WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.759 I remember many years ago when we were working 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:06.900 through the process of writing down what would 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:10.660 eventually become our church covenant. The document 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:13.900 that guides our lives together is how we are 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:17.320 living out a healthy church life as a local body. 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:20.239 And we knew as we started that process, we knew 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.640 that it had to start with the subject of unity. 00:00:25.560 --> 00:00:27.579 That was number one. That was on the forefront 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:30.100 of our minds. And we sought to find out, well, 00:00:30.140 --> 00:00:32.000 what are the motivations of the heart and what 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.299 are the practical actions that would be required 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:38.079 of members here at Oak Hill if we were going 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:41.820 to attain to that kind of healthy church? And 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:43.640 for those of you who are here this morning and 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:46.380 you are already covenant members, you know exactly 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.460 how that wording played out because we read it 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:51.460 together every single month, right, at our member 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.899 meetings. It is the first of 10 principles that 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:58.159 guide how we live life together. And as we always 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.000 say, it's number one on the list of 10 because 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:03.140 if we don't get that one right, we'll never get 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:06.159 to the other nine. And that's an important thing. 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:08.019 So let me put it on the screen just so that we 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:10.340 can be reminded of what it says. This is number 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:14.019 one in our covenant. We will work and pray for 00:01:14.019 --> 00:01:18.400 unity of the spirit within the body. Always, 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:22.290 always practicing forgiveness. pursuing reconciliation, 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:26.590 and rejecting harmful gossip. That is number 00:01:26.590 --> 00:01:28.549 one. If we don't have that one right, we're not 00:01:28.549 --> 00:01:30.269 going to be able to live out the other nine. 00:01:31.250 --> 00:01:33.090 And it's interesting, when you look at church 00:01:33.090 --> 00:01:36.069 history, a couple things become very, very clear. 00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:38.609 Number one, the church that Jesus established 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:42.549 has always struggled with false ideas and false 00:01:42.549 --> 00:01:45.310 teachers infiltrating the church. But number 00:01:45.310 --> 00:01:47.849 two, the church has always struggled to maintain 00:01:47.849 --> 00:01:51.870 unity. Throughout 2 ,000 years, it doesn't matter 00:01:51.870 --> 00:01:54.469 what era of church history you're looking at, 00:01:54.549 --> 00:01:58.329 from the apostolic era in the pages of Scripture 00:01:58.329 --> 00:02:01.469 through every single succeeding age of the church, 00:02:01.750 --> 00:02:06.230 disunity. And sometimes in very nasty ways, even 00:02:06.230 --> 00:02:09.169 among bishops at the highest echelons of church 00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:13.379 leadership, we've struggled with unity. Now, 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:15.259 some of those battles, some of that disunity 00:02:15.259 --> 00:02:17.539 was actually required in church history because 00:02:17.539 --> 00:02:20.340 essential Christian doctrines were at stake and 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:23.300 they needed to be fought for and clarified and 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:26.400 established. But today, the far more common kind 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:28.819 of disunity that you find among Christians is 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:33.620 fueled by an endless list of conflicts that divide 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:37.159 the body, that tear relationships apart, and 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.500 sometimes even bring down entire local churches. 00:02:41.610 --> 00:02:43.370 Because we know God's sovereignty, it might raise 00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:45.090 a question in your mind. Why does this happen? 00:02:45.229 --> 00:02:49.509 Why is there so much disunity all the time? And 00:02:49.509 --> 00:02:54.050 you know what the answer is? People. People, 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:56.610 our nature. Even though we've been redeemed by 00:02:56.610 --> 00:02:58.569 the blood of Christ, even though we've been born 00:02:58.569 --> 00:03:01.270 again to a new nature, during the years on the 00:03:01.270 --> 00:03:04.069 earth, we still wrestle with the flesh down here. 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:06.669 And when we wrestle with the flesh and we're 00:03:06.669 --> 00:03:08.909 not getting spiritual victory over those things, 00:03:09.050 --> 00:03:12.689 sometimes we see pride rise up in us, me included. 00:03:13.189 --> 00:03:17.669 Pride, greed, envy, bitterness, unforgiveness, 00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:20.289 these things on occasion will raise their ugly 00:03:20.289 --> 00:03:22.990 heads in our lives. And when they do, we find 00:03:22.990 --> 00:03:25.590 ourselves failing to do what the scripture calls 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:28.610 us to do as brothers and sisters, to humbly, 00:03:28.629 --> 00:03:32.189 gently, and patiently bear with one another in 00:03:32.189 --> 00:03:35.210 love. That's one of the hardest things that we're 00:03:35.210 --> 00:03:38.169 called to do, and to be eager to maintain the 00:03:38.169 --> 00:03:42.349 unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And 00:03:42.349 --> 00:03:44.250 as a church leader, I'm sometimes frustrated 00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:46.750 with myself, and this whole thing frustrates 00:03:46.750 --> 00:03:49.750 me because I want to see this church become this 00:03:49.750 --> 00:03:52.490 healthy community that grows and matures together, 00:03:52.590 --> 00:03:56.370 bearing the fruits of the Spirit. But as I was 00:03:56.370 --> 00:03:59.590 preparing for this message this week, I was reminded 00:03:59.590 --> 00:04:02.030 that, again, if you look at the history and you 00:04:02.030 --> 00:04:04.349 see that the churches always struggle with this, 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:07.610 perhaps we're approaching it wrongly. Perhaps 00:04:07.610 --> 00:04:10.409 we have some wrong presuppositions about unity. 00:04:11.310 --> 00:04:14.009 Now, we know God wants us to be united. That's 00:04:14.009 --> 00:04:17.089 very clear in Scripture. But consider this. Nowhere 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:19.709 in Scripture are we told that finding unity is 00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:23.199 going to be easy. I wish that promise were there. 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.060 Oh, because the Spirit will be among you. Everybody's 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.019 going to get along. And we're going to have no 00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:32.360 conflict. Would that not be nice? In fact, even 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.060 among the New Testament churches that Paul wrote 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:39.279 letters to. Think about this. Within a generation 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:42.620 of the resurrection of Christ. With apostolic 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:44.480 oversight, what do we find in these churches? 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.259 Quarreling, division, rivalries, dissensions, 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.620 divisions, bitterness, anger, malice, and more. 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.379 So 2 ,000 years later, why would we assume that 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:58.540 it's suddenly going to become anything but difficult? 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:02.220 And maybe, just maybe, God is using that difficulty 00:05:02.220 --> 00:05:05.439 to grow us. for our good, right? To transform 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.279 us into the likeness of Christ. Because the truth 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:10.600 is, and I can't find the source of this quote, 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.899 but it's a great quote. Sanctifying gifts tend 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:18.139 to arrive in painful packages. I'll say it again. 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:22.420 Sanctifying gifts tend to arrive in painful packages. 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:25.600 And having to die to ourselves, having to put 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.720 people other than ourselves first, bearing with 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.759 one another can sometimes be painful. That's 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.339 why unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:37.139 is difficult. But hear me now, it's a worthy 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:40.040 battle. And it's something we have to keep fighting, 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.980 all of us, to have this goal that we will work 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:45.399 and pray for unity of the spirit within the body. 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.540 That is our subject for this morning. So grab 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:52.199 your Bibles. We're going to Titus chapter three. 00:05:57.189 --> 00:05:59.269 Now, we've been here for a while, right? So let 00:05:59.269 --> 00:06:01.529 me say publicly, I'm sorry for the on again, 00:06:01.589 --> 00:06:04.670 off again here in Titus 3. The last month or 00:06:04.670 --> 00:06:08.209 so has been pretty chaotic in our lives. And 00:06:08.209 --> 00:06:10.689 so I was here, then I was gone, and I was here 00:06:10.689 --> 00:06:12.610 and gone. And so it feels like we've been in 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:15.750 Titus 3 forever. So I apologize that. I thank 00:06:15.750 --> 00:06:18.370 you for your grace as well. We're going to finish 00:06:18.370 --> 00:06:21.050 Titus next week. And then the following Sunday, 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:23.550 we hope, Lord willing, to dive into the book 00:06:23.550 --> 00:06:26.620 of Esther. I want to back up to verse 1 because 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.300 I feel like we need to read through this again 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:30.740 because the context here is so important. Remember, 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.759 Paul is writing to this young protege of his, 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.579 Titus, and he's giving him instructions on how 00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:39.959 he should exhort the church in the land of Crete, 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:42.019 right? That island in the Mediterranean, Crete. 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:45.300 So he says, Titus, remind them, verse 1, to be 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:48.500 subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:51.819 to be ready for every good deed, to malign no 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:55.920 one. To be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.360 for all men. Now the point of that, and we saw 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.680 this in the previous chapter, was this idea of 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:04.339 having a good testimony among unbelievers to 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:07.100 adorn the gospel with their lives so that people 00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:10.300 might be drawn to the gospel. Now catch this 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:12.579 now, verse three, he says, here's what you were 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:15.680 saved out of, believers, and this applies to 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:17.519 us today. Here's what you were saved out, verse 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:21.740 three, for we also once were foolish ourselves. 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:26.660 disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:29.339 and pleasures, spending our life in malice and 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:33.540 envy, hateful and hating one another. And then 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:36.579 we have this beautiful section, verses four through 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.480 seven. We spent two Sundays here and it really 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:41.339 requires even more because the language here 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:44.160 is so beautiful. Verse four, but when the kindness 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.139 of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:51.459 he saved us. So this is what we once were, all 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:55.480 of those awful things, but when the kindness 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:58.980 of God and his love for us appeared, he saved 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:01.379 us. How did he save us? Not on the basis of deeds, 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.639 which we have done in righteousness, but according 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:11.759 to what? His mercy. Everybody see it? By the 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.019 washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:17.740 Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly. Through 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:20.240 Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:23.800 by his grace, not by works, but by his grace, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.920 we would be made heirs according to the hope 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:31.319 of eternal life. Wow. And now today's passage, 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:34.220 verses 8 through 11. This is a trustworthy statement, 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:36.960 Paul says. And concerning these things, I want 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:39.720 you to speak confidently so that those who have 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.620 believed God will be careful to engage in good 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:44.379 deeds. Now, that's the second time he's mentioned 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:47.559 good deeds. Take note of that. These things are 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:50.200 good and profitable for men, but avoid foolish 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:53.700 controversies and genealogies and strife and 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:56.320 disputes about the law for they're unprofitable 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:00.360 and worthless. Reject a factious man after a 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.039 first and second warning, knowing that such a 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.120 man is perverted and is sinning, being self -condemned. 00:09:08.340 --> 00:09:10.320 Okay, lots to work through there. Let's go back 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:12.240 up to verse eight where Paul begins this way. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:15.159 This is a trustworthy statement, he says. Now, 00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:18.309 why? Why would he start here and say that? Well, 00:09:18.309 --> 00:09:22.149 this is a phrase that Paul uses five times in 00:09:22.149 --> 00:09:25.590 the pastoral letters. Four times he uses this 00:09:25.590 --> 00:09:28.529 phrase in writing to Timothy and this one written 00:09:28.529 --> 00:09:32.250 to Titus. Pistos halagos in the Greek. What he's 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:35.570 doing here is drawing special attention to something 00:09:35.570 --> 00:09:38.769 he wants these two younger proteges of his to 00:09:38.769 --> 00:09:41.090 remember. It's like he's shining a flashlight 00:09:41.090 --> 00:09:43.649 on it and saying, hey guys, look carefully at 00:09:43.649 --> 00:09:46.269 this. This is something you have to remember. 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:50.870 This is a core truth. And to Titus, Paul's referring 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:53.090 back to what he just wrote in verses four through 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.750 seven. So when he says this is trustworthy, he's 00:09:55.750 --> 00:09:59.210 going back to verses four through seven. So these 00:09:59.210 --> 00:10:01.649 are three things here that Titus should remember 00:10:01.649 --> 00:10:04.649 carefully as he ministers on the island of Crete. 00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:08.090 First of all, remember how utterly sinful we 00:10:08.090 --> 00:10:11.570 all once were. We were so foolish. We were so 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:15.879 disobedient. We were enemies of God. until his 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:19.379 kindness appeared to us. That's number one. Second, 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.419 remember how he saved us, not on the basis of 00:10:22.419 --> 00:10:25.039 our works, but because of his mercy. And third, 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:28.259 how the Holy Spirit came to us at conversion 00:10:28.259 --> 00:10:32.080 and cleansed us, washed away our sins, brought 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.559 us to life through the regeneration of our hearts 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.200 so that now being justified by grace, we get 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:40.919 to be adopted as sons and daughters of God for 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:44.110 all of eternity. Now, I don't know about you, 00:10:44.169 --> 00:10:46.669 but when I review those three things, I'd say 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:49.009 that's pretty important to remember. In fact, 00:10:49.009 --> 00:10:51.610 my friends, that is the gospel in a nutshell. 00:10:51.730 --> 00:10:54.029 If you ever wanted, like, I'm not exactly sure 00:10:54.029 --> 00:10:57.289 what the gospel is, turn to Titus 3, look at 00:10:57.289 --> 00:10:59.590 verses 4 through 7, and you'll have your answer. 00:10:59.710 --> 00:11:02.289 That is the gospel in a nutshell. So Paul says, 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:04.889 Titus, pay attention. What I've just told you 00:11:04.889 --> 00:11:07.610 is a trustworthy statement. You've got to know 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:10.889 this. And then he goes on, and concerning these 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:13.980 things, I want you to speak confidently about 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:17.919 them. So again, this is this grizzled old apostle 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:20.620 talking to this young pastor and saying, you 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:24.279 gotta focus on this. Now the single Greek word 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.019 that Paul uses here for speak confidently comes 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:30.440 from a root, a word that basically means to affirm 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:34.460 something strongly. It's a very unusual word. 00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:38.200 Paul only uses it one other time. to 1 Timothy, 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:41.120 to Timothy, right? And there it's translated 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.320 to make confident assertions. So what Paul is 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.500 saying here to Titus is this. Titus, I want you 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:51.059 to take that condensed gospel message that I 00:11:51.059 --> 00:11:53.960 just wrote to you, and I want you to insist on 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:56.740 affirming these things over and over and over 00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:59.899 again, and I want you to teach them with absolute 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:04.240 confidence. Make it strong. And I say over and 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:05.940 over and over again because the verb is written 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:08.139 in the present tense, which means this should 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:11.779 be an ongoing thing, a daily habit to preach 00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:15.220 these truths. Keep on speaking. Keep on affirming 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:20.200 this core message. Listen, friends, you and I, 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:23.039 we should never get tired of hearing it. I know 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:24.799 sometimes I hear this complaint. People are like, 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:28.220 really, the gospel again? Listen, we should never. 00:12:28.830 --> 00:12:31.809 get tired of remembering and recalling the effects 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:34.370 of the gospel in our lives. We should never stop 00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:37.009 remembering who we once were. Because you've 00:12:37.009 --> 00:12:38.470 got to know the bad, right? How many times have 00:12:38.470 --> 00:12:40.509 I said this? If you don't remember the bad news, 00:12:40.710 --> 00:12:42.730 then it's hard to understand what Christ has 00:12:42.730 --> 00:12:45.509 done for you. So we start there, what we once 00:12:45.509 --> 00:12:47.870 were, then what Christ has done for us on our 00:12:47.870 --> 00:12:51.370 behalf, bringing us to life, cleansing us from 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:55.720 sin, saving us, justifying us, and then... That's 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:58.379 part one and part two, remembering who you now 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:01.700 are in Christ. Your identity as a son or daughter 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:04.220 of God and saying, that's what I now need to 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:07.360 become. God says I'm that positionally, now practically, 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:10.879 that's what I need to live out. So all three 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.039 of those things are so important. So when we 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:14.799 come together here on Sundays, you guys, and 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:17.840 we read scripture together, and when we come 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:19.899 to the throne of grace as we just did, Grant 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:22.460 led us to the throne of grace for corporate prayer. 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:25.740 When we lift our voices together and sing praises, 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:27.919 when we listen to God's word being taught from 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.460 this pulpit, in all of those moments, what we're 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:34.460 doing is rehearsing the gospel and remembering, 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:37.720 preaching to ourselves, reminding ourselves of 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:39.940 these core truths, and this is exactly what Paul 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:43.559 wants Titus to keep doing. Does that make sense? 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:49.360 Yeah? Now, here's the interesting part to this. 00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:53.460 Not only that, because... It's possible for us 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:56.419 to remember the gospel and it all stays up here. 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:00.480 And it doesn't get down to our hands. Because 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.500 look, he has a purpose in this. Yes, the believer 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:05.580 should constantly meditate on the goodness of 00:14:05.580 --> 00:14:08.539 the gospel, but those truths are designed to 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:12.559 bring about a particular result in us. Notice 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.379 the conjunction in the middle of verse eight. 00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:19.519 It says, so that. When you see a so that in scripture, 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.080 what does it mean? Here's a purpose statement. 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:25.139 Here's a reason for what I just said coming your 00:14:25.139 --> 00:14:29.200 way. Look at the reason. Titus, keep affirming 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:32.019 the basics of the gospel. Speak confidently about 00:14:32.019 --> 00:14:36.600 them so that those who believe in God will be 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:42.700 careful to do what? Engage in good deeds. So 00:14:42.700 --> 00:14:45.980 the gospel truth that we remember up here gets 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:48.519 down to the hands level, right? Where it's being 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:52.080 lived out through good deeds. And man, how often 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.399 it's sad. I see Christians, especially online 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:59.139 these days, who are so zealous for the intellectual 00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:02.500 side of the faith. They will scrap and claw for 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:05.779 every nuance of right doctrine. And you guys 00:15:05.779 --> 00:15:08.820 know I love doctrine. It's a good thing as long 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:12.519 as it translates into a life that's well -lived 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:14.740 for the glory of God and for the good of others. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.889 Right? It can't just stay up here. It can't just 00:15:18.889 --> 00:15:21.190 be something I fight over online. It's got to 00:15:21.190 --> 00:15:23.990 get down to the practical street level. If it 00:15:23.990 --> 00:15:26.389 doesn't, if all of our doctrinal understanding 00:15:26.389 --> 00:15:28.950 stays up in our head and doesn't get down there, 00:15:29.129 --> 00:15:32.970 what does 1 Corinthians 13 say we are? Just noisy 00:15:32.970 --> 00:15:38.250 gongs and clashing, clanging cymbals. See, when 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.110 you hear the gospel proclaimed over and over 00:15:40.110 --> 00:15:42.950 again and you take it to heart and you apply 00:15:42.950 --> 00:15:45.809 it to yourself and you let it fill you with awe 00:15:45.809 --> 00:15:48.029 for what Christ has done for you, here's what 00:15:48.029 --> 00:15:50.309 you're going to find. You don't have to even 00:15:50.309 --> 00:15:53.269 have people tell you to serve others. You want 00:15:53.269 --> 00:15:56.909 to serve others. Nobody has to guilt you into 00:15:56.909 --> 00:15:59.809 good deeds. You want to do good deeds. It'll 00:15:59.809 --> 00:16:02.250 flow right out of your grateful heart. In fact, 00:16:02.269 --> 00:16:04.409 that's what Paul says here, that they'll be careful. 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:07.980 To engage in good deeds. That's the Greek verb 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:11.019 frontizo, and it means to be aware of or to be 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:13.399 thoughtful about something. Good deeds should 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:15.840 always be on the forefront of our thinking because 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.220 the gospel has saturated our hearts. And so we're 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:22.080 constantly aware of it. You're constantly aware 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.860 of other people around you thinking, well, who 00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:27.840 can I bless? And how can I serve? In what ways 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.700 can I jump in there and be an encouragement to 00:16:29.700 --> 00:16:32.019 somebody else? Guys, that should flow out of 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:34.799 us. because of what we read in verses four through 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:38.519 seven. And if that's not true of you, if good 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:40.379 deeds are not at the forefront of your thinking, 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:43.700 then it's a good thing to do a heart check, to 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:46.179 ask yourself, is there something I'm not understanding 00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:49.720 about the gospel? If it's not just flowing out 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:53.100 of you, is there a disconnect? Have I underestimated, 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:58.500 for example, my own sin? Have I not fully grasped? 00:16:59.459 --> 00:17:02.600 The extent of the sacrifice that Christ has made 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:05.119 for me. Do I not understand my new identity in 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:08.759 Christ? These are good questions to ask, to check 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:11.220 your heart. If you profess to be saved, if you 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:13.200 know Jesus, you have an abiding relationship 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.779 with him, but you're not zealous for good deeds, 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.640 you're not actively serving others, you're not 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.039 giving of yourself sacrificially, you're not 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.680 engaged in body life, you're not prioritizing 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:26.119 the life of the church, guess what? There is 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.509 a disconnect somewhere. And you're missing out 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:34.049 on the purpose for which God has saved you. So 00:17:34.049 --> 00:17:37.609 it's a good thing. Okay. So that's what we should 00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:40.049 be doing. Now, as Paul comes to verse 9, he gives 00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:43.069 us something that we need to avoid. Oh, there 00:17:43.069 --> 00:17:46.710 it is. Let's talk about avoid. Something to avoid. 00:17:46.849 --> 00:17:51.730 Verse 9. But avoid foolish controversies and 00:17:51.730 --> 00:17:54.069 genealogies and strife and disputes about the 00:17:54.069 --> 00:17:57.309 law. Why? For they are unprofitable and worthless. 00:17:58.539 --> 00:18:00.299 Now, there's an important distinction we need 00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:02.140 to make as we interpret this verse. Look at the 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:05.420 word controversies. That's the NAS. It may say 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:09.299 debates in your translation. Listen, at certain 00:18:09.299 --> 00:18:12.200 times and in certain circumstances, there is 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.740 a need for Christians, especially leaders like 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:18.400 Titus, to wade into controversies and debates. 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:21.819 in order to defend the faith or to refute false 00:18:21.819 --> 00:18:24.900 ideas. So don't misunderstand here. There is 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:27.299 an appropriate time and place to engage in arguments. 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:29.960 In fact, do we not see Jesus doing this at times? 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.079 Yeah, he's confronting the religious leaders 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.940 of Israel. He's engaging and actually rebuking 00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:38.799 them. We see Paul doing this, right? He engages 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.839 Romans. He engages his fellow Jews, even Greek 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.940 philosophers. So the Bible does devote a great 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:47.319 deal of space to both, on one hand, apologetics. 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:50.670 defending the faith and polemics, refuting false 00:18:50.670 --> 00:18:54.210 ideas. Because believers need to know, first 00:18:54.210 --> 00:18:56.829 of all, what's true and correct, but also what's 00:18:56.829 --> 00:18:58.869 wrong and damnable. We need to know those things. 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:03.190 So there is value in doing this, right? So controversies 00:19:03.190 --> 00:19:06.990 and debates aren't inherently bad, but, right, 00:19:07.029 --> 00:19:09.950 here's the but, but it's incredibly important 00:19:09.950 --> 00:19:13.750 that we are able to discern what's worth fighting 00:19:13.750 --> 00:19:17.339 for and what's not. This is one of the most important 00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:20.019 things in your walk with Christ. If you can hone 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:22.599 this in, this is so valuable. What should I fight 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:25.720 for and what should I let go of? What are the 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.140 essentials of the faith that we must battle over? 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:31.140 What are the non -essentials that we can, yes, 00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:33.460 hold strong convictions. I'm a big fan of having 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:35.859 strong convictions. But when somebody disagrees, 00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:38.240 a brother or sister disagrees, we can sort of 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.460 let that go. We can agree to disagree with a 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:44.049 fellow Christian who thinks otherwise. without 00:19:44.049 --> 00:19:47.630 creating conflict and division. And then secondarily, 00:19:47.690 --> 00:19:49.970 it's incredibly important that when we choose 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:53.190 to debate or enter into a controversy, that we 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:55.869 engage in those arguments in a way that is, one, 00:19:55.990 --> 00:19:59.720 charitable to our opponent. And this is where, 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:02.519 man, do we struggle with this online. Charitable 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.140 to our opponent, that means we don't argue in 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:08.240 bad faith with them. We don't use logical fallacies. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.019 We don't attack them personally. We don't straw 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:13.440 man their positions just to win the argument 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:17.779 because that dishonors God when we do that. And 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:19.859 number two, that we make sure that any debate 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:23.019 that we get into is productive. That we're not 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:26.779 just arguing in circles trying to win the debate. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.200 wasting our time and energy on things that we 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:34.099 should just walk away from. So that's important. 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:36.640 And that's, by the way, that's what Paul's highlighting 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.880 here in verse 9. He's not denying that debates 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.660 need to happen at times. He's talking about foolish 00:20:41.660 --> 00:20:44.920 debates, right? He's talking about foolish arguments. 00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:47.400 And the Greek word there for foolish is moros. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:51.000 And guess what word in the English comes out 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:58.460 of that? Moron. Quit being a moron. Don't get 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:02.200 involved in moronic controversies. Arguments 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:05.019 over essential doctrines that are non -essential 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:08.019 doctrines that are speculative, that are unprofitable, 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:11.799 Paul says that are ultimately worthless. Don't 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:13.440 get involved in those things. And then he adds 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.220 two other important words here in verse nine 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:18.240 that point to the danger in this. He calls them 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.099 strife and disputes. Your translation may say 00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:24.500 dissensions and quarrels. So not only are these 00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:26.960 debates a waste of time, listen now, they can 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.799 be a threat to the body. This is where sometimes 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.640 we have a disconnect. We're like, well, you know, 00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:36.359 I enjoy arguing about these things. But if it 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:38.900 becomes a threat to the body, it threatens to 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:44.519 divide, warning sign, danger sign. Issues have 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.259 become so divisive that they tear at the fabric 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:51.200 of relationships. They destroy unity. And Paul 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:53.299 already talked back in chapter one of this letter 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:56.440 about men who did exactly that. Remember back 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.640 in chapter one, he talked about certain men in 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:02.799 Crete who were engaging in all these speculative 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.079 arguments. Here's what he said about them. He 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:09.960 called them rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers. 00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:13.369 Men who turn away from the truth, who profess 00:22:13.369 --> 00:22:15.670 to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. 00:22:15.809 --> 00:22:19.109 And they upset entire families with their falsehoods. 00:22:19.130 --> 00:22:22.109 They are detestable, disobedient, and worthless, 00:22:22.230 --> 00:22:24.609 Paul says. And because of that, he says, Titus, 00:22:24.609 --> 00:22:28.490 you need to go out there and silence them. Because, 00:22:28.529 --> 00:22:30.990 listen, the topic they're talking about may be 00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:33.829 worth discussing, but the way they're doing it, 00:22:33.869 --> 00:22:37.250 the way they're coming at it, is divisive. And 00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:40.259 they must be silenced. He also described these 00:22:40.259 --> 00:22:43.299 men as being of the circumcision, which means 00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:45.779 they were his fellow countrymen. They were probably 00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:48.640 Hellenistic Jews that were living in Greek lands, 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:51.420 and that would explain the description. In chapter 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:53.640 1, it says that they were pushing Jewish myths. 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:57.619 Here in chapter 3, genealogies and disputes about 00:22:57.619 --> 00:23:01.180 the law. And by the way, Paul talks to Timothy 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:04.500 about this as well in detail. So both Timothy 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:07.220 and Titus, he gives them these warnings. This 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:09.000 must have been happening all over the ancient 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.940 world. To Timothy, he describes them as myths, 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:16.240 endless genealogies, speculation, fruitless discussion, 00:23:16.660 --> 00:23:20.140 wrangling over words, and worldly and empty chatter. 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:23.519 Now look at the last phrase. That will lead to 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.890 further ungodliness and spread. Like gangrene. 00:23:30.829 --> 00:23:32.809 Now I think about the world we live in today, 00:23:32.869 --> 00:23:35.470 this online world where everybody feels like 00:23:35.470 --> 00:23:38.190 they should have an opinion and voice it and 00:23:38.190 --> 00:23:41.009 fight over every little thing. How prophetic 00:23:41.009 --> 00:23:45.609 is that? Because when it spreads and we get into 00:23:45.609 --> 00:23:47.450 these things and we divide and it spreads like 00:23:47.450 --> 00:23:50.529 gangrene, it leads to further ungodliness. That 00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:53.329 is the key to understanding why Paul is so concerned 00:23:53.329 --> 00:23:56.829 about this. Because it leads to further ungodliness. 00:23:59.329 --> 00:24:02.269 So what is Paul now advising us to do about this? 00:24:02.970 --> 00:24:06.210 First word in verse nine is what? Avoid these 00:24:06.210 --> 00:24:09.910 things. He says avoid them. Everybody get that? 00:24:10.410 --> 00:24:12.930 Circle it, underline it, highlight it. Avoid 00:24:12.930 --> 00:24:17.609 these types of things. He uses a very rare Greek 00:24:17.609 --> 00:24:23.130 word here that describes turning around. Turn 00:24:23.130 --> 00:24:27.470 around. Push away from the table and walk away 00:24:27.470 --> 00:24:30.430 from these things. They are not worth your time. 00:24:30.690 --> 00:24:33.509 In fact, they're worse. They're a danger and 00:24:33.509 --> 00:24:36.069 a threat to the body of Christ. So push away 00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:38.769 from the table and don't get involved in moronic 00:24:38.769 --> 00:24:44.109 debates. And listen, I can speak for myself. 00:24:44.190 --> 00:24:46.910 That sometimes takes discipline. I mean, I see 00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:49.849 some things online and I just, I go, oh, I so 00:24:49.849 --> 00:24:52.849 badly want to jump in on that. Like that is such 00:24:52.849 --> 00:24:55.910 a dumb thing to type, but people do it, right? 00:24:55.990 --> 00:24:57.990 And you just, your fingers start doing this. 00:24:58.009 --> 00:25:02.650 Like I'm, no, and it's like, I'm not going there. 00:25:03.049 --> 00:25:05.190 I'm gonna let the, I'll pray for that person 00:25:05.190 --> 00:25:07.289 and let the Lord deal with it. I'm not gonna 00:25:07.289 --> 00:25:10.029 get sucked into a moronic debate that isn't gonna 00:25:10.029 --> 00:25:13.710 go anywhere. Raise your hand if you've won a 00:25:13.710 --> 00:25:17.230 debate on Facebook. Yeah, and you think it really 00:25:17.230 --> 00:25:23.349 made a difference. Or anywhere else. Again, it 00:25:23.349 --> 00:25:25.470 requires that we grow in our discernment over 00:25:25.470 --> 00:25:28.730 what we should fight over and what we should 00:25:28.730 --> 00:25:31.710 just let go of. By the way, what are some of 00:25:31.710 --> 00:25:34.269 the foolish arguments that we see? I started 00:25:34.269 --> 00:25:36.549 making a list last night of all the things that 00:25:36.549 --> 00:25:39.369 sometimes well -meaning Christians, sometimes 00:25:39.369 --> 00:25:42.569 not so well -meaning Christians will put out 00:25:42.569 --> 00:25:45.730 there into the ether and want to fight over. 00:25:46.630 --> 00:25:51.829 So many of them right now are political. Political 00:25:51.829 --> 00:25:55.009 issues, you see it on X, you see it on YouTube, 00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:59.089 you see it on Instagram. Political, worldly political 00:25:59.089 --> 00:26:02.589 arguments that Christians just put out there 00:26:02.589 --> 00:26:06.970 like bait. Christians speculating on events of 00:26:06.970 --> 00:26:09.549 the world and then claiming, well, this is the 00:26:09.549 --> 00:26:11.690 end times and this is how it's gonna play out. 00:26:11.890 --> 00:26:14.430 And you look at it and shake your head, right? 00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:20.119 Nasty fights over... Biblical theology, oh, I'm 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:22.940 a covenant theologian. I'm a dispensationalist. 00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:26.099 That stuff has gone bonkers on social media these 00:26:26.099 --> 00:26:28.579 days. We're pre -mill, we're post -mill, we're 00:26:28.579 --> 00:26:31.980 a -mill, we're pre -trib, we're post -trib, and 00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:34.160 the fights go on and on, right? Arguments over 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.240 liturgical elements, arguments over musical styles 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.920 in church, the list is endless of things that 00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:44.740 we will fight over. By the way, let me say this 00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:48.049 clearly. Those things aren't necessarily bad 00:26:48.049 --> 00:26:50.170 things to discuss. In fact, we should be able 00:26:50.170 --> 00:26:52.230 to discuss those things. We should be forming 00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:55.230 opinions about them. The question is, if you 00:26:55.230 --> 00:26:57.930 engage in those arguments, is it profitable or 00:26:57.930 --> 00:27:01.250 worthless? That's what Paul's talking about here. 00:27:03.250 --> 00:27:05.390 Those kinds of arguments, by the way, can be 00:27:05.390 --> 00:27:08.930 profitable, but be aware of Paul's standard. 00:27:09.869 --> 00:27:13.309 The standard is that if it's profitable, it's 00:27:13.309 --> 00:27:17.339 gonna end up in what? Godly living. and good 00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:20.339 deeds, right? Because again, it goes from here 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:24.359 down to the hands. If I engage with somebody 00:27:24.359 --> 00:27:26.660 in a theological debate over something and it 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:29.460 leads to greater godliness for both of us and 00:27:29.460 --> 00:27:33.039 living out good deeds, amen and amen. But if 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:36.000 it leads to more ungodliness, if it creates division, 00:27:36.500 --> 00:27:40.140 walk away from it. That's Paul's standard. Make 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:44.000 sense? And here's the thing. It's far easier 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.259 to sit around and debate theology than it is 00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:51.160 to love Christ by obeying his commands. Do you 00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:53.000 know that? It's way easier to just type something 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:57.140 than it is to obey Christ. It's far easier to 00:27:57.140 --> 00:28:00.140 speculate about the end times than it is to go 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:02.000 volunteer to serve your brothers and sisters 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.940 in the local church. And it's easier to make 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:07.619 political arguments online than it is to love 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:10.859 your wife as Christ loved the church. Get my 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:14.569 point? Sometimes we use theological wrangling 00:28:14.569 --> 00:28:18.029 as a cover for disobedience or apathy towards 00:28:18.029 --> 00:28:21.970 godly things. And properly understood, if we 00:28:21.970 --> 00:28:24.930 pursue sound doctrine and we grow in our understanding 00:28:24.930 --> 00:28:27.670 of the word, it's gonna lead to humility and 00:28:27.670 --> 00:28:31.089 holiness and greater love for others, not division. 00:28:32.869 --> 00:28:36.910 True? So we wanna be aware of philosophizing 00:28:36.910 --> 00:28:41.329 God's word, philosophizing God's truth. rather 00:28:41.329 --> 00:28:43.690 than obeying it and seeking to grow in spiritual 00:28:43.690 --> 00:28:51.670 fruit. Amen? Yeah? Okay. You'd be worried there. 00:28:52.509 --> 00:28:55.829 Okay. Let's turn our attention then to the man 00:28:55.829 --> 00:28:58.369 that Paul describes here in verse 10. He calls 00:28:58.369 --> 00:29:01.890 him a factious man. Now, we'll define that in 00:29:01.890 --> 00:29:04.269 just a second biblically, but my guess is you 00:29:04.269 --> 00:29:06.410 already know what a factious person is because 00:29:06.410 --> 00:29:09.430 almost everybody in this room has a factious 00:29:09.430 --> 00:29:12.589 person in their life. We're sort of familiar 00:29:12.589 --> 00:29:15.930 with this idea. Think about, and maybe that's 00:29:15.930 --> 00:29:17.609 not true of everybody, if you have a particular 00:29:17.609 --> 00:29:22.609 family member, right, who's constantly at the 00:29:22.609 --> 00:29:26.230 center of family conflict, right, and that's, 00:29:26.230 --> 00:29:28.299 it's the, He or she's the most divisive person 00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:32.180 in your family, constantly creating drama. Or 00:29:32.180 --> 00:29:35.539 you have a coworker who's a constant source of 00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:38.000 controversy because he or she runs around the 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:41.740 office gossiping and dividing people. Or maybe 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:43.440 it's a neighbor who lives on your block, the 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:45.619 one that's always posting on the 411 page on 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:48.259 Facebook and complaining about everybody else 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:51.440 but themselves and dividing the neighbors. That 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:54.920 is a factious person. That's a divisive person, 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.900 always at the center of drama, always at the 00:29:56.900 --> 00:29:59.960 center of conflict. Listen, always driving wedges 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:03.579 between people. That's what Paul's talking about 00:30:03.579 --> 00:30:05.700 here. The root of the Greek word that he uses 00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:09.400 is literally, it's an interesting word, it literally 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:13.920 means to choose or prefer in its most general 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:17.440 sense. So what the factious person does, he prefers 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:23.349 himself over everybody else. It's all about his 00:30:23.349 --> 00:30:25.289 thoughts. His thoughts are the most important 00:30:25.289 --> 00:30:28.970 thoughts. And his perspective is what matters 00:30:28.970 --> 00:30:32.230 most. His opinions are what everyone else should 00:30:32.230 --> 00:30:35.930 adopt. He thinks very highly of himself in his 00:30:35.930 --> 00:30:39.549 opinions. And from that prideful place, he seeks 00:30:39.549 --> 00:30:42.869 to win converts. What he wants to do is bring 00:30:42.869 --> 00:30:45.660 together disciples that will... honor him and 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:48.920 admire him and think he's so smart. Folks that 00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:52.299 he can first persuade and build his ego and then 00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:56.480 control them to his advantage. So this is how 00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:59.339 you build factions within any organization, including 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:02.680 the church. You find disciples who will follow 00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:05.900 after you and then you can use them and you can 00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:09.240 foster division in that organization. And the 00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:12.359 strife that results distracts from the energies 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:14.480 of the church. The church is to be focused on 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:17.099 gospel issues, but what happens when somebody 00:31:17.099 --> 00:31:21.380 becomes factious? Now all the energy gets sucked 00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:23.039 out of doing the things we're supposed to be 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:25.440 doing, and everybody has to go over here and 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:29.119 try to fix this problem. It distracts from our 00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:32.240 core mission and from our purpose, and it eats 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:37.140 away at unity. The factious man... is what one 00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:39.539 scholar calls a disturber of the peace of the 00:31:39.539 --> 00:31:44.019 church. And this is a very serious thing. In 00:31:44.019 --> 00:31:47.460 fact, in the vice list of Galatians 5 .20, Paul 00:31:47.460 --> 00:31:50.839 lists strife, disputes, dissensions, and factions 00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:54.000 among the deeds of the flesh, which if they mark 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:56.160 a man's life, he will not see the kingdom of 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.660 God. Make sure you hear that. If that is the 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:02.799 mark of his life, if that is his mission and 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:05.829 his purpose in life to create, factions and conflict, 00:32:05.970 --> 00:32:08.109 he will not see the kingdom of God, Paul says. 00:32:10.089 --> 00:32:13.329 And in my decades of mystery, I've met way too 00:32:13.329 --> 00:32:15.250 many of these people. We've had that problem 00:32:15.250 --> 00:32:17.890 at Oak Hill in the 18 years we've been a church. 00:32:18.430 --> 00:32:21.410 And it's painful. And it's hard. And it does. 00:32:21.470 --> 00:32:23.430 It sucks the life out of the church. It takes 00:32:23.430 --> 00:32:25.809 us off of our path, what we're supposed to be 00:32:25.809 --> 00:32:28.369 doing. And we now got to deal with all this conflict 00:32:28.369 --> 00:32:31.930 and division. It's a disturber of the peace of 00:32:31.930 --> 00:32:34.289 the church. And church history is filled with 00:32:34.289 --> 00:32:36.809 it. Again, if you study, if you just go out and 00:32:36.809 --> 00:32:38.670 study the ecumenical councils of the church, 00:32:38.769 --> 00:32:41.950 you will see drama after drama after drama between 00:32:41.950 --> 00:32:44.970 people that should know better. Fighting and 00:32:44.970 --> 00:32:48.410 manipulating and using state power to get their 00:32:48.410 --> 00:32:51.730 way. One of the great church fathers, Jerome, 00:32:52.009 --> 00:32:54.829 fourth century translator of the Vulgate Bible, 00:32:54.970 --> 00:32:59.859 was an awful human being. Brilliant. Has made 00:32:59.859 --> 00:33:02.339 a huge mark on church history, but he was known 00:33:02.339 --> 00:33:06.680 as an absolute jerk. Nobody wanted to be around 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:09.259 him. In fact, what he would do is whenever somebody 00:33:09.259 --> 00:33:12.359 even opposed him, he would defend himself by 00:33:12.359 --> 00:33:15.160 trying to blacken the reputation of all the other 00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:19.079 scholars in his life. So we gotta be careful 00:33:19.079 --> 00:33:23.509 here. They love theological combat more than 00:33:23.509 --> 00:33:26.069 fellowship. That's what I found. Few things that 00:33:26.069 --> 00:33:28.869 mark these folks. They love theological combat 00:33:28.869 --> 00:33:31.930 more than they love the fellowship of the body. 00:33:32.750 --> 00:33:35.309 They have stubborn, unteachable hearts. Won't 00:33:35.309 --> 00:33:39.609 even listen to another position. They seek to 00:33:39.609 --> 00:33:42.289 undermine others' confidence in leadership. This 00:33:42.289 --> 00:33:44.869 is one of the most subversive parts of a factious 00:33:44.869 --> 00:33:47.569 man. Not only does he draw disciples to himself, 00:33:47.869 --> 00:33:50.349 but in that process, he seeks to undermine leadership. 00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:54.140 to draw people to himself rather than to leaders. 00:33:54.339 --> 00:33:57.180 They seek to impress, recruit, and control less 00:33:57.180 --> 00:33:59.640 knowledgeable people. In other words, like puppet 00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:01.940 masters, if I can find some less knowledgeable 00:34:01.940 --> 00:34:05.319 people that I can draw into my orbit, then I've 00:34:05.319 --> 00:34:08.739 won. And then over time, they become mean -spirited 00:34:08.739 --> 00:34:11.940 and condescending, ridicule anybody who disagrees 00:34:11.940 --> 00:34:14.179 with them. Anybody that holds to another position 00:34:14.179 --> 00:34:19.960 is a fool. And lastly, their concern is only 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:22.380 for themselves, not the health of the church. 00:34:23.019 --> 00:34:26.019 It's just not what they're about. So what do 00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:30.619 we do about such men? Let's ask and answer that 00:34:30.619 --> 00:34:32.820 final question. The answer to the question's 00:34:32.820 --> 00:34:36.300 in verse 10, but before we go there, first drop 00:34:36.300 --> 00:34:38.260 down to verse 11, because there's a couple other 00:34:38.260 --> 00:34:41.179 things you need to see about the factious man. 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:43.980 In verse 11, Paul says, knowing that such a man 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:47.969 is perverted, and is sinning, being self -condemned. 00:34:47.989 --> 00:34:50.409 Now, that word knowing is important. Paul uses 00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:54.309 this word eido, which carries the idea of knowing 00:34:54.309 --> 00:34:57.869 something through perception. Knowing something 00:34:57.869 --> 00:35:00.110 through perception. In other words, the sin of 00:35:00.110 --> 00:35:03.130 this factious man is observable. In fact, it's 00:35:03.130 --> 00:35:06.710 obvious to everybody. It's clear to everybody 00:35:06.710 --> 00:35:09.369 exactly what he's been doing. And in my experience, 00:35:09.389 --> 00:35:11.670 I found this to be true. In the factious people 00:35:11.670 --> 00:35:13.849 that have come through our body, Ultimately, 00:35:13.849 --> 00:35:16.469 when the church finds out that it had to be dealt 00:35:16.469 --> 00:35:19.389 with and the elders or whoever went and confronted 00:35:19.389 --> 00:35:22.150 this person, usually what we hear is, yep, I 00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:24.409 knew that was going to happen. Because they got 00:35:24.409 --> 00:35:26.530 a sense that this person was creating this drama 00:35:26.530 --> 00:35:30.230 within the body. And so it becomes observable. 00:35:30.809 --> 00:35:32.769 By the way, especially in a church our size, 00:35:32.869 --> 00:35:35.150 you really can't hide well. You can do it in 00:35:35.150 --> 00:35:37.889 bigger churches. Oftentimes you can hide a factious 00:35:37.889 --> 00:35:40.630 heart. But here in a smaller church, you really 00:35:40.630 --> 00:35:43.739 can't hide. Now, the word perverted, I don't 00:35:43.739 --> 00:35:48.420 love the translation of that in the NAS because 00:35:48.420 --> 00:35:51.139 when you hear perverted in our culture today, 00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:53.820 it usually speaks of sexual sin. That's not what's 00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:56.559 going on here. You might see the word warped. 00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:59.400 I think that's the ESV, and that's a better term. 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:01.980 It literally means, the word means to be turned 00:36:01.980 --> 00:36:06.300 inside out, twisted or distorted. This person 00:36:06.300 --> 00:36:09.579 is distorted in his thinking. He twists things. 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:13.460 for his own advantage. He's willfully engaged 00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:16.320 in behavior that is rebellious in every way. 00:36:16.699 --> 00:36:21.119 He twists everything for his own gain. And it's 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.360 that self -will, that preferring of himself that 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:27.599 makes himself condemned, Paul says. He actually 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:30.519 passes judgment on his own warped thinking by 00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:36.000 the way he functions within the body. Yikes, 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:38.210 huh? And I know some of you are thinking, I've 00:36:38.210 --> 00:36:43.690 never met a person like that. You'd be surprised. 00:36:45.329 --> 00:36:48.090 Man, when I first got, sidebar, when I first 00:36:48.090 --> 00:36:51.070 got into ministry, I was so naive. I left the 00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:52.889 corporate world. I went into ministry and I thought, 00:36:52.929 --> 00:36:56.429 everybody in the church thinks we're all together 00:36:56.429 --> 00:36:58.750 as one. Everybody's rowing in the same direction. 00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:03.010 It's going to be amazing. I was stunned in just 00:37:03.010 --> 00:37:05.630 the first year in full -time ministry. How many 00:37:05.630 --> 00:37:09.389 people came into churches with this mindset? 00:37:10.829 --> 00:37:13.750 I underestimated the whole spiritual warfare 00:37:13.750 --> 00:37:17.050 of this thing, of the work that Satan was doing 00:37:17.050 --> 00:37:19.829 to try to disrupt the unity of the church. And 00:37:19.829 --> 00:37:21.730 I was shocked and naive, and I learned a great 00:37:21.730 --> 00:37:24.530 lesson. You've got to think the best of people, 00:37:24.630 --> 00:37:28.389 but you've also got to have your eyes on to know 00:37:28.389 --> 00:37:30.570 that there are people like this in the body of 00:37:30.570 --> 00:37:34.030 Christ. Now, what do we do with such a man? Paul 00:37:34.030 --> 00:37:37.670 writes very simply in verse 10, we reject him 00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:43.449 after a first warning and a second warning. Now, 00:37:43.489 --> 00:37:45.989 there's debates on this in scholarly circles 00:37:45.989 --> 00:37:49.650 whether or not Paul here is describing a formal 00:37:49.650 --> 00:37:53.090 church discipline process like we see in Matthew 00:37:53.090 --> 00:37:57.300 18 or something less than that. And I'm not sure 00:37:57.300 --> 00:38:00.280 I have an exact opinion on this, but there are 00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:02.880 two things that are common to both the Matthew 00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:05.820 18 process and what we read here in Titus 3. 00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:11.760 First, it has to be dealt with. It has to be 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:18.719 dealt with. You cannot allow this type of factious 00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:22.079 behavior to just exist in the church body where 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:25.590 this person can spread his poison. It has to 00:38:25.590 --> 00:38:29.010 be confronted. And second, there has to be a 00:38:29.010 --> 00:38:32.570 process of warning before you take any drastic 00:38:32.570 --> 00:38:36.050 measures. So like the Matthew 18 process, the 00:38:36.050 --> 00:38:38.429 first step would be to go to this person and 00:38:38.429 --> 00:38:43.170 privately and discreetly warn him, to admonish 00:38:43.170 --> 00:38:46.030 him, to acknowledge his sin, to repent of his 00:38:46.030 --> 00:38:48.829 factious words and behavior, to change course 00:38:48.829 --> 00:38:52.360 and come back to unity in the body. And then 00:38:52.360 --> 00:38:54.480 it's also likely if he's repentant that he might 00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:57.440 have to go to people that he's influenced and 00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:00.480 correct that, apologize and correct it. So it's 00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:03.119 quite a process. And listen, for some folks, 00:39:03.179 --> 00:39:05.480 that's too much to ask. The pride, their pride 00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:08.460 is too deeply rooted. The ego is too deeply involved. 00:39:08.679 --> 00:39:12.199 And oftentimes a factious man will resist that 00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:15.599 first confrontation. But then it's incumbent 00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:17.860 upon all of us as church members and leaders 00:39:17.860 --> 00:39:20.360 in particular, we still have to show patience. 00:39:21.150 --> 00:39:24.590 and charity and love. We can't overreact. We've 00:39:24.590 --> 00:39:27.329 got to go to that person a second time, maybe 00:39:27.329 --> 00:39:29.869 with more people, maybe with an elder, and we've 00:39:29.869 --> 00:39:33.590 got to warn him a second time. And the ultimate 00:39:33.590 --> 00:39:36.010 goal, whether it's formal church discipline or 00:39:36.010 --> 00:39:38.309 if it's just rejecting somebody like this, the 00:39:38.309 --> 00:39:40.929 ultimate goal is not to punish the man. It's 00:39:40.929 --> 00:39:43.309 not to embarrass the man. It's to get him to 00:39:43.309 --> 00:39:47.630 turn and repent and come back in a healthy way 00:39:47.630 --> 00:39:51.880 back into the body. That's always the goal. As 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:53.760 an elder, I've been a part of quite a few church 00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:56.239 discipline cases. I can tell you, nobody ever 00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:58.460 wants to put somebody out of the church. It is 00:39:58.460 --> 00:40:02.000 not fun for anyone. It is heart -wrenching. It 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:05.579 is tearful. It is awful. You want to see people 00:40:05.579 --> 00:40:07.860 repent and return to the things of fellowship 00:40:07.860 --> 00:40:10.360 and to the things of church life that really 00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:13.929 matter and to unity. But if the factious man 00:40:13.929 --> 00:40:16.030 refuses to repent after that second warning, 00:40:16.190 --> 00:40:19.429 Paul tells us he's to be rejected by all, not 00:40:19.429 --> 00:40:21.610 just the leadership, but by all members of the 00:40:21.610 --> 00:40:24.250 church. He is to be removed from the body for 00:40:24.250 --> 00:40:27.030 the sake of everybody, for the sake of the health 00:40:27.030 --> 00:40:30.090 of the local church. He's gotta be dealt with. 00:40:30.150 --> 00:40:34.409 He's gotta be put out. Here's the thing we have 00:40:34.409 --> 00:40:38.210 to remember. This is really hard. When the church 00:40:38.210 --> 00:40:40.409 has to do this, this is really hard. And from 00:40:40.409 --> 00:40:43.130 the outside, guess what? The world is gonna judge 00:40:43.130 --> 00:40:46.369 us as unloving when we do this, right? But the 00:40:46.369 --> 00:40:50.510 opposite is true. It's actually a very loving 00:40:50.510 --> 00:40:53.150 thing to do this. Both loving for the sinner, 00:40:53.269 --> 00:40:56.030 right? Because if you don't confront him, he 00:40:56.030 --> 00:40:58.210 doesn't learn the lesson that God has for him. 00:40:58.250 --> 00:41:00.929 So it's loving to confront him, but more importantly, 00:41:00.929 --> 00:41:03.530 it's loving for the rest of the body because 00:41:03.530 --> 00:41:07.269 we're protecting the body from that type of divisive 00:41:07.269 --> 00:41:12.760 poison. So it's actually quite loving. And if 00:41:12.760 --> 00:41:15.320 we don't do it, especially leaders, then we are 00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:18.159 disobedient to God's word. If we don't deal with 00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:21.139 the problem and follow God's instructions, whether 00:41:21.139 --> 00:41:24.099 it's Matthew 18 or Titus 3, if we don't follow 00:41:24.099 --> 00:41:26.599 those instructions, then we're not faithful leaders. 00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:30.679 But I understand this is really hard. We have 00:41:30.679 --> 00:41:33.960 to deal decisively with factious people. And 00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:36.960 yeah, we have to employ biblical wisdom. Here's 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:38.639 what I found in these situations. They're not 00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:42.269 always as clear cut as you wish they were. And 00:41:42.269 --> 00:41:44.469 sometimes elders, we have to get together, collect 00:41:44.469 --> 00:41:48.010 feedback, collect data, and we've got to talk 00:41:48.010 --> 00:41:49.909 about it, we've got to pray, and we've got to 00:41:49.909 --> 00:41:52.849 settle on a course of action. And it's interesting, 00:41:52.969 --> 00:41:55.090 sometimes when you read through the letters of 00:41:55.090 --> 00:41:57.449 the New Testament, you see Paul putting up with 00:41:57.449 --> 00:42:00.210 a lot of nonsense from church members. Have you 00:42:00.210 --> 00:42:02.369 noticed that? And he doesn't always jump straight 00:42:02.369 --> 00:42:05.409 to discipline. Sometimes it's persuasion, sometimes 00:42:05.409 --> 00:42:08.050 it's preaching, sometimes it's writing, you're 00:42:08.050 --> 00:42:12.980 getting a letter, right? And he sort of has patience 00:42:12.980 --> 00:42:17.739 with people trying to turn them until he throws 00:42:17.739 --> 00:42:20.099 down the gauntlet. And he brings all of his apostolic 00:42:20.099 --> 00:42:23.880 power to bear. Why? When it undermines unity 00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:28.139 in the body and it affects godly living. That's 00:42:28.139 --> 00:42:30.019 when the gauntlet has to be thrown down. Does 00:42:30.019 --> 00:42:36.780 that make sense? Okay. So, unity. Let me close 00:42:36.780 --> 00:42:38.780 with a couple thoughts on this. Here's the reality 00:42:38.780 --> 00:42:43.150 of church life. Imagine this now. Maybe you may 00:42:43.150 --> 00:42:45.750 have never thought of this before, but as a pastor, 00:42:45.809 --> 00:42:48.610 I think about it a lot. How do you get hundreds 00:42:48.610 --> 00:42:50.989 of people in the same organization on the same 00:42:50.989 --> 00:42:55.489 page and everything? How do you do that? It's 00:42:55.489 --> 00:42:59.190 gotta be supernatural, right? Getting everybody 00:42:59.190 --> 00:43:01.349 to have one mind, even in a church of our size. 00:43:01.510 --> 00:43:04.590 Imagine, honestly, guys who pastor churches of 00:43:04.590 --> 00:43:07.449 thousands. I don't think I could sleep at night. 00:43:08.170 --> 00:43:10.289 How do you get that many people on the same page? 00:43:11.119 --> 00:43:13.739 With one mind, it's an extremely difficult thing 00:43:13.739 --> 00:43:16.300 to do. And it's even more difficult, I think, 00:43:16.300 --> 00:43:18.980 in our world today, in our world of social media. 00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:23.059 Listen, submission to one another, I would say, 00:43:23.079 --> 00:43:25.679 is probably at an all -time low within the Christian 00:43:25.679 --> 00:43:29.659 community. Everyone seems to think that they 00:43:29.659 --> 00:43:31.199 should voice their opinion about everything. 00:43:31.300 --> 00:43:34.340 That's just the culture we're in today. So I 00:43:34.340 --> 00:43:37.079 want to appeal to you guys as members of my church 00:43:37.079 --> 00:43:41.079 family. This is all of our job. All of our calling 00:43:41.079 --> 00:43:43.760 to battle for unity in a way that pleases the 00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:47.159 Lord, we all have a role to play in this. Sometimes 00:43:47.159 --> 00:43:49.960 church members will go, you know what, let the 00:43:49.960 --> 00:43:51.699 elders deal with that. Let leaders deal with 00:43:51.699 --> 00:43:54.519 that. This is all of our job. If we want our 00:43:54.519 --> 00:43:57.099 church to remain healthy and free from conflict 00:43:57.099 --> 00:43:59.840 and dissension, we all have to take seriously 00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:02.280 the words that we read here in this passage. 00:44:03.159 --> 00:44:06.099 And we have to take seriously... Jesus' commands 00:44:06.099 --> 00:44:09.480 that are so frequent, by this all people will 00:44:09.480 --> 00:44:11.739 know that you're my disciples, he said, if you 00:44:11.739 --> 00:44:15.699 what? If you love one another. We've got to strive 00:44:15.699 --> 00:44:18.880 for that. Not division, but love. Just as I've 00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:21.699 loved you, he said, you also are to love one 00:44:21.699 --> 00:44:24.420 another. We know love by this, that he laid down 00:44:24.420 --> 00:44:27.219 his life for us, and we ought to lay down our 00:44:27.219 --> 00:44:31.769 lives for our brothers and sisters. And then 00:44:31.769 --> 00:44:33.550 in my opinion, the most important guide, if you 00:44:33.550 --> 00:44:35.929 want to memorize a passage from Philippians 2, 00:44:36.150 --> 00:44:40.650 be of the same mind, Paul says. Church, church 00:44:40.650 --> 00:44:42.929 at Philippi, church at Oak Hill, be of the same 00:44:42.929 --> 00:44:47.190 mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, 00:44:47.369 --> 00:44:52.449 intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness. 00:44:53.070 --> 00:44:55.449 or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, 00:44:55.550 --> 00:44:58.530 regard one another as more important than yourselves. 00:44:58.690 --> 00:45:05.050 If everybody does that simultaneously, wow, that's 00:45:05.050 --> 00:45:08.289 a healthy church. But we all have a part to play 00:45:08.289 --> 00:45:12.130 in this. So even though unity is difficult, we 00:45:12.130 --> 00:45:14.210 never give up striving for it. We never give 00:45:14.210 --> 00:45:17.190 up teaching it. We never give up defending it. 00:45:18.119 --> 00:45:20.579 And not only, when we have unity, guys, listen, 00:45:20.739 --> 00:45:23.360 when we have unity, not only does it ensure a 00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:26.980 healthy church within these walls, we live together 00:45:26.980 --> 00:45:29.480 in a healthy way, but it also sends a message 00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:32.880 to people outside these walls, in this neighborhood, 00:45:33.159 --> 00:45:36.739 in Santa Clarita, unbelievers. When they see 00:45:36.739 --> 00:45:38.940 how we love each other, when they see that, man, 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:42.280 that church at Oak Hill, they don't fight. They're 00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:45.570 on the same page. Unity in the church reveals 00:45:45.570 --> 00:45:48.170 to them that this is a place that is different 00:45:48.170 --> 00:45:51.130 than the world out there. That they can come 00:45:51.130 --> 00:45:54.829 in here and find the peace and the joy that they've 00:45:54.829 --> 00:45:56.469 been searching for out in the world that's not 00:45:56.469 --> 00:45:58.389 there. They can find it here in the person of 00:45:58.389 --> 00:46:00.969 Christ because they see how we love each other 00:46:00.969 --> 00:46:04.510 and how we will not allow division to seep into 00:46:04.510 --> 00:46:08.849 this body. So it strengthens us within and it's 00:46:08.849 --> 00:46:13.329 a witness without. To that end, may we all strive 00:46:13.329 --> 00:46:17.150 for what's required, required, commanded of us 00:46:17.150 --> 00:46:19.510 as brothers and sisters. I'll say it again, to 00:46:19.510 --> 00:46:23.750 humbly, gently, and patiently bear with one another 00:46:23.750 --> 00:46:27.329 in love and to be eager to maintain the unity 00:46:27.329 --> 00:46:31.050 of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Amen? Will 00:46:31.050 --> 00:46:34.090 you commit with me to this? Let's pray together. 00:46:36.789 --> 00:46:41.690 Lord, So grateful for the practical nature of 00:46:41.690 --> 00:46:44.150 your word in this, Lord. So grateful, God, that 00:46:44.150 --> 00:46:47.329 you have protected this church family from division 00:46:47.329 --> 00:46:50.889 in so many ways. And even in the times when it's 00:46:50.889 --> 00:46:52.829 affected us, Lord, you've been so good to us 00:46:52.829 --> 00:46:56.510 to help us root it out. And you've made us faithful 00:46:56.510 --> 00:47:00.610 servants, faithful saints to step into hard things 00:47:00.610 --> 00:47:03.329 and practice church discipline when necessary, 00:47:03.630 --> 00:47:06.650 to practice this idea of rejecting a factious 00:47:06.650 --> 00:47:10.139 man. Lord, It's not something we would ever ask 00:47:10.139 --> 00:47:13.739 for, but you have helped us to do it well, and 00:47:13.739 --> 00:47:16.519 I'm so grateful for your supernatural guidance 00:47:16.519 --> 00:47:19.460 by your Spirit. Thankful for an elder team that 00:47:19.460 --> 00:47:21.739 has always leaned into the hard things like this. 00:47:22.179 --> 00:47:24.440 You have protected us in so many ways, Lord, 00:47:24.519 --> 00:47:27.380 and I pray for all of us here today that if there's 00:47:27.380 --> 00:47:30.639 anybody here who recognizes themselves in a factious 00:47:30.639 --> 00:47:33.260 spirit, Lord, that you would quash that right 00:47:33.260 --> 00:47:37.150 now by your Spirit. That anybody who here who 00:47:37.150 --> 00:47:40.550 is seeking to be this type of person, Lord, would 00:47:40.550 --> 00:47:44.969 repent today and seek unity in the body. That 00:47:44.969 --> 00:47:47.550 you would go before us, Lord, and keep protecting 00:47:47.550 --> 00:47:50.550 our body so that we might be united as one moving 00:47:50.550 --> 00:47:53.070 forward with the same purpose and the same mission. 00:47:53.349 --> 00:47:55.389 That we would know that this is a healthy body 00:47:55.389 --> 00:47:57.849 and we could be a testimony to the world out 00:47:57.849 --> 00:48:00.750 there. Lord, do a great work in us in these things. 00:48:01.559 --> 00:48:03.559 We trust you for it, Lord. We know we can't do 00:48:03.559 --> 00:48:05.639 it in our own strength, in our own flesh. We 00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:09.119 will fail. And so we submit ourselves to you 00:48:09.119 --> 00:48:10.820 and ask God that you would do a great work. Thank 00:48:10.820 --> 00:48:13.780 you, Lord Jesus, again, for your word and how 00:48:13.780 --> 00:48:16.380 it convicts us and how it moves us to change. 00:48:16.559 --> 00:48:19.239 We praise you and we pray these things in the 00:48:19.239 --> 00:48:20.659 name of Jesus. Amen.