Titus 1:10-16

As Nicholas mentioned, we're in Titus chapter

Titus 1 · chapter mention

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

Titus 1 · chapter mention

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

Romans 16:18

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

Acts 20 · chapter mention

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

Acts 15 · chapter mention

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

Acts 15 · chapter mention

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

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

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.