Godly Character Needs Healthy Teaching

Transcript

GR 2286
03/29/2020
Godly Character Needs Healthy Teaching
Titus 1:15-2:2; Haggai 2:11-13
Gil Rugh

If you have your Bibles handy at home and you’re propped up with a cup of coffee, some of you may still be in your pajamas. Don’t get used to it, we’ll expect you back when we can. Right now, get your Bibles, we’re going to Titus chapter 1 and chapter 2. It’s a short book, there are only three chapters. Titus, toward the back of your New Testament before you get to the book of Hebrews, the next large book, a few small books and then the book of Revelation, but we’re in Titus and the book of Titus is about godliness, good deeds and how they fit into our lives as God’s people.

We emphasized that we are not saved by our good works, but the salvation and new life God brings to us results in a changed life and a changed lifestyle. There’s a contrast between a believer and an unbeliever and it’s evident in the way we think and in the way we conduct ourselves. That’s what the book of Titus is about and as we noted in our previous study, God is concerned about the health of his people, not particularly the physical health although He cares for us in that, but He’s concerned about the spiritual health of His people and that’s what He is addressing here and warning us about. There is a danger of false teaching and false teachers and that brings spiritual sickness to God’s people and to God’s church.

We noted that the church is the household of God, its God’s family, he mentioned that in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15. The church is the household of God and it’s to be the pillar and support of the truth, so in chapter 1 Titus is instructed to appoint elders, godly men, to oversee the flock for the good of the flock. They are to guard the flock, protect the flock, and see that the flock is fed with good spiritual food. He gave some of the requirements, which are basic requirements for maturity in a godly man, and these are men who are to oversee the church. They are men… in addition to the qualities of their life, verse 9 says they must hold fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching so that they will be able to exhort in sound doctrine and that word is key. We noted in the pastoral epistles used eight times the word “sound.” We get the word hygiene from it in English, it’s health, its health-producing. The word “doctrine” is simply the Greek word “teaching.” Healthy teaching, teaching that is true and pure from the word of God.

You have to be able to do two things, you have to be able to exhort in that healthy teaching and you have to recognize error and deal with it, so you refute, rebuke any who would contradict the healthy doctrine. The reason this is necessary, and we looked down through this, there are many rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers, and particularly in the church at Crete and some of the other churches around that Paul dealt with. These were Jewish individuals who had professed to faith in Christ, but now we’re trying to corrupt the purity of God’s word by adding Jewish practices to it, and they have to be silenced, they don’t know what they’re talking about, verse 11, they must be silenced, they upset whole families.

Once you allow that to make its way into the church, and all the problems in these pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, deal with problems from within the church. The real damage is done when error and disease gets into the body, and that’s what he’s warning about, you must be careful, so you must silence them. They cannot be allowed to teach or influence church families, individuals in the body, but its happening. “They are upsetting whole families,” verse 11 says, by ”teaching things they should not teach,” and that’s why we try to warn in what you read, the programs you listen to on Christian radio. Many of them are filtered out but you have to be discerning. This teaching begins to make its way into the church. There are varieties of ways today. In Paul’s day, it was primarily by personal presence and by letters that got circulated. Now we have much more ways to have these influences come in.

The Crete churches, the churches in Crete, the island of Crete had been influenced and, you know, it was a rough world in those days. One of their poets and we’ve not talked about this, in verse 12 Paul quotes because when you’re going to say something very negative about an area it’s better to quote someone respected in that area, so that they don’t think that this is your personal opinion. Epimenides is usually the Greek poet, he’s five or six hundred years before Paul’s writing, but he was recognized and respected in the area. He said that they were “always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons,” verse 12, and “this testimony is true,” so they need to be rebuked severely. They told us that the elders must be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute, same word there, refute or rebuke, so now when you come down into verse 13 he says they must be reproved, rebuked, and he adds the word severely, and its a word that means to cut something. And we know that when someone says something to you, perhaps correcting, you say, boy, that cut me to the heart. That’s the point, this is a severe rebuke, it cannot be tolerated.

Now this is going on in the church and what you see is the conditions that characterize the unbelieving world around them on the island of Crete. The various towns there with the churches that have been planted were being influenced by error and a corrupted lifestyle, and this is only aggravated by Jewish teachers coming and adding the Law to the mix. Now you might say, well, I would think adding the Mosaic Law to the mix would be a good thing but it’s not. It becomes a subtle form of corruption that adds to the problem, it doesn’t solve the problem, and it’s going to come to that a little further down. They must not pay “attention,” verse 14, “to Jewish myths, commandments of men who turn away from the truth.” Now you see what the issue is, all error involves a turning away from biblical truth, so it becomes an expression of rebellion and the church has to be careful.

You have some of the corrupting things that are so obvious in the world. Now we say, well, the Mosaic Law, we have those who think the Mosaic Law is the answer to this day and they say you’re antinomian if you don’t teach the Law. You’re contrary to having Law. Well, the Mosaic Law served its purpose. These Jews were trying to bring it back in, we talk about the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15 that dealt with that. Well, if we have this corrupted world around us at least we’ve got people who believe there are things right and wrong. We deal with this today with conservative politics and the mixture of religion. Protestants, Catholics, Jewish, well, we identify with those who have certain agreement on certain moral issues, but unless it’s coming out of the word and consistent with the truth of the word, it leads us away from the word.
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If you think, the Mosaic Law was an answer to the corruptions of the world around it’s exactly the opposite. It turns men away from the truth. It turns them from one error to another error and the supposed cure is worse, because now they think they are okay because they have become religious and they have certain moral standards, and then Christians begin to welcome them because it brings some relief. It seems we find some who are in agreement with us and we like to stand with the crowd but it’s a danger to the church. They have to rebuke so they may be sound, verse 13. You should underline that or mark it in your Bible “so they may be sound.” There’s our word, healthy, in the faith. You see, this is what God is concerned about, He doesn’t want you to replace one disease with another disease. He wants sound, health-producing teaching and conduct so that we grow in our faith. So these are people professing faith, that’s their danger, they have infiltrated the church.

Paul’s not just writing about the world out there, he’s talking about what’s gotten into the church and into the thinking of families in the church, verse 11, “they are upsetting whole families.” You have to put a stop to it and he’s going to illustrate why. You go from verse 14, they turn away people from the truth so they’re no longer healthy in their faith and he says in verse 15… and this is where we left off with verses 15 and 16, we just summarized them, we’ll look at them a little more in detail because they lead into chapter 2. “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”

This is the problem, you are taking those who are not pure, their heart has not been changed, they haven’t been cleansed within. And they are bringing external answers, the real solution is keep the Ten Commandments, the real solution is to observe some of the Mosaic Law because God gave that Law. And it’s a misuse of scripture just like the devil did when he tempted Christ. He quoted scripture but Christ makes clear you are misapplying and misusing that scripture. This is why it becomes a danger to the church if we’re not very careful. They use scripture and we say, well, keeping the Law, I mean, at least it’s better than the way the world lives. No, we have Christians that say that. Well, I have some friends, they’re not Christians in the biblical sense but at least they go to church and they’re religious and they’re concerned to be faithful in their religious observances.

That’s not good, remember what Jesus said when He was walking the earth to the religious leaders of His day? You are the worst off because your religion gives you a false security. It’s the thieves, the murderers, the prostitutes, that will be part of the kingdom I establish because they recognize their sinfulness, and I came to call sinners to salvation and righteousness. Not the righteous, the self- righteous, and that’s what religion can do. Only the truth of the word of God, so to the pure, all things are pure, so it starts on the inside and comes out. This is crucial to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. If the heart hasn’t been cleansed then you defile everything you touch. That’s the point, their mind and their consciences are defiled.

Now we understand that we’re dealing with a virus and the solution to that virus is what? Well, get a handful of people, a dozen people, who have the virus and put two dozen healthy people in a room with them and their health will get communicated to those infected people and that’ll be great. You know that doesn’t work that way. We even reduced the number here this morning, the whole band couldn’t be here. They have set numbers that they want to get together and we’re trying to adhere to that. Why? They want you to self-quarantine, to avoid big groups, to keep a certain distance between yourself and others. Why? I’m healthy, wouldn’t it be good for me to get next to them so they could get healthy? It doesn’t work that way.

The impurity affects the health of those who are pure and if we’re talking about a physical thing, we see it obviously, nobody questions that. Why do we get confused and think a little bit of error is all right in God’s family? A little bit of spiritual disease and sickness. Nobody’s perfect and there are various interpretations we come up with, all kinds of reasons to tell God, in Your family a little bit of disease is okay. You know what happens, it spreads, the healthy get corrupted, this is what Paul’s writing to Titus to help with and so the churches at Crete understand. You have to deal with this, they are being drawn in and influenced. It’s like…, and they don’t recognize this person has something that could be disastrous to you yet they are exposing themselves to it and that’s why whole families are being upset by it, verse 11.

Well, I know the Word. How many people think, well, our church is solid, we believe the Bible, but error makes its way in. It amazes me over the many years of ministry, looking at our church and other churches, other denominations, schools, schools that I attended, allowed a little bit of error to come in, and the health didn’t overwhelm the error. The spiritual sickness overwhelmed the health and destroyed it and so that’s the concern here. This is not new. Come back to the book of Matthew, we’ll go to Matthew first, I want to take you to a couple of passages. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is speaking and in the context here, verse 13, He warns them to enter the narrow gate and travel the narrow way. Why? Because there’s a broad gate and a broad way, you go with the majority it ends in destruction. You have to come through the narrow gate, Jesus is the door, He’s the gate, He’s the way to life, and in traveling that road as His follower, submitting to His word (if you love Me you will keep My commandments), talking about His word, you’ll have a changed life.

“Beware,” verse 15, “of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Now we looked at this in our previous study. They disguise themselves, remember 2 Corinthians 11, Satan disguises himself as a messenger of light. Discernment is required, “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,” they’ve deceived themselves as well as others, so this emphases. You have to be guarding, you have to be careful, in verse 8, what is produced, what is manifested, what is evident. It’s not the things on the outside that are going to bring the corruption, it’s the corrupted heart, and we have people…, don’t say they’re not well-meaning and that.

I drove by to get out of the house I took a drive around a little bit. Drove back, didn’t talk to anybody didn’t touch anybody except the lady sitting next to me who happened to be my wife, but we drive by a church and the cars are lined up so they can get their spiritual touch. As though going by doing their confession or getting this blessing -- that doesn’t do it. God says if you do something external… people have that view of the building, you know, in this building there is something, you come to a holy place. What makes this holy is when God’s people gather and the Spirit of God is in their midst and in them individually. When they leave it’s just an empty building, there’s nothing sacred about it, but we build cathedrals and try to make them majestic, and to create this is a space if you come in, go through, get baptized with that physical water, partake of communion, those physical items, they will somehow transmit holiness to you. That’s the very thing he is saying cannot happen, it cannot bring from the outside purity there, it has to come from the inside.

Come back to the book of Haggai. Now Haggai is easy to find because it’s the third to the last book of your Old Testament, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, then you’ll come to the book of Matthew in the New Testament. So we want to go to the book of Haggai chapter 2. This is what Israel is struggling with in Haggai chapter 2. What is happening, we are in 520 BC so about 500 years before Christ, Israel has returned to the land under the Persians. Remember the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom had been conquered by the Assyrians and they had destroyed the temple, now Jews have been allowed to come back to the land. They’re going to rebuild the temple; the problem is they haven’t dealt with their spiritual problem. They think building the temple and being able to go to that “holy place” will make them holy so Haggai has to give them an address.

Verse 11, I’m in chapter 2 of Haggai verse 11, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Ask now the priests for a ruling,’ ” so the priest should know, ask them, “ ‘If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, or any other food, will it become holy?’ ” In other words, if he has that piece of meat that was consecrated to God, now it touches something that is a defiled thing, not considered holy, will the defiled thing now become holy because the holy thing touched it? The priest said, no, just having something that was holy cannot be carried over and make something that is not holy, holy. So verse 13, “If one who is unclean,” let’s go the other way, “from a corpse, “in other words, if you touched a corpse you were unholy, there had to be a cleansing go on before you could be acceptable to God, “touches any of these,” will those things he touched become unclean? They will become unclean. You see what he is saying about the condition, the uncleanness of sin gets transmitted but holiness is not transmitted, is not, you know, come to this space and now it will be holy, so the solution to Israel’s problem is not rebuild the temple. Right as that might be but that won’t solve their problem because they’re unclean, that’s the point he’s trying to get across to Israel at this point of time.

I was reading on the book of Haggai a very good commentator on these minor prophetic books, not all of them, but a number of them. Walter Kaiser who’s written, the verses we just read: Accordingly, holy acts have no power to make persons holy. Only a holy God can make us holy. It is amazing how poorly we understand spiritual things sometimes. And I’m not reading consecutively, I’m not going to tell you every time I skip. This trust in ritualism to remedy and atone for unsanctified hearts was anathema in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Over and over again the prophets warned that external religiosity was not an adequate substitute for true repentance of the heart. Then he gives a whole list of passages in the Old Testament that remind Israel of that, remember he told the prophets you must be circumcised in your heart. Isaiah started out and we looked at that, quit coming with your sacrifices, quit coming to this temple, it’s a sacrilege. Why? You haven’t bowed in faith trusting Me. Come to Me, come now and let us reason together, you need to get cleansing and holiness from Me, that’s what can bring you holiness.

Then he has a good reminder because of, verse 13, where if something unclean touches something clean it defiles it. The principle, evil is contagious, he says. Evil and defilement are much more easily transmitted and can be transmitted more extensively than holiness. Sin is much more contagious and corrosive than most realize. It is surprising, now listen to this, it is surprising to see how poorly many reason in this area. They feel that environmental determinism, the view that things will change for the better if the surroundings change for the better. How many will believe and feel it, environmental determinism will sufficiently secure holiness they hope for themselves and their children.

Then he uses the example of a hospital. This is about as reasonable as saying that one healthy specimen in their midst will heal a hospital ward full of people with infectious diseases. If you can see the flaw in that why do we continue to insist that holiness is contagious and transferable while ironically maintaining that evil is not all that dangerous, especially if there are good examples around us for our children. Then he does say because of his background, though I have spent my life in Christian Education I cannot endorse the view that our children’s mere contact or association with holiness by attending Christian schools throughout their education or by receiving training from their parents will preserve them.

This text warns against such thinking. One holy environment is not a panacea, it cannot be caught. Now he’s not saying that putting our kids in the best environment…, but you know Christian parents think, I do the right thing…, they think Proverbs is a charm. Train up a child in the way he should go, when he’s old he won’t depart from it, but remember proverbs are principles, but they’re not guarantees. Yeah, David says I was young, now I’m old, I’ve never seen a righteous man beg for bread, but there are believers in parts of the world today that may be going hungry. It doesn’t change the principles of the proverbs so we want to be careful. Well, I did all the right things and realize it’s in God’s hands, I’m not going to take the blame for my kids, I’m not going to be able to claim the credit. You know, it’s God’s grace but I certainly want to do everything I can to provide the kind of context for my kids but that’s not a solution. The best and most godly of parents can have the worst of kids and sometimes the worst of parents end up with godly kids. We’ve had many people whose parents got saved through the testimony of their kids. The kids got saved, well, what about your family? Well, you know it wasn’t the best but… so we want to be careful. I think that we understand what he is saying here.

Come back to Titus, it’s not things from the outside. Jesus taught this in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember it’s not the food you take in, it’s from what comes out of the heart. Maybe you ought to go to Mark. I should have stopped you here when you were in Matthew, but come to Mark chapter 7. It really follows more on what we just read in Matthew, Mark chapter 7 verse 14. He has to explain this to the crowd so He’s really explaining what they should have known from the prophets, but they’re confused and Paul’s explaining what we should have known from the life and ministry of Christ. Now 2,000 years later we’ve got the testimony of the Old Testament, the testimony of Christ when He walked the earth, the writings of Paul under the direction of the Holy Spirit and we’re still getting confused.

Verse 14 of chapter 7 of Mark, “He called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.” This was true under the Mosaic Law, there were ceremonial things that were considered clean and unclean. But the basic issue of defilement and holiness came from the heart, and when the heart wasn’t right God said the sacrifices are nothing but a sacrilege. Coming and going through all of these ceremonies is nothing, but I hate it, I can’t take it anymore. Stop it! It’s mockery, nothing which goes in from the outside…

You know when I was raised with good intentions, one of the reasons they told me I shouldn’t smoke because your body’s the temple of the Holy Spirit. Do you want to fill the temple with smoke? I’m not saying it’s a good idea to smoke, but when I was a teenager that was the big thing. My dad started smoking when he was 14, and did til he had a heart attack, but he didn’t want me to and when we became believers that was one of the things you didn’t do. Along with having pool tables in your house because that would lead you into sinful places. You know, these external things don’t do that, I’m not saying smoking is good, don’t go out and tell your parents, you know, Pastor Gil said I should smoke. No, I don’t. I’m saying that’s not the issue of what defiles the temple what I put in my mouth. We have people that write Christian health books because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit so you want to take care of it. You don’t want to put junk food in your body, that’s not good for your body, and your body’s the temple of… That has nothing to do with what we’re talking about here. I’m not saying junk foods good for you but I am saying what you eat is not what defiles you.

Isn’t that what Jesus just said, there’s nothing outside the man which can defile him. Now are we listening? When His disciples don’t get the point, Jesus rebukes them. “When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable” He had said. And we didn’t read the whole context but He said, “Are you so lacking in understanding?” You know, sort of like we tell our kids they should have known something from what’s been taught. What’s wrong? You know better, you should know better. “ Do you not understand,” verse 18, “that whatever goes into the man from the outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart?” It doesn’t go into his inner person, it passes through the body and out. “(Thus He declared all foods clean),” the end of verse 19, so you see the problem we have with the Judaizers is their rejection of the real truth of the Old Testament, the truth that Christ taught and they’ve made up their own way to stay clean because the Mosaic Law is done.

We have all kind of cults, Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, and so on. Christian Scientists that claim to use the Bible but that doesn’t make it right. Well, the Judaizers were no better, that’s why Galatians 1 condemns them to hell for trying to corrupt the word of God with that teaching. Verse 20, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed…,” and there’s all those evil things so that’s why to the pure, all things are pure. Why? Because the foods aren’t unclean, now I have to decide am I going to eat them? Some things I decide to eat, some things not, sometimes there’s things I decide not to do because of the influence it would have on someone else, so I particularly don’t drink alcoholic beverages. Do I think the Bible forbids everyone from drinking wine? No. Do I personally choose not to? Yes. Do I think you should make the same choice? It’s up to you.

Some people think I eat strangely, I like what I like. Marilyn… since everybody’s not here, you cannot listen if you’re on your website… Marilyn is a great cook, she cooks what I love. We’ve had delicious meals at home. We sometimes go out for something to do, not because I like the food we get out better. It’s just a little bit of a break in our routine but she’s really… cooks what I like. Now you might not like what she cooks or the way she cooks it but it’s perfect for me, it’s what I want to eat. So we have choice, if I want a ham sandwich, I can have a ham sandwich. If a Jewish believer didn’t want to have a ham sandwich he didn’t have to have it, that’s Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians Paul deals with it, so we want to be careful we’re clean.

In verse 23, he had summarized it, “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man,” so be careful. We want to raise our kids, probably may want to talk to them about things that are good for them and not good for them, healthy, not healthy. And you may have rules in your family for things but be careful about applying it to scripture if the scripture doesn’t teach it. You don’t want to tell them, well, you don’t want to eat junk food because your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that would not be good for your body. It doesn’t have anything to do with that. It becomes a problem of the error. Now again you tell them we think this is healthy and it’s a good opportunity to explain to them what’s really important is that you have a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Until He cleanses your heart…

I have a problem with much of what is being presented in the news in this day with the virus going on. We have some evangelicals and I don’t know their motive but sometimes it seems like they’re selling books. They’re coming up with all these good ideas that seem more like the power of positive thinking. The unbeliever has a real problem, it does no good to say let’s all get together and pray. I have to tell them, you know what? This is caused by God. You know what Amos 3:6 says, does calamity happen in a city and I have not done it says the Lord. It’s just not something that got out of control, God brings these things for a purpose. Isaiah 45 says the same thing a little more elaborately. We want to be… and until the sin problem is gone, our basic problem is not solved. The virus and its impact may come and go, maybe you ought to stop and give consideration to your spiritual condition. How healthy are you? All right, there are a number of other verses on this but come back to Titus chapter 2.

We don’t want to go by this and miss the point. The problem in verse 16 is, “They profess to know God, by their deeds they deny Him.’ Now note here works, deeds, that’s the word deeds, the word is works. They deny Him, they’re saying one thing, they deny Him, their conduct does not support what they say. That’s evidenced in what they teach and how they behave. They’ve connected holiness, righteousness, godliness, with external things. Now there are things the Bible tells us we are to do, we’re like newborn babes to long for the pure milk of the word, so I can’t say, well, this is a basis for me then to ignore the word. No, our deeds evidence the change and we understand. I may exercise everyday, somebody else may not, does that mean I’m more spiritual? No, that may mean I’m more healthy or I’m less healthy, these things. I want to keep our focus and our church not get permeated by incorrect thinking.

Again, I’ve been in the pastorate long enough and people come and want to tell you how they feel about something, what they think and I understand I have feelings about things and think about things and I have to sort this out. Now is this my personal conviction or is this something that the word says is to be done or not to be done, and sometimes walking through the scripture on this their response is, well, I still feel it ought to be like this. Well, you know I transfer, try to transfer my feelings to someone else and it’s not biblical, I’m now sliding into the very error that is being corrected. This is why Paul had to write to the Corinthians and say, will you quit making an issue of foods. He wrote to the Romans in chapter 14, and he says you can’t make an issue of the foods either way. If you think you shouldn’t eat it, don’t eat it, but if you think this other person ought to have the same thoughts as you, stop it, so these things continue to come and it ends up making it’s way. The teaching here of the Judaizers cannot be tolerated because it’s corrupting. it’s an illness, so their deeds.

Now they’re doing these things and you can do the right things with the wrong motive. You know, I want to be honest, if I get together with unbelievers… I was invited to a prayer meeting where various churches were getting together for prayer and the pastors and people from their church. I said, “We won’t be joining.” Why? I’m going to say we’re going to bow our head and pray, and, Lord, let me begin my prayer by thanking you for being clear in Your word, that everyone who doesn’t obey Your word their prayer is hateful to You. Oh, and then thank you, Lord, for reminding us that no one can come to You in prayer who does not have Jesus Christ as their high priest because they’ve placed their faith in Him. How are we going to pray together? Oh, you’re too narrow for our group.

By their deeds they profess, now this is where we get confused, they profess to know God, they deny Him by their deeds. And now look at how strong he gets here, they’re “detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” Because remember this is why we can say, “There is none that does good, not even one” and that’s quoted in Romans and he’s quoting it from the Psalms, so the Old Testament is saying the same thing as the New Testament. We’re here, well, we say, oh, they’re good people, they do good things. Well, in a certain context, you know, I’m glad. They help feed the poor but you understand that’s no more acceptable to God than those who don’t feed the poor. They’re worthless for any good deed. They have flunked the test. The word “worthless” comes from a word dokimazo, and it’s used a number of times, dokimazos means to be put to the test. You know, you’d use it of a metal, you put this gold to the test, and it’s refined and it shows its pure gold, so you passed the test. You just put the negative on the front of that, they flunked the test, they’re worthless, they’re detestable, they’re disobedient. Well, I want to call them good people. Now I don’t have to go out and get in their face and declare this but the church needs to understand this, there is no mediating ground here. We’re talking about Jews who want to incorporate the Law into the message of the death and resurrection of Christ. This is serious business, I mean, this is not nit picking, it’s a little bit of disease that does great damage.

Now I’ve shared with you many years ago when a conflict… I thought, well, this is not going to be that big a deal. This has sort of gotten into the church here and we’ve got enough spiritually healthy people, they’re going to see it and then the others see it, and they’ll make the correction and we’ll just move on. It didn’t happen that way, it didn’t happen that way to the seminary I attended and many good professors, they got one off track, ended up wrecking the whole school. We don’t take it seriously enough. I thought after that I have to get out front of these things. I was taken back, I said I can’t believe it.

This is spread like a disease because that is what disease does. That’s why we’re concerned, that’s why we’re sitting here with an empty auditorium. They’re concerned if healthy people get in touch with unhealthy people the health won’t spread, the disease will, and pretty soon it develops, as we would say, a life of its own. That disease gets spreading so rapidly and affects so many it overtakes everything. That’s how churches collapse, seminaries, oh, they necessarily don’t go away, they just become centers of false teaching, that’s what he’s dealing with here.

Now when we come into chapter 2 we’re going to get into things that divide churches, so you’ll note how he starts chapter 2, “But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for,” here we are again, healthy teaching, “sound doctrine.” Health producing teaching, that’s what in verse 9 the elders are to do, they are to be able to both to exhort in healthy teaching and to rebuke and put a stop to those who contradict health producing teaching. We don’t take it seriously. “Speak the things which are fitting,” they go consistent with healthy teaching, so the life and the teaching are to go together. That’s why he talked about what elders were to be, something of their character, above reproach, verse 7, not self-willed. Not because there is a manifestation of what’s in the heart because Jesus said we’ll be condemned by our words. Why? Because our mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart, so an impure heart has impure speech.

It used to be people had respectable language, now they use all kind of profanity and it seems they want to use that just so you know how strongly they feel. Well, it’s just revealing what’s in their heart, lies, blasphemous things, slanderous things. You speak the things which are consistent, go along with healthy teaching, so there’s certain conduct that is expected, and here he goes. He’s going to talk about the older men then he’s going to talk to the older women. Then he’s going to talk to the young men and with that it’s just one line in verse 6 the young men, but he uses Timothy as an example which is an indication he is a young man. Then he’s going to go to slaves, because right conduct when a heart’s been transformed you’ll see it in the life and lifestyle of the person who’s been impacted.

If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation, old things pass away new things have come, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. It’s not the same old me, but that’s why you don’t start… And we have this environmental determinism going on, well, first we have to feed the people. Then we have to put them in a better environment. Then we have to raise them so their standard of living is better and then when they’re in this kind of environment… That’s not what Jesus found when he came to the most religious and upright. Paul says I was as good at keeping the Law as any man could be, his testimony in Philippians 3, but when you get down to it I was the worst of sinners, self-righteous, arrogant, and a persecutor of true believers he told Timothy when he wrote to him.

We can’t go on, so here, what are we going to do, well, “older men.” I tried to get the oldest so I could still consider myself middle age but even when you can find ancient writers writing, those above 40 where some of those talked about them as older, some above 50, Philo, the Jewish philosopher, he used 60. Nobody used 70 or 80, so older men, so the word’s a comparative thing whether you use 40, 50, what we’re talking about as older men. They “are to be temperate.” What we are going to do is pick up some of the things that were mentioned about elders. Some of the things mentioned about elders and deacons in 1 Timothy chapter 3 because they’re marks of maturity, godly people.

They “are to be…” and he’s going to walk thru some of these characteristics. Temperate, it means sober, sober in judgment, sound thinking, it can be used in connection with being temperate with alcoholic beverages like wine, so you don’t over indulge. This is a person who has balanced thinking, who can think things through. They’re sober in the sense they’re sober minded. You know, you don’t want to go for sound advice to someone who’s silly or someone who doesn’t seem to think clearly. Not saying a person can’t be fun but you want them to know they have things together, control. Here’s what one person said, a man who is in control of his mental, emotional and spiritual faculties. Now clear headed, stability in his life. Now the man, wow, you know, he’s got a couple of areas he just seems to lose it. Now this is a person who is clear-headed, that’s what an older man is to be, he’s to be dignified, and I wrote down this is not the same as stuffy or gloomy, but it’s a serious person.

You know, you live life with eternity’s values in view, as we sing. You know it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun but you know life just isn’t fun. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy things, we did Ecclesiastes and we are to enjoy life in a proper sense. There is a certain dignity though that ought to characterize an older man. Everybody does differently. You know we make fun of men, they get to be older men whatever you want to classify older, yet they want to act like they’re still 25. They’re doing things, you know, I’m 65 but I don’t feel a day older than 45. Well, I’m glad you feel that way, but I don’t think anybody 25 is looking at them and saying, boy, they’re just like me. They’re looking at the old geezer. So there’s to be a dignity about that. I’ve got to give some examples but why should I get myself in trouble so we’ll go to the next word.

Sensible, you see these things they seem to overlap and interconnect, and they have to do with our mind, our thinking, that will manifest itself in our behavior, he’s got himself under control. It’s used five times, some say it’s the key word in Titus because it’s used five times here, it’s one of those key words. It’ll be used of the young women and the young men also, so it’s not just the old men, but, you know, the older you get the more you hope you learn, and the more you take in the more you adjust, and we find that at all ages. You know, when our kids are young and they’re cute at two, it’s not cute at 22, and it’s important at 42 and you won’t be around them if it’s at 62. You know, its expectations grow and the development ought to grow, its self-control, sound mind. Here’s what one Greek commentator said, “The senior man must have learned what can only be called the gravity of life, a certain amount of instability or recklessness of unthinkingness may be pardonable in youth, but the years should have been brought their wisdom. One of the most tragic sites in life is a man who has learned nothing from the years,” and you know we see that.

Sometimes watch a program, you know, you watch them live. My brother was a policeman until he retired a few years ago and so I watched the program and they’ll sometimes stop a car for doing something improper. And a young person gets out and they say, I’m sorry I should have known better, and they’ll talk and the police say, well, I’ll give you a warning. They’ll turn around to the camera and say, you know, young people just have to grow. But, you know, you talk to an old man and that doesn’t hold water, you should have learned. And we tell our kids that you’ve gotten too old to do that, you’ve gotten too old to act like that, you shouldn’t be thinking that way. You know you’re not allowed to pout when you don’t get your way, now we put a stop to it early so it doesn’t keep going. The danger is things we don’t deal with early just don’t go away, they tend to get worse, that’s why we correct our children according to Proverbs while they’re young so they don’t get to be old and be crashing around like a two year old.

Sensible, the next three characteristics go around cluttered around gathered around one word. You note they’re to be temperate, dignified, sensible, and then that word “sound,” there’s our word healthy again. These are to be spiritually healthy in their faith, in love, in perseverance, and he’s talking here about their personal faith, because love and perseverance are both personal actions. He’s not particularly talking about the faith like referring to the word of God this is the faith, but it’s faith in the word of God that’s been absorbed into life and there is a stability and a reality and a healthiness. He’s a man who is mature, he has a healthy faith. It’s a faith that has weathered the storms and this is why trials and difficulties are good, they weather us, so to speak.

I sometimes speak of our elders and I told other pastors, I said, “The strength of our church is we have elders who are weathered” they’ve been through things. That’s why usually elders are older men however relative that is in that congregation because you want them who are healthy in their faith and going through trials. You know, we expect our kids, you know, preschool kids, you know they’re going to be where they are, they haven’t developed, but our faith ought to be growing as we come to trust Christ, we’ve nourished it on the Word, our faith has gotten strengthened. We are healthy in faith, we are healthy in love, sound in love, that word healthy goes with all three of these. It’s agape love, it is a love for others that is self-sacrificing. It is not primarily driven by emotions.

I have things that have been given to me by people, they just want to express their love to me and tell me how much they love me, and I still have them sitting in my office and they put little verses on them, and they’re long gone. Well, wait a minute, well, you know things change and blah, blah. Sound in love, healthy in love, now that doesn’t mean people don’t leave for good reasons and that, but this is a person who cares for other people and can look beyond their own feelings. You know how it is, you have people that are touchy and you just have to be careful what you say, because you’re not sure what will upset them or set them off and sometimes things happened over years of ministry. You know, I say do you know what happened with so and so? Oh, they got upset. What about? I don’t know.

You know, I don’t want to be a touchy person. You know we say wearing your feelings on your sleeve, being thin skinned. And I’m getting old, I’ve noticed my skin has gotten thinner, you know, I bump something, the skin breaks. But I don’t want to be thin skinned in my thinking, I don’t want to be touchy. Forget it. I’ve had people come and say, you know I’m sorry I did what I did or I said what I said or I wrote that note, I shouldn’t have done it. And I say that’s fine I appreciate that, but you know I don’t hold that against you and, you know, let it go. This is what the Bible reminds us, doesn’t it? Going to tell slaves when you’re mistreated remember you mistreated others. Remember it, I didn’t always function perfectly, I’ve said things I shouldn’t say, I’ve said them in the wrong context. That doesn’t excuse it, but it ought to make me more understanding of other people, so healthy in love, I love them.

It’s like your kids, you love them, my kids, my grandkids, my great grandkids, they’re great and I love it and I watch what they do. And I see what my dad would do, I’d tell my dad, don’t do that dad, you’re going to spoil them, and he’d say, I’m their grandfather, not their father. But dad, you never let me do that. He’d just smile. Now it’s all right, I have to be careful, now I’ve got great grandkids. I don’t want to encourage them doing the wrong thing, but Marilyn and I go away and say they are so cute, even when they’re doing the wrong thing, they’re cute. I just love it, but if they were my immediate kids, and the parents do it, they have to correct it. All right, we love our family, that’s what we are, we’re a family, we overlook our imperfections, I didn’t even notice it, things that would get on my nerves about other people don’t get on my nerves. Get the point?

Sound and perseverance, (we’re stopping here) perseverance, endurance, sometimes that’s the word because it’s a word… it’s two words, hupo and meno. Hupo means to be under, meno means to live, so it comes to mean steadfastness, perseverance. They’ve learned to live under pressure, they’ve learned to live with pressure, it doesn’t necessarily go away quickly, they can endure through it. You want healthy endurance and this connection appears a number of times. You need men who are godly and mature and we’ve been blessed, not just elders but in our congregation. There are people, part of the congregation, they were here when I came, they’re still here, they are weathered, they’ve been through a lot. They’ve demonstrated a lot of love, healthy love, healthy faith, healthy endurance, so we have people that have been here many years that have come over the years. They stay with it, the pressures, the trials, all serve to strengthen our faith, have learned to trust the Lord in greater ways. I have learned to love God’s people because, you know, things that got on my nerves I’ve learned to appreciate in them, love about them that I couldn’t of otherwise, and I’m glad I stuck it out. Then that helps me to know I want to stick it out in this case because I’m glad I stuck it out and stuck with you before. You know, you see it grow, so you want older men who are examples of that. We sing that song, will those who come behind us find us faithful, that’s summarizing what we’re saying. So here we’re dealing with older men, then we’re going to deal with the older women, then we’re going to deal with the young men, then we’re going to deal with slaves because they had special pressures put on them.

All of this comes together, remember, under what we ended with, that you don’t want to profess godliness and deny it in our deeds. They say, oh, yes, I’ve trusted Christ, yeah, I believe the truth of the gospel. Well, as an older man these qualities should be characteristic of me otherwise my profession is empty. Now I’m not saved by my works but when God changes a heart He changes the whole life and the heart, out of the heart comes the issues of life. We are to guard it with diligence. Just a word of warning, you could grow up in this church, you could have godly parents, you could attend Sunday School, you could go to youth activities, you could be part of the college group, and none of that will save you, none of that will cleanse your heart, none of that will make you new.

It can just make you frustrated as you try to be what everybody thinks you should be, and be happy like everybody thinks you should be happy, and do what everybody thinks you should do, but none of that will change your heart. You have to come to realize I am not what God requires me to be, I am a defiled sinner, I may look good but on the inside, I’m not. I need to settle this with the Lord, I need to recognize I am a sinner like God says I am, place my faith in Christ and when I do that He cleanses my heart, He makes me new and He changes my desires, He changes me from the inside out and that’s what He is encouraging us as a church to recognize and not lose sight of.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of Your word. Lord, no matter how many times we turn to the Word it refreshes us, it strengthens us, it reminds us and, Lord, it points us to things that sometimes we haven’t yet learned, so pray that Your truths will grip each of our hearts. You know us as we are, You see us as we are on the inside. We desire to grow to be more and more like You. May the Spirit use Your word to that end this day. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.









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