Scripture comes to us and grabs us and looks us in the eye and says, pay attention. As for you, this is what you are to do.
There is a different standard, beloved, for you and me than what is in the world. This passage calls us to respond to the Word of God. Welcome back to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm Bill Wright, and today as Don continues teaching God's people God's Word, he's going to show us how to recognize false teaching and how to respond to it. And Don, every time you turn around, it seems like some charlatan is spewing some unbiblical nonsense, doesn't it? You know, my friend listening to us today, it would be easy to get discouraged if you love truth and you see all of the opponents of truth that have influence in the church and in society. It's important for us to have more than an emotional reaction to these things, and I speak to you as a pastor today. You and I simply need to devote ourselves to serious long-term study of the Word of God for the sake of our own souls and for the sake of those that we love. Scripture told us that it was going to be like that. In 1 John 4 verse 1, it says, many false prophets have gone out into the world. That was true in the apostolic age? It's no surprise that it's true today. That's why we study the Bible together every day here on the Truth Pulpit. Thanks, Don.
And friend, if you're ready, let's get started. Here is our teacher with today's lesson from the Truth Pulpit. Everything that we do and everything that we think comes under the comprehensive lordship and authority of Jesus Christ. And so for some, that's an alien concept to the way that they think about salvation.
And even for many, even if they embrace that in principle, they distance themselves from it in practice. Well, Titus 2 helps us to overcome all of those things. And what we see in this chapter, beloved, is this. This is more than simply us coming to the Word of God and trying to find things that will help us live rightly. It does that and we can do that, but there's more going on here than that.
It's not simply a matter of our self-improvement. When we come to this text in Scripture, what we see happening is this, is that the Lord Jesus Christ himself, through his word, is coming to us and asserting his supremacy over every aspect of our lives. This is Christ, through his word, asserting his will upon us and calling us to greater conformity, to come out from the world, to be set apart, and to be devoted completely to his purposes, so that we would be his people, his possession, zealous for him, and zealous to do everything that he's called us to do.
This is lofty. This is surpassing to grow in our actual desire for sanctification, to not just go through the motions and not just earn our living and just go through life and enjoy the good things that earth has to offer, but to come to the place where our hearts are burdened for truth, that we're eager to know truth and eager to apply truth to our lives. And I'm grateful as I see the Lord bringing people to our church, new people to our church, new life, new blood who have come for precisely that reason. We just want the truth, is what I've heard so many new people say over the past several weeks. And so, as the Lord does this in our lives, providentially he's going to use chapter 2 to advance his purposes in each one of us, because it applies to every one of us, as we saw.
This umbrella is comprehensive over all of us in Titus chapter 2, but it's also over us corporately as well. And my prayer and my desire is that the Lord would use this to deepen our commitment to the truth that we committed ourselves to, to deepen that work and that he would transform us into a people that are even more for his possession, even more zealous for good works. But the question for each one of you is that your desire as well? Is this what you embrace for what you want? Or are you just comfortable and satisfied in your own level of attainment, spiritually, and not feeling much need to go beyond it of where you're at? Well, if that's the case, may the Lord stir in your heart and wake you up, because we all stumble in many ways. We all need to be reproved, corrected, and trained in righteousness by the very word of God.
So, we embark on this wonderful journey. Now, as we come to chapter 2, just let me reset the context for you a little bit. Paul had just addressed in chapter 1 the need for Titus to refute false teachers. You see it in verses 10 and 11 of chapter 1. He had just set forth the qualifications for elders and emphasized the importance of elders doing this at the end of verse 9. They need to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. Listen, a biblical ministry is going to repel people, certain people that have wrong biblical convictions, that aren't interested in sound doctrine, who contradict it, either in their teaching or in their living. That is unavoidable in biblical ministry. There is a dividing line that comes in biblical ministry, and elders are charged to press that and to make it clear to build people up in sound doctrine.
Yes, of course, that's essential, but also there is this element of refuting those who contradict, of dismantling and destroying their philosophies and speculations. And you will see even in chapter 3 that those who cause divisions are to be reproved and rejected. In chapters 3, verses 10 and 11, there is an unavoidable element of that in biblical ministry. We must understand that, beloved. We must realize that the Lord separates the wheat from the tares. He separates the wheat from the chaff, and that is going to be an inevitable byproduct of biblical ministry. It could be no other way, and it is stated very clearly here as a responsibility of elders to identify those issues and to make the teaching clear upon them. So he says that at the end of verse 9, and he goes on and he addresses it in verse 10, where he says, For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, meaning the Jewish influence in the church.
And what are we to do with them? What was Titus to do with them? Verse 11, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. And in verse 16, Paul goes on to say, They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. And so Paul has identified the need for elders, and he has identified specifically the contrary subversive elements that are in the church at that time that needed to be refuted and silenced in order to advance the health of the overall body of Christ and to protect the people that come under the realm and the umbrella of the biblical ministry. Part of the elders' responsibility is to silence those voices and to refute and redirect those influences that would undermine godliness in the lives of the redeemed.
Why? So that Christ could have a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. You see, this is intrinsic in biblical ministry. This is essential to biblical ministry.
And churches that try to just avoid that and just smooth over everything with everybody as much as they can and never engage in conflict and never fight for doctrine, never advance doctrine and say, This is true and this is not true, are not fulfilling the spirit of New Testament ministry. And so you and I here at Truth Community Church, you and I need to understand these things and realize the purpose of God as revealed in His Word through what is happening. And so, with that little bit of background, chapter 1 ended with this note of how you deal with wolves in the midst. Now, in chapter 2, there's a pivot point.
There's a turning point. He's now going to address matters within the body of Christ, and he turns to the positive instruction that builds up the church. We're going to see three principles just from verse 1, chapter 2, verse 1. Let's read that one verse again here.
Notice the contrast, but as for you. He's making a contrast now between the false teachers and the subversive influences that he was addressing at the end of chapter 1. Now he's pivoted and said, Now, Titus, I'm going to talk to you about what you do in the midst of this. As you are establishing elders, as you are establishing the church, here's what you are to do, he says, chapter 2, verse 1.
But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. So we're going to see three principles from just that one verse. Actually, it's amazing how much God packs into a short passage of Scripture. But first of all, we want to see the good distinction, the good distinction that Paul is laying down for Titus. One of the things that I love about the book of Titus and about this particular point in the book is that it clarifies where the battle is, and it clarifies the instructions for the soldier of Christ. It gives him his marching orders and makes it clear what is to be done, what is to be thought, and what is to be acted upon. What Paul is doing here in chapter 2, verse 1, is he is emphasizing the constructive teaching that is to be put forward by Titus in his ministry.
That opening phrase there, But as for you, it sets up a sharp contrast. And one of the things that we have to do is we have to look at what's happening in the world around us and recognize the evil that is in it. We have to look at broad trends within the so-called evangelical church, recognize the good and recognize a lot of bad that's going on in it. And even coming in more personally, coming into the church and realizing that not everybody in the body of Christ is necessarily the greatest example for us to follow. We have to, beloved, we have to think and recognize what is going on so that we can distinguish the influences that we should embrace and follow and even the people that we should embrace and follow and then the influences and people that should be rejected because they are not on the path that leads to godliness. And so Paul, having outlined everything in verse 1 about the false teachers, comes to Titus and he says, But as for you.
Now what I'm about to describe is a little bit too harsh for the setting, but it will make the point. It is as though Paul and Titus had been kind of looking around and surveying. You picture them surveying the landscape around them.
And then Paul steps into Titus' line of vision, puts his hands gently but firmly over Titus' face and says, Titus, look at me. Look me in the eye. This is what you are to do in the midst of this landscape. Here's what you are to do.
He's looking Titus straight in the eye and saying, Now, in light of all of this difficulty that's going on, here is your responsibility, young man. This is what you must do. I cannot do this myself. You have to do it. This is your charge from God for what you are to do. And now, beloved, for each one of you in the room, scripture by extension is coming to you and gently but firmly putting the loving hands of a sovereign Savior against your spiritual cheeks, you might say, looking you straight in the eye and saying, This is what you must do in response to what you see going around you. And remember, this is the Lord Jesus Christ communicating and commanding to his people what they are to do through his word. Look at chapter 2, verse 15 with me.
Again, we've seen that everyone is addressed by it. Older men and women, younger men and women, children, everybody is under the authority of this text. And what scripture says in verse 15, what Paul said to Titus and what carries over to the church today, is this, these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.
Literally, with all command. This is an authoritative word from God as to what you must do. And let no one disregard you. We are not free to take, pick, and choose here what we like and what we don't like, what will be comfortable with the world and not bring us into too much conflict. Within the world, within the church, we're not free to that. And so scripture comes to us individually.
It comes to us corporately and grabs us and looks us in the eye and says, pay attention. As for you, this is what you are to do. This is how you are to respond. There's a distinction. There is a different standard, beloved, for you and me than what is in the world. There is a different standard than what is acceptable in a lot of churches, so-called churches today. We come to scripture directly and we say, Lord, speak, give me instruction, tell me what you want, and I will believe and I will have faith and I will do. That is the spirit in which this passage calls us to respond to the Word of God. And not everybody's there. Not everybody's there.
Not everybody's earnest about these things. What will it be with you? What will it be with you as we come to God's Word here today, you young people even? Are you going to take your cues from the way that your friends act and take your cues from their carnal, dismissive behavior, their indifference to the Word of God?
Are you going to blend in like a chameleon with them so that you can be accepted by them? Or will you stand apart from that and say, no, no, God saved me that I might be zealous for good works, that I might be a people for His own possession. And whatever that means, I'm going to pay attention and when God looks me in the eye from scripture, I'm going to look back and I'm going to stare into the eyes of scripture and say, yes, I want the Spirit of God to conform my life to what God says here.
See, there are spiritual commitments here that are just running everywhere in every aspect of life, aren't there? What does Paul say to Titus here in verse 1? Well, Titus has a different standard. In Titus here, the good distinction is what we're seeing. What Paul is saying to Titus, first of all, is that in this good distinction, he is to be distinct in ministry. Distinct in ministry, that's a subheading under the first point, the good distinction.
Titus is to be distinct in ministry. What elders in particular, but every Christian, is to be distinct in is that we must recognize false teaching and reject it decisively. We're not in a position, we don't have the liberty to just get along with everybody who teaches, who teach things or practices things that contradict scripture. We're not at liberty to just say, that's okay.
They have their truth, I have mine. We're not like that in biblical life, in biblical ministry, in biblical thinking. Paul tells Titus, you must stand apart from the false teachers that I've just been talking about. You must stand apart with sound doctrine, with healthy teaching.
Look at it there in verse 1. But as for you, Titus, you speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. You think about what you believe and you contemplate what you say before you say it so that you know what the truth is and that you're mindful of the way that it is being articulated so that it will have a healthful impact on those who hear and upon your own soul. You see, church leadership not only condemns error, but it builds people up in what the truth is. You can see this in other pastoral epistles that Paul wrote. Turn back just a couple of pages in your Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 3 through 5 to start with. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 3. Look at what the Bible says about false teaching. If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. He says, look at the false teachers, and Paul gives a spirit-inspired analysis of their thinking, the impact of their teaching, and the motivations which cause them to do that. And then it goes on in verse 10, as he describes, and verse 10 becomes a bridge from the negative into the positive. He says, For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Now look at what it does in verse 11. It is the exact same concept of what he's doing in Titus 2, verse 1.
He has spoken about false teachers, and now he redirects the conversation. He grabs Timothy, as it were, by both sides of his face, and he says, Timothy, look at me. Look me in the eye, Timothy, and pay attention to what I am about to say because I am addressing you now. Verse 11, he says, But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith.
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Elders, including those who aspire for spiritual leadership. You know, we have a lot of men in our church that are starting to devote themselves to serious reading, serious study in one way or another, and I'm very, very encouraged by that. Elders, church leadership, and those who aspire for church leadership must understand this crucial point, that the responsibility for church leaders is to speak the truth of God as revealed in Scripture and to speak it with depth. God's word is to be taught with depth, not with superficiality. I can't remember, as I'm standing here, where the church was or who it was that told me, but somewhere a few years ago, there was a church that was going to start a big, important series on the book of Ephesians. Well, that sounded great at the time, and, you know, those who loved the word of God that were in the environment at that time thought, okay, we're going to address things, and, you know, I'm going to get to hear the truth from Ephesians and where our church stands on this. Well, it ended up being, what, a five- or six-week series that started in chapter 2, verse 15, skipping over everything about election and the triune work of God and salvation in Ephesians chapter 1 and the depravity of man in chapter 2, verses 1 through 3 and monergistic salvation in verses 4 through 10 and the necessity to live good works after a life after coming to Christ in faith.
Skipped over all of that. That's not serious, beloved. That's slicing and dicing the word of God to your own effect and your own desires. It's not teaching the word of God in depth. Paul tells Timothy, and look at it again in chapter 6, verse 12, said, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Look, beloved, look. The duty and the responsibility of a church, if not every individual man of God, the responsibility of biblical ministry is to teach the whole counsel of God and to teach it accurately, to teach the whole counsel and not to pick and choose, just with series of topical messages that never go through anything systematically, that avoid the hard truths of Scripture because it might drive someone away. Someone might get offended. Someone might get angry if they're called to repent from their sins.
Someone might get offended if a personal matter in their family is addressed as being ungodly in something that requires attention. Biblical ministry doesn't have the luxury of just passing over those things for the sake of what extends the broadest but the most superficial veneer that allows everybody to come in and be comfortable. That's not biblical ministry. And, beloved, for those of you that love the truth, and I know that so many of you do, that kind of ministry should not even be attractive to you. It should not be appealing to you to realize that those who avoid the difficult truths of Scripture are not giving you biblical ministry. If you love the Word of God, if you love the Word of God, then you want it in all of its fullness.
Amen. May we be ready to speak out in love against those who would add to or take away from God's holy Word. Well, friends, we are so glad you decided to spend some of your very precious time with us today here on The Truth Pulpit with Don Green. If you'd like to find out more about this ministry, we invite you to visit thetruthpulpit.com. And if you'd like to send us a note of encouragement, you can do that at our site as well. Again, that's thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, inviting you to join us next time as Don Green continues teaching God's people God's Word from the Truth Pulpit.
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