Preached on Sunday, March 14, 2010
from
Titus 1:10-11
Theme: This passage describes the doctrinal faithfulness that must characterize an overseer of God’s household.
[podcast]http://www.bethanybible.org/audio/031410.mp3[/podcast]
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This morning, we come to a portion of Paul’s small-but-powerful New Testament letter to Titus that—I have to admit—is not my favorite. In fact, I can’t imagine that it would actually be anyone’s favorite.
But as unpleasant a passage as it may be, I also can’t think of very many passages that the church today needs to hear from more! I’m certain that a failure to heed what it has to say is a major reason why some formerly great churches—churches that started out strong and had a long history of faithfulness to the gospel—eventually ended-up denying the faith and losing its usefulness to the Lord in this world.
All of that to say that, as we begin this new section, I hope you’ll stick with it and let the Holy Spirit speak to you through it. There are some very wonderful things yet to come for us in this little book of Titus; but it’s the warning of this hard-but-necessary passage—found at the end of chapter one—that makes it possible for us to gain the fullest benefit of those good things later on.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let me begin by setting the context.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been studying Paul’s introductory words of instruction to Pastor Titus. Paul had written to Titus, after he had left him on the island of Crete, to carry on the work of ministry that had begun there. Paul told him, “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—” (Titus 1:5).
Crucial to the work of “setting things in order” in these newly-formed churches was the task of establishing of qualified pastoral leadership over them. He calls these leaders “elders” and “bishops”; and he goes on to specify their essential qualifications:
. . . if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, 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, 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 (Titus 1:6-9).
As we’ve studied Paul’s initial words of instruction to Timothy over the past few weeks, we’ve carefully considered these different qualifications. We’ve seen, for example, that certain “family” qualifications are to be true of the church’s pastoral leadership; and these we have found in verse 6. Then, we’ve seen that certain “character” qualifications are necessary; and these we’ve found in verses 7-8. Finally, we’ve found that certain “doctrinal” qualifications are also necessary; and these are given to us in verse 9.
All of those qualifications are absolutely essential to pastoral leadership of a church. But the particular situation that the churches were facing on Crete made that last qualification—the “doctrinal” qualification—an extremely vital and relevant one. The first word of the next section—that is, in verse 10—is the word “For . . .”; which marks this morning’s passage out as the reason why Paul laid out the qualifications of a pastor—and particularly the “doctrinal” qualification. The man that Titus established in the leadership of an individual church in Crete must be a man who ‘holds fast the faithful word as he has been taught’, and who is ‘able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict’;
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. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work (Titus 1:10-16).
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; there’s no question that these are very passionate words! And I can’t help thinking how harsh and intolerant they might come across to people in our time.
The idea of calling people “idle talkers” and “deceivers”, and of saying that their mouths “must be stopped”, doesn’t fit very well with the ideas of open-mindedness and freedom of speech that people value today. The affirmation that the ancient saying—”Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons”—is a true testimony, or that the believers need to beware of “Jewish fables”, could sound very offensive to someone who values an ethnically diverse culture. And to say that, “to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure”, or that they are “abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work”, might impact someone of a post-modern mindset as being far too ‘narrow-minded’ and ‘black-and-white’.
But I believe it helps to remember how protective Jesus is toward His precious redeemed people. The Bible tells us that it is “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). It tells us that He formed it on the basis of the profession that He Himself is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”; and that He promised that “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18). The Bible tells us that the church is “the joy that was set before Him” that caused Him to “endure the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).
If you really want to see Paul’s strong words in the proper frame, you need to think of them in the light of what Paul wrote about our Lord’s own passion for the church in Ephesians 5. We often think of the last few words of Ephesians 5 in terms of their instruction regarding marriage—and of course, we should. But they are really about Jesus’ intense love for His church! Paul wrote;
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-27).
The truth be told, there really isn’t anything as precious on this earth—or more worthy of being passionate for—than the church that the Son of God purchased for Himself with His own blood! And there isn’t anything more worthy of contending for than the soul-saving, life-transforming gospel He entrusted to it—”the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
So, really; it’s appropriate that Paul was so very protective of the church and its redeemed people! It’s no wonder he would speak so strongly about those who would seek to draw God’s people away from the gospel! I believe that, when you see the passion Jesus Himself has for His church, what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:5 could also be applied to his instructions in this passage; “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith . . .”
* * * * * * * * * *
Let me speak personally. As your pastor, these seemingly-harsh words from Paul truly light a fire in me. They renew my appreciation for the precious value of this church family—and for the redeemed people in it. These words remind me of how important it is that I strive to remain biblically qualified to serve this church family. They inspire in me an intense love for it—and a diligence to protect it from those who would harm it, and to defend it from anything that would turn it away from the gospel of God’s grace that has been entrusted to it. And I want you—dear church family—to be captured by the same passion for the protection of the church that Paul’s words ignite in me.
These words can be divided into three sections. In the first section—verses 10-11—Paul warned about the danger presented by those who were bringing harm to the churches of Crete. In the second section—verses 12-14—he instructed Titus what must be done to protect the church from them. And the closing section—verses 15-16—he described the outcome that would fall on those who become caught-up in their error.
This morning, I ask that we give our attention to the warning in the first two verses about the danger presented to the church by those who were opposing the gospel—and to how the leaders of the church were appointed with the serious task of stopping the mouths of those false teachers that would have brought harm to God’s household.
First, notice verse 10—and . . .
1. WHAT CHARACTERIZED THEM (v. 10).
Paul says, “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision . . .”
Paul, in these words, was stressing how urgent it was that qualified leaders be established in the churches. It was because, already, there had grown to be “many” false teachers; and they were already doing much damage.
Notice first that Paul says that they were “idle talkers”—or, as some translations have it, “empty talkers”. It’s not that they were to be watched-out for simply because they were “talkers”; because the genuine faith in Jesus is to be advanced by “talking”. The revelation of God has been written down for us in words; and as Paul points out in the very first few verses of this letter, God has ordained that the manifestation of His word be accomplished “through preaching” (v. 3). Talking itself was not the problem. Rather, these “talkers” were to be watched-out for because of the nature of their talk—that it was “empty” or “idle” or “vain”.
Paul warned, in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, that the minister of God was to be careful to “preach the word” to God’s people;
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
The word Paul gave to the kind of false teaching that would one day rise to trouble the church was here translated “fables”—and that’s the same word that is used in our passage in verse 14. The time would come, Paul warns, that people would no longer listen to sound doctrine; but will give credence to silly myths and fanciful works of fiction instead.
The fact that someone stands up in some forum somewhere and “talks” as a teacher—even if they talk eloquently about spiritual things, and have lots of stories and attractive visual aids to capture and hold interest—doesn’t at all mean that what they have to say is what God wants His people to hear! The standard is to be “sound” or “healthy” doctrine—good biblical doctrine that leads to godly living. Paul told Titus in 2:1—immediately after the section we’re studying—”But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine”; and at the end of chapter 2, he explains the solid, evidential truth that such sound doctrine is based on:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).
“Idle talkers” would be those who offer mere “talk” without the real substance of a sure word from God. It would be the kind of talk that leads people away from a pure trust in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. It’s the kind that persuades people that what God has said in His word isn’t really true; or that faith in Jesus is simply one of many ways to God; or that valid answers for life—perhaps even better ones—can be found outside the Scriptures.
And I suspect that this has something to do with another of Paul’s warnings about these false teachers in our passage—that they are “deceivers”. They appear to be something that they’re not; and are thus able to lead people away from God’s true path. Paul warned us elsewhere that there would be such in our own day, when he wrote,
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5; emph. added).
Paul says that there were many such opponents to the faith in Crete; but “especially those of the circumcision . . .” This would have meant that some of them were Jewish people who had made an outward profession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah; but who continued to teach that a man is not justified by faith alone in the work of Jesus on the cross, but also by works of the law—particularly the outward sign of circumcision. They would have been advocates of the sort of works-religion that teaches that a man or woman cannot be made entirely righteous in God’s sight by trusting in Jesus; but that we can only be righteous in God’s sight if we also follow the religious rituals and observe the religious regulations. This explained why Paul urged Titus to warn the people not to give “heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth” (v. 14).
And before we depart from this verse, I ask you consider that statement that they “turn from the truth. Look at the beginning of this verse and take notice of what is—I believe—the primary identifying mark of these false teachers. Paul says, “For there are many insubordinate . . .” That word basically means “not subject” or “not subordinate”; and is translated in other versions by the word “rebellious”. And that is the primary mindset of these opponents to the gospel, from which their “idle talk” and their “deception” springs forth. Their chief characteristic is that they are unwilling to be subject to the sure word of God, or to God’s way of salvation through humble faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us, or to the demands of repentance from the heart. They don’t submit to the time-tested teachings and practices of the historic Christian faith. They don’t let themselves be subject to the accountability of personal church leadership. They will not have God’s revealed way for themselves. Instead, they reject His rule over them, and set about to follow their own ‘spiritual journey’ apart from His sure word.
It’s wise to keep that primary mark in mind. When someone insists on engaging in ‘idle talk’ that is contrary to God’s sure word, and when they set about to present themselves as having a godliness that they don’t truly possess, we can sometimes get side-tracked by a lot of superficial issues. But it pays to remember that the real cause of it all is a rebelliousness and insubordinate attitude toward the authority of God’s word and to the biblically appointed leadership of His church—and that the best thing we can do with them is to call them to repentant of their rebellion, and to submission to God’s righteous demands on their life.
* * * * * * * * * *
Next, please notice in verse 11 . . .
2. THE HARM THEY WERE BRINGING TO THE CHURCHES (v. 11b).
Paul says that they “subvert whole households” in their teaching. The word itself means to “overthrow”; and the idea is that these teachers work their way into the influence of whole families within the churches, and ruin or upset them with respect to the gospel from within.
This was an insidious method of these false teachers. They didn’t want to spread their false teaching in a evident and public manner, because that would make their teachings subject to the scrutiny of those who knew the truth. Instead, they made their way into the homes of naive folks. And as a result, entire families were being subverted from the truth. Paul describes this method in rather unflattering terms in 2 Timothy 3:6-7; “For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Now; it may not be, dear brothers and sisters, that you’d allow a false teacher to come into your home in person and disseminate ‘idle talk’ and ‘deception’. But let me ask; what day-time false teachers might you be allowing into your homes to teach your family through television or radio? Certain broadcast celebrities are quickly becoming disseminators of false “spirituality” on a remarkably broad scale; and people are letting them into their homes daily and allowing themselves to be influenced by what they say! Or what about popular forms of entertainment that have built their story-lines around the proposition that the Scriptures are not trustworthy, or that the whole historicity of the Christian faith is a fraud—movies or television programs or novels that, when you’re through with them, leave you wondering if you should ever really trust the Bible? The creators of these things are doing the very same thing that those false teachers of old did—but now, are doing it with even greater flair, and they don’t even have to travel out of their places in order to get into your door!
And Paul goes on to say that those false teachers of old were also known for “teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain”. They were teaching aspects of the truth that they were either spiritually and intellectually unqualified to handle properly; or things that they knew were openly contrary to the truth—and were doing so for whatever personal profit they could gain from it. They were like those that Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy 6:5; men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, obsessed with petty arguments, “who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”
And the same is true today. You can be sure that a whole lot of false teaching would stop—almost overnight—if there ceased to be any more money to be gained from it.
* * * * * * * * * *
Finally, please note—in verse 11 . . .
3. HOW THEY WERE TO BE DEALT WITH (v. 11a).
Paul says of these false teachers that their “mouths must be stopped”. It’s through their mouths that so much of the destruction they cause to the body of Christ occurred; and Paul’s words basically mean that their mouths must be ‘muzzled’.
But how is this to be done? Certainly, we cannot take away anyone’s right of free speech—even if they used that speech to speak error. Well; gratefully, we’re given an example of how to do this from the Lord Jesus Himself.
A group of the Pharisees once tried to tangle Him in His words by asking Him a question designed to put Him out of favor with the people. They came to Him and said, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” And of course, you can see the trap. If He had said yes, they would have been able to accuse Him of being unfaithful to the Jewish people. And if He had said no, they would have been able to accuse Him of rebellion against the Roman government.
And you know the answer our Lord gave. He asked them to show Him a Roman coin, held it up, and asked, “Whose image and inscription is this?” When they said to Him, “Caesar’s”, He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” He boldly pointed them to their obligation to God; and we’re told, “When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way” (Matthew 22:22). They were silenced!
Later that day, the Sadducees came to Him and tried to trap Him with another question. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her” (vv. 24-28). Their handling of Scripture was, of course, superficial; but their intention was to make it seem as if the whole idea of faith in Scriptural teaching resulted in ridiculous absurdities.
But do you remember how our Lord answered? He boldly pointed to the power of God and to the things that the Scriptures actually said. He said, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (vv. 29-32). And when it was over, we read in Matthew 22:34 that they too were “silenced”!
I suggest to you that the way the mouths of false teachers are to be stopped is never by trying to physically silence them. But neither is it by trying to engage in philosophical arguments with them. Rather, our Lord’s own example is that we faithfully, accurately, and uncompromisingly counter them by declaring the truth of the word of God in the power of God. That was how Jesus handled the opponents to His gospel in His day. It was, you’ll remember, how He even countered the temptations of the devil (Matthew 4:1-11)—with the result that “the devil left Him” (v. 11).
The whole church is to do this. But it is the particular duty of the leadership to protect the church from false teachers in this way. And that, of course, brings us back to the very important qualification of the church’s leadership that was stated back in verse 9; that he 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”.
* * * * * * * * * *
Dear brothers and sisters; let the warning of this difficult passage sink in deeply. Learn to so value and love the church—the very church that our Savior Himself values and loves—that you are willing to stand to the defense of its doctrine, and to stand against those who would corrupt its holiness before God.
And please, keep praying for me and for the leaders of our church; that we will be faithful to take the lead in protecting and defending our church family—so that it will all be able to bear a fruitful and consistent witness for Jesus Christ to this world.