As Nicholas mentioned, we're in Titus chapter
1. Of course, this is God's holy and inspired
and inerrant word. Our exposition today will
focus on verses 10 through 16 in Titus chapter
1. But if you will allow me, I'd like to read
the entire first chapter. It's only 16 verses,
so it shouldn't be too bad. But I'd like to read
this whole first chapter so that it helps us
to understand where we're at today. Titus chapter
one, Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle
of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen
of God and the knowledge of the truth, which
is according to godliness in the hope of eternal
life, which God who cannot lie promised long
ages ago, but at the proper time manifested even
his word in the proclamation with which I was
entrusted according to the commandment of God,
our savior. To Titus. my true child in a common
faith, grace and peace from God the Father and
Christ Jesus, our Savior. For this reason I left
you in Crete, that you would set in order what
remains and appoint elders in every city as I
directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach,
the husband of one wife having children who believe,
not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For
the overseer must be above reproach as God's
steward, not self -willed, not quick -tempered,
not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond
of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is
good, sensible, just, devout, self -controlled,
holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance
with the teaching so that he will be able both
to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those
who contradict. For there are many rebellious
men. empty talkers and deceivers especially those
of the circumcision who must be silenced because
they are upsetting whole families teaching things
they should not teach for the sake of sordid
gain one of themselves a prophet of their own
said cretans are always liars evil beasts lazy
gluttons this testimony is true for this reason
reprove them severely so that they may be sound
in the faith not paying attention to jewish myths
and commandments of men who turn away from the
truth. 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. They profess to know God, but their
deeds deny him, being detestable and disobedient
and worthless for any good deed. Let's pray.
Gracious Heavenly Father, as we come to your
word this morning, We ask that it would have
its intended effect on our hearts and on our
minds. Holy Spirit, we ask you to accompany the
proclamation of your word. We ask that you would
guide us into all truth as we seek to understand
it rightly. Lord Jesus, be honored and glorified
as we search the scriptures, desiring to know
how you would have your church to be ordered.
May this study today Conform us to your image
and produce godly living among your people. We
ask these things in your precious and holy name.
Amen. Please be seated. I think it's easy for
us to be comfortable with what we hear one Sunday
to the next in a congregation like this. I believe
it's easy for us to almost be lulled into a pattern.
of worship into tradition, into a liturgy that
is, quite frankly, not controversial. There may
be some people who would disagree with that locally,
the idea that what we believe and teach here
at Grace Fellowship Church, that it is not controversial.
But I think by and large, for those of us who
attend regularly for the members of Grace Fellowship
Church, for the elders of Grace Fellowship Church,
we do not really struggle with noticing issues
with the preaching that is proclaimed and heard
here at Grace Fellowship Church. But that does
not mean that there are not people, perhaps locally,
but certainly, around the area or perhaps in
the state or in the region, nationally, internationally,
who are teaching error. Our familiarity with
good, sound, biblical teaching, with proper biblical
exegesis and exposition at Grace Fellowship Church
should not cause us to deny the reality of false
teachers and false teaching. And that's really
what our focus is today. And before we really
try to dig into these verses here, these last
several verses at the end of chapter one of Paul's
letter to Titus, I think it's helpful for us
to just take a brief moment to consider where
we're at because the context is so important
to properly understanding a passage. If we make
the mistake of simply pulling verses 10 through
16 out of the greater context of the chapter
and out of the book itself, we might be tempted
to gradually slide into error ourselves. So I'd
like to just give you a quick, very quick synopsis
of what we've studied thus far in this particular
letter, Paul's epistle to Titus. So as we continue
our study, It's important to recall what we've
learned in the previous messages. Passes 10 through
16, they do not stand alone, and they cannot
be divorced from the preceding verses. In our
first session, if you think back to it, verses
1 through 4, we introduced the letter by establishing
its setting and context. We actually went through
great pains to make sure we understood what was
happening in Crete, to whom the letter had been
written, by whom the letter had been written.
and the context, the cultural setting, the society
around this letter. In our second series, or
in our second message, I should say, of this
series, we were in verses 1 through 4 again,
and that was where, if you will recall, we observed
how the Spirit -inspired author, the Apostle
Paul, grounded that salutation, the introduction
to the letter, the salutation to Titus in...
the truth of the gospel. You may remember that
that was when we gained a greater understanding
of the truth that produces faith, knowledge,
and godliness in the people of God. We talked
much about the fact that this is the overall
emphasis of Paul's letter to Titus, that properly
ordering the church, that properly understanding
the gospel. will lead to proper practice within
the church and will result in godly living among
God's people. Then we began in this current unit,
and I would argue that verses 5 all the way through
16 are one unit. We began with verses 5 through
9 a couple weeks ago. Of course, we took off
for Easter, but... where we saw that Paul's charge
to Titus was to set in order what remains and
appoint elders in every city as I directed you.
In our analysis of those verses, we identified
the character and qualifications of elders. We
noted that these are men who are to be above
reproach, who serve as God's stewards, who are
marked by godly character in their families,
their conduct, and their doctrine. It's important.
that that happened in those verses because of
what we'll be studying today, because certainly
verses 5 through 9 offer a juxtaposition to the
description of these false teachers which appear
in verses 10 through 16. If you will recall,
we referred to God's stewards as fiduciaries,
wherein that fiduciary relationship, God is the
principal. And his stewards, his elders, his
overseers are his agents who act on his behalf.
Make no mistake, Christ is building his church.
And the shepherds who serve the church are certainly
under shepherds who look to the good shepherd
for their example. But nonetheless, we should
acknowledge that they have this very important
and vital role that God has ordained them to
fulfill in the context of the local church. Very
importantly, at the conclusion of that section,
we saw in verse nine, the central responsibility
of a qualified leader, a qualified elder or overseer
in the church. If you would look at verse nine
with me again. And there it says, holding fast
the faithful word, which is in accordance with
the teachings so that he will be able both to
exhort in sound doctrine and to refute. those
who contradict. Truly, verse 9 is the hinge point
of verses 5 through 16. It ties together these
two sections into one cohesive unit dealing with
qualified elders and their responsibilities.
That much is certainly demonstrated by what follows
in these verses we're considering today. Paul
instructs Titus to refute false teachers because
the church must not only be ordered by establishing
godly leadership, but also by protecting the
church from those who seek to corrupt it. Now
we might argue that locally we don't see this
as often. that we do not run across false teaching
as often. And perhaps that's a blessing, and
in some ways I might argue that it could be a
curse to some degree because false teaching is
not always obvious error. False teaching oftentimes
is subtle. False teaching oftentimes creeps in
unnoticed, and we'll see that as we continue.
After Paul says elders must be able to refute
those who contradict, Fortunately, he does not
leave Titus there by himself in Crete to figure
out just how to go about that on his own. Paul,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives
Titus directions. He gives Titus instruction.
And he does so first by explaining how to order
and protect the church. by identifying false
teachers. This happens in verses 10 through 12.
Again, this first heading, if you're taking notes,
would be identifying false teachers. Verses 10
through 12, let's look at them together again,
please. For there are many rebellious men, empty
talkers and deceivers, especially those of the
circumcision who must be silenced because they
are upsetting whole families. teaching things
they should not teach for the sake of sordid
gain. There is a lot in those two verses. I will
not lie, my notes for those first two verses,
or excuse me, the first really should be three
verses because we'll read verse 12 in a moment,
are longer probably by double than the next two
headings. There's a lot that we can say here.
Notice what he goes on to say, to write to Titus.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own said,
Cretans are always liars, evil beasts and lazy
gluttons. Stated plainly, we cannot protect the
flock from a threat we do not recognize. We must
identify false teachers. We order and protect
the church first and foremost, according to Paul
in verses 10 through 12, by identifying false
teachers. And again, I say, we cannot protect
the flock if we do not recognize the threat.
Paul provides Titus, and of course us by extension,
with the means to identify those who would disrupt.
and disorder the church. Many of you may have
been in a setting in the past in your lives,
maybe at other churches that you've attended
and now you attend here, but in the past you
may have been in churches that were disrupted
and disordered. Perhaps someone came into the
church from outside of the church and disrupted
and disordered the church. Perhaps they called
into question Teachings that are obvious in scripture,
not secondary or tertiary issues, but rather
issues that are penultimate to the church. Those
things which matter greatly to the church. We
might even say things that are salvific. Those
false teachings that may have run counter to
the true gospel. And you know the chaos that
ensues. from such situations. I like how Paul
does this because he really starts in verse 10
by identifying these false teachers. And first
he really refers to their character. Paul calls
them rebellious. They refuse to submit to authority.
I would argue this is a defining hallmark of
their character. I think many false teachers
are rebellious. I think it's obvious that they
are rebellious, and it works itself out, that
rebellion works itself out, not only in their
teaching, but in their character. They pride
themselves on their individuality and their autonomy.
Perhaps certain examples are rushing through
your mind even as I say these things. Perhaps
there are some folks you can think of, whether
you've known them personally, heard stories of
them, or perhaps seen them behave a rebellious
way on TV or on social media. False teachers'
character is marked by rebellion. They refuse
to submit to anyone. They don't refuse to God,
or excuse me, they refuse to submit to God. They
refuse to submit to the clear teachings of scripture
and they refuse to submit to other believers.
I recently heard a story of a rather famous preacher,
a lady nonetheless. So she's disqualified right
out the gate of a lady who has in her bylaws
at her church that she founded. It's actually
the second church she founded because the first
church went under. Another story all of its own.
Who has in the bylaws of her church that no one
can question her decisions and her rulings. She
is at the top of the heap, so to speak. And this
certainly is endemic. It is emblematic of false
teachers. They are rebellious. They are autonomous.
They are in control. And I would argue that this
is a benefit of the plurality of elders. Do you
see the benefit of the plurality of elders? If
a man refuses to submit to qualified and co -equal
under shepherds who co -labor with him in the
church, how could he ever submit to God? I have
known people through the years, people I have
known personally through the years who have come
in and gone out. And I can tell you of the ones
who seemed to have the knack for leading people,
many of those folks who might have otherwise
made excellent pastors, teachers, shepherds,
elders, overseers, many of them struggled in
one specific area. One consistent theme I can
point to with virtually every single one of those
men. And do you know what it was? They would
not submit to authority. They wanted to go their
own way. They wanted to have their own way. They
did not want to wait on timing that the overseers
of the church they were attending felt was more
appropriate for their ascent to the eldership.
This has happened time and time again in church.
I would argue that for those of us who do not,
for those of you who do not aspire to the office
of an elder or an overseer, which of course,
as we know, is a noble thing to seek, but for
those of you who do not aspire to that office,
let me warn you of something. If your heart is
rebellious toward authority, to the authority
that God has set in place over the church, you
too will suffer in the same way as many of these
men. You too will experience the difficulties
and the struggles that come along with having
a rebellious heart toward authority. That is
not to say that all authority is right. That
is not to say that every leader should be followed.
But when you enter into a covenant community,
when you covenant together with other believers,
you should be mindful of the condition of your
heart. And you should not seek to be autonomous
and of your own authority. It also says in verse
10, for there are rebellious men, empty talkers
and deceivers. With impressive words, they can
drone on and on and on, but they have no substance.
And in that empty talking, they lead others into
error. Think to what Paul wrote in Romans chapter
16, verse 18. For such men are slaves, not of
our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites.
And by their smooth and flattering speech, they
deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. There
is no question some men are more eloquent than
others. Not that long ago, many of you young
people won't remember, but not that long ago,
we had a president of the United States who was
perhaps one of the most eloquent men I've ever
heard speak. And this particular gentleman who
was president of the United States at one point
was an effective communicator. He was really,
quite frankly, a brilliant orator. And he won
many people to his cause through his rhetoric.
And yet so many of his policies led to death.
So much of what he advocated for was antithetical
to scripture, to the revelation of God. Just
because someone can communicate clearly, just
because someone can speak well, that does not
mean that they are worth your attention. False
teachers who are empty talkers and deceivers
are such men. Remember his warning about false
teachers to the Ephesian elders. When Paul was
leaving from Miletus, he called the Ephesian
elders to him in Acts chapter 20. Kyle just preached
from there not that long ago. And he said, and
from among your own selves, men will arise speaking
perverse things to draw away the disciples. after
them. We might note the proverbial statement
where words abound. I say it to my kids all the
time. Sin is not absent. Now that might seem
a little obtuse for someone like me to say something
like that considering I love to talk so much.
But this axiomatic and biblical statement is
most certainly true. Where words abound, sin
is not absent. I would take it a step further
and say where words abound, false teaching may
be close by. At its core, false teaching is not
merely intellectual error. It is spiritual rebellion.
Marked by an abundance of meaningless, empty,
deceptive words spoken by men who are intent
upon drawing away disciples after themselves.
I mean, isn't that what it ultimately boils down
to? A desire to have a following. Do we not see
that in culture all day, every day? Have you
been on Facebook? I know you have. The young
people are like, Facebook, what's that? Have
you seen the people who comment on Facebook?
People you may know who seem so desperate for
a following. I struggle with Facebook and I run
a business and I need to be on Facebook for my
business, but I struggle so much with trying
to develop a following. And I mean more as an
individual because I see other people who are
doing it and it turns my stomach. Do you know
what I'm talking about? I mean, can anybody else
identify with that? There's just something about
it that seems so pretentious, that seems so fake.
I want to put this perfect image of myself out
to the world. And the more clicks, the more likes,
the more subscribes, the more views that I can
get, the more I feel affirmed. Right? I like
to feel affirmed. I like for people to validate
what I say. But there's something about that
desire that just turns my stomach. And false
teachers are that way. They make much of themselves
because they need that validation. They want
that notoriety. And the reason why is because
they are only concerned. about themselves next
to identify false teacher paul points to their
background this is also in verse 10 where he
writes especially those of the circumcision i'm
running through scenarios for just a second in
light of the situation the world is now in I
know you're not supposed to end a sentence with
a preposition, but I can't come up with a better
way to say it. In light of our current climate,
I think it's good to be careful with this phrase.
And I'll be honest with you. In the past, I probably
would have thrown caution to the wind, which
is kind of my MO. But I sense that there might
be a need to help some people. pull back some
of their fervor for what I'm about to talk about.
Paul is very clearly referring to a particular
group of people here, and no one can deny this.
I actually listened to a few of the more, what
I would describe, not woke, but more sensitive
preachers just to hear how they would handle
this. And unfortunately, some of them kind of
soft peddled it a little bit, which was disappointing.
Of course, you could also go online and you can
find some reform bros on some podcasts who would
have a heyday with this particular expression
right now. I think you all know what I'm getting
at, right? If you don't, you will hear in a moment.
Here in verse 10, Paul points out the background
of these false teachers. who clearly have infiltrated
the churches of Crete. Now, these are young churches.
So when someone comes in and they are convincing
with their words and they have the ability to
persuade people, there is a need for this. They
have to be marked. They have to be identified.
These whom Paul refers to as being especially
those of the circumcision. These men are religious
insiders. They are legalists. and they are within
the covenant community. In Acts 15, Paul and
Barnabas debated false teachers at Antioch. You
guys all remember the story. Acts 15, probably
one of the most famous chapters in the Bible,
where the Jerusalem Council takes place. And
I hesitated to turn to it because it'll take
a moment, but I think it's valuable for us to
understand. So please turn there now, Acts chapter
15, and we'll see what was happening there. And
I think it will help shed light on what was happening
at Crete. Paul and Barnabas have been ministering
to Gentiles around the known world, the Roman
world, all around the Mediterranean. Paul and
Barnabas, these great missionaries of the early
church, and they have seen Gentiles converted.
They have seen the Holy Spirit poured out on
Gentiles, non -Jews, those guys. who would not
have been circumcised, right? In Acts chapter
15, verse one, some men came down from Judea.
Where are they coming from? Judea. And began
teaching the brethren, unless you are circumcised
according to the custom of Moses, you cannot
be saved. And when Paul and Barnabas had great
dissension and debate with them, the brethren
determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others
of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles
and elders concerning this issue. This issue
was so important that Paul and Barnabas would
be sent directly to the church at Jerusalem where
they would speak with the apostles and the elders
of the church. Therefore being sent on their
way by the church, they were passing through
both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail
the conversion of the Gentiles and were bringing
great joy to all the brethren. Notice what happens
there. What happens when people are told about
the conversion of these Gentiles? It produces
what? Great joy. This is a good thing. We're
seeing good things happen. But as is so often
the case, when people who preach a different
gospel, when people... who are false teachers,
come in, they sap us of our joy. They taint the
work of God. Verse four, when they arrived to
Jerusalem, they were received by the church and
the apostles and the elders, and they reported
all that God had done with them. But some of
the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood
up saying, it is necessary to circumcise them
and to direct them to observe the law of Moses.
The apostles and the elders came together to
look into this matter. After there had been much
debate, Peter stood up and said to them, brethren,
you know that in the early days, God made a choice
among you that by my mouth, the Gentiles would
hear the word of the gospel and believe. And
God who knows the heart, God, who knows the heart,
testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit,
just as he also did to us. Them, the Gentiles,
us, Peter is a Jew, but God, knowing their hearts,
gave them the Spirit in the same way. And he
made no distinction between us and them. Cleansing
their hearts by, what's the next word? Anybody?
What's the next word? Read it. Faith. Cleansing
their hearts by faith. He cleansed their hearts.
Spiritually, he cleansed them. They did not need
to remove some portion of their flesh in order
to be cleansed. What had to happen? They had
to come to Christ in faith. And that faith is
what cleansed their hearts. Now, therefore, why
do you put God to the test by placing upon the
neck of the disciples a yoke? And listen to this
next part. A yoke which neither our fathers nor
we have been able to bear. What had the law done
for the Jews? Well, the law certainly served
as a tutor. The law helped to separate them and
set them apart from the rest of the world. But
the law did not save the Jews. And we know this
because we pay attention when Kyle preaches from
the book of Hebrews. And we know that we have
a spiritual father in Abraham. And how was Abraham
saved? What's the point then? Over and over and
over. That Abraham believed God and God counted
it as righteousness to him. Abraham was saved
by faith. Abraham was not saved by the covenant
of circumcision. Abraham was not saved by law
keeping. Abraham was saved. Abraham became our
father, our spiritual father, because he believed
God. No amount of law keeping, no amount of good
doing would save Abraham or any of his spiritual
progeny. Only faith. And that is how our hearts
are cleansed. But we believe that we are saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same
way as they, the Gentiles, also are. All the
people kept silent. Well, but they did. Because
I think Peter was probably on a roll at this
point. All the people kept silent. And then they
were listening to Paul and Barnabas as they were
relating what signs and wonders God had done
through them among the Gentiles. If you haven't
read through the book of Galatians recently,
I would encourage you to do that this next week.
It won't take you long. It's not a terribly long
book of the Bible. And you will see much more
of this clearly identified. there, especially
in chapter five. Paul points to their background.
These religious insiders, clearly these men of
the circumcision were perverting the gospel.
They were turning it into grace plus. Grace and
a little more. Grace and works. That's what saves.
Law keeping, grace, for sure, grace, grace. For
sure. And this. That somehow that's what saves.
What a bummer. Indeed, some of the most dangerous
doctrinal threats come from within the church,
from people who appear to be part of the community
of faith, but who in fact are false teachers.
Do you remember during the Sermon on the Mount
when Jesus... says, unless you are, your righteousness
exceeds these, you will not inherit the kingdom
of heaven. Do you remember who Jesus is talking
about? He's talking about the Pharisees and the
Sadducees, the scribes. He's talking about the
religious leaders of the time, the very people
that Jesus also described as whitewashed tombs.
And what's inside of a whitewashed tomb? Dead
men's bones, right? It's so common and it's so
easy for people who appear religious to pervert
and distort what the gospel is. And we look at
them and we see them, those people who are listening
to Jesus preach, if he said to me, hey, look
at this guy right here, you have to be more righteous
than him. And I'm looking at the guy and I know
that he knows scripture and I know that he can
pray like nobody else. I know he can do all these
great things. And I might be tempted to think,
well, then there's no chance of me being saved.
But guys, that's not how we're saved. If it were
how we are saved, none of us would make it, right?
For by grace have you been saved through faith,
that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God,
not as a result of works. And why? Why isn't
it about works? What does Paul say in Ephesians
chapter two? So that no one may boast. Hey, guess
what? There's no works in the equation. There's
no human works in the equation because if there
were, you would be robbing God of his glory.
You could take some of the credit and wouldn't
you like that? I mean, admit it, admit it. Deep
down, you'd like a little bit of the credit.
Hey, God, you know, just saying. I was smart
enough to believe you, right? But that's not
what this is about. So Paul points to their background
as a means to identify these false teachers.
Then he identifies them by their impact. And
boy, this is a good one. In verse 11, it says,
they are upsetting whole families. Quite an impact.
Wow, wouldn't you want that to be your legacy?
Yeah, hey, I did a great job. I like made three
different churches split, saw several families
go under. Glad I could do my part. They upset
whole families. Their teaching spreads relationally.
It destabilizes homes by captivating vulnerable
people. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul warns Timothy in
one of the other pastorals. He says, for among
them are those who enter households and captivate
weak women, weighed down with sins, led on by
various impulses. He goes on to identify them
further. By their motivation, also in verse 11,
they teach things they should not teach for the
sake of sordid gain. This is probably one of
the most obvious hallmarks of false teachers,
isn't it? Sordid gain, filthy lucre. I think
that's King James. Always liked that one for
some reason. Sordid gain. They teach things they
should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.
Jesus said, and it was right after the whole
widow with two mites episode. So they're walking
out of the temple. He says, beware the Pharisees
and the scribes and the Pharisees who devour,
anybody remember? Widows' houses. Yeah, the hallmark
of a false teacher is that they will gladly take
your money. They'll tell you things like, I'm
just gonna pick an example out of thin air. They
might say, God's telling me today. That you're
going to take out that credit card. And I know
you're broke. And you don't have enough money
to make your next mortgage payment. But God has
told me that you can make a seed offering today.
Oh, all of their silly terms and expressions.
Make your seed offering today. A thousand dollars
on that credit card. And God will bless it tenfold.
Why? So that false teacher can have another airplane.
So they can add porcelain veneer to something.
I don't know what they do with it. They're weird.
Make their hair teased to stand a little higher.
Extra gallon of makeup. I don't know for sure.
But certainly, they are willing. To take advantage
of vulnerable people for the sake of making money.
You know, every profession, every profession
has any business, has a profit model. The whole
idea is to make money, right? And one of the
greatest things about that is that when you're
in business with someone, you know that they
are driven to make a profit. And they have to
be profitable because if they're not, they will
cease to be in business. It's a beautiful thing
about a business relationship. And it doesn't
matter what type of business it is or whether
you work for an employer, you're there to make
money. And everybody knows that up front. But
when someone disguises their desire to make money
with ministry, they are automatically disqualified.
If anyone is going about the ministry for the
purpose of making a profit, they are to be disqualified.
Remember Simon the magician? Do you remember
how sternly Peter rebuked Simon the magician
after he saw Peter and John laying hands on people?
And he said, may your silver perish with you.
You think you can buy God's power? You think
you can buy the work of the Holy Spirit? Simon
the magician was a perfect example of that. A
faithful shepherd tends to and cares for the
sheep. The false teacher merely sees the sheep
as a resource for selfish consumption. John 10
is so applicable here. I think another King James
word would be the hireling there in the parable
of the good shepherd. The good shepherd and his
under shepherds who look to him. These men who
are biblically qualified elders and overseers,
rather than being driven by profit, rather than
being motivated by money, they lay down their
lives for the sheep. If you have an elder or
an overseer in your church and they're not laying
down their life for the sheep, rather they are
trying to make money off of you, they need to
go. Finally, to identify false teachers, Paul
mentions their cultural context, and that happens
in verse 12. We've covered this multiple times,
so we won't spend much time on it here. He quotes
Epimenides, which we've mentioned previously,
to show that they are liars, evil beasts, and
lazy gluttons. He is painting with a broad brush.
He's using a hyperbolic statement, or he's overstating
the fact. But what he's really pointing to is
the fact that the culture at large is this way.
They're deceitful. They're evil beasts. They're
lazy. They're gluttonous. Rather than resisting
the worst parts of the vile culture around them,
they are products of it. Think of your favorite
TV preacher and his jet that he just has to have,
right? Because he can't dare fly commercial.
I mean, God forbid. Now, I don't fly commercial
either. Not since that last trip. But that's
not because... I don't like the people on the
planes because I don't want to go anywhere anymore,
right? You got no worries about me getting on
a Learjet, guys. That thing's way smaller. You
feel every bump. I ain't doing that. Rather than
being transformed by the renewing of their minds,
false teachers are conformed to the pattern of
this world, aren't they? Think about them for
a moment. What do they desire? What do they crave?
And that is how you can identify them. Merely
identifying false teachers, though, is not enough
because passive leadership in the church is permission
for heresy to persist. Passive leadership in
the church is permission for heresy to persist.
So identifying false teachers must be accompanied
by confronting false teachers. Your second heading,
verses 13 and 14. I'll pick up the pace now because
I know I'm going long. This testimony is true
for this reason, reprove them severely so that
they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention
to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn
away from the truth. It's important to note this
type of confrontation is not about winning. Now
this is tough for me, right? Like some people
have that shark mentality. Once they smell blood
in the water, they ramp up their attack. Anybody
else identify with that or is that just me? Yeah,
you think, okay, okay, I got them against the
ropes. I'm going in for the kill. This is a tough
thing because you want to get them, right? You
want to set them right. But this type of confrontation
is not about winning. It's not about going for
the throat. It's about restoring spiritual health.
Think of the process of Matthew 18. What is the
ultimate goal? It's a win back your brother,
right? To confront false teachers and restore
spiritual health, we must follow the mandate
Paul gives Titus in verse 13. He says, for this
reason, reprove them severely. This type of confrontation
requires direct, courageous, and unmistakable
correction. Just as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4
.2, preach the word. Be ready in season and out
of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great
patience and instruction. Make no mistake, silence
in the face of falsehood is a failure of leadership.
Silence in the face of falsehood is a failure
of leadership. Furthermore, the purpose of this
stern action, the reason, for this severe reproof
is clarified by the motivation found at the end
of verse 13, because the goal is, quote, that
they may be sound in the faith. Even false teachers?
We want them to be sound in the faith? Yeah,
most definitely. You know, in our world, we're
so divided. The political world is such an easy
example. We're so divided, right? We're all in
our own camps. Tribalistic is the term they like
to use, I think. Constantly chucking spears at
each other, I guess. I don't know. It seems primitive.
And man, you know, there are some people in politics
that I just think, they're irredeemable, man.
They are irredeemable. And you might be tempted
to... To feel that way, and I would argue that's
wrong, I would say the same is true of false
teachers. Some people who have spent the better
part of their lives, who are now long in the
tooth, men, women, perhaps you've seen them on
TV since the 1970s, who have been preaching falsehoods
that entire time. But you know what? They're
not beyond the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
This is about restoring spiritual health. So
while we're reproving them severely, in the same
breath, we're motivated to see them become sound
in the faith. The rebuke is surgical. It's intended
to restore spiritual health. It is not vindictive
and it is not punitive. It may be severe. It
may even be harsh, but it is not vindictive.
It is not punitive. We correct errors so believers
are no longer deceived. Think of the... effect
that they have on the people in the church. As
a result, we are no longer to be children tossed
here and there by waves and carried about by
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men,
by craftiness and deceitful scheming. Ephesians
chapter 4 and verse 14. Finally, to maintain
the spiritual health that confrontation is meant
to restore, we must reject unhealthy human tradition.
Verse 14 makes this very clear. Restoration is
only permanent if the believer stops consuming
what made them sick in the first place. I know
a man who's been diagnosed with lung cancer.
He's a guy I really, really like. He is not a
believer. I work with him on Monday nights at
the auto auction, and I really, really like him
a lot. He has lung cancer, and the doctors have
put him on medicine. told him what his diet should
be, but he still smokes like a chimney, right?
So even if they were to correct the cancer that
he has, is he not still consuming the same thing
that made him sick? If we're going to restore
people to spiritual health, we have to help them
to stop consuming the things that made them sick
in the first place. In this case, it's those
Jewish myths. and commandments of men. It's those
legalistic teachings, those empty words, those
dangerous religious add -ons that invalidate
our worship. Jesus warned the Pharisees in Matthew
15 that adding human precepts to God's word doesn't
make one more holy, it makes their worship vain,
hollow, and devoid of life. True spiritual health
isn't maintained by external man -made rituals,
but by a heart that remains anchored to the objective
truth of God's word. By rejecting these commandments
of men, we ensure that our worship remains sincere
and our faith remains sound. We'll be unpolluted
by the deceitful scheming that's mentioned back
in Ephesians 4, which we cited earlier. Identifying
and confronting are necessary steps that must
be taken to protect, restore, and maintain spiritual
health in the church when false teachers are
at work. But in this passage, the final step
given by Paul to Titus to order the church and
protect it is to expose false teachers. Exposing
false teachers, verses 15 and 16. 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. They profess
to know God, but by their deeds, they deny him,
being detestable and disobedient and worthless
for any good deed. Quite frankly, a man's theology
will be proven by his life. And the focus of
these final verses isn't just on the error being
taught, but on the hearts of the teachers. They
are exposed because of their false teaching.
In verse 15, Paul makes the distorted perspective
of the false teachers patently clear. Legalists
obsess over external rituals. That's why circumcision
comes up over and over and over again, right?
It's something that can be done physically to
a person in order to mark them a certain way.
So that's why it's so obvious. Honestly, it's
helpful. It's helpful to see what we're talking
about here. They're adding the law which Christ
has already fulfilled as a means of salvation.
Again, it's grace plus. They obsess over those
external rituals because their internal conscience
is defiled. Because their minds are corrupted,
they see impurity everywhere except inside themselves.
In verse 16, there's a form of practical atheism
that's described. They have verbal orthodoxy.
They may say a lot of the right things, but functionally,
they're heretics. Just as Jesus warned in Matthew
chapter 7, you will know them by their fruits.
At the end of verse 16, Paul renders the final
verdict of these false teachers whom he's commanded
us to identify and confront and expose. And here
he says that they are detestable. They're spiritually
foul. They're disobedient, morally broken. and
they are worthless for any good deed. They're
practically useless for the kingdom. Now, they
might do what we would describe as objectively
good things, but because they do them with the
wrong intent, they have no meaningful purpose
in the kingdom. Truly, this entire passage brings
us back to the original charge that we noted
in verse 9. The church is ordered rightly only
when elders hold fast the faithful word, exhort
in sound doctrine, and refute. those who contradict.
Those things are not to be taken lightly. Those
tasks are not to be undertaken lightly. If a
man is qualified as an elder, remember I said
that this is really one large unit. It must also
be about the business of calling out false teachers.
False teachers must be identified, confronted,
and exposed so that the church remains a place
where sound doctrine leads to godly living. The
church of Jesus Christ must not only be built
up, it must be protected, just as Paul told the
Ephesian elders to be on guard for yourselves
and for all the flock. Hold fast the truth, refute
what is false, and guard the church faithfully
so that its conduct always matches its confession.