LOOK FOR QUALIFIED SPIRITUAL LEADERS

MAY 12, 2013

Introduction:

·        Apparently Paul and Titus had been together in a ministry on the island of Crete.

·        As we go through the epistle we will learn something about the people who lived on this island.

·        Paul wrote this epistle to Titus, giving him instructions about what he was to do as a young preacher while remaining in Crete.

·       The date he wrote it was around A.D. 64-67.

·       Titus was written about the same time as I Timothy, right at the end of the ministry of the apostle Paul.

·       In this epistle to Titus we have a fine picture of the N.T. church in its full-orbed realization in the community as an organization.

·       The ideal church, according to this epistle:

(1)   has an orderly organization,

(2)   is sound in doctrine, and

(3)   is pure in life, ready to every good work.

·         In Timothy the emphasis was upon the need for sound teaching in the church.

·         In Titus the emphasis is put upon the importance of God's order for the conduct of the churches.

·         Titus was to set things in order in the churches in Crete. 

1.     BUILD UP BELIEVERS (TITUS 1:1-4)

1 Paul, a bond-servant 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, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3 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; 4 to Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.    NASB 

Verse 1:

·         We know from the O.T. that a bond slave was one who chose to remain a slave of his master for life.

·         The reason that Paul asserts his apostleship by the authority of Jesus Christ I s because he is going to give instructions to the organized church.

·         “for the faith of those chosen of God “, according to the standard of faith which is set for God's elect.

·         This will promote the reliance of the elect upon Him, and their glad recognition of the redemptive truth which centers in Him.

Verse 2:

·         The idea here is resting upon the hope of eternal life; it is an earnest yearning, confident expectation, and patient waiting for " eternal life," salvation in its fullest.

·         This promise was, “promised long ages ago”.

·         It was a promise of the Father to the Son for it is clearly implied that they were "given" to Christ by the Father in order that they may inherit life everlasting.

Verse 3:

·         The Word or message of God with respect to Christ and His gracious gift of salvation has now been made manifest.

·         Full salvation in Christ for both Jew and Gentile is based solely upon Christ's merits appropriated by faith, was:

1.      Objectively given and promised from: 

1 Corinthians 2:6-8

 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;    NASB 

Ephesians 1:4

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.    NASB 

2. Hidden in preceding ages and from the eyes of former generations (Romans 16:23; Ephesians 3:5,6,9; Colossians 1:26a). 

Ephesians 3:5-9

5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;

NASB 

Colossians 1:26-27

26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.     NASB 

·         It was hidden in the sense that it was not fully proclaimed, nor fully understood by the men of the O.T., though it had been foreshadowed.

Verse 4:

·         Grace is God's unmerited favor in operation in the heart of His children - His elect.

·         Peace is the consciousness in the hearts of His own that they have been reconciled with God through Christ. 

2.     GUARD YOUR CHARACTER (TITUS 1:5-9)

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, if any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 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, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.    NASB 

Verse 5:

·         Evidently, on a certain journey Paul and Titus had been together in Crete.

·         It would appear that the Gospel had been proclaimed and little groups of disciples had been gathered, meeting-places had been arranged, but no official organization had been implemented.

·         If this is correct, the stop-over in Crete occurred immediately after Paul's release from his first Roman imprisonment.

·         If so, Paul had left Titus in Crete to organize local churches with elders as spiritual leaders.

Verse 6:

·         When someone can point a finger at an officer of the church and accurately accuse him of dishonesty, then the cause of Christ is hurt.

·         All of the elder's actions must give evidence of the fact that both in deed and doctrine (teaching) he personally wishes to be a blessing to others. 

"I recognize that today in many wonderful Christian homes there is a son or daughter who is away from the Lord and who gives no evidence of godly upbringing. A man may be a fine, godly man who has a wonderful Christian home, and he may not be guilty of anything that caused that boy or girl to turn from Christ, but he should not be an officer in the church.”

J Vernon McGee 

Verses 7-9:

·         There are two things that officers in a church should do:

1.      An officer should be able to exhort, that is, to teach the Word of God.

2.      An officer must be able to refute the heretics. 

3.     CORRECT FALSE TEACHINGS (TITUS 1:10-16)

10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain. 12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true. For this cause reprove them severely that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15 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. 16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.    NASB 

Verse 10:

·         This means also that they were "futile" talkers, achieving no useful purpose with their conversation, with fictitious tales.

·         Through their idle and vain talk, they were deceiving the minds of the weak.

Verse 11:

·         There is no such thing as "freedom of misleading speech” in the church.

·         The first step would be to tenderly admonish those who commit error so that he may be won for the truth. If he refuses, he must be sharply reprimanded and told to desist.

·         The person who persists, however, in his evil ways must be shunned by the church and disciplined.

·         The final measure, excommunication, may have to be employed in order to safeguard the church and in order to bring the sinner to repentance.

·        The ungodly in the church was motivated only by money and prestige, not the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 12:

      ·  The reputation the Cretans had in the Roman world of Paul's day was that of  being untruthful, selfish, and pleasure-loving.

Verse 13:

·         Titus would have to deal with the Cretans in a manner differently than he would with the others because of their background and their very nature.

Verse 14:

·         Paul's reference here is not just to legalism.

·         The "Jewish fables" were fanciful stories about ancestors - Abraham, Moses, Elijah, etc.

·         The Lord Jesus rebuked the religious rulers for adding traditions to God's law, and that is what Paul is talking about here.

Verse 15:

·         Pure men are those who have been cleansed from their guilt by the blood of Christ and, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, are being constantly cleansed by that same Spirit from the pollution of their sins.

·         Those who are contaminated or polluted and having rejected Christ are defiled of all of God's pure gifts.

·         Even their minds are contaminated which is evidenced by the fact that their moral judgments are perverted and that they do not arrive at godly sorrow.

Verse 16:

·         You can deny God and the Bible by the life you live

·         Although the unbelieving Jews professed to know God, by their actions they denied Him.

·         They are completely incapable of performing any work that proceeds from the Word of God.