WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:06.080 So yesterday we had a full house in our gymnasium. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:24.399 We had uh just about 160 women there, all delighted to be together, beautifully dressed, tables finely set, and uh enjoying some food and fellowship and the sound of uh word of God, a message from God's word together. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:33.200 And they were kindly and generously served by 32 of our men who were dressed in black trousers, white shirt, and bow ties. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:37.280 So I thought I'd wear a bow tie today in tribute to those guys. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:40.000 Some of them are not here today. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:42.960 I think they they got worn out yesterday. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.039 I didn't realize how worn out they they we were. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:49.679 Um I got home and looked at my smartwatch. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:53.119 I put over 12,000 steps in yesterday. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.799 And all I did was move between two buildings that are 10 feet apart from each other. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:04.560 How do you do six miles of walking 10 feet at a time? 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:09.359 So, and I just want to honor the men and their service. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:12.799 I think it was uh wonderfully done and cheerfully done. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:20.959 So we're back in the book of Titus together. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.200 It's been a little while since we've been here. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:32.640 Uh a couple weeks ago, we celebrated the resurrection and looked at a passage in Corinthians where it says that God is a God who raises the dead. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:38.799 And then last week we had our mission's emphasis week, and we turned our attention to God's heart for the nations. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:40.000 Now we're back here. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:50.480 We've returned to the island of Crete, if you will, to a young minister named Titus, and to a church that needs some order, that needs some clarity, and needs some protection. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:53.280 So let's pray as we enter in again. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:18.400 Father, as we step into this moment, we want to do so with eager hearts, to hear everything that you have for us today, and to hear it well, not just for our information, but for our formation, that we might, as individuals, be brought into an awareness of Jesus Christ and conformity to his person, but also that we might be a well-ordered household that is yours. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:28.479 And we pray that you would give us an understanding of those points in time when we have to consider and approve and welcome church leadership. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:38.960 And for those who are already set in place there, that they might receive well these guidances for how they are to conduct themselves within your household. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:44.159 So, Lord, give us all understanding, we pray, and may you be praised in it all. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.000 And we ask this in Christ's name. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:46.800 Amen. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.080 So take a look at verse five. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:03:02.960 Verse five, Paul writes to Titus and right at the outset speaks about the churches in Crete and says that he'd left Titus there to set right what was left undone. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:07.360 And as I directed you to appoint elders in every town. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.159 Apostle Paul had to leave. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:13.840 Something still needed to be done in order to help these young churches. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:19.599 And one of those things was to help them with appointing church leadership. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:24.240 Now, Paul here is not talking about how to develop a religious organization. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:28.879 As we see in this verse, he uses a household terminology a few times. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:35.439 And so what he is talking about is setting the household of God in order. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:40.240 And that's an important setting for us to understand. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:45.280 That is the atmosphere in which we are to see church leadership. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:53.199 We have all kinds of models of leadership in this world, but God wants us to see it in this context: that it's God's household. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:04:04.400 Christ is the head, the church belongs to him, and that church leadership are to act as stewards within God's household. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:18.399 If you can imagine a large household in a Roman, Greco-Roman world, including more than just the nuclear family, but all the dynamics that a household would entail in taking care of all the things that pertain to it. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:30.079 And the head of the household is stepping aside for a little while, but he says, Here are all my instructions for carrying out the things that need to happen in my household. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.639 This is how I want everyone to conduct themselves. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.279 This is the business that I want them to take care of. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:39.519 This is the way when I return, I want my household to be ordered. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:44.879 The Lord Jesus Christ has gone and he said, These are my instructions. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:53.120 And these are the people that I'm going to task with the responsibility of ensuring that these instructions are carried out. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:05:04.079 So leadership is not finding the most winsome or the most attractive or the most intelligent or obviously not, right? 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:13.600 Person, but the person who says, here is what I want done, make sure it gets done. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.480 And those are elders. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:21.600 And we've looked at elders now for two weeks in the past couple weeks. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.839 And we're going to look at it today and also next week. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:27.759 So a total of four messages on church leadership. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:39.199 In our first message, we began to look in a two-weeks section on what these men were to be, these men who were entrusted with this responsibility. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:45.040 And so the first emphasis was on their character, their character. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.839 Because there are two things that God wants church leadership to pay attention to. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.399 One is modeling what Christ-like behavior looks like. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:00.240 And the second is maintaining the line with a Christ-centered message. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:06.160 So modeling and message are dealt with in this section, as Paul writes to Titus. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:12.160 And in our first message, he began to point out to us what that character looks like. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:14.800 So take a look at verses six and seven. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:21.360 An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of waldness or rebellion. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:40.720 As an overseer of God's household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message, and it goes on. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:07:01.439 So you can see there that he begins to sort of clear the scene a little bit by talking about a series of disqualifying patterns of behavior, that these men are not to be characterized by these aspects: anger and self-control or self-will and controlled by their appetites, or drawn toward dishonest gain. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:12.720 And what Paul is telling Titus here is that those kind of guys are not just a bad fit for leadership, they are out of step with the heart of Christ. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:18.240 And so don't choose men who are consumed by those characteristics. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:28.160 And so he clears away the distortions so there might be those kind of men who portray a much clearer view of what Christ is like. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:41.279 And so in the second message in verse 8, we looked at these more positive aspects: hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:52.160 And essentially what Paul is saying here is that these men should be models of what mature, gospel-formed life is like. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:59.199 They're to be examples of the very life that every believer is called to live. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:12.319 Their homes, their habits, their relationships should all bear these characteristics of what God's grace can do in an ordinary person's life. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:20.399 Now, several weeks have passed since we've looked at these, so it might be easy for us just to think of them as isolated messages, but they're not. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:27.199 We're continuing a theme here and unfolding this one idea of what church leadership is. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:30.560 So I want us to feel again that connection. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:38.399 So verses six through eight are talking about a person's life, his character, his home, his habits. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.360 Now we're going to look at a verse that talks about his relationship to the word. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:50.639 We've looked at the modeling, and now we want to look at his relationship to the message. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:55.039 Verses six to eight talked about what kind of man is he. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.720 Verse nine, we'll talk about how does he handle the word? 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.080 How does that focus shape him? 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:05.840 What are his convictions? 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.919 What is his speech? 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:16.399 And the reason why this matters is because Crete was not a neutral territory. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:24.000 It wasn't an environment that was kind or generous or welcoming to the gospel. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.120 Take a look at verse 10 and 11 for a second. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:34.000 It says there that there are many rebellious people full of empty talk and deception. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:45.440 And it is necessary to silence them because they overturn entire households by teaching what they shouldn't. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:51.840 So we'll walk through that next week more deeply. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:58.879 But what Titus is meant to do is to appoint elders in the middle of that kind of environment. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.360 It's not a calm, quiet, spiritually safe environment at all. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:22.080 He's pointing them into a space where there are men entering into it and doing damage, who are who are upsetting families and who are distorting truth and and wrecking lives. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:34.320 Constant barrage of voices. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:46.960 Sometimes they're just a tap away on the screen of our phone, or sometimes they're on the radio or television, or they're in our homes, or in our offices, or on our streets. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:58.639 There are people that are offering confusion about God, who are destroying truth, who are twisting morality, who are bombarding our understanding of our identity and reality. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:18.000 And so here we are in the same kind of world, feeling pressures on our hearts, feeling concern for our children, our grandchildren, watching people that we love being drawn away by these destructive teachings. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:26.480 So we want to hear well what Titus receives from Paul about what to do in Crete. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.720 So underneath all of this, it's not a theoretical question. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:39.759 It's not just simply a discourse on church leadership, as though you were sitting in a seminary room and trying to understand it in some sort of conceptual way. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:45.759 What Paul is telling Titus here is this is how Jesus cares for his people. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:53.440 By putting in place men of character and conducting themselves appropriately with my word. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.720 Their manner, models, and their message shapes. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:34.159 So we're going to ask a question here of verse 9. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.600 We're going to spend all this time in one verse in verse 9. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:39.600 We're not going to move very far from this. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:44.799 When we were going through Isaiah together, we would sometimes do three, four chapters at a time. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:46.720 Today we're doing one verse. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:49.919 So we're going to pay a lot of attention to what it has to say. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.639 And what we're going to look for are three things. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:59.039 We're going to ask ourselves, what does it mean for a man to hold to the faithful message as taught? 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:04.480 What does it look like when an elder encourages with sound teaching? 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:12.240 And also, why is it an act of love to refute those who contradict God's word? 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:15.600 So those are the things that we're going to be looking at. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:35.279 But out of all of that, here's what I want you to capture that Christ safeguards his people by giving them elders who hold to the word with conviction, who teach it with clarity, and who defend it with courage. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.679 So let's step into it. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:39.440 The first one, that first one. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.720 The elders' conviction, holding to the faithful word. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:45.039 Take a look at verse 9, the first part. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:51.279 Holding to the faithful message as taught. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:56.320 This is not a casual relationship to scripture, is it? 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.320 Especially when you understand the Greek that underlies it. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:04.720 What Paul is describing here is a grip, right? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:13.279 A clinging to, a clenching, as he holds on to this faithful message as taught. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:25.039 This is describing a person who has found something so trustworthy, so stabilizing, so life-giving that he's never gonna let go of it. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.200 That's what it's talking about. 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.080 So this is a pastoral letter. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:33.600 This is not something in abstraction. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:45.039 This is talking about the kind of guy who can stand in front of a congregation and says, This is the word of God and means every single word of it. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.360 So let's hang, let's let's look at this very deeply. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:59.120 First of holding on, holding to or holding on, clinging, embracing with deliberate strength this message. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.279 What does that talk about? 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:06.080 It talks about perseverance, it talks about conviction. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:14.240 But underneath all of that, perseverance and conviction is a person who's been tested with other voices. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:16.000 Right? 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:24.240 Because you can only persevere and cling to something if you've already tested it up against everything else. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:37.200 And he's heard those voices and he's seen their effect, and he said, No, this is what I'm clinging to, with perseverance and conviction. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:49.120 This is a man who's chosen over the course of his life, time and time and time and time again, to anchor himself in God's revelation. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:55.200 Let's look at the next phrase, the faithful message. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.600 The faithful message. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:01.519 Now, Paul's not just throwing out a religious word there. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:05.519 Sounds spiritual to say faithful. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.159 He's what is he talking about there? 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.759 What he's saying is this message is something you can stake your life and eternity on. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.480 It's a faithful message. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:25.919 In fact, he uses this term a lot, especially in the epistle or epistles that are written to the the to Titus and Timothy. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:29.759 Listen to 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:35.759 This is a trustworthy and uh deserving of full acceptance. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:41.039 This saying is trustworthy or faithful and worthy of full acceptance. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.000 That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.440 You can hang your soul on this, is what Paul's saying. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.120 Titus 1.2. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.600 The God who cannot lie. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.320 How faithful, how trustworthy a message is. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.720 It comes from somebody who cannot lie. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:07.920 He uses the same formula in 1 Timothy 3 1, 1 Timothy 4 9, 2 Timothy 2.11, Titus 3.8. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.119 It's all over the place in these pastoral epistles. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:20.319 And what he wants is that elders feel the weight and they feel the certainty of this message that they're proclaiming. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:28.880 And so Paul is saying, I want an elder who's holding fast, clinging to a faithful message. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.559 What does it say about a person who is an elder? 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:38.559 It's not his own insight that he's holding on to. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:44.480 It's not his experiences that he's holding on to. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:50.720 It's not his leadership instincts that he's holding on to. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.519 He's holding on to the word of God. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:07.359 He's a man who's learned through study and prayer and obedience that scripture is true, not just in abstract discussions, but in real lived life. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:15.680 Let's look at another phrase because we're not finished with this first one, or another part of this phrase. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:26.880 Who holds to in verse nine the faithful message as taught. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:29.279 As taught. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:57.200 They're receiving an apostolic message. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:13.599 They're receiving the message passed down from Christ to his apostles, and from those apostles to these men, and from those men to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also, just as we read in the reading this morning. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:17.839 So, what does that say about leadership? 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:29.119 They are stewards, not editors, they are heralds, they're not designers of the message. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:38.799 Their task is not to improve what God has to say, but to preserve it and to bring it to light. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:39.759 Right? 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:53.839 So my friend David here is a waiter, and a good waiter will make sure the food gets from the kitchen to your table without it falling on the floor. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:55.440 That's important. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.880 The chefs spend a lot of time with that food. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:08.160 They would like the people at the table to enjoy it as he shaped it or as she prepared it, right? 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:19.759 And he's going to make sure that what they have in front of them is appreciated for what it is. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:35.119 And you've been to some of those restaurants where they go, and they they go, well, this is an ooza, uh sprinkled, encrusted tuna, you know, and and you're you're like, just give me the plate, please, you know. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:36.319 Right? 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:46.799 Well, they're they're just sort of unpacking the things so you really can look at it and smell it and and sense it in all the different ways. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:50.559 And as you taste it, you taste it with some expectancy. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:54.880 No, that waiter didn't cook the food. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:03.680 That waiter simply brought it to you, but is involved in the whole complex of that experience, right, David? 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:04.720 Did I get that right? 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:05.920 Yeah, good. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:09.519 That's what a pastor does when he preaches. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:12.559 It's not about how wonderful the description was. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:13.920 Oh, he's a great preacher. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.000 He's just so, so whatever. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:16.640 No. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:25.279 We're just trying to say this is this is God who's made this food for us, and it's wonderful. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:28.480 Let's eat it together, right? 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.000 Charles Spurgeon, you know I was gonna quote Spurgeon, right? 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:45.119 I would rather speak five words out of this book than 50,000 from a philosopher's. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.640 And what he was doing, he was reminding all of us that just how important this is. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.480 And that novelty and cleverness are not it. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.680 Fidelity is more important. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.440 Are not nourished by creativity. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.400 They're nourished by God's truth. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:14.880 And so an elder is not tasked with generating things, but simply guarding what's here. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:23.680 He's asked to hold on to this with settled loyalty, refuse to trade the voice of God for the other voices that are out there. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:43.759 In a world that's full of shifting ideas, convictions, persuasive speech, popularity, the fad of the moment, we need some people who say, God's word stands. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.799 We're going to spend time in it. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.480 And we need that. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.640 Because we walk through times that confuse us. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:01.519 We go through times when it doesn't feel like there's any solid ground under our feet. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:06.799 And we often think life can be very, very unpredictable. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.279 Some of you are in those moments right now. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:19.359 And what you need is truth and stability from God's Word to anchor your heart there. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:29.200 And so here is God saying, I want to shepherd your heart through the proclamation of my word. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:35.920 And I want to give you some men who really hold to it so you can hear me well. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:56.400 So when our church and the time comes for us to consider a person, to be an elder of the church, what we're looking for is not simply an academic or even a clever person. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:37.119 We're looking for someone who is clinging to Christ when there's a world asking him to be, to take their favorites and make them his, that keeps his bearings on Christ when life gets heavy, who guards his own heart from fear and pride, from even in the middle of weariness and attempted compromise, who becomes a steady presence in the midst of God's people, so that when we're in unsteady places, there's somebody saying to us, God is in control. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:43.759 So pray for the elders, please. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:47.440 Make them a part of your regular, even daily prayer. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:57.759 Pray for us that we would be able to shape ourselves according to God's word and help you to be shaped by it as well. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:12.319 May it be also where we cultivate among our body, to call it a culture is just not quite the right word, but it's I'll use it right now. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:19.680 Where we shape a culture where the word of God is not an accessory to what we are, but the center of what we are. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:20.240 Okay? 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:25.680 Let's move on to the second one. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:36.079 We look at the man's holding fast, clinging to, grasping this faithful message as taught. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:39.359 But now we get into what he does with it. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:48.559 It says here, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching, and we'll save the last bit for the next point. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:53.519 So here's the second point: encouraging with sound teaching. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:59.920 This is not just a guy who clings to the word of God in private, but he grips it. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:17.279 And in the overflow of that gripping, it develops a particular manner of ministry, of service to the people of God, holding to the faithful messages taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.960 That so that is it is really important. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:32.160 Because it says that his gripping hold of the word has a purpose, and that purpose is the nourishment of other people. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:44.799 And it involves some competency also, able to encourage with sound teaching. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:50.480 So Paul's going back to what he told Timothy in the list of elders there when he said apt to teach. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:53.759 And this is the same thing, just said a little differently. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:27:02.000 And what it means, let me say this clearly, it doesn't mean that every elder has to be able to preach from this pulpit. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:04.559 Doesn't mean that necessarily. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:19.839 But it does mean that every elder must be capable of opening the scriptures and to do so and help people to understand it, to believe it, and to obey it, so that they might encourage. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:33.759 So Paul doesn't have in mind a specialized activity for the few, but the pervasive manner of ministry among all the elders within the body of Christ. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.200 Do you see that? 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:41.759 And here's how they do it they encourage, they encourage. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.559 And I've always been surprised by it. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:28:08.559 There's some people that walk away, and the preacher's got up there, and he's like shripp skin off the flesh, you know, just a scathing, like denunciation of sin, and it's you know, it's vivid and it's harsh and hard. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:12.000 And and I've walked away from that going, okay. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:17.359 And and I've had people come up to me and go, man, that was a great sermon. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:19.119 I really needed to hear that. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:26.000 I'm like, yeah, parts of it, yeah. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:29.599 But did we need to get beat up like that? 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:36.799 Sometimes there's there's this scathing, sort of searing perspective. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:52.480 Now, exposing sin, speaking to the conscience of everybody, not compromising truth, holding people to the clear, declared statements of obedience to God's word, you better believe it. 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:59.920 But we don't need a frothing, red-faced person to make that clear. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:09.839 Because the intent behind it, in its overall description, is found in this one word encourage. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:13.359 You hear that? 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:20.799 Holding to the faithful message as taught, clinging to it, never letting it go. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:26.160 God's truth, as it was passed down to you, what do I do with it? 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:27.680 Encourage. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:29.920 Encourage. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:32.720 Encourage. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:39.200 To comfort, to strengthen, to come alongside, and to urge. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:49.839 And it's in the same family of words when you read in the book of John that the Holy Spirit, who is the comforter, will come. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:30:00.240 Now, when you think of the Holy Spirit, do you think of some frothing, red-faced, crazed-eyed preacher ripping you skin off of your flesh? 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:02.480 You don't. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:14.079 So the man of God is to be an encourager with the word, like the Holy Spirit leads us into truth and righteousness. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:23.759 Yes, speaks, knows what buttons to push, but does so with love, and that we might say yes to that. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:51.599 So the elder, not just explaining concepts either, but coming alongside the weary, sitting down with the confused, urging the tempted or the discouraged, warning the unruly, encouraging. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:55.119 Now let's look at another phrase here. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:00.559 With sound teaching. 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:10.640 The word sound is an important word because it speaks of health. 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:16.880 It's the word, in fact, in which we get our word hygiene from. 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:46.400 So when Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, that there will people who will not tolerate sound doctrine, right? 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:50.079 Having itching ears, they will not tolerate sound doctrine. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:52.960 Paul is lamenting two things. 00:31:53.599 --> 00:32:04.079 He's lamenting the loss of truth, but he's also lamenting the loss of spiritual health in the people who have followed the error. 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:05.839 Right? 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:13.519 It's easy for us to come in among God's people underfed. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:19.599 We come in feeding on a diet of headlines. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:26.000 We come in doom scrolling on social media. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:35.119 We come in with our boss's words hanging over our head when we work till 3 a.m. 00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:40.720 We come in with internal anxieties. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:45.680 And all of those things have robbed our nourishment. 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:57.359 There are voices out there telling us who we are, how we're supposed to dress, how we're supposed to conduct ourselves, what we should chase after. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:03.039 And by the time we sit down with our Bible, our souls are lean. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.559 We feel thin spiritually. 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:14.319 And God says, here's some good food for you. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:23.200 It's nourishing, it's strengthening, it will make you healthy, it will help you. 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:26.480 That's sound teaching. 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:40.319 Teaching that pulls you away from all those things that are drawing the life out of you and filling you with the things that will encourage and strengthen you and develop you into Christlieness. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:46.640 And so it'll mean correcting and comforting and reorienting. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:34:02.079 And the man of God who takes those things as a church leader is here as a steward on God's behalf in the midst of his household, and saying, here's how we're going to make this household as healthy as it can be. 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:18.000 Some of you are caring for elderly parents or loved ones. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:25.519 And you walk into these places and you wonder, does anybody know how my week has gone? 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:33.280 Has anybody felt the hours that I've spent as I've waited upon my loved one? 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:42.559 Some of you are younger parents and dealing with the complexities of what did we give birth to. 00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:10.719 And some of us have come in, just laid one of our most dearest loved ones in a place we'll never see them again. 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:17.039 We come in, and those things have pulled away at us day by day. 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:23.599 And Jesus wants to breathe life and health and strength into you through those moments. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:37.920 He wants to show you how all of this flows out of his grace and how all of it is meant to be your obedience as a response to these mercies that he's got for you. 00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:45.119 That your holiness is to be rooted in what God has already done for you in Christ. 00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:57.199 So when we think about elders, we're not looking for distant decision makers who offer decrees from the middle of nowhere. 00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:12.400 But guys who are willing to be right there with you and to share those moments with you, who are accessible and able to bring the right medicine into the right moment. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:36.159 And so we value people who are able to operate in those quiet ways with consistent work of the word in the middle of your moments, whether they're in a living room, a hospital room, a coffee shop, or a classroom or the pulpit. 00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:41.360 We should pray for them. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:49.920 That their the focus of encouragement will be the main word they think of when they're preparing to teach. 00:36:51.760 --> 00:37:01.199 That it'll be marked by warmth, by patience, and by a very deep awareness of the burdens all of us carry. 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:09.519 That it's true, that God's word is held well. 00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:13.199 And that leads us to the last part. 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:22.559 Because he knows in a world like Creed, in a world like ours, a teaching can't only always be positive. 00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:29.119 Take a look at the last one, and we look at the elder's courage here. 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:33.920 To refute those who contradict it. 00:37:36.719 --> 00:37:42.960 Here, Paul completes the sentence and he adds a very weighty phrase at the end of it. 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:46.239 To refute those who contradict it. 00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:56.800 Paul has just talked about nourishing God's people, holding fast to the word, encouraging with sound teaching. 00:37:57.679 --> 00:37:59.440 The tone shifts now. 00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:09.119 Because the ministry of the word from the elders is not just constructive, it's protective. 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:11.280 It's protective. 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:15.280 It builds up, yes, but it also guards. 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:20.000 It comforts, but at times it will also have to confront. 00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.800 And it places this responsibility squarely on their shoulders. 00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:35.199 So let's look at these words, just as we've done in the other phrases, to refute, to refute those who contradict it. 00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:37.199 What does that word refute mean? 00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:39.679 It means to expose what is false. 00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:43.599 It means to correct what is harmful. 00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:48.400 It means to call back to the truth. 00:38:52.079 --> 00:39:00.559 This is not about just winning arguments because you're clever and you can twist an argument or a person's statements around on them. 00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:06.559 It doesn't mean just being able to win debates or score points. 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:21.679 It's the language of a shepherd who understands that there's a danger to the flock and is going to operate and move between the threat and the flock and say you're not getting any closer to them. 00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:23.199 You're not. 00:39:53.920 --> 00:40:00.719 And at the very end, he says, these people are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work. 00:40:00.960 --> 00:40:03.280 They must be silenced. 00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:12.159 And Titus is told to appoint elders in the midst of that environment. 00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:30.559 In the midst of places where people are being unsettled, where truth is being distorted, where confusion is trying to wrangle the young, try to put burdens on the tender-hearted, and to bring instability into the midst of the congregation. 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:55.119 And God's answer is He's going to take these appointed leaders and anchor them in the Word, who are going to develop and shape their life and character as such over the course of time and testing that they would be steady in their convictions and they would be able to gently and yet firmly correct everything that's false. 00:40:57.280 --> 00:41:08.320 They're not loud, they're not combative, and they're definitely not reactionary, but they are persistent and courageous. 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:14.400 And the reason is because we have a savior who's exactly like that. 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:19.679 He is the savior who is confronting the wolves. 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:23.760 He's the savior who exposes hypocrisy. 00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:31.199 He's the savior who guards his people because he loves his sheep. 00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:36.000 And he's saying to these elders, make sure my sheep stay protected. 00:41:39.519 --> 00:41:45.360 So we need elders who are not afraid to speak when speaking is necessary. 00:41:46.079 --> 00:41:49.440 Who are able to speak, yes, with gentleness, but also with clarity. 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:52.559 That is not the voice of the shepherd. 00:41:54.320 --> 00:42:02.000 Who can discern what's the difference between biblical things or merely spiritual things? 00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:07.760 The difference between the gospel and the almost the gospel. 00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:11.280 Because it really isn't the gospel. 00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:20.239 We're able to talk about what's true versus what's persuasive but empty. 00:42:24.639 --> 00:42:27.360 And this is a necessary part of shepherding. 00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:34.800 So pray for your elders to be discerning men, not suspicious men, but discerning men. 00:42:35.920 --> 00:42:46.960 Courageous, but not harsh, and clear, but not defensive. 00:42:47.519 --> 00:42:49.679 That's what we need to pray for. 00:42:51.519 --> 00:43:10.800 But it also means this to recognize when an elder has to speak, that they're speaking with care and not criticism, if they have to say something that's difficult for you to hear. 00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:26.079 That they're not trying to be contentious, that you should know them that the last thing that they want would want to be is anything but that. 00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:29.360 Contentious and critical. 00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:47.920 But when they need to speak with clarity and perhaps even sharpness and directness, it's because they've recognized the only way to awaken you to the embracing truth that will encourage and be healthy for you is to say, stop. 00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:50.559 Stop that. 00:43:51.760 --> 00:43:58.559 Now so we have to ask ourselves some questions. 00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:04.719 Am I A place where I'm receptive to being corrected when I'm wrong? 00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:12.880 Am I open to the possibility that I've been influenced by voices that aren't the voice of my Savior? 00:44:15.119 --> 00:44:25.039 Am I humble enough to receive the protective ministry that God has given us in these men who are sharing God's word? 00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:33.360 This is Paul's vision for us of what church leadership looks like. 00:44:33.760 --> 00:44:50.239 As you can tell, it's within the context of a household, representative of the Savior Himself, ensuring that what he wants and who he is is both seen and done among us. 00:44:50.800 --> 00:45:07.199 And not just so that those guys could do all of that that way, but so that all of us could, so that we might be a display of Christ among all of ourselves with one another and in a world that's looking at us and watching. 00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:23.119 So these three expressions are the shepherding heart of our Savior, because he holds fast to the word, he teaches with encouragement, and he confronts the things that harm his people. 00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:26.800 Let's pray. 00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:44.719 Father, we come to you as your people, and we're often unsteady, distracted people. 00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:55.039 Lord, we can feel ourselves being pulled by voices that promise things that they can't fulfill. 00:45:56.480 --> 00:46:00.639 And we thank you that you've not left us to navigate this world alone. 00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:06.400 That you've spoken, you've given us your word, and it's faithful and it's trustworthy. 00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:18.400 And we thank you that you've given to your people shepherds who are called to cling to your word and teach it patiently and to guard with courage and compassion. 00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:23.199 So, Lord, we pray that you would make us a church that loves your word. 00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:36.880 Give us, Lord, we pray, a heart that hungers for what is true, that we might be shaped by what you've spoken, and our lives would bear the fruit of sound teaching. 00:46:38.079 --> 00:46:40.400 So, Lord, meet us in our moments. 00:46:40.719 --> 00:46:44.480 When we're weary, bring us your word to strengthen us. 00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:47.840 When we're confused, bring your word to steady us. 00:46:48.239 --> 00:46:51.599 And when we're drifting, bring your word to draw us back. 00:46:52.559 --> 00:46:54.960 Restore us when we're wounded. 00:46:55.840 --> 00:47:02.960 Lord, we want to pray also for those who serve as elders among us, that they would be anchored deeply in your word. 00:47:03.440 --> 00:47:08.880 And Lord, we pray you'd guard them from pride and fear and weariness and compromise. 00:47:09.679 --> 00:47:15.360 Give them clarity when they teach, give them gentleness when they correct, give them courage when they protect. 00:47:16.960 --> 00:47:29.039 We pray their homes would be places of peace, that their relationship and their family and with us would be marked by grace, that their lives would be shaped by our Savior. 00:47:29.679 --> 00:47:31.679 May they reflect Him. 00:47:32.960 --> 00:47:50.639 We pray, Father, today for those who feel unsteady today, for those who are carrying quiet griefs or wrestling with doubts or waiting for answers who haven't that haven't come, who are feeling the tug of voices that don't lead to life. 00:47:51.119 --> 00:47:54.079 Father, we pray you'd meet them today with your presence. 00:47:55.280 --> 00:48:08.960 That something in the word that was spoken today and what they will read and discover the rest of the week will surround them with truth that will bring them to health. 00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:13.360 And we pray, Father, that you would fix all our eyes on Christ. 00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:34.400 Fix our eyes on He who is the faithful shepherd, the one who always speaks truth in the middle of our confusions, who always nourishes us with his grace, who always guards us from what would lead us astray, and whose grip is fast on us when we don't have strength in our own. 00:48:35.920 --> 00:48:39.920 Lord, may He be that voice we trust. 00:48:41.119 --> 00:48:43.840 May His word be that word we cling to. 00:48:44.719 --> 00:48:47.679 And may His care be the care that we rest in. 00:48:49.280 --> 00:48:51.440 We give ourselves to you, Lord. 00:48:52.239 --> 00:49:06.639 You, the God who cannot lie, the God whose promises will stand for eternity, a God whose mercies come without any fail. 00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:10.880 We come to you and entrust ourselves to you. 00:49:11.360 --> 00:49:15.760 Lead us in the way of Christ, we pray, in whose name we pray. 00:49:16.079 --> 00:49:16.719 Amen.