 1:5; Paul writes, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—” Paul had given Titus the important task of setting good, faithful spiritual leaders over the churches that had been entrusted to his care. What follows are the qualifications that were to be true of those men he was to appoint.
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Now; when I suggest that the subject I’ve been preaching on lately is often neglected in other churches, I don’t say that with any kind of pride. After all, the general qualification that the passage we’ve been studying lays out—mentioned twice—is that the elder be “blameless”. “If a man is blameless”, Paul says in Titus 1:6; and as he again says in verse seven, “For a bishop [another name for the elder] must be blameless as a steward of God . . .” What fallible pastor would, ordinarily, want to draw the congregation’s attention to the high standard the Bible demands of him—the standard of “blamelessness” (or “above reproach” as it is in some translations)—and expose his own shortcomings? I might not have chosen to preach about the pastor’s biblical qualifications either—if it weren’t for the fact that a commitment to preach faithfully from God’s word demanded it.
But preach on it I must—even if it brings me under uncomfortable scrutiny—because I believe God has specified the high standard for elders in His word for a reason. The cause of Christ in this world is badly hurt when the church don’t keep true to these standards. When men are put in the position of oversight in God’s church who are not qualified according to God’s biblical standards, everyone suffers for it.
But as we’ve studied these high biblical standards together, I have also found them to be very inspiring and motivating. They’ve helped me appreciate the great love our Lord has for His church; and how much He cares about the protection and nurture of His redeemed people. Reviewing these standards has helped make me more serious about my own ministry; and has reminded me of the type of godly example that I and the other church leaders must set for everyone else, so that we all live as God would want us to live.
I hope looking at these qualifications have benefited you too. They give us a reason to be praying for one another—so that Jesus would truly be glorified in His church.
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Let’s review these qualifications quickly. We started out by considering the first set of qualifications—that is, the elder’s “family” qualifications: that he must be “the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation and insubordination” (v. 6). I argued that the elder’s family qualifications are set first; because what he is at home is what he truly is. Then, we spent some time looking at the second set of qualifications—that is, the bishop’s “character” qualifications: “not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled” (vv. 7-8). I suggested to you that these two sets of qualifications gave us a good picture of what it means for a pastor to be “blameless” in his ministry.
Those first two sets of qualifications—the “family” qualifications and the “character” qualifications—are vital. We can’t do without any of them. But this morning, we come to the third and final set of qualifications that Paul sets-forth for elders. It is what I call “the doctrinal qualifications” of an elder: that he is found to be “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (v. 9). And I suggest that the first two sets of qualifications are important for establishing the context for the third qualification; but that the importance of this third qualification is so great that it requires an emphasis all its own.
You see; as important as those first two sets of qualifications are, no one is saved by them. No one is saved, for example, by being impressed with the pastor’s family life. People will, without a doubt, listen better to what he has to say about the path to salvation if he leads a godly family life; but it isn’t his family life that ultimately saves them. Nor is anyone saved by the pastor’s personal character. Again, people will, without question, listen to to him more readily when he tells them the way to salvation if he leads the kind of life that backs it up; but it isn’t his fine character that saves people. Rather, what saves them is hearing and believing the truth from God’s word—the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, it’s absolutely essential that a man be appointed to the place of an elder only if he is qualified in all three areas—in his family life, in his personal character, and in his commitment to the doctrinal truths of the word of God! And it’s the faithful exercise of that third qualification—backed up by the other two—that God most uses to lead people to eternal life!
Just to show you how important this is, look again with me at how Paul begins this letter. He starts off by introducing himself as “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. . . ” (1:1-2a). Right away—at the very beginning of his instructions to Titus, Paul emphasizes the saving power of doctrinal truth backed up by a godly life! What’s more, he goes on to say that the gift of eternal life is something “which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching . . .” (v. 2b-3a). It’s through the faithful preaching of the word of God that the way to eternal life is revealed! And this helps us appreciate how absolutely essential it is that those who are entrusted with the spiritual oversight of God’s household be men who are faithful to God’s word—and who are faithful to preach it!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; I as your pastor and the other leaders in this church family are, I trust, found by you to be faithful to sound biblical doctrine. But we must strive diligently to always remain committed to faithfully hold forth the word of truth! And all of us together, as a church family, must be committed to it as well! It’s how we lead other people to eternal life in Christ!
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Let’s look a little closer at this third qualification for the elder, and see . . .
1. WHAT HE MUST HOLD TO.
Paul speaks here of “the faithful word”; and the “word” he is referring to here is Scripture—given to us from God in prepositional form, and written down for us so that it can be taught and preached.
In his second letter to Pastor Timothy, Paul wrote these words;
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
Paul teaches us much about the Scriptures in these words. The Scriptures are invaluable! They are literally “God-breathed”; and because their source is God Himself, they are profitable! But look at what Paul then tells Timothy;
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! (4:1-2a).
That “faithful word” that the elders are to preach and teach to the people of God is the Scriptures themselves! They are, as Paul says in Titus 1:3, that “word” which is manifested “through preaching”. Paul calls it the “faithful” word, because it has God’s own stamp of authority—and because God Himself stands behind it and gives it life-transforming power. It is “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). It never returns to Him “void”; but will “accomplish” what He pleases, and shall “prosper” in the thing for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Nothing else in this world does what God’s word does! Nothing else has God’s own authority behind it as God’s word has!
Dear brothers and sisters; you must pray for the leaders of this church—that they will make sure that it is always and only the faithful word of Scripture that is taught and preached here. And pray for its Sunday School teachers, and for its various ministry leaders—that we will all work together to bring this faithful word to bear in the lives of others. And pray for me—that, until the day I’m in the Lord’s presence, I hold faithfully to the faithful word!
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Now; that’s what Paul told Titus that the elders of the church must hold to—the faithful word, which is the Holy Scriptures. Without that essential qualification, it doesn’t matter if a pastor has an outstanding family life, or that he displays admirable character qualifies. If he is a man who doesn’t hold to the faithful word, he is an unfaithful pastor—and he will cause harm to the body of Christ.
Now; let’s look next at . . .
2. HOW HE MUST HOLD TO IT.
Paul said he must be a man who is “holding fast” the faithful word; or as the English Standard Version has it, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word”. The word that Paul uses to describe this action is one that refers to having a “strong attachment” to something—as if wrapping your hands around it and holding it tight. It’s a figure for being “devoted” to or “loyal” to the “faithful word”.
A pastor cannot be the kind of man who is easily swayed away from a pure devotion to God’s faithful word. He must be the kind of man who has made up his mind that—no matter what the arguments might be that ungodly people throw-out against it; or no matter what dressed-up theory from the past may have been dredged-up to discredited it; or no matter how much the unbelieving culture around us may mock and ridicule it—he will still trust it as God’s faithful word, will still faithfully preach it, and will still stake his eternal destiny and the destiny of others on it. He must be the kind of man that believes that, no matter how ‘insightful’ the words of men may seem, one word from God is more powerful than all the countless billions upon billions of the words of mankind combined! He must be the kind of man who believes what Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
What’s more, a pastor cannot be the kind of man who says he holds fast to the faithful word of God—but who, then, trusts something else in the way he conducts his ministry when the heat is on. He must not be the kind of man who looks to the ideas and philosophies and psychologies and methods of this world to somehow “confirm” or “substantiate” or “validate” the faithful word. He must be the kind of man that, when the people of God come to him for counsel, they will always find that he opens the Bible and gives them something that they cannot receive from men—and that is, a sure and certain word from God!
Paul told Titus to be sure that the elder he appoints is a man who holds fast the faithful word “as he has been taught”. And there’s a couple of ways that can be understood. One way is to understand it as saying that he must be faithful to the word “as he has been instructed”. And if that’s the case, Paul would be saying that he ought to be a man who has been well-trained in the Scriptures and who is faithful to the teaching he has received. Paul certainly made that point with Timothy; telling him to “continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Timothy 3:14). Perhaps this is reminding us that a man who becomes an elder—handling the precious word of God before the people of God—ought to be a man who had taken the time to receive a good theological education; and that he ought to prove faithful to the education he received—and not a man who wanders away from what he was taught while still keeping the letters of he degree attached to his name.
But another way this can be understood—equally valid—is as saying that the elder must be a man who is faithful to the word that is “in accordance with the teaching”. And if that’s the case, it would be saying that he ought to be a man whose handling of the word is in conformity with the standards of apostolic doctrine. As Paul told Titus, “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine” (2:1). The truths of the gospel are not open to revision and improvement. There are no ‘new innovations’ being made in the apostolic faith. The pastor is not to be “creative” with doctrine, but “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). And perhaps this is reminding us that the preaching and teaching of the faithful pastor is something that should be accountable to the body of Christ at large; and that it must stand-up well against to the recognized standards of doctrinal truth that were given to us by the apostles through the Scriptures.
A good picture of what it means in practice to be “holding fast the faithful word” is given to us in 1 Timothy 4:12-16. Paul told Pastor Timothy;
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you (1 Timothy 4:12-16).
In other words, for an elder to “hold fast” to the word of truth means not “neglecting” the precious treasure of the sacred, revealed truths that have been entrusted to him through the Scriptures; but rather “meditating” on them, “giving himself entirely” to them, “making evident progress” in them, “giving heed to himself and his doctrine” with respect to them, “continuing” in them, and thus, advancing the saving grace of Christ in his own life and in the lives of others who “hear” such things from him.
Pray for me, dear brothers and sisters; that I will be the kind of pastor who is “holding fast the faithful word” as I have been taught, and in such a way as to conform to the Scriptures as a whole. And I’ll be praying for you too—that you will hold fast to it as well!
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So then; we’ve seen what it is that the elder is to hold to—that is, to the “faithful word” of Scripture. And we’ve seen how he is to hold to it—that is, by holding it “fast”—in a devoted and loyal way, just as has been taught and in a way that conforms to the truth.
And finally, notice . . .
3. WHY HE MUST HOLD TO IT.
It’s for a very practical reason. Paul writes, “that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” It’s important that he be committed to sound doctrine; because he is to apply that sound doctrine to the lives of others in life-transforming—and sometimes confrontational—ways. It doesn’t necessarily mean that he is always doing so; but rather means that he is “able” to do so whenever the need arises.
First, he is to be able to “exhort” by means of “sound doctrine”. The word that Paul uses for “exhort” is the word parakaleō; and you may already be somewhat familiar with the noun form that word. It was the name that the Lord Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit in John 14:16—”the Parakletos“, or “the Comforter” or “Helper”. The Holy Spirit is the One who ‘comes along-side’ us as believers, and comforts and counsels and helps us. And similarly, that’s what a pastor is to do. He is to be so well-versed in sound doctrine that he is able—as the need arises—to come along-side those that God has entrusted to his care and exhort them and encourage them in God’s will for their lives.
I think a great example of this is found in the next chapter. In 2:1, Titus is told, “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine . . .” He is to do the very thing that Paul said that the elders he was to appoint were to be able to do. And look how this was to take shape;
. . . that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things (2:2-10).
And I think of that as the pastor’s application of sound doctrine to the lives of the saints. He ought to be a man with such a grasp of the faithful word that he’s able to fulfill that responsibility well. But that’s not the only thing he needs to be able to do. Paul says he must also be able to “convict those who contradict”.
The word that Paul uses for “those who contradict” is one that basically means “the speaking-against ones”. These are not followers of Jesus who simply need to be exhorted, but rather are unbelievers who are hostile to the word of God and who speak against it. And Paul urges Titus to put men in leadership over the churches who are so well-versed in the Scriptures that they are able to do that when needed.
Just how important that is is shown to us in the next few verses. Paul writes;
For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain (vv. 10-11).
Similarly, Paul wrote to Timothy and said,
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed (1 Timothy 4:1-6).
The pastor must be committed to the word of God, well-versed in it, and able to handle it as the occasion requires—not only because he leads people to the way to eternal life by faithfully preaching it, but also because he must defend the truth against those who oppose it and who lead people into falsehood! We pastors—and really, all of us in the body of Christ—uphold God’s precious gospel in the midst of a battlefield of false doctrines and open attacks! And so, the overseers of God’s household must be committed to “holding fast the faithful word”, and train the people of God to do the same.
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So; pray for me, dear brothers and sisters. Pray for me to grow deep in God’s word. Pray that I will hold fast to the “faithful word” all my days. Pray that I will be able—by sound doctrine—to exhort the saints in God’s word, and to convict those who contradict God’s word.
And while you’re at it, pray that God will raise up more men in our church family to take that role. Pray that God will raise up the next generation of the overseers of His household who will be faithful to God’s word. Pray for the leaders of our church, and pray for all of us as a church family together.
Pray that we will all be found by God to be ‘holding fast the faithful word’.