The Apostle Paul urged Titus to appoint elders in local churches, men who know and teach and live the truth of God's Word, so that those under their care might be sound in their faith and able to discern false teachers. There are dangerous people within the church, and today on Truth for Life weekend, we'll learn how we are to deal with them. Alistair Begg is teaching from Titus chapter 1, beginning with verse 10. Yeah. The problem here, he says, is a religious problem we're facing.
These people have a routine, but they have no reality. These people have a creed, but their conduct does not match their creed. These people have faith talk, but there is no fruit that is seen in their lives. And so says Paul, summarizing it at the end of verse 16. Professing To know God, denying Him by their works, they are detestable.
They're disobedient. and they're disqualified. unfit for any good work. He then just very briefly mentions that The impact of these people is such that they have to be dealt with properly. And he tells us what's going on.
That they are unsettling, verse 11. unsettling whole families. In the NIV, I think it is ruining households.
Now, again, Paul, and it's just one page over here if you want to turn to one page back. Paul addresses The same problem in Ephesus. And I wonder if he doesn't When he writes 2 Timothy, he doesn't have in the back of his mind the problem that was there in Crete. There's nothing new under the sun when it comes to these things. Because in verse 5 of 2 Timothy 3, he's talking about those who have an appearance of godliness but deny its power.
They're shams. They're hypocrites. They're vacuous. And they're to be avoided. Avoid such people.
Now it's very important to recognize he's not saying avoid non-Christian people. He's saying, avoid hypocrites. Avoid people who are suggesting by their words that they are Orthodox and yet they are denying him by their lives. And he says, let me tell you what they're like. They are the kind who creep into households and capture weak women.
That's not a description of women per se, that's a description of a certain kind of woman. The kind of woman, he says, who's burdened by her sins who is vulnerable Presumably emotionally. Certainly spiritually. She has no settled convictions. She has no fundamental grasp of the truth at all.
It's a tragic picture. And here in Crete, he says, these kind of characters play on these kind of people. This is how they get into homes like this. They don't come through the front door announcing the fact that they are opposed to the truth of the gospel. They come in through the back door suggesting that they know the key to the gospel, and it has to do not with the plainness of the gospel itself, but it has to do with the elements to which they.
Yeah. So we meet these people all the time. I had a conversation, I told the people in the first service, I had a conversation with a lady that my wife and I know that we see her in the community regularly. She may be here this morning, and I hope she is. But we're very frank in our interchange with one another.
I would never speak behind her back. But she always has the hardest questions for me. I meet her in the store and she asks, I say, What's the question of the day? The last one was. Why is the name of God being taken out of all the Jewish scriptures?
That was her question. I said, well, who told you that? She said, well, it was a man on the radio and he was explaining it. I said, well it sounds like a question for him because I don't know what you mean. And I said, well, why do you even care?
She said, Well, I care about everything. I mean, I don't care if it's Christian or Jewish or whatever it is, I I've got to find things out. I said, well, how is it helping you? She said not very well. I said to her, you know The Bible talks about people like you.
who are always learning. and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. They're fascinated by this notion and that notion and this view, and they get the charts and the diagrams and the C D's and the everythings. I said, you know. Why don't we just start with Jesus?
Who he is Why he's come. That he is the one who provides the reconciliation. That is absolutely essential because of the fact that we are alienated from God. That your sense of alienation From your family, as you've mentioned it, from your psyche, as you're prepared to acknowledge it, spiritually. All of these things are subsumed under the fight of the great alienation, that we're alienated from God in our rebellion, in our wandering, we're exiles, we're wilderness wanderers, we're strangers.
Our forefathers started in the garden, we live in the jungle, and Jesus. Has come to bring us back to the garden in all of its beauty, in all of its symmetry, in all of its wholeness. But can we just start with Jesus? And I think that we're going to have to be having these conversations a lot. I don't think I run into these people and they're unique.
I think you run into them as well. Earnest people. Seeking people. Learning. but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Novelty. Subtlety. and the commands of man. are a really bad concoction. Listening.
But not learning. Investigating. But never believing. See in the teaching of the Bible As a form A mechanism of rearranging our external lives. as opposed to discovering in the teaching of the Bible.
This immense story. Of the inside-out revolution that has been brought about as a result of Jesus and his work upon the cross. Of the amazing upside-down transformation that he makes when he takes hold of a life. and changes it. Until The reality of that grips a heart.
grips a household, grips a church. Then those who attend that church will be susceptible. to the intriguing Alluring appealing concoction of novelty and myth. combined with very authoritarian rules and regulations. Paul says Titus, you need to understand this.
So that your elders understand it.
So that the members of the congregation will be able to deal properly. with those that they find. who are inviting them to drink. of this Ruinous. Potion.
And that is what he then says to them. He says, Let me tell you how they are to be handled. And you can see it just in two phrases. First of all, they must be silenced, or the word could be translated muzzled. They must be muzzled.
Why? Because they're upsetting whole families. Whether he means the household churches, or whether he means Families, nuclear families, doesn't really matter. It could be both. Maybe it is both.
So they have to silence them. You just the dog has to be muzzled. If the dog bites people all the time, if the dog yaps all the time, if the dog is a jolly nuisance, then muzzle the dog. That's what he's saying. Muslim.
It doesn't sound very nice, I admit that. He says, just tell him to shut up. Shut them up. Silence them. How are they to be silenced?
by compelling argument. By the approaches of church discipline? I don't know. But you didn't appoint them to lead small groups in your church. Don't let them loose with a small company of your congregation there in Crete.
They'll ruin the entire thing.
Now not because they're wearing a baseball hat that says I am opposed to the fundamental doctrine that is represented in the truth of the Bible, but because they said when I get my little group together, I'm going to explain to them that this little element here is absolutely the key to it. And that if I can bring them into line with these external commands that I've come up with and bring them all into subjection to this, that's how it goes. And don't put them in your Sunday school either. Silence them. And then Rebuke them sharply.
That doesn't sound any better either, does it? Therefore, rebuke them sharply. Why? So that they may be sound in the faith.
Now the them there is difficult, is difficult in English. and it's difficult in Greek. Who's the them? Who's them? Is he saying rebuke then the teachers, or is he saying rebuke then the listeners?
I'm not sure to tell you the truth. But both of them Wouldn't we do well to be rebuked? The teachers should be rebuked sharply if that's the kind of nonsense that they're spewing. And the congregation that is susceptible to buying that potion should be rebuked sharply so that they then may actually become healthy, that they may become sound Christians, so that they may devote themselves to the gospel, not to Jewish myths, and so that they will not be on the receiving end of the commands of people who are actually turning away from the truth. And that's why He began as he did.
In verse 9. And that's why he's going to continue in verse one of chapter two. Isn't it interesting that verse nine, that the the two slices of bread around this rather distasteful sandwich in the middle, the ingredients in the middle, the two slices of bread are teaching. Verse 9: Make sure that your elders hold firmly to the message so that they can. Convey the truth so that they can refute error.
And then, what is he going to say in verse 1 as he goes into chapter 2? But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Teaching, teaching. And it is the teaching of God's word, the understanding of it, the learning of it. That then provides the antidote.
to the kind of confusion that is represented in the middle.
Now, our time is gone. I just want to make one point perhaps by way of application. When you read this passage, and I've read it a lot this week. Maybe you have to. If you if you listen to it with the ears of an outsider.
Then you've got to say that It's understandable. But someone will say Well I didn't know much about Paul, but I always thought he was a mean guy. And unlike Jesus, who was apparently a nice guy, I've heard about Paul, and he's a mean guy. And actually, now I read this thing, I think he is a mean guy. Kinda mean, isn't it?
Shut up. We built them sharply. Deal with this, deal with that. Is he just a mean guy? And furthermore, There's a level of intolerance here that I don't really like.
is not politically correct at all.
So the ears of the outsider Hear this kind of thing. And we're going to have to translate for them. If they are not then to reject the actual truth of the gospel because of their misunderstanding of what's being said.
Now, this came to my mind yesterday. yesterday uh when I pulled up behind a car at uh ninety one and uh Cannon Road. I was immediately struck by the fact that it was in my way. And it was covered with stickers. And so I had to wait and I figured I'd read the stickers and there were some there that I hadn't seen.
But my favorite was right there on the back bumper. Coexist. Coexists. And all the symbols of the various religions. And I was sitting there and I was thinking about this morning's address, and I was thinking about the driver of the car.
And I thought, I wonder what the fellow in the car would think of what Paul is doing here and speaking so sharply. And I wonder how I could then communicate this to this fellow, who I think would probably say, I don't like the sound of that, it's mean, and I don't like mean people. Or who would say, that's the kind of intolerance that I expect from the Bible. You see? That's the reason I don't believe the Bible.
So, how would I say well, so how am I going to talk to my coexist friend that I don't know yet? Because he's in his box and I'm in my box. And I said, well, I would have to we'd have to start a little bit back. We'd have to start And talk about Uh Revelation. rather than human speculation.
We'd have to talk about the fact that Christianity is A revealed truth? That God has disclosed Himself, we'd have to start working on that. We'd have to speak about Jesus. And his Distinction amongst religious leaders of all time and so on. But we would also have to address this idea of coexistence.
And I would want to say to him that I like the idea of coexistence. Because I actually Kind of like getting on with people. I mean, I speak to English people. As a Scotsman? Um That's coexistence.
I'll include the Welsh and even the Irish as well. I want to coexist. I want to coexist with the Muslim doctors that I meet at uh the hospital when I'm visiting. I want to coexist. with the fellow in the dairy mark.
Who is a Sikh? I want to as well. I I want to do all of that.
Now he may think, no, you can't want to do that because your thing says you're right and they're all wrong.
Well, let's talk about that just now. Let's just talk about the fact that we want to coexist. But let's talk about toleration. It really is quite intolerant, isn't it, of Paul to say what he says. Why does he say that?
We only got one or two options. If the Bible is just a fabrication and a monumental lie, Then frankly, let's just go do something else, because there's no point in conversation anyway. But it actually is a record, an accurate record of who Jesus is and what He's done and why He's come. Then we ought to view this intolerance. As the kind of intolerance that is represented In the cancer specialist, who is eradicating cancer from the body of his patient.
There's nothing remotely unkind about the intolerant perspective that they're taking on the cancer. They are seeking to deal with it. as vigorously, as strenuously as they possibly can. in order to heal. And to make new.
And so what Paul is doing here is saying We can't allow this disease to spread through the congregation. It's not a matter of collapsing truth into error and finding the middle ground. We can't do that, he says. The reason we can't do that is Because this is who Jesus is. And what Jesus has accomplished.
In his death on the cross. challenges all of the commands of man, challenges not only the irreligion of a world that is rejected in. but challenges the religion. of people who profess to know God. But have no fruit in their lives.
Now I don't know how well that would go. But I would hopefully have a chance to say to him and And you know The love that God looks for from us. It's not the love of external religious orthodoxy. It's the love of a son. For his mom, That is not marked simply by the tidiness of his room.
By the generosity of his spirit, By his commitment to punctuality and attendance at school. All of that could be in place. With no real living relationship. Between the mother and the son? The sun may be gone now.
Living on his own. And he wants his mother to know that he's still tidy. He's still punctual. And he never would miss sending her a birthday card. It's all tidy.
It's all sort of right. It's all sort of external. But he does not give to her. The love. That her generosity of spirit and her self-sacrifice as a mother deserves.
She doesn't just want his tidiness. Or is punctuality? She wants his heartfelt devotion. And life. God is not looking from heaven.
to try and see If there are a bunch of people on the east side of Cleveland that want to commit to tidiness and punctuality and external religiosity. He is looking for those. who will fall down at the feet of his Son. and say all that I could ever do. is love you.
In response to the majestic nature of your love for me. that has been revealed. And your cross. The people in Crete We're in danger of having that truth snuffed out. And I think you would agree.
that both whether it is in Crete or in Cairo. or in Cleveland. It is the duty and responsibility of church leadership. To ensure that every time that ugly concoction raises its head. that it is responded to.
graciously. Formally. ruthlessly. compassionately.
So that the ethos of the church becomes an ethos. of people who are embracing one another out of the wonder of God's goodness to them. Who are doing what God says in the Bible, not in order that they might discover it to be a means of acceptance. but who are doing it because of the reality of their acceptance. And that is what we long for here at Parkside.
So that when our friends from the coexistent party. Come among us. They may want to react vociferously. To what is said. as they encounter the clarity of the scriptures.
And it may well be then. that it is in the abiding presence of Christ within his people. that they discover If you like, not just the counterbalance. But the context. in which that kind of clarity.
His work talent. Loved ones, we need to pray to this end. This is not an easy time, you know, to. to articulate these truths. It's just what the Bible says.
Let's pray together. Father, thank you. That your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and that's a long way away to Crete, both geographically and chronologically. And yet it rings true We're all susceptible to high sounding authorit TD and Dogmatic commands that come from the lips of someone who gives the appearance of godliness and yet turns his back on the truth. Oh God, save us from these people and from these things.
And make us the kind of people that understand the gospel so that the gospel then may become the pervasive flavor of. our relationships with one another and our desire to reach out to others. Come and abide with your church, we pray. Fill us with your love. Grant that our desire to Remain true to the doctrine will be more than matched by our desire to live in the light of your love.
We desperately need your help. All of us do. Leaders and followers alike, we're all followers. We're all learners from the one who knows the answers, Jesus. We all bow at His cross.
We all submit to His headship. Hear our prayers. For Christ's sake. Amen. Yeah.
We're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life Weekend.
Now, I know you're thinking ahead to Christmas. I hope you're thinking about the opportunities it presents for us to tell others about Jesus. Let me encourage you to purchase Alistair Begg's little booklet titled The Man on the Middle Cross. You've probably seen the popular video by that same title. This video inspired Alistair to expand the message in the video to invite those who don't yet know Jesus to learn about three people whose lives were forever changed when they met him: the woman at the well, a paralytic man, and the thief on the cross.
Alastair explains that each of them came to Jesus with a need, but Jesus addressed their deeper need, having their sins forgiven. This is a powerful book to share widely with others who have yet to know the hope of the gospel, and at the end of the booklet Alastair invites readers to pray a prayer inviting Jesus into their lives. We've priced this booklet at just one dollar, so you can buy as many copies as you need. Let me suggest that right now you think about five people you'd like to reach out to with a copy, and then circle back in the New Year for a follow up conversation. You can hand out these booklets along with invitations to your Church's Christmas Eve service, or distribute them around the neighborhood in the New Year.
In fact, it's a good idea to keep a few copies of this on hand for when gospel opportunities arise throughout the year. You'll find the booklets at truthforlife dot org slash middle. And while you're on the website, check out the book we're currently featuring. It's a classic devotional titled Morning and Evening. It features the teaching of nineteenth century Pastor Charles Spurgeon.
These insights have withstood the test of time and continue to be true and relevant for us as believers to day. You'll find in this book short daily readings that can start and end your day, helping you meditate consistently on God's Word and the importance of abiding in Christ. Find out more about the morning and evening devotional when you visit truthforlife.org. Thanks for taking time out of your weekend to study God's Word with us.
Next weekend, we'll explore the what, when, and why questions that surround the incarnation of Jesus. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
