This Is A Faithful Saying

Titus 3:1-11

Paul is writing to Titus, a young leader of a church on the Island of Crete. This is a very brief letter to Titus and the only one that we know of....there was probably more, but we do not have them.

One preacher said of the book of Titus: “If I was the leader responsible for many church congregations as Paul was for there were many cities and many congregations on the island of Crete, if I was responsible to lead and guide and direct and equip a young man to oversee those young and fragile churches, if I was responsible to strengthen a church in the midst of a very violently pagan culture, if I had the responsibility to arm them against false teachers and ungodliness and confusion and evil authority, if I had the task of trying to lead them to purity and holiness and virtue and maturity, if it was my responsibility to make sure that they were insulated from the evil of the world around them while at the same time reaching that evil world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, if all of that was my task I think I would have written a longer letter. I might have written a book. I might have written many books. And it amazes me that with all of that as responsibility, the Apostle Paul has wrapped this whole thing up in three chapters, brief chapters at best.”

In this last chapter, Paul sums up the Gospel as briefly and completely as anyone has ever! He is encouraging this young preacher of the Gospel to stay in the Gospel. The Gospel is simple, true, and the reality of life! That is why it is so important and so urgent! That is also why it is not to be perverted as we talked about, briefly, this morning!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so simple, but hard to come to terms with......

The reality is that we are fallen by our own sin......Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The Lord laid that iniquity on Jesus Christ....that in Him our lives are restored back to God!

Coming to terms with this is the hardest thing for us, we like it “our own way” or maybe we “think” we see a better way, but none of that is responsible thinking and because of our fleshly pullings as we said this morning , we start to gaze out into a horizon that is empty and void.

When this starts happening then we start asking stupid questions and fall into other empty beliefs that produce nothing in our lives!

Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

This brings us to verse 9.....

Foolish questions: Foolish controversies......another way to define this is “moronic arguments”

1 Timothy 6:4 “He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,” This is the false teacher!

There are many questions that arise, but seeking out arguments.....I have seen many debates between Christians.......

Once saved always saved or not

Speaking in tongues

Baptism....infant? what we say? etc.

Denomination

I have actually watched a Christian pastor debate a “so-called” christian homosexual

Debate, debate, debate.....Paul is telling Titus, the Gospel, the Gospel, The Gospel!

What saves, whether I can answer all them questions right or Jesus Christ and Him crucified?

You know that answer......so why have these silly arguments, controversies, questions?

It is all fleshly!

I believe we can discuss some of those things, but I don’t believe the human can be trusted with going out a limb and speculating!

So, avoid, shun, these foolish questions!

Genealogies: There's an ancient called The Book of Jubilees which has many of these Jewish allegories and genealogical speculations where instead of just recognizing the fact that is there, a man is named who beget a man or whatever, there is read into it some bizarre speculation. And all of a sudden that secret elevated mystical truth becomes the real truth and they can spin fables and legends and out of concoct a whole religion that is generated out of hell itself.

There have been some that tells us that some of the Genesis genealogies can worked into myths or mystical truth, which actually instead of truth it would be fable.

Once the guardians of the Gospel (the apostles) were gone this thing took rise.

Eusebius, a Jewish historian, said that when the Apostles passed away, and I quote, "The conspiracy of godless error took its rise through the deceit of false teachers who endeavored with brazen face to preach their knowledge falsely so-called in opposition to the preaching of the truth," end quote.

It seems that a lot of people like to look for the mysticism in the Bible instead of the Truth of Jesus Christ!

They like to see a show, rather than their sin!

I remind of a lady who told me that all the Baptist churches were dead because they didn’t speak in tongues, no evidence of the Holy Spirit......

Apparently in Crete some of the same kind of stuff that was in Ephesus where Timothy was when Paul wrote 1 and 2 Timothy had come to the forefront and was attacking the church and needed to be addressed...fanciful, mystical interpretations that fit only in to the category of stupid controversy and genealogy.

Contentions: You can go back to 1 Timothy 6:4 again and see what these things bring to life amongst folks.....strife.......

Constant friction and trouble within the church: Just constant friction and trouble...contention, constantly battling around the truth, trying to be divisive, conceited, proud men who attack the historic truth of God's Word and try to stir up battles which eventually are designed to destroy the confidence, the security, the sense of faith and rest that the saints have in the truth of Scripture. He says shun all that stuff.

Strivings about the law: we read last week where Paul talked to Timothy about these guys

1 Timothy 1:6-7 “From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”

They have swerved away and if you didn’t go along with them, that is when the actual fighting would come in and harm or even destroy the church!

These things are happening today! I will never forget of one particular situation where someone called me and asked about a preacher......I was used as a reference.......and that person wanted me to tell them about what I know......that person dominated the conversation and stated that they wanted a preacher that would not just stand behind the pulpit, but would get out and show some life......I said nothing else but you got your man if that is what you are after and I did not warn them........it wasn’t long till the doors was shut on that church.

I have had one ask me if it was ok for him as preacher to question someone about their tithing....

That is an easy one.......NO!!

I know of another preacher that followed through with Matthew 19, where Jesus tells us that if a brother/sister is out with the Gospel, you go to them, if they do not hear you, you take someone else with you, if they don’t hear you then, then you bring them before the church.

Well, this woman was married to this guy that was abusing her.........This man supposedly reformed the church and when it seemed by the church leaders that he was reformed, the called on her to take him back......seemingly following the Scriptures.....well she wouldn’t, and so the church went to her and finally brought her before the church and so she took him back.....

You know where that man is now? Prison for beating his wife!

Concern yourself with the Gospel and if anyone is trying to pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ by any of the things mentioned or by other means, shun them or avoid them..........walk away from them!

I read behind one preacher who said that anyone that does these things, it is a devilish, demonic scheme, treat it as such and walk away!!

Stay with the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!