Sermon Tone Analysis

*A Few Godly Men in the Church and World (Titus 1:7-8)*

/Preached by Pastor Phil Layton at Gold Country Baptist Church on June 1, 2008/

www.goldcountrybaptist.org

 

God’s Word refers to itself as a sword, and I want to ask all of you soldiers of Christ here to please take out your swords, unsheath your weapons and be turning to the book of Titus.

If you don’t have a sword with you, you’re unarmed, soldier.

Make sure you bring a Bible next time.

Last week we saw that our heavenly Commander-in-Chief has always been looking for a few good men to lead each local division of the Lord’s Army, which is sometimes called the church militant.

We fight for truth until the day all divisions of true soldiers are united in the church triumphant with our triumphant King Jesus.

Titus 1:5-9 (NKJV) *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— **6 **if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.**

\\ 7 **For a bishop [overseer] must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,** \\ 8 **but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,** \\ 9 **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.* \\ \\

May God help every one of you in this room to be pursuing this type of character and lifestyle with a wartime mentality, knowing we are in a spiritual battle for the future, not just in California for marriages and families, but for churches as well; a war over souls.

/Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross!/

We know Jesus will win in the end, because we’ve read the end of the book.

But in the meantime there are battles being waged for the hearts and minds of young people and of church-goers.

No protests or pacifism will change reality or our duty to our Commander-God who requires we be engaged and deployed in this fight of faith.

As we turn to the NT, we see soldiers often associated with God’s truth and the gospel, which is an image Paul will later pick up on.

-         When John the Baptist comes preaching repentance and clearing the way for the gospel, there are soldiers who ask him what they must do to repent.

-         There is a soldier, a Gentile centurion who comes to Christ for healing of his servant and Christ says He has not seen faith like his of any in Israel, and He says this Gentile soldier will be in the kingdom but many Jews will not.

-         There is the soldier watching Jesus die who praises God and says “surely this was the Son of God” – arguably the first convert after Christ’s crucifixion

-         In the book of Acts, we see many Roman soldiers come to faith in Christ.

Cornelius is the most notable first Gentile convert, a soldier commander involved in this most crucial event in the early church, in light of the Acts 15 council

-         Much of Paul’s life is spent with soldiers, sometimes transporting him, often chained to him, probably sitting next to him as he writes 4 of the books in our NT

-         Undoubtedly, Paul is looking at the soldier guarding him when he writes these familiar words from Ephesians 6:

 

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

11 Put *on the full armor of God*, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual /forces /of wickedness in the heavenly /places./

13 Therefore, take up the full *armor of God*, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the *breastplate* of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up *the shield of faith* with which you will be able to extinguish *all the flaming arrows of the evil /one/*/./

17 And take *the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.* 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints

 

As we look at the requirements for all the saints that will go marching in the Lord’s army in Titus 1, I want you to think of the visual that was probably very fresh in Paul’s mind as he writes.

Any guard who had a turn guarding Paul probably would /not/ have had his whole armor on if sitting chained to Paul.

When his shift was over (4 hours or so), if he was a soldier reporting directly to duty in the Roman army, the scene may have been something like:

-         putting off his other garments, then putting on full armor

-         he would gird up his loins so that nothing would entangle his ability to move quickly or impede his forward progress

-         he would put on his breastplate, and his shoes, and pick up his shield, and put on his helmet, and ready his sword

 

In a similar way, Titus 1 talks about the preparation of a soldier of Jesus to serve, putting off what a soldier is not and putting on what a soldier should be.

/A good soldier must BE FREE FROM THESE VICES (verse 7):/

*not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,* \\ \\

/A good soldier must BE FOLLOWING THESE VIRTUES (v.

8):/

*hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,* \\ \\

Paul often writes in this type of pattern:

negative -> positive

put off -> put on

            run from -> run to

            flee -> follow

 

1 Timothy 6:11-12 (NASB95) \\ 11 But *flee from* these things, you man of God, *and pursue* righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

12 *Fight the good fight of faith* …

 

2 Timothy 2:1-4 (NASB95) \\ 1 You therefore, my son, *be strong* in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

\\ 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, *entrust these to faithful men* who will be able to teach others also.

\\ 3 Suffer hardship with me, *as a good soldier of Christ Jesus*.

4 No soldier in active service *entangles himself* in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

\\ \\

We need to be freeing ourselves from whatever so easily entangles us, if we are to be useful and pleasing to the Lord who enlisted us.

That is why Titus 1:7 lists several vices that we must be freeing ourselves from so that they do no ensnare us.

 

2 Timothy 2:21-22 (NASB95) \\ 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, *useful to the Master*, prepared for every good work.

\\ 22 Now *flee from* youthful lusts *and pursue* righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

\\ \\

2 Timothy 4:7 (NASB95) \\ 7 I have *fought the good fight*, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; \\ \\

And then Paul goes on to name some who deserted or defected from the army, and he says you must not do that.

Fight the fight, keep the faith!

/Flee from these vices, follow after these virtues./

We’re going to focus on verses 7-8 here of these elder qualities, but it’s important you keep in mind that ultimately everything in this passage is a quality God requires of all believers in His Word.

/ /

I put this handout together that I would encourage you to take home and study further.

I want you to visually see that these things are not only qualifications for leadership, but each of these areas are qualities commanded for all of God’s people at all times.

All of the cross-references in the far right column we won’t have time to turn to today, but I’ll try to quote some of the key texts.

I hope you will study each of these further.

This would be a good study to do with your spouse or family if you have, or on your own to examine your heart as to how you’re doing in these areas, because God holds each of us accountable to all of these standards.

Don’t miss this! It’s not that there’s a higher standard or greater requirements for pastors or elders, God calls all of us to the same character standards.

It’s true there is greater /damage/ to the name of Christ the more public or well-known you are when you sin seriously and repeatedly in these areas.

/Your/ /sin/ may not end up on the news like it might when a visible spiritual leader falls, but it still is sin that grieves God and has big consequences in your life.

When God comes looking for a few good men, a few godly soldiers, He looks first in the home, as we saw last week.

How is your character and integrity in your private life, when no one else is around?

If you’re married and have children, how are you presently demonstrating faithfulness in your relationships at home?

We won’t turn to the verses for those first 3 boxes on the far right, but I hope you will look those up on your own to see that this is God’s will for all of you to be faithful in your home, your family.

God looks for a few godly men first in the home, now in verses 7 and 8 he comes looking for a few godly men in the church and world.

As the parallel passage in 1 Timothy says, he must also have a good reputation with those outside the church.

Verse 6 instructs us as we saw last week Be Faithful in the Home

Verse 7 tells us negatively Be Free From These Vices.

Robertson's Greek Grammar says that the repeated negative stresses strongly that none of these are true of the one who would lead the church.

The characteristics are all negated equally and are all accusative in agreement with overseer~/bishop which is another name for elder or pastor or shepherd (same requirements for all).

Verse 7 begins with another description of the elder, and that is a “steward.”

A steward was someone given management responsibility of a household, which the parallel passage (1 Tim 3) describes as God’s house the church (v.

4-5, 15).

Stewards had duties that might include oversight over other workers, managing money, or business interests, or some decisions.

Integrity and faithfulness were required and one must ‘execute his duties to the fullest according to the master’s wishes … as Paul employs the concept elsewhere, the factor of obligation or compulsion may be added.

Put simply, stewardship was not an appointment that one took up or laid down at one’s own pleasure.’[1]

If you look at verse 7, anyone who is controlled by these things you wouldn't want to manage your family or possessions and neither does God.

His stewards must not be marked by these sins.

*BE FREE FROM THESE VICES *

 

First one in verse 7 is *SELF-WILLED *(item #4 on your handout)

Strong personality, dominant, aggressive, self-confident.

You can  read secular business experts that list attributes like this near the top of the list for the world's ideal of leadership and the one who often rises to the top in business.

But this word is the opposite of the servant-leader Paul introduced himself as, and God inspired Paul to put this word at the top of the list of vices, the pre-eminent trait of what NOT to be like in /spiritual/ leadership.

In the 1 Timothy 3:6 parallel, Paul warns against being conceited ~/ prideful.

We all know of people with the reputation “it’s my way or the highway” – but that’s not the Lord’s way for shepherds or sheep, to be stubborn, self-assertive, overbearing, arrogant, inconsiderate.

The original word is derived from Greek words 'to please' (root of /hedonism/) and 'oneself.'

This is the root issue with this sin.

In Rom 15 listed on your handout, Paul says none of us Christians are to:

“… just *please ourselves*. 2 Each of us is to *please his neighbor* for his good, to his edification.

3 For *even Christ did not please Himself* …”

 

A self-pleaser is antithetical to Christ and His Word; self-focused, self-centered, and just about any other sin you can hyphenate with the word self, summed up as self-love, selfishness or pride.

Jesus had a lot to say about self – Luke 9:23 says you cannot be a follower of Jesus if you don’t /deny self/ and die to self daily.

Did you know the Bible discusses “self-esteem” – or at least there is one verse in the Bible with the word “self” and “esteem”