Unfit For Good Work
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3–5, ESV)
Announcements
Hymn Sing Tonight — 4:30-7:30p.m. Dinner will be served afterwards
Prayer on Tuesday, the 10th @ 7:00 P.M.
RSVP for Christmas Eve
Inquirer’s Class Beginning in January
LNI - Dec 20th (White Elephant)
†CALL TO WORSHIP John 4:24 // Pastor Austin Prince
Minister: Christians, we have met to worship. How can we sinners worship a holy God?
Congregation: God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. By God’s help, we will worship him together.
†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION
Almighty God, you built your church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the cornerstone. Come, Holy Spirit, join us together by Christ’s faithful work and the saints faithful witness. May we too be a holy temple in which you dwell to the glory of our triune god.
†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #293
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
†CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.” (Psalm 139:1–4, ESV)
In the light of God’s complete knowledge of our thoughts and actions, let us take a moment of silent confession of our sins before confessing together.
TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION
Minister: O Father, we are gathered before you, the maker of heaven and earth, whose chosen dwelling place is with the broken and contrite, to confess that:
Congregation: we have sinned in thought and word and deed;
we have not loved you with all our heart and soul,
we have not loved you with all our mind and strength;
we have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.
In your mercy, deepen our sorrow for the wrong we have done and for the good we have left undone, so that we may hate our sin with a holy hatred. But, please Father, do not leave us in sorrow. With you, O Lord, there is forgiveness. In your mercy, restore the joy of our salvation; so that we may love you with a holy love. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Joel 2:12–13 (ESV)
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE Psalm 24
Paul Mulner, Elder
THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
†HYMN OF PREPARATION #292
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
SERMON Titus 1:10-1 // Unfit for Good Work
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Almighty God, and most merciful Father, we humbly submit ourselves, and fall down before your Majesty, asking you from the bottom of our hearts, that this seed of your Word now sown among us, may take such deep root, that neither the burning heat of persecution cause it to wither, nor the thorny cares of this life choke it. But that, as seed sown in good ground, it may bring forth thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold, as your heavenly wisdom has appointed. Amen.
— Middelburg Liturgy
TEXT: Titus 1:10-16
10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 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. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
AFTER SCRIPTURE
Turn my heart toward your statures and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word.
INTRO
Last week our text showed us that the mission of the early church was to spread throughout every town and be entrusted into the care of faithful and qualified leaders called Elders . The text focused on the character and quality of these men to lead. This week, our text tells us why they are needed. If you notice the first word of verse 10 is “For”. You must establish elders in every town, Titus, “For, there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers…”
That is, the Elders have work to do. And this is the kind of work that they will be engaged in. Now, Paul really doesn’t get into the specifics of what the problem is with great detail. We’re not told about what the empty talk and deception and insubordination is, and he doesn’t make a specific case against it here. He is instructing the elders on things to look out for and what to do about it.
There is enough information here to understand what’s going on in the specific context of Crete, and we’ll spell that out in just a moment. But maybe what’s more informative in this passage is it’s instructions on Church leadership. The specific issue is only in the background, what’s important is what that particular dust up in Crete is causing among the people, their understanding of the gospel, their failure to live up to the stated goal of the book from Titus 1: 1, a “faith which accords with godliness”. There may be, and will be, many differing situations or controversies or heresies throughout the life of a church, but what the Elders need to pay attention to is a broader picture of what the effects can be upon the understanding and mission of the gospel.
There are some complex ideas that run through this passage so we will divide it up into two sections. We have the specific issue among the Cretans and we have the broader, pastoral/elder lesson on wisdom and pastoral care.
But to make the main issue clear, I want to put it into a metaphor at the outset that can be understood.
When you give someone a vaccine, the idea is that they are coming into contact with the disease in a way that allows them to build a tolerance and immunity to it. It’s an inoculation. They have just enough exposure to not become completely taken over by it.
That’s to put it quite simply, but in much the same way, that is what was happening with some of these early Christian communities. They had a little exposure to the gospel, and the communion of the church, they took upon themselves some form of religious observance and were convinced that all was well with them, but it was just enough to keep them from being completely taken over by it. They had just enough of the gospel to feel secure or validated, but they lived completely contrary to it. The gospel hadn’t taken over. The gospel hadn’t landed.
Now, the word religion can be used as a pejorative, and it shouldn’t be. There is a right way to define religion that is a good thing — see James 1:27. But if by it you mean systems and structures and rules and regulations that make you right enough with God that it gives you license to actually pay no attention to obey His words, then it is quite bad. In that sense, it might be right to way it this way: One problem among the Church in Crete was an empty religion that stood in the way of the gospel. Of all the things that could be standing in their way, it was religion was standing in the way of their salvation.
How common that is. What type of people should pay close attention to that problem? Well, everyone in this room, for sure. It’s the kind of issues that run “inside the camp”.
So, let’s break this down into the two sections.
First, What was the specific situation that was going on in Crete?
Let’s look at our text in a few places and string the evidence together: (Asking, Who?, What?, Why?)
Who?
“For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.” (Titus 1:10, ESV)
Among the church at Crete were those who were Christians, or at least belonged to the church, but were still demanding certain aspects of the Jewish tradition. You see this all over the NT. Paul is constantly trying to help the church see that the OT law is fulfilled in Christ, but it’s a really hard heritage to change. This “circumcision party”, likely thought that what made for a true Christian, a correct and justified Christian, was additional adherence to certain aspects of their Jewish heritage, namely, circumcision. Other issues of this sort were about food and dress and associations with people and places.
But those in Crete were not only stubborn on these beliefs, they became insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers. They were not listening to authority, so Titus needed to establish Elders to help rule the church well.
This party was filling the time and attention of the congregation with empty and idle talk and deception.
That’s the who that is in focus.
What?
“One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.” (Titus 1:12–14, ESV)
What was going on? The people in this group were spreading their influence— a devotion to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
To go back to my metaphor, they were giving out inoculations of a sort. They were teaching the tradition of men as commandments of God, and the result is that people were turning from the truth. They weren’t actually following God at all. This is why they needed good, qualified, and attentive shepherds who stand on guard and watch and who aren’t afraid to guide the flock.
What they were doing probably seemed noble, that it was a sign of devotion, but it was producing bad fruit and obscuring the gospel. They were turning people from the truth.
This particular temptation and problem is extremely common and dangerous for all of us.
Listen to how this situation is described across a few different situations in the Bible:
Jesus says, “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mark 7:7, ESV)
“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20–23, ESV)
“And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,” (Isaiah 29:13, ESV)
So, our lives can have the appearance of wisdom and of sincerity, but if it’s just a man-mad thing, the commandments of men, then it’s of no value. It can seem like an improvement of the gospel, that a “real” Christian are the ones who (circumcise, eat, x,y,z). But we should also note that their fear of God is a commanment taught by men. They are either truly afraid of God and they try to appease him by keeping to a strict diet of religious practice, or they have no fear of God because they feel so confident in themselves. The gospel hasn’t freed them and shown them the glories of Christ. They aren’t resting in the finished work of God and enjoying the smile of God. And the true tell is this, and this is the why…
Why? (What problem does this cause?)
“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” (Titus 1:16, ESV)
The problem is that they have become frauds and hypocrites. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.
This explains the seemingly random pot shot against the Cretans. They were a rough people and everyone knew it. Even a prophet of their own called them liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. But these Christians in Crete were no different. That’s the point. The shot isn’t at the Cretans, it’s at the Christians who in the name of their faith actually justify living like everyone else in Crete. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
It’s a case of classic hypocrisy. Because I do X behavior, or believe Y doctrine, or say Z confession, it’s ok for me to act and live just like any other Cretan.
As a result, they are unfit for any good work. If you remember, that’s the major theme of Titus, a faith that produces godliness (Titus 1:1). Their religion is worthless, toothless, and powerless to any good. Now, it can spread and it can do great harm, but it is powerless to give hope and life and redemption. It’s just a bunch of talk and talk and talk and rules and regulations but ultimately just a bunch of dead men’s bones with no power to live a real life of godliness.
“These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:23, ESV)
That’s the specific situation of the Cretan church, but how might that apply to us?
There are countless Christian subcultures to choose from that can set themselves up in this sort of way.
You can find all sorts of Christian fads that give someone a sense of validation to a holy life but is built on a false foundation (man’s tradition) and produces bad fruit.
Don’t taste, don’t touch, etc. — You can make it as trivial as your diet, like many of the Judaizers did. That eating right and healthy and clean is what validates you and distinguishes you as truly faithful.
Maybe it’s education. You homeschool because you are the truly faithful. You attend classical school because you are the truly faithful.
Maybe is a specific doctrine or theological thought. Perhaps it’s your view of the end times. Your eschatology.
It doesn’t even have to be that specific. Maybe you have just been in church all your life. It’s not a specific thing you are holding onto, just a generic Christian association. Because you have an association with this “tribe” you aren’t resting on Christ. You are resting on your association. Because that’s the validation for you, it also has no power. Your life is plagued with fear and hopelessness and struggle and hypocrisy.
Maybe it’s a particular Christian political thought and application. You are you a Theonomist, a Kyperian, a Two Kingdoms guy…
It could be countless things, but if it serves as a validation for living like a Cretan, and if it makes you rebellious against the rightful authority of your elders in your church, or the authority of God’s word, or if you are constantly whipping yourself up with endless debates and quarrels and podcasts, and books, and blogs that are making disciples that bear rotten fruit, then it must stop.
If you feel validated because you have been a faithful church attender your whole life but are filled with bitterness and pride and unfaithfulness in your home, then you need to repent. You are the Cretan.
If you feel validated because of your theology and become a jackwagon online with an anonymous twitter account, you need to repent. You are the Cretan.
If you feel validated because of your homemaking, your homestead, and your head covering while being a gossip and a lover of controversy, you need to repent. You are the Cretan.
We don’t want an inoculation that gives us just enough of the gospel association to keep us away from the whole thing. Just enough to live in the tension of hypocrisy. The gospel bids a man to come and die. It demands all of him.
Part Two: What Is The Pastoral Response?
Part Two: What Is The Pastoral Response?
Rebuke them sharply // They must be silenced (vv. 11 & 13)
What are the Pastors and the Elders to do when someone like this is wreaking havoc in the church? They are to rebuke them sharply, and ultimately make sure that their voice is silenced.
This is only to be done when the rotten fruit has been established. It’s not a knee-jerk reaction to anyone who asks questions or holds differing views on secondary issues, or is simply influenced by a particular book or podcaster. Those things may require pastoral care and shepherding, but not silencing. But when the fruit is rotten. When their is insubordination, empty talk and gossip, or deception that leads to the corruption of the gospel and the breaking up of homes then they need to be rebuked firmly and ultimately silenced.
We are told that they are upsetting whole households, and they are doing it for selfish gain.
False teachers love personal gain. They may love fame and controversy, and are always whipping it up. Or they may love money or favors, and are always promoting themselves or their product. And there is a market for this kind of thing. Orthodoxy is sometimes a hard sell because by definition it isn’t new. It’s faithful and it’s powerful, but it isn’t necessarily new. But people want something new
Paul tells Timothy as much in his pastoral letter to him:
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3–5, ESV)
Make no mistake, this is subtle, but it happens all the time. I happens to people who mean well. You’ll see this draw towards music and emotion that suits a person’s passions, they want the feeling and the emotion and what they believe to be a deep connection with God, so they gravitate towards that, at times wandering off into myths as they chase that emotion down. You’ll end up reading Jesus is calling.
You see this with a lot of men who want a masculine Christianity. They are tired of a wimpy and limp-wristed church so they gravitate towards what looks like strong leadership. But it, too, can easily give way to unbalanced teaching, the commandments and traditions of men, and myths. All of a sudden you need to be a homesteader with a suspicion about the Jews.
When the money dries up or the likes and the views and the attention dies down, you’ll often see this person abandon their particular hobby horse.
But in the mean time, their grift upsets whole households. It can range from letting a niche belief disrupt harmony within your home, or undermine your church leadership, to getting the gospel wrong and becoming a teacher that leads people away from the saving truth of the gospel. You can see this sort of thing in the way that Peter turned back to associating and dining with only Jews until he was rebuked for it. What message did that send about the gospel to the Gentiles? What confusion and havoc that must have caused until it was set right.
So the elders are to firmly establish that this is a legitimate threat to the gospel, and then they must act rebuking and silencing such a threat for the sake of their congregations.
And do Elders get this wrong? Is it done imperfectly? You bet it is. This is partly why an Elder must not be an arrogant man but a humble man and himself not greedy for gain. He must be able to hold firm the trustworthy word and give instruction while also being able to see clearly theologically and morally to rebuke those who contradict sound doctrine.
Outside of causing problems and wrecking households and being independent rebels, what else is at play for those who come under these types of things? Fundamentally, their understanding of the gospel is off.
Broader Focus On Effect of Gospel Distortions
Broader Focus On Effect of Gospel Distortions
“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.” (Titus 1:15, ESV)
To the defiled and unbelieving, noting is pure
Getting this sort of thing wrong will have massive implications for your living and your faith. Again, it’s easy to get wrong. It’s like the inoculation. But it will have massive downstream effects.
If the security of your faith isn’t in Christ alone but in an action or tradition or a niche doctrine, then you won’t even experience God’s world and God’s grace the way you should. You will be more concerned with quantifying things as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ that you aren’t even living by grace and worship in God’s world. Your mind and you conscience are defiled, leaving you with just a list of do’s and don’t’s with no power.
For example, food or drink or movies or sex. You only process them as further validating you or not. There is fear of them that they can harm you or an apathy towards them, and there is lack of wisdom and power to engage with them.
One pastor says of the defiled that, “They are like a driver who has mud all over his windshield and assumes that the scenic countryside is filthy. They declare other things unclean because they (themselves) are unclean.” - Wilson, Douglas
To the defiled, nothing is pure. You aren’t at rest in God’s grace and in God’s world. Your life is like tip-toeing through a spiritual minefield, trying to save yourself from blowing up, while you curse under your breath as you walk. Your fruit is rotten and your faith is in the wrong place.
But to the pure, all things are pure.
The pure are those who are made right with God through the blood of Christ. Their salvation is not granted to them if they tip-toe through the minefield of the world in just the right way. They are at peace with God through Christ. Perfect love has cast out all fear. They accept God’s world with gratitude and navigate life with faith and wisdom. They have a faith that accords with godliness.
Things like food and drink and movies and sex are all apart of His world and do not justify or validate them whether they partake or not. They can be received with gratefulness and worship or they can be rejected with worship and wisdom. Sex and food and theology and politics , and so much of life are not corrupt, but they become corrupt when they come in contact with us, who manipulate and idolize and twist them.
It turns out that abstaining from God’s good gifts can be just as corrupt as abusing them (Tim Chester)
But this freedom has an extra gospel benefit, too. When faced with something that isn’t righteous or wise, the pure have the benefit of the power of the Spirit. They are living in light of the gospel of good news and have rest in Christ. They can choose the path of godliness. They can say no to sin.
Taking one of the many varieties of good ole fashion legalism, the subtle false gospel that the Elders need to be aware of was this: A theology that says “To be a true Christian you should not do this… x,y,z. Or, You should do this…x.y,z.”
Now, the things that you are aiming to do or not do may be just fine. They may be wonderful things to do or not do as a Christian. But a better thought would be this:
In light of the gospel, the “I should not” becomes “I need not”.
Instead of “To be a true Christian you should not do this”, it’s “Because I am in Christ, I need not do this”.
I don’t need to do this to justify me. I don’t need to do this to satisfy me. The gospel has freed me. Sex, alcohol, theology, politics, education, whatever, don’t have to be a benchmark for my justification nor do they need to cripple me with fear of getting it right. When faced with temptation there is the added power of the gospel which says, “I need not” indulge in this way because I am full in Christ.
This is why faithful elders are needed. To stand guard and keep watch. The gospel has the power to free us and to give us fruitful lives, but the improvements of men, the leaning on our own understanding, can be the well intentioned inoculations that keep us immune to the whole thing. The gospel bids you come and die.
†PSALM OF RESPONSE #51C
“God, Be Merciful to Me”
THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Leader: Lift up your hearts!
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!
CONFESSION OF FAITH
The Apostles’ Creed (p.851)
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, the meal which we are about to celebrate is a feast of remembrance, communion, and hope.
We come to remember that Jesus was sent into the world to assume our flesh and blood, to become God with us, that we might be redeemed. We come to have communion with this same Christ who has promised to be with us even to the end of the world.
We come in hope, believing that this bread and this cup are a pledge and a foretaste of a new heaven and a new earth, where we shall behold God.
In his earthly ministry Jesus praised those who provided for him, saying, I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Now here, for us, is the bread of life given; let all who hunger come and eat. Here is the fruit of the vine, poured out for us. It is for all who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his church. Let all who thirst come and drink.
Let’s pray together:
PRAYER
Congregation: Most righteous God, we remember in this meal the perfect sacrifice offered once on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world. United with Christ in his suffering, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, trusting in the power of God to triumph over evil, we wait in joyful hope for the fullness of God’s reign. Send your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray, that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless may be to us the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
Grant that, being joined together in him, we may attain to the unity of the faith and grow up in all things into Christ our Lord. And as this grain has been gathered from many fields into one loaf, and these grapes from many hills into one cup, grant, O Lord, that your whole Church may soon be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen.
Congregation is seated.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS
THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND SHARING OF THE SUPPER
“Eat and drink.”
Mark 14:22-25
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
†OUR RESPONSE #567
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord makes His face to shine upon you and is gracious to you. The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you peace. Amen.
