Sermon for MHBC (13 June 2021). You can listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays. Also available as a podcast here or by searching “Monument Heights Baptist Church” in your favorite podcast app.
It’s easy in a church to get lulled to sleep. We go through the motions. We do the same things week after week, year after year. We don’t assess issues that need to be addressed. One reason is that we forget what is at stake. We don’t remember that there is a devil who is out to steal, kill, and destroy. We forget that there are real dangers even within the church. We can’t afford to fall asleep. Scripture repeatedly warns us to be watchful, to be ready, to be clear headed. Why? Because we are in a battle. We are caught up in a cosmic struggle with powers and principalities in unseen places. It is crucial that we take on a wartime mindset.
In Europe in the 1930s, Germany was beginning to stir. The rest of the world was asleep, but there was one man who would not be silent. As early as 1933—the year Hitler was elected—Churchill was publically warning of Germany’s intentions. He demanded that the government wake up and prepare. The prime minister at the time considered Churchill an alarmist and an annoyance. Over the next few years, Germany and Italy would continue to violate the terms of the WWI peace treaty. The leadership in Britain continued a policy of appeasement and accommodating the dictators. Again in 1938, Churchill wrote an article for a newspaper, stating, “Our fleet and air force are inadequate.” He continued to be ignored, though in two more years, German bombs would be falling on Britain.[1]
The Bible is so clear with us. We must be ready. We are already in the thick of it. There are already situations and individuals within our congregation whom Satan will exploit. He is out to destroy the church. He is out to malign the church. He is out to lead us astray. So it is paramount that our leadership remains absolutely committed to Scripture and the faith we have received.
Last week we saw Paul’s instructions to Titus about appointing elders. His final encouragement was that they would hold fast to the word so that they might be able to teach and rebuke. This week, we see why that’s necessary. Look at v. 10: For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.
I don’t love the word choice insubordinate. It’s a fine rendering of the original but not a common term for us. The idea is that these people are trouble-makers. That’s clear as we go along. And notice he points out that those of the “circumcision party” are especially problematic. Here it is referring to people who believe circumcision is necessary for salvation. This goes against the message of the gospel. Sound doctrine does not teach that we earn our salvation. It teaches that Christ has won it for us.[2]
A lot of times, the church’s impulse is to think that such teaching is just innocent and well-meaning. For example, I grew up around a lot of professing believers who liked to define things as sinful and unholy that God himself had not defined as sinful. Sometimes our impulse to that sort of behavior is to pass it off as well-meaning, but the NT consistently depicts it as deeply problematic and contrary to the gospel.
When we are not clear on the gospel—and by that I mean the fact that we are made righteous through Christ not our works—we can easily be led astray. Look at v. 11: They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.
What are they teaching? They appear to be teaching salvation by works. And notice they are doing it for shameful gain. It’s all about them. It makes them feel powerful and prideful. And it is harming the church.
Then Paul quotes what appears to be a famous Cretan poet in v. 12: One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” So here is Paul quoting a contemporary saying about Cretans. Remember Titus is in Crete. And he quotes this saying to point that what they are teaching is not true and they are doing it for their own gain.
And he says there’s truth in this saying. Verse 13: This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
Here we have some clarity on what leadership must do. Here is the task of pastors and elders. Let me say it in three points since that covers the whole context best.
First, pastors are tasked with building up the congregation through sound teaching. Trees grow through proper nourishment. Buildings are established with the proper materials. In the same way, pastors are not CEOs or storytellers or entertainers. The job is to teach sound doctrine.
Second, pastors are tasked with protecting the congregation through sound teaching. When the congregation is being unsettled or led astray, the shepherds must protect.
Third, pastors are tasked with restoring the congregation through sound teaching. Look again at the end of v. 13. “Rebuke them … so that they may be sound in the faith.” This rebuke is restorative. All church discipline and correction is aimed at restoration. The hope is always that the party engaging in the behavior will repent. Pastors are responsible for exposing the dangers in the hopes of restoration.
Consider a hypothetical scenario with me. You are a pastor. A song is sung during the service called “It’s a Highway to Heaven.” The song goes on to talk about purity and that being the only way to heaven, but never once mentions what Christ has done or our inability to tread that path. What do you do? You are responsible for let’s say 100 people who just heard that.
Or what you if you learn that a Sunday School teacher is teaching something unorthodox (e.g. Jesus was just a good teacher)? Pastors who confront these issues sometimes are seen as meddlesome or controlling but remember there’s a lot at stake. Pastors, in some ways, must be the Winston Churchills who are sounding the alarm even if others don’t see it.
Now Paul gives us some expansion on v. 13. Remember the idea is that they would be sound in the faith. Verse 14 gives some descriptions about what that looks like. Verse 14: not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
Remember his target. His target is these commands and traditions that point away from the gospel. Unfortunately, we do this all the time in the church when we impose certain standards and rules that don’t derive from God. This is all a turning away from the truth.
And to turn away from the truth, to turn away from the gospel, is death. There’s no power, no hope, no possibility of change. If the gospel is turned into rule-following or mere moralism, it only creates an impossible burden. It doesn’t result in righteousness or holiness. That’s exactly Paul’s point in the next two verses.
Look at v. 15: To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. Now this verse has some complexity to it. Of course “purity” brings to mind the OT law and that’s probably what’s going on in Crete. There is a group who has infiltrated the church and they are saying to be really pure, you need to follow these particular customs and rules. But for Paul, the concept of purity comes from Christ. We are pure and undefiled only in Christ. It’s those who don’t trust Christ who are defiled or impure. That’s why he says “to the defiled and unbelieved, nothing is pure.” They are stuck like hamsters on a wheel in this endless cycle of rule-following and no power. Their minds are skewed. Everything they say is distorted. This is why they are so dangerous. But the gospel provides the power to change—to really change. And we will see clearly next week that the gospel really does create change. Christians live distinctive lifestyles through the gospel.
Verse 16: They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
In other words, their lives don’t reflect the transformation of the gospel. Their disruption is evidence enough that they are outside the gospel. And they have no business leading God’s people.
Here is one application. Notice Paul’s urgency. This is serious. Now as Baptists we have a particular understanding of church membership that differs from virtually every other tradition. We believe our membership should be made up of believers. This is why we require a profession of faith and believer’s baptism as the entry point into the church. Unfortunately, Baptist churches have not always taken their membership seriously. For example, I had a lady say to me once about some kids in a church that they are about at the age for them to make a decision. That’s not how it works.
We also make decisions as a congregation. Do you see how devastating that can be for a congregation that is not sound in the faith? They’ll make all sorts of poor decisions. Why? Because of what Paul says in vv. 15–16. This is why it is necessary for us to take our membership seriously. This is why it’s absolutely vital for us not to sweep things under the rug, but to actually address issues with the gospel. This is why doctrinal error must be dealt with.
Church, we are in a renewal effort, but we are also in the middle of a war. The world, the flesh, and the devil are out to destroy. A church that lacks gospel witness is an effective tool in Satan’s hands. But a church that is devoted to the gospel and serious about Christ being king is a useful tool for our Lord. The time for sleep has passed. It is time for us to recognize the readied forces of the enemy. It is time for us to be alert to the dangers. And this applies both individually and congregationally. But I am absolutely convinced that any move toward renewal means that Monument Heights must adopt a wartime mentality. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean against the culture, but against the spiritual forces that seek to gain a foothold in our church and will use people within our own congregation to destroy us from the inside out.
[1] https://www.raabcollection.com/foreign-figures-autographs/churchill-june-5-1938
[2] An important cross reference is Galatians 2, especially v. 16: yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Very inspired 💓
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