Truth to Live by.

Dr John G Edwards

Start of series on Titus • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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The belief that God’s ways are best for us is fundamental to Christian thinking.

It was back in the garden of Eden when the idea that this was not so was deceitfully smuggled into the human intellect. There the idea was planted that God did not have our best interests at heart. It is as we explore God’s truth we discover otherwise.

This morning we start exploring Paul’s letter to Titus.

It is all about the way Christians live. It is all about the art of godliness.

Godliness is the display in the life of the Believer of God’s ways. Just as God showed us what He is like by becoming human so we are called upon to show our world what God is like by the way we live.

Ch 1 is about godliness in the church – how to choose godly leaders We will also look at some who see themselves as potential leaders but for whom God’s truth means nothing and how Titus is to deal with them.

Paul begins by telling us about himself - what he is really about – His focus, what eats him up if you like.

We discover that

📷The heart of the Apostle was to preach God’s truth.

Paul is a servant of God. His attitude to God is one of submission.

Yet he is also an Apostle – specifically commissioned by the risen Jesus when he was confronted by Him on the Damascus Road.

Paul’s heart is in the gospel – his commission is to give his life to the church of God – by teaching God’s truth.

And please note what Paul says three things about God’s truth.

📷First he says it is effective. It is not just a record of history or something to be studied. It is powerful in affecting for good those who read it. It is a truth that changes people. He says it leads to godliness.

God’s truth may well begin its journey in the mind of the reader but it does not end there. It finds its outlet in the behaviour of the Believer.

But in order for God’s truth to lead to godliness it has to be read submissively. As the Believer reads God’s truth he reads it aware that it is just that - God’s truth.

That adopting God’s ways are in his best interests. If he wants to live a significant life he needs to read God’s truth on his knees as it were. And not only is God’s truth to be read, but it needs to be applied. It cannot lead to godliness in the Believer unless it is applied to his life.

Paul’s life has been turned upside down by the application of God’s truth – he writes elsewhere that He struggles with God’s energy – in other words that God empowers him to be the servant and Apostle of God that he is. So firstly God’s truth is powerfully effective.

📷Secondly Paul shows us that God’s truth displays His eternal plan and purpose.

In a nutshell God’s plan is to bring to heaven a people cleansed from sin, and fit for an eternity with Him.

And thirdly Paul tells us that it is God’s truth that he is preaching and on God’s truth the church will be based.

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God’s people will need to be instructed in God’s truth and that will demand godly leaders in godly churches. And this is where Titus comes in.

We learn that Paul has left Titus in Crete to straighten out what was left unfinished.

The problem apparently is that there are new churches planted on the Island but they need leadership. The heart of any church is its leadership. Titus is to organise the leadership of those churches.

The heart of the church is godly leaders who hold fast to God’s truth.

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Paul’s instruction requires leaders, or elders as he calls them, to be appointed in every town. Leadership is to be both plural and local. Now we here in Holy Trinity Nick leads but enjoys the advice of others - the Leadership team and the PCC.

Now if you were looking for church leaders what would you look for? They would need a degree in theology presumably. We would want to explore their beliefs and to hear them preach to see if they were up to scratch.

So it is with some surprise that we read the Apostle’s list of criteria. The focus is not on their knowledge of theology but on their lifestyle. The question is, do they display godliness? Do they show by the way they live that they are seeking to adopt and display God’s ways?

However magnificent their knowledge of theology it will not cut any ice with their church if they are not living attractive vibrant Christian lives.

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Titus is asked to look for people who were upright in their family life and in their personal life. That is what comes top of the list for Paul.

Now to do this will demand intimate knowledge of each church. I imagine Titus would need to enjoy fellowship with each of the churches for a little while as he got to know the individuals before he made his appointments. In that process he would be bound to ask the opinions of the congregation members. The church would have been involved in the process.

He would want to know whether they were living godly lives in their family life? The reference to being the husband of one wife may refer to the need not to permit into leadership people who had several wives at once – polygamists. Whatever it means the message is clear – the candidate must be faithful in his marriage, upright in the upbringing of their children – of course he can’t guarantee that their children will become Christians, but in their age of minority he can nurture them in their faith. And that is what I think is required v6. If they fail in the area of their family life how can the church be confident that they can manage the church?

Their personal lives must be blameless too. Note they are not expected to be perfect – being blameless is not the same as being perfect.

They are not to be overbearing – the word means self-important. They must not be quick tempered, addicted to drink, violent or be motivated by dishonest gain.

Then Paul gives the positives. They must be hospitable, love what is good, be self-controlled and upright, holy (the idea there is they must be through and through committed to God’s word and ways) and disciplined.

These guys need to have their heart set on God’s ways. Their behaviour must not be a veneer for hypocrisy.

Then the Apostle comes to the crunch.

These guys must have a firm grip on God’s truth. This is the key to their lifestyle.

As they take a firm grip on God’s truth so they seek His transforming power to live His way.

But the emphasis on a firm grip on scripture has an important outcome. They need to be skilled to teach it faithfully, to know when it is being contradicted and how to handle it when it is.

This is the only criterion that Paul stipulates that does not apply to all of us who are Believers. We all need to live godly lives in our family and personal lives. And while we all need to get to know God’s truth, submit to it and apply it to our lives, we may not all be gifted in the ability to teach it.

The heart of the church is her leaders. Her leaders must display God’s ways in the way they live. The heart of the leaders must be the application of God’s truth.

We have noted how the heart of the Apostle was to preach God’s truth. We have now seen that the heart of the church is a godly leadership and that godly leaders have God’s truth firmly gripped in their hearts.

But there are in the churches that Titus is to set in order, some who do not put God’s truth at their heart. And Titus has to know how to deal with those.

The heart that is not focussed on God’s truth needs rebuke and redirection. Vs 10-16

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The Apostle contrasts this next group with the church leaders in several ways.

He compares their attitude to God’s truth, what they teach, how they teach, the effect of their teaching and their motive.

Where the church leaders submit themselves to God’s truth this group are rebellious.

The church leaders hold firmly to God’s truth; the material that these people peddle is worthless. Paul says in v 10 they are mere or empty talkers – the content of their teaching is worthless. In v 14 They focus on Jewish myths and peddle stuff taught by unbelievers.

And in the place of purity the currency of these people is deceit v 10.

The effect of godly leadership is a church well run bringing blessing to many. The result of the work of this group in contrast is to ruin whole households v11 by teaching error.

The motive that drives them is selfish gain. They are on the lookout for what they themselves can get out of their efforts v11.

Then Paul describes the locals. He quotes some local authority who said that the Cretians were always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. But the sad thing is that these people show no evidence of being any different from the locals!

But pause here for a moment. Presumably the elders of the churches will have also grown up in this environment. The transforming effect of God’s truth applied to their lives has led to a display of godliness which contrasts profoundly with the locals.

Paul tells Titus that he must address this situation.

These people need to be silenced and rebuked sharply he says. But notice the attitude and aim of this rebuke. It is not to grind them into reluctant submission, but that they will embrace God’s truth. v 13 Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith. The grace of God is in evidence in the way the Apostle deals with this situation. Error must be seen for what it is. It must not be ignored. But the aim of discipline must be to redirection back into the ways of God.

The fundamental problem is a matter of the heart. If we want our churches to be led by godly men and women we need to be sure that their heart is focussed on God’s truth.

The heart that is submissive to God’s truth and applies it is the key to godliness.

📷Godliness is not a matter of self-improvement – it demands a heart change. Paul shows this by talking about purity. Purity is not a veneer covering up things that we would like to hide. Purity is a transparent quality that permeates the whole. It explores what is not seen as well as what is seen.

If the heart, which is not seen, is focussed on God’s truth and that truth is being submissively applied to the lifestyle, then God’s ways will be seen in godly behaviour.

If however the heart is not focussed on God’s truth and an attitude of rebellious self-righteousness is adopted, then godliness is never going to be displayed.

Look at v15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

Paul uses the same root word for purity in ch 2 when he says

v14 Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Paul tells Titus that if the heart is not totally focussed on God’s truth then the effect flows out from there.

The desires and motives of the heart affect the mind and conscience. And in turn these hidden aspects become visible in what we say and what we do.

These people says Paul v 16 claim to know God but by their actions they deny him.

They are unfit he says for doing anything good. Now that sounds harsh to our ears. But we need to appreciate that doing things that are good in God’s eyes is to do things that display God’s ways to the world. It is in living lives of godliness that we live lives that are significant and meaningful.

It is quite impossible to live lives that are significant in God’s world if our hearts are not focussed on His truth and His ways.

The way we live reveals where our heart is.

If we want others to see that our heart is focussed on God’s truth then we need to get to know God’s truth. We will not get to know it if we don’t read it.

We need to read it regularly and often.

But how we read it is highly significant. If we read it as a ritual it will not change us. If we read it as something to be criticised, we will miss it’s message. We need to read it as God’s truth. With the attitude that God knows what is best for us.

We need to read it submissively, aware that our human thoughts are no match for His. We need to read it on our knees as it were.

And Like the elders we must hold fast to God’s truth. We need to meditate on it. Explore it discuss it. Join a Growth Group. I find that writing a note or two in a journal helps me to apply the teaching to my life.

The message of Titus ch 1 is that the heart of a godly church is godly leadership.

And godly leaders need to hold fast to God’s truth.

It is when God’s truth permeates a Church that it is effective in transformed lives. And it is our prayer that as God’s truth is taught and displayed in our church that hearts that are not focussed on God’s truth can be redirected into God’s ways.

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