This morning. Thank you. Joel.
Well, good morning. Is this on? Hello? Can you hear me? Yeah. All right, great. So we're going to be continuing in the book of Titus. So I've been going through 1 Timothy, and now I'm going through Titus.
Chronologically here in the life of Paul. And there in Titus, I'm going to go ahead and read the portion that we're in today.
And then I will pray.
Titus chapter 1. Verse 5.
Titus chapter 1 verse 5. For this reason I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are lacking.
And appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. If a man is blameless.
The husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
But a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, not self-willed.
Not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent nor greedy for money.
But hospitable, a lover of what is good. Sober-minded, just.
Holy, self-controlled. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught.
That he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time that we have to open up your word. We thank you that you give us instruction for the days in which we're living. We thank you, Lord, that this is relevant.
We thank you that, Lord, you have… provided this to us so that we can learn what you want. Lord, we just look to you now. We just commit this time into your hands.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
So just a little review, historical context of where we're at. I did an overview a while back, but Just so everyone knows what's happening and what's going on in this book. So Paul had been released.
From his first imprisonment there in Acts 28. So Acts provides us a wonderful narrative of Paul's missionary journeys.
Eventually leading up to captivity, being arrested and then being in captivity in Rome under house arrest.
So he was there for a period of time. He wrote what we call the prison epistles.
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. He wrote those books. But then at some point he was released.
And he continued his ministry. And it was a brief period of time.
From when he was released until he was Again, arrested.
And this time he wasn't released. He was actually executed by Emperor Nero.
So this is a brief period of time between those two arrests.
Maybe two years, three years. Where Paul continued his ministry, but he also wrote.
He wrote the pastoral epistles is what they're known as. 1 and 2 Timothy and then Titus.
So here we have… Paul writing to his fellow laborer Titus. So during this brief period of time when Paul was free to continue his ministry.
He at some point went to Crete. And there in Crete, he brought me he brought Titus with him.
And they were there ministering to the churches that were on Crete, the island in the Mediterranean.
Now, these were existing churches and he found them He says, they were lacking some things. They were found wanting. There was issues.
In these churches. And he had a very brief period of time there. There was much to do, much work to do in these churches.
But he decided to leave. And go to other places.
And then leave Titus there. So then he gave Titus a charge.
What he ought to be doing there in Crete.
So there he understood, based on his observations, he recognized There was some serious needs there in Crete.
And then he left and then he wrote Titus this letter, and this is what we're reading here this morning. He wrote Titus this letter to, number one, remind him of what he had commanded him to do, but also to have some proof for Titus.
That Titus could show these individuals as he's laboring there in Crete that he's got a letter from Paul the Apostle, commending him to this work.
And the authorization of the Apostle Paul that he was sanctioned by Paul.
To continue this work. With apostolic authority.
So Paul two tasks for Titus While he's laboring there, they're there in Crete. Verse 5.
Verse 5, he says, for this reason I left you in Crete.
That you should set in order the things that are lacking.
So set in order the things that are lacking. And as we go through this book.
We're going to see specifically what Paul had in mind. There was a lot of issues, false teaching, other things, and we'll get to that. But that is one of the things that he wanted Titus to do was to set in order the things that are lacking.
And then also… The second thing he told him that he wanted him to do was appoint elders In every city. And then he says, as I commanded you. So this was something that he told them there in person.
That he was to appoint elders Because these churches were weak and without strong leadership.
So he commanded him there in person and he wrote him a letter again to remind him, this is what you are to do there in Crete.
So the first thing. Set in order.
This is actually this Greek phrase is used in secular Greek writing. It was about a medical doctor setting someone's broken bone.
So something was crooked, something was broken, something wasn't straight. It needed, something was bent. It needed to be straightened.
And that's the thought here. Things need to be set straight.
Now, there's a similar theme in a lot of books that Paul wrote.
1 Timothy, he wrote there in, you don't need to turn to it, but in 1 Timothy 3.15, he wrote.
I write to you that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God.
A conduct that was appropriate. For the church, for the house of God.
And things needed to be corrected there in Ephesus where Paul was writing to Timothy.
Also in 1 Corinthians. Paul gets done there in 1 Corinthians 11 talking about how they are abusing the Lord's Supper.
They're not performing the Lord's Supper as they ought. Some are coming away hungry. Some are ending up drunk after the Lord's Supper. You're kind of missing the point is what he's saying. And he says, I'm going to set an order those things when I come. So look out. Paul's coming. He's going to set things in order when he comes back. And also he says in 1 Corinthians.
Let all things be done decently and in order. So there was a need for the Lord's people, his church, the assemblies, to be doing things in order.
Now, we're not just talking about church order and the structure of our meetings. All that is important.
But also just set in order our own lives, right? There are things in our lives in relationships, things that are crooked, things that are bent, things that need to be straightened out.
And, you know, first of all. If you find yourself here in this place, first of all, we want to tell you One thing that you need to set in order is your eternal destiny.
The Bible tells us that we are all sinners. And we fall short of the glory of God.
Any thought, word, or deed? That disobeys God.
Is sin. And our sin, it brings about God's judgment. And if we don't get that taken care of.
We end up separated from him forever. We need a savior. And that's why Jesus came into this world to save us.
Because what we deserve. He took the punishment. That we deserve on the cross He paid the penalty, took the full wrath of God, and when we simply reach out and believe in him.
Trust Him. You can be saved. And you can walk away out of this place knowing your sins forgiven and you're on your way to heaven when you die.
Because of what Jesus did. Not anything that I've done, not my good works, nothing.
It is only him. That is one thing that we need to set in order.
Our eternal destiny. Now, other things, maybe you've already done that. Maybe you've already given your life over to the Lord Jesus Christ and you know that. But there's things that are happening in your life need to be set in order. Relationships. And again, these are things that we're going to see in this book.
Relationships, roles and responsibilities. We're to be careful to maintain good works.
Holiness. Living a life of holiness in this world, faithfulness.
Being faithful to the things that God has called us to.
Being exercised in your gift. These are things we need to set straight.
Unity. Unity. Avoid division.
These are all things. Like I said, we need to set in order, make sure things are straight.
You know, I think about the Lord Jesus there. In the Gospels, there's that man with a withered hand.
And he tells The Lord Jesus Christ comes to him and says.
Hold out your hand. Hold it out.
You know, God knows everything that's going on in our hearts and lives, right? He knows everything.
He knows my hand is withered. I'm hiding it. It's in my coat. He knows it's withered. I know it's withered.
He wants me to hold it out. And it can be healed, right? When we come to him, we acknowledge our sin.
Lord, here it is. I'm just placing it all out in front of you. Lord, you know what it is already, but I'm placing it out. Here it is.
He can heal. Bring it out to the light. He can heal.
So set it straight, right? And he healed them. He healed them. So… We need to respond.
To him in that way. When we see things that are… crooked, that are bent.
He can straighten it out. So set in order, that was the first thing.
Set in order the things that are lacking. The second thing he says here is appoint elders In every city. Appoint elders in every city. So there was a desperate need for godly leadership in Crete.
Now, we're going to read later on.
Paul quotes one of their own. He says here in Titus 1, verse 12, He says, one of them, a prophet of their own, says, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.
This was quite a place. And these Cretans, they needed some direction. They needed some leadership.
They needed straightening out, right? They needed strong leadership.
And so he tells Titus You need to be appointing elders.
And an elder simply is… A godly man.
Who God is called to leadership. That's all it is. And we're going to talk a little bit about that because It says here.
Appoint elders in every city. Notice it's plural. It doesn't say appoint an elder.
For every city. It says elders, it's plural. So any assembly should have elders.
A plurality of leadership. But also, this word here, appoint. Now, some of your translations may say ordain.
And… A point is a better… word for this particular Greek word. It just simply means put in place.
Appoint someone put in place, put in a position. The word is catastemi, catastemi.
It's used in the New Testament, appointing governors. It's a word that's used in secular context.
Just appointing a governor, appointing a judge. So the word ordinance has certain connotations to it.
That I think can lead us in wrong direction or concepts about what it is to be a leader in a church.
Ordained. So what am I talking about? There's nothing about this word that brings about any idea of a religious ritual or ceremony. There's nothing about a special class of people that are raised up in a church, there's a church
Bringing someone into a priesthood. There's no anointing of oil. There's no priestly garb involved in this.
There's no vestments. Right.
So this person is raised up and now they are ordained, now they are clergy.
And now they are, this individual is able to perform Things like sacraments.
And ordinances. This whole idea is unknown in the New Testament.
This is an Old Testament concept. That there was a special class of people that were priests.
Here's the… Here's the amazing thing in the New Testament.
We're all priests. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a priest.
You are a priest. You have… the ability to open up this word And the Lord use you and change people's lives.
You can do that. This idea of clergy laity, I grew up I grew up in a… a church that had a very strong idea of clergy laity.
When you walk into the building, you see this You know, the altar and the man with the robes and all the gold chalices and everything. And it's like, wow.
But I was far back. I remember my mom telling me, oh, don't go touch that stuff. You can't touch that.
It's holy, right? I can't approach that.
That idea of there's something that I can't, there's an intermediary between me and God.
And I'm not good enough, right? I'm not in that special class to be up there and do those things.
So I need to sit back and kind of observe. Again, that is unknown.
In the New Testament. Now, the Old Testament, yes, absolutely. That was the case.
In fact, let's take a look in Hebrews 9. Real quick.
Hebrews 9, the writer of Hebrews is talking about all of these things associated with things associated with The tabernacle, the ordinances, the sanctuary.
The priesthood. All of these things.
And then he says… In verse…
Nine. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regards to the conscience.
That's actually, sorry, that's not the… verse I was thinking about.
Verse 8. The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest.
While the first tabernacle was still standing. See, the Holy Ghost was showing us, teaching us, that the way into the Holy wasn't open yet. Yes, it was closed.
Only the high priest could enter in once a year. Showing us that we were not… We were not able to draw near. But now in Christ.
It's the way is open. And we all have access. Into the holiest of all. So tremendous.
Truth. There's no clergy lady. The Lord Jesus Christ himself says, call no man father.
We are all brethren. There's no special class.
There's no priesthood, there's no special group of people that can only be involved in doing things like the Lord's Supper or getting up and sharing a message.
We're all priests. We're all priests. I remember the first… First time I went to a breaking a bread.
I walked in and sat down. One man got up and shared.
Kind of an opening message. He sat down. Another guy gets up and talks.
What's going on? And then somebody else gets up. Then somebody completely different gets up and blesses the bread and the wine and we pass the cup and then at the end A different person gets up and does announcements, and I'm thinking, who's in charge here?
Well, you know what? The reality is it's the Lord, right? The Lord's in charge. It wasn't just one man doing all these things and we all observe.
Or, you know, like we're at a sporting event, right? We're just watching.
No. We're part of this.
So… There was a man named Anthony Norris Groves, early 1800s.
He wanted to be a missionary. He wanted to go to Baghdad.
And so he went to these different missionary societies And they told him, you know, yeah, you can go, but you're forbidden.
To have the Lord's Supper. You know, let's say you go there People get saved. You are forbidden.
To administer the elements of the Lord's Supper because you are not ordained by this particular governing body.
And he… Where's that in Scripture?
So, you know, otherwise anything you do, it's not valid, right?
That's the idea. And actually, he rejected that. He went out by faith and the Lord used him.
Mighty way. You know, they couldn't, the instruction was you cannot do this, perform this Lord's Supper unless there is A ordained minister… from this particular church that is there to administer the elements. You can't do it.
So again, he rejected that. But see, the reality is we do have an attending attendant here this morning. It's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's here. It says where two or three are gathered together.
In my name, there I am in the midst. He's here. So there is no need to have this intermediary. We can have access directly to him.
So are you trying to tell me that just some fella can get up and break the bread?
And share the… Yeah. You know the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Just some fella.
And that's who we are, right? We're just another fella.
And we can serve him in that way. There is no clergy laity. We're all brethren.
So…
So that's the idea here, appointing elders, not ordaining. It's not a special… sect or… a special group of clergy, it is clergy.
Brethren in Christ. So, continuing on here.
Now, there are 16. Requirements.
That we are told here for elders. 16 or 17, depending upon which translation you have or But… Titus is being instructed by Paul. This is what you're going to look for in these fellas.
This is the character that you need to find in these men.
You notice there's really nothing about gift here. It's character. That's what he's looking for when it comes to that role, that role of leadership in an assembly.
And there we'll start. In verse 6.
Well, so he says, back in verse 5, it says. Set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. Now, I had gone through 1 Timothy previously and we went through a lot of these. That was a while back. And it's very similar to
Paul's direction to Timothy there in Ephesus. He was to do the same thing. And he had it listed out.
Qualifications for elders and deacons. And here we just have elders.
Paul says. If a man is blameless.
So a man must be blameless. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean free from sin, free from error? No, of course not. It can't.
It can't mean that. It means above reproach. You have a good reputation.
If your name comes up in a conversation, do people say, not that guy? He owes me money.
You can't depend on that person. You can't depend on him.
Well, they get angry real easily. So you have to kind of walk on eggshells around them.
That is the thought there a good thought reputation.
Blameless. It says, if a man is blameless, the husband… of one wife.
Now, maybe you're saying, ah, I can't, you know, you can't be polygamous, right?
No, that is obviously part of it, but it's saying you're a one-woman man.
You're a one-woman man. You belong to one woman.
Now, it's not just, like I said, not just polygamy, but wandering eye.
Maybe you have a way with the ladies. That is something else, right, that you would need to be aware of. It's a woman… Man.
Husband of one wife. Now, people say, well, if you're maybe if your wife dies and you remarry.
Is that okay? Well, I think you still meet that criteria. You're still a one-woman man in that case.
It says, if a man is blameless, the husband and one wife.
Having faithful children. Having faithful children. So it says faithful children here. Some translations say believing children.
I think that that may be… unrealistic standard, right? The family, the best husband and wife in the world. Can't guarantee. There's no guarantee.
That your child is going to be saved. We pray. For them, we teach them the word.
But there's no guarantee that this child will get saved. But I believe it is.
Having faithful children. These children, they're under control, right?
They're not unruly. They're not rebellious. The father is taking charge of the family and he's managing the household well.
In 1 Samuel 3, 13, Eli, the priest Eli, is condemned.
Because he did not restrain his sons. And that's, I think, the thought.
You need to restrain. Being a good manager of the family of the household. It goes on.
So these children, faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
Not rebellious. Fourth.
So there's… Like I said, there's like 16 of these. So we've got five minutes left, so I'm just going to go through these real fast.
So… He says here, and then in verse 7 says.
He says he says he For a bishop must be blameless. So now Paul is not changing the subject here.
The word elder and the word that's translated bishop.
Or overseer, they are used interchangeably throughout the New Testament. This is talking about the same individual. He's not changing the subject.
He's not saying, well, elders are this and bishops are that. No, he's talking about the same person.
The same people. He's talking about the elders and then he says, for a bishop. So he's continuing the same thought.
If you're going to be an elder, a bishop needs to be like this.
So it's interchangeable. A bishop is overseer, episcopos, elder is presbyterios.
So… Again, the bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, a steward.
A steward is a house manager. Someone who manages a house that belongs to somebody else.
And that's the idea. If this is God's house, this isn't the elder's church. This is God's church.
This is his. We are just stewards. House manager, we act on the behalf of someone else's interests, on his interests.
What he wants. That's what he wants we stand for it. Lord, what do you want? Okay, that's what we'll do.
It's not what I want out of this. It's what he wants. We are acting on his interests.
It belongs to him. You know, think about Joseph there in Potiphar's house. He was a steward.
He ran the household for Potiphar. He did what Potiphar wanted. That's what he did. That's all he worried about.
So it goes on, not self-willed. So just a few thoughts about this. Not self-willed.
Which is the next one. Someone who does not want their own way or pursue their own agenda.
So I read an article recently. It was about, it's a wonderful life.
That great Christmas movie. That we watch. Now, it says that This article is saying how it's not as popular as it used to be.
It doesn't resonate with this generation like it did in previous generations. And part of that, you know, the the movies that are popular is Elf and Grinch and those kind of things.
Which are fun to watch, but… Wonderful life, it just doesn't resonate.
If you remember the story, George Bailey. You had a lot of aspirations.
He had a desire to go and travel the world. He was shopping for suitcases and things. He had a desire to go out and view the world.
But other things kept getting in the way, other responsibilities. His duty, his duty towards the bank.
If you remember, he got married. And they were on their way to the honeymoon and he had a bunch of cash and then there was a run on the bank, and he had to go in and give the cash out to everyone to stop.
To stop the run on the bank. Again, what he wanted to do.
Was not able to. And it led to some frustration in his life.
He kept having to put aside what he wanted and to do the right thing, to do what he was supposed to do, his duty.
But eventually he had enough. And then we know what… what happened there, he was able to view the world If he never existed. And it was a terrible place.
He realized that all of those sacrifices, all those things that he had been doing, denying himself.
Led to greater blessings to those around him. That's what he learned. And that's what is so wonderful about that story.
Today, we're told the highest good is self-actualization. Don't deny yourself anything. In fact.
In fact, it's harmful. To deny yourself. Give in to anything that comes up in your heart or your mind or your thoughts. Give it to it.
Because you can't repress it. That's bad. That's not healthy. Don't let anything get in the way of what you want, right? That's the message that we hear.
People are celebrated. In our country for having the bravery to put themselves first.
Oh, you're so brave to put yourself first and not care what other people think.
That's the world we live in today. That's what people want to hear.
You know, give me affirmation. There are things in my heart, in my mind that I need to say no to.
And it is healthy Turn to the Lord. He will give you strength. Let the Holy Spirit help you deny yourself.
Because if I go my own way, I am headed towards destruction.
We need to say no to ourselves. So we are not self willed.
Real quick. Not quick-tempered.
Not a hothead. Someone that's slow to anger. Continuing on, not given to wine. It means you don't sit long at wine. So you can imagine these.
Gatherings together. The wine is over here being served and you're there a little bit too long, right?
Sitting along at wine that's not That's not a good reputation.
Doesn't abuse that. It says… This is interesting. It says, not violent.
So right after… You know, if you're given too much wine And now there's an issue with violence. That's generally what happens.
So someone who's not violent, someone who's gentle. Pugnacious, someone who's a bully, threatening.
It is to be denied. Turned away from. Not greedy for money. I'm not in it for the money. Not in it for personal gain.
You're in it for personal gain, you compromise because you do what's going to get you more gain.
And often that's not the right thing. Hospitable, you love the stranger. That's what that means. Loving.
The stranger. Hospitable. A lover of what is good.
What do you spend time thinking about? What do you spend time doing?
A lover of what is good or good men, good things.
You want to spend time doing good, ready to do what is beneficial to other.
Seeks to do helpful, kind things for people. That's That's what a lover of good.
Sober-minded. Mature, balanced, not jumping to conclusions.
Not allowing personal feelings to cloud judgment. Sober-minded, sensible.
Not carried about with every wind of doctrine. Just, it says.
Righteous conduct towards others. Upright in dealings with others.
Not taking advantage of others. Holy, being devout, unpolluted.
Committed to God and his word. Self-controlled.
Or temperance. Self-discipline.
Take a look at Proverbs 25, 28. Just write it down. Look at it in your own time.
Proverbs 25, 28. Lastly… holding fast the faithful word.
As it had been taught. You are a man of conviction.
Holding fast the faithful word. Committed to sound doctrine.
Cling firmly. Adhere wholeheartedly to doctrine, the truth. Scripture, able to withstand opposition.
You know. If your kids go to public school perhaps and they come home and they've got all kinds of things that they were just taught, are you able to explain like, hey, well.
Actually this, or actually that. Or anything. I mean, anytime there's opposition to the truth.
Be able to share something that contradicts what they're hearing out in the world.
Confront those who speak contrary to sound doctrine. It says, those that contradict There will always be people who contradict, that will scoff.
At the word of God that will come up with crazy stories just one little One little event here that happened recently.
There's a man named Billy Carson. He has millions of followers on social media.
He is basically a conspiracy theorist. But he's got tons of followers.
Especially TikTok. And now I guess they're shutting that down. So maybe he won't have as much reach.
But he always talks about how You know, there's these secret books of the Bible that people are trying to hide from you and they tell the real truth.
About what happened. You know, Jesus really didn't die. You know, that was all made up later. You know, he never was crucified. He actually got married and had kids and had a normal life.
And that's found in all these secret books like the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Barnabas.
There was something called the gospel of Jesus's wife, all these sorts of things. And he would tell his followers and they'd hear all these things.
And be like, oh, you know, that's so cool. That's great.
Well, turns out that he ended up having a debate that he didn't really know who he was getting involved with here with this debate.
This man's name is Wes Huff, Wesley Huff. He's a Canadian. He's an expert in biblical manuscripts.
So they had this debate. And this Billy Carson did so poorly that he actually is suing them because they released the video. It's so embarrassing for him because You just got proven wrong over and over and over again.
That he's suing to shut down the video because he just looks terrible.
Because it's so clear that he doesn't know what he's talking about. And there's just this simple man, Wesley Hoff, like I said, he's an expert.
He knows what he's talking about. He just went through each claim that he was making and basically proved him wrong. He was saying, oh, there's this Codex Sinaticus that doesn't have the crucifixion.
And then Wes Huff just pulled from his bookshelf, okay, well, here's the Codex Sinaticus. Hey, look at that. The crucifixion. What are you talking about?
This is just a story. Of, you know, people need to stand against this stuff as it comes in.
Our kids hear this stuff. Sometimes it's a simple answer, but people don't know.
People don't know these things. They hear it, they believe it.
We need to stand for the truth and convict those who contradict.
So with that, I am done. To… On your own time, take a look at 1 Peter 5, 1 through 4.
Talks about the accountability. That elders have.
In this labor. And… So 1 Peter 5.
One through four. In fact, just let me just quick… So I want to just end on the on this here, 1 Peter.
Five…
The elders who are among you I exhort. I who am also a fellow elder and a witness of the suffering of Christ, this is Peter talking, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, shepherd.
The flock of God or pastor the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly Not for dishonest gain, but eagerly.
Nor is being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock And when the chief shepherd appears… You will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your instruction to the church.
Help us, Lord, to be a church that obeys your teachings. Help us to be clear in our own minds and what you want.
Help us, Lord, to live for you. And Lord, we thank you that you can set things right in our lives. Those things that are crooked, those things that are bent.
Or you can straighten them out. When we bring those things to you, when we confess our sins.
And Lord, if there's anyone here that does not know you, Lord, I pray that you would work in their heart now that they would… believe the gospel.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.