WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.160 Secret Bible and go to the book of Titus, chapter 3. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.960 We started Titus in March, and we're going to finish in just a couple weeks. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:14.240 Today and next Sunday will be actually our last message in the book of Titus. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.960 We're going to be in verses 8 through 11 this morning. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:31.600 I imagine for many of us, sometime this week, you either did or didn't do the most important thing that was on your list when the week started. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:44.479 Some of us might have had a week where you had this list on Monday, but by the time you got to the end of the week, you looked at the list and you said the top priority did not get done. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:46.719 You've had those weeks, haven't you? 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:55.920 Maybe at work where the most important thing is put onto the calendar, and all of a sudden you receive an email that talks about a scheduling conflict. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:01:04.079 And then as you read the thread, the thread drifts away from the scheduling conflict into a whole discussion about scheduling philosophy. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:11.680 And then it gets into a longer thread about the management, organizational management practices of the place where you work. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.519 And all of a sudden, that most important thing gets buried. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.560 Or maybe you've walked into a meeting about that most important thing. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:25.040 It's supposed to be a 30-minute meeting, turns into a 90-minute meeting. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:30.319 And at the end of the 90 minutes, everybody kind of goes, Well, that was an important meeting. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:37.359 And you realize that the most important thing was still on the table and no decisions had been made about it. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:44.640 Or perhaps you've sat in your office and somebody's come by and they've brought an issue, and it's a significant issue. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:51.760 It needs to be talked about, but you realize, you know, it's been an issue and it's not going to go away. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:02:07.359 But that conversation becomes a 60-minute conversation, then a 90-minute conversation, and then the whole afternoon's gone, and you're like, what I needed to get done today did not get done. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:16.800 And I say most of us, because I too have had to learn the lesson that there's a big difference between what's important and what's urgent. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:23.280 And oftentimes what's important is not a fair competitor against what's urgent. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.039 The urgent things often seem to win the day. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:41.919 And the reason is because what's important often doesn't announce itself with the same kind of clarity and loudness of speech that the urgent does, and it gets overshadowed. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:50.240 But this is not just a personal problem, and it's not just an issue that we often find at work in different places. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:58.159 Paul names this tension between the important and the urgent in the passage of scripture that we're going to be looking at. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:08.800 In the book of Titus, which is just three short chapters, Titus has been receiving from Paul the instruction necessary to help stabilize this young church. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:20.080 This church has been dealing with some matters that could be disruptive, but also some things that need to be put into place in order for it to be a mature body. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.520 Their leadership needs to be put into place. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:31.759 The qualifications for that are listed out in chapter one, how the church is meant to operate well in all of its dimensions in chapter two. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:42.159 And now, here near the end of the letter, Paul directs Titus to speak to the church about the things that are absolutely necessary for it. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:46.719 For the things that the church must insist on. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.479 And so he writes to this church to address a specific problem. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:04:07.840 And the problem is this that the false teachers that Paul discusses in chapter one and that he alludes to here in chapter three, they come in and they're not idle people. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.280 They are energetic people. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:16.639 They are people who want to engage with real energy about things. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:21.519 But these things don't produce anything good. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:30.480 They've got their genealogies to reconstruct, they've got their controversies to argue, they've got their quarrels about the law to promote. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:35.199 All of this effort and no fruit. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:00.720 And that pattern is very, very, very subtle. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:08.399 Because oftentimes conversations can enter into the life of a body and it can gain attention. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:14.480 And as it does, there's a slow drift away from what is most important. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:20.959 And by the time you recognize it, you've already been off track for quite a while. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.959 So here we are in Titus chapter 3 and verses 8 to 11. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.480 And Paul addresses this concern directly. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:29.920 How directly? 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:32.800 Well, he talks about insisting and rejecting. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.720 His commands are sharp and pointed. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:53.199 It would be like a contractor sort of driving up to a building site to find out how his workers are doing and to realize that they've been building a very constructive building, but it's on a different plot of land than what they've been, they were told to build on. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:59.120 So Paul doesn't commend this effort or even suggest it. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:02.720 He names it with some force and directness. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:17.120 And this is why, because what the church needs to center its attention on has in itself only the power to perform what it's meant to do. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.600 And that'll make sense in just a moment. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:28.560 And so, in order for any church and our church to stay where God wants us, we need to do three things. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:31.519 We need to insist on the excellent thing. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.959 We need to reject the worthless thing. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:44.319 And the third one is we need to release the troublemaker who makes the worthless thing his project. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.839 Three instructions, but one purpose. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:59.360 The purpose is that we keep center what is necessarily the center, and what is necessarily the only thing that will produce the kind of church that God wants. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:07.279 So let's look at these three points, these three action points about how to keep the thing that is central, central. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.160 Take a look at verse 8 with me. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.399 This saying is trustworthy. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:24.319 I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to vote themselves to good works. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:29.600 These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.920 Now, Paul brings up a pointer phrase here, which is extremely important. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:40.959 He says, This saying is trustworthy. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:48.959 Now, Paul uses that language, very similar language, or even that exact language, five times in the pastoral epistles. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.560 So in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and here in Titus. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.639 3 in 1 Timothy, I think once in 2 Timothy and once here. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:01.600 And this formula sometimes points forward and sometimes points back. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:17.759 And in this instance, it's pointing back to something, saying, This which we've talked about, not what we're about to talk about, but that which was just mentioned, this is a trustworthy saying. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:22.079 So let's see what he says is a trustworthy saying. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.000 Take a look at verse four. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:53.519 When the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not by works of righteousness such we have done, but according to his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, he poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:02.399 That is a glorious statement of the gospel in a lot of very, very fine and full dimensions. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:13.279 And Paul is saying about this statement about the gospel that this is the faithful, trustworthy saying. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:21.600 So what Paul's doing here, right after stating the gospel, is let's park it right here. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:32.159 Let's stop and let's look back now that we've just said this, and to see just how vital that was. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:38.480 And what he says is, we're not going to move from here. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:42.879 This needs to be a fixed point in the life of the congregation. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:45.679 The gospel is the thing. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:52.720 And Titus, you must, you must, you must insist on it. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:57.919 And that insisting is it's in itself the instruction here. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:08.720 And what Paul is saying by this insisting is to speak about this confidently and to assert it without qualification. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:23.759 And what Paul is telling Titus to do, and everyone who has any responsibility in the direction of a church is to take the gospel, set it in the center, and make sure nothing else gets in its place. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:25.679 It's that vital. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:32.799 And like I said, he's not suggesting this, he's commanding this. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.399 This is a vital word to receive. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:46.879 And he's saying it with the kind of weight of, again, a builder who is going to the job site and looking at the foundations of the building that's about to be built. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.840 And he's saying, This is where we're building. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:52.159 No other place. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:54.879 This is where it's happening, right here. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.240 And this is exactly how Paul is insisting on this. 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:00.720 He's saying, This is the spot. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:03.360 Now, here's why. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.240 Look at the next phrase. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:14.879 So that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:30.320 Now, notice the construct of that: the insistence on the gospel as the central point to the life of the church for the purpose of good works in the life of God's people. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:40.240 And what he is saying there is that only the gospel can produce the kind of life that believers are meant to live. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:42.639 That's the connection. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:48.480 Only the gospel produces what it says it produces. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:55.840 Only the grace of God can make people who are devoted to doing what is good. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:03.279 And they do that not in order to gain anything from God, but in response to the grace they've received. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:13.919 And without the gospel at the center, anything that looks like religious activity has absolutely no foundation underneath it. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.360 And so the gospel is what changes people. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:25.200 And Christian living should never, never, never, never be mistaken for moralism. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:33.840 Because moralism is a command to live your life in a particular way without the power of the gospel undergirding it. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:50.639 And so with the gospel of the center, good works are produced by the Spirit, energizing them in those who have been justified by grace, by those who have received an inheritance, by those who have the hope of eternal life. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:58.799 The Spirit works in such a way that their life becomes one of displaying these good works. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:04.960 Now, let's describe those good works here because Paul gives some qualifiers for what they look like. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.440 He calls them good and profitable. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:11.600 Good and profitable. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.039 In the Greek, these words are very descriptive. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:23.519 That good word, we often think of good and we think of it in a moral dimension, and it is a moral dimension. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:28.159 But this word for good goes broader than that. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:39.600 It's a word which talks about things that are beautiful, that are inherently excellent, that are praiseworthy, that are noble. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:41.279 That's good works. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:47.120 Those are the kind of good works he's talking about, that are genuinely good in and of themselves. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:54.399 And if anyone were to see them, they would have to affirm there is something absolutely beautiful about that. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.440 And then the next word, profitable, again, is a very clear word. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:04.960 Things that are useful, things that are beneficial, things that produce a real advantage. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:31.840 So the gospel moves in a heart of somebody who is described in verse three as foolish and disobedient, deceived and enslaved by various passions and pleasures and malice, hating and being hated by one another, takes that kind of person, brings them into this wondrous hope, and then produces a life of beauty and productivity. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:34.240 It's a glorious thing. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:41.679 This is how congregations grow, when the gospel is kept center. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:48.480 And this is what congregations look like when the gospel is kept in the center. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:59.440 A community that shows itself not only amongst itself, but also in the public good, as something that only the gospel could produce. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:07.919 This is why Jesus said, they will know that they are my disciples by their love for one another. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:18.879 And in another place, they will know that I've been sent by the Father, because there's something that happens in the gospel that the rest of the world just can't explain. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:24.240 They just have no categories for comprehending those things. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.120 Let me give you an example of one. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:51.600 And the missionary was like, uh, a little uncomfortable talking about finances, and said, Yeah, yeah. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:56.399 And and you you probably probably give a lot of what you do have to the work. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:58.159 And he's like, Yeah. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.399 And he said, Um, I've been thinking about that. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:09.759 And I was just wondering, um, do you have like a college fund set up for your children? 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:13.919 And he's like, uh I I I don't. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:15.600 He said, good. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.279 Because I want to start one for them. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.240 He said, you don't need to do anything, you don't need to contribute anything. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:26.159 We'll take care of this. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:31.919 And set up a college fund for that missionary's children. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:45.919 Out of the love of the gospel, out of the love of the truth, these kind of good and profitable things that were poured out abundantly, not because the person had to do it or needed to be seen by it. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.720 That was a private conversation I never would have known of if I hadn't spoken to that person. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:17:02.080 And here is this person who's recognizing that the gospels move their heart so much that they want to take care of those who are taking the gospel to different places. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:09.839 We need to keep what is excellent central, Paul says here. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:15.279 I also want to take that builder analogy a little further. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:28.160 Think about that builder who has come to the job site and he's known, look, we need to be building here, and this foundation is just what needs to be built. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:39.200 And that builder has been building enough to know what should be done as this construction continues and what shouldn't be done. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:47.599 Because there are a lot of ways to cut corners and a lot of ways for cost to be shaved so that profit can be increased. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:55.680 But he's not going to do that because he wants to build what is going to remain and what is going to be stable. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:12.480 And he knows the difference between the hard, unseen work that's going to make sure that that building is sound and safe and long-lasting from a lot of effort that is shoddy and going to show cracks very, very shortly. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:18.160 And so he focuses his attention on ensuring that the building stands. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:27.519 And it's going to take a lot of patient, unglamorous, unseen, unappreciated work to make sure that that's done. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.279 Now, let me move the analogy. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:51.599 Any pastor or preacher who maintains the line of the gospel week after week after week after week, and is returning there constantly and insisting on it is not run out of ideas of what to preach. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:58.400 He is one who understands that this is the central thing. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:02.640 And this is what must be kept right there. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:11.839 Because he knows that when it is, the gospel will actively produce what only the gospel can produce. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:19.200 A people who are filled with beautiful, beneficial, profitable actions. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.640 The contrast is not subtle at all. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:28.799 And some of you have been here for a long, long time. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:34.160 Years and years and years before Micah and I ever showed up. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:37.119 So we're not talking about our past few years. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:39.039 We're talking about decades. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:53.440 And you've been here long enough to see how the gospel kept central has changed people, and how it stabilized their life, and how there's a fullness to them that nothing else could produce. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:00.880 And some of you are newer to the faith and you're wondering, is there more to the Christian life? 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:07.440 I want to tell you with a degree of confidence that some of this greatness provides me. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.599 The gospel is the center. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:18.720 There's a lot of teaching out there that treats the gospel like it's the front door to the house called Christianity. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:24.480 And you pass through it and you shut it, and then you just kind of enter in, and everything else is in front of you. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:26.880 You've heard me say this. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:30.799 The gospel is not the front door to Christianity. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.799 It is the front door and the rest of the house. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.039 It is everything. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:43.759 Because out of it flows all that God is doing for us in his redemptive activity. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:58.240 And there is voices out there, and sometimes these little thoughts in our head to think, well, maybe there's something different or more or better. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:10.240 Paul is insisting that the faithful saying is remained fixed in our hearts because the gospel doesn't need any veneer on it. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:17.759 And so we have to ask ourselves constantly this question: Is the gospel central? 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.599 Is it fixed in our attention? 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.440 Are we maintaining it right where it should be? 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:29.279 Or have we let something else enter in? 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.720 Am I asking some of you to do a little bit of a painful inventory now? 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:47.119 Think about those places where you've been or those periods in which you've endured where there has been something consuming the church other than the gospel. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:56.480 Where there's been conversation after conversation after conversation about this matter. 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:59.440 And I want you to ask this question. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:08.880 Have those conversations produce the kind of fruit that Paul just described the gospel produces. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:17.920 A person who is filled with beautiful deeds that are truly profitable to people. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:30.160 And if the answer to that question is patently no, it gives you some idea of where on the priority list that conversation should have been. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:47.279 And so here, because the congregation's life is built on the gospel, we need to keep that which is excellent and to hold tight to it and insist on it, as Paul tells Titus to do. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.920 Now that leads us to the second point. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:55.039 Point two is that we are to avoid the worthless thing. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.519 Look at verse 9. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:11.039 Avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.279 The contrast here couldn't be any more stark, could it? 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:24.240 The profitable, beautiful deeds that flow out of the gospel, and the unprofitable and worthless things that flow out of these kinds of controversies. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:36.079 And the word that he uses here for unprofitable and worthless is empty, vaporous, the kind of thing that can't be held. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:39.839 What's left of a soap bubble after you pop it? 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:41.359 Nothing. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.720 It's actually the same Greek word that's used in the book of Ecclesiastes when it talks about vanity, vanity. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:50.240 All is vanity. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:06.720 Now, Paul has said this before, and he brings it up quite a bit in his pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:15.920 In chapter one of this book, he said to Titus that there are people full of empty talk and deception. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:26.559 In 1 Timothy 1 4, that there are people who promote empty speculations rather than God's plan. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:36.720 In 1 Timothy 6.4, he talked about people who have this driving unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments about words. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:46.319 And then in 2 Timothy 2.16, he says that they have irreverent and empty speech. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:55.839 What's interesting about those statements is Paul doesn't necessarily define what all of that is. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.799 He gives categories, but he doesn't give specifics. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:02.720 Because I think Titus and Timothy knew exactly what he meant. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:05.680 And if we're honest, we do too. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:11.440 And the question isn't whether or not these kind of empty things exist today. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:12.720 They do. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:16.720 What we need is perhaps some equipment to know how to recognize them. 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:24.480 And I want to give us three three ways, three clues to help us recognize these kind of conversations. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:27.440 First of all, these arguments divide. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:31.039 And it's not the total picture, but that's one of the three points. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.480 And the context of Titus here is unmistakable. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:44.799 He's telling Titus that he needs to command the church to stay away from foolish debates because they're divisive. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:46.400 Verse 10, he'll talk about that. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:48.160 We'll look at that in just a moment. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:57.119 Empty arguments and divisive people travel together, and they fracture what the gospel unites. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.680 Now, there are moments when debate is necessary. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:05.200 There are times when the truth of the gospel is at stake. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:09.599 There are times when the clarity needs to be out there to protect the flock. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:14.559 There are times when error needs to be named and it needs to be corrected. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:23.599 Paul had no hesitation whatsoever to confront the Judaizers in Galatia when the gospel was on the line. 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:28.319 The integrity was necessary. 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:37.440 But there's a difference between contending for the faith and somebody being contentious and divisive. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.640 Because there's some people that don't love the truth, they just love a fight. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.440 And Paul's counsel here is not gentle. 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.319 As we'll see, he says, reject them. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.200 It's pretty clear. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:01.039 The second element about recognizing these kind of conversations is they're not only divisive, but they also divert. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:02.880 They divert. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:19.599 Going back to 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 4, Paul talked about those who promote endless, empty speculation rather than God's plan, which operates by faith. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:34.000 And so they're diverting the conversation to empty speculations, things that don't advance the faith, things that don't strengthen the church's witness, things that don't build up the body of Christ. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:45.599 Things that can be full of conversations that consume time and energy and attention, all the while diverting the focus on the gospel. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:53.279 I've had to talk to my sons at times about different conversations that they've been in. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:58.559 And some of the things that we've had to talk about have been absolutely unbelievable. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:12.000 Arguments in churches about whether or not when they come to communion, they should all do it with one cup that everybody shares together, or if it's biblically permissible to have several different cups from which to drink. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:15.279 Have that conversation if you want. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:36.799 Or to go to Genesis chapter six and for people to have this raging conversation about the Nephilim and whether they're the sons of Seth or if they're, you know, sort of like half-breeds of angels and human women. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:39.200 Sure. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:57.200 On a long night, after a good dinner, sit down with a friend and have a conversation, but for it to be the conversation of a whole church that diverts. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:04.240 Not only is it one of division, it's one of diversion. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:08.720 And ultimately it's one of destruction as well. 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:15.200 Listen to what Paul says about these kinds of conversations and the people that bring them. 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:22.079 He said in Titus 1.11, they ruin entire households. 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:25.119 And that's not just a family unit. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:28.799 I think that's a code word for a church. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:32.559 They ruin entire churches. 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:44.000 Second Timothy 2.14 quarrels about words that lead to the ruin of those who listen. 00:29:46.720 --> 00:30:00.640 And then in Second Timothy four or two, verse 16, speech that will produce even more godlessness, false teaching that will spread like gangrene. 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:03.920 It has that kind of poisonous effect. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:27.680 These arguments don't just waste time, they don't just divert, they corrode, and they unsettle and they fracture, and they breed suspicion in the place of trust, and they breed pride in the place of humility, and they breed noise where there should be nourishment happening. 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:41.279 And any departure of the gospel that goes down that way through speculation or novelty or some needless controversy needs to be rejected. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:44.799 And look at what Paul says about it here. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:47.839 Avoid. 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:51.039 That's just not quite strong enough. 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:56.000 The Greek word there means to turn away from. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.400 Turn away from it. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:28.640 And the reason he's saying that is because there's an assumption underneath there that these kind of conversations have a gravitational pull to them. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:37.039 That there's something about them that sucks you in if you engage them and you get locked into it. 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:43.200 And he's saying, don't even drive that direction. 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:48.720 Paul's not alone with that warning. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:57.279 Hebrews 13, he warns against strange teachings, teachings that produce nothing. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:08.880 And here's the problem is when these people come in with these kind of teachings, they look serious about God. 00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:16.880 They wear the clothes of serious theological discussion. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:23.279 But there's no fruit to the kind of conversations they're having. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:26.960 Let me paint a scenario for you. 00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:32.559 This is a made-up scenario, not a real one, but it's sadly very recognizable. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:45.279 Imagine, if you will, a church, a healthy church, shaped by the gospel in every way, loving people, genuinely working out their salvation in fear and trembling because God is at work within them. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:51.680 And then some guest preacher comes in and interjects some of those thoughts. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:55.200 And people are like, oh, I hadn't really thought about that. 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:59.039 And other people are like, oh, I haven't really thought about that either. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:03.039 And there's this genuine interest to sort of engage one of these things. 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:08.400 And all of a sudden, people are finding it a little more compelling to talk about. 00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:12.480 And then the elders of the church call for a study about this thing. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:18.319 And the study produces more discussions, and the more discussions produce some division. 00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:24.640 And then all of a sudden, the whole church is wrapped up in this thing that produces no fruit. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:33.920 And six months later, one of the elders kind of goes, Where have we gotten ourselves? 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:41.440 Has this conversation produced the kind of fruit the gospel produces? 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:43.519 No. 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:58.880 And the church starts to move themselves back to the gospel, but for a year or longer, they have not been a display of the kind of people that the gospel produces. 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:09.840 In the middle of those kind of scenarios, Paul is saying, look, don't go there. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:12.000 Don't get caught up in its vortex. 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:14.480 Don't get sucked in by its pressures. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:17.280 Don't get pulled in by it at all. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:18.880 Turn away from it. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:34.079 Because the gospel needs to be central, we must insist on it, because only the gospel can produce the kind of people God wants his children to be. 00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:39.119 And therefore, we must reject the worthless thing. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:43.440 Paul drives this even deeper in verses 10 and 11. 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:46.639 We must release the divisive person. 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:52.639 Reject a divisive person after the first and second warning. 00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:58.800 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning, being self-condemned. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:03.119 This is a very difficult passage. 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:08.320 And I was talking to Royal last night, and she said, How's it going today? 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:13.199 And I said, I've been sitting on these two verses all day long. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:22.559 I came to Tony's celebration with the weight of that just on my shoulders. 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:30.719 Paul names a particular kind of person, and we need to identify this person carefully. 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:35.599 Because it's easy to make this too broad or too narrow. 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:40.480 Look at what he says in verse 10. 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:45.679 We need to reject a divisive person. 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:57.280 If we were to transliterate the Greek word and we have, it would sound very familiar to many of your ears. 00:35:57.360 --> 00:35:59.119 It's the word heretic. 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:00.800 Heretic. 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:12.079 And the word heretic in our dictionary typically means bad theology, right? 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:16.800 And that's true. 00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:22.320 But the source of it is something that Paul is pointing to. 00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:35.280 It is not talking about the theology, it's talking about the divisiveness of the person more than it's talking about the content of their conversation. 00:36:36.559 --> 00:37:04.960 The divisive person reject, the person who is factious in their behavior, the person who operates by drawing lines, by creating parties, by pulling the community toward the place that he wants it to gravitate, and by doing it persistently enough that it ends up in a disruptive way in the life of the body. 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:08.719 That's what he's talking about. 00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:10.960 Now let's be clear to clarify that. 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:42.400 Because if you apply this passage too quickly, you know what you've done? 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:44.880 You've just weaponized it. 00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:50.400 And it's not meant to be a weapon, it's meant to be a safeguard. 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:57.679 And Paul is talking about giving even this divisive person a process. 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.320 Take a look at the process. 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:02.079 Verse 10. 00:38:03.199 --> 00:38:09.599 Reject the divisive person after a first and second warning. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:31.119 And so this divisive person, after discussions have been had, and the disagreements are seen to be more than just someone with a difficult question, and more than just somebody with a disagreement at some point about something that's done or said, but it comes to comes to be clear that this person is being divisive for divisiveness's sake. 00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:45.199 And that person is given first one warning, clear, spoken, unambiguous, and then a second warning, clear, spoken, without any ambiguity. 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:52.000 And after those, then in the third step, there is a rejection. 00:38:53.360 --> 00:39:02.159 It's a mechanism that leads, hopefully, to repentance and reconciliation. 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:26.960 But if it goes through the process of first step, second step, then third step, then there has to be a display of this in which that person who has made this issue so central that it's diverting the attention of the body from the gospel itself, that person needs to be let go, rejected. 00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:29.679 Now, this is not something Paul came up with. 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:54.559 And in his discussions about it, say in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, he talks about the person who is disciplined, even in a redemptive way, in the hope that even after the judicial decision of the church, that person might be delivered by being let go. 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:02.480 Paul says, you need to work through the process. 00:40:03.119 --> 00:40:04.639 You must do this. 00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:10.239 And in verse 11, he talks about what the verdict, where the verdict lies. 00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:15.840 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning. 00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:19.039 He is self-condemned. 00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:28.079 Warped, twisted, out of shape, and self-condemned. 00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:34.239 A person who is judged by his own choices is what he's saying here. 00:40:34.719 --> 00:40:41.599 It's not the community rendering the judgment, it's not even the elders rendering the judgment. 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:55.920 This is a verdict that's rendered by the person himself, because his divisiveness has been so absolutely evident that he is self-condemned. 00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:03.280 Now, there are two errors that crop up here, and I've seen both of them. 00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:08.480 One of them is the error of never reaching the end of the process. 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:35.840 There's the error of talking to someone who's been seen as divisive, who's been absolutely identified as divisive, and having one conversation, then two conversations, then 20 conversations, then 30 conversations, and then 40 conversations, where there's been something on the agenda of an elder's meeting, and it's going to get discussed. 00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:49.119 And every time it's discussed, it gets put on the next elder's meeting, and then it gets discussed, and then it gets put on the next elder's meeting, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and that person remains and continues to do their divisive work. 00:41:51.519 --> 00:42:12.320 An infinite extension of the process is not love for the truth of the gospel, it's not love for the body of Christ that needs protected, and it's not love for the person who is in this factious mindset, because it's not confronting them clearly with what they're doing. 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:16.159 But then there's the other side. 00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:30.960 There's the other side of taking a question, a disagreement, and turning it into immediately a divisive frame and stepping into this too quick. 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:41.440 Several years ago, we had to receive two families into the life of the church here who had been disciplined by a congregation. 00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:53.199 That's a very, very delicate thing to receive when we sit down in our membership interviews with people who want to become a part of New High Park Baptist Church. 00:42:53.360 --> 00:43:01.199 One of the questions we always ask is this have you ever been put under discipline by another body of Christ? 00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:05.199 And those two couples, those two families had to say yes. 00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:08.960 And that started the conversation. 00:43:09.599 --> 00:43:11.199 What happened? 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:25.679 And after a long involved investigative process and talking to them and talking to the people that they were involved with, it was exactly what the other side of this can be. 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:40.000 The church had stepped in so quickly into what shouldn't have been a disciplinary issue, and it actually threw these two families out of their church. 00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:42.320 Such a sad thing. 00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:09.039 Platform from which you can enter into even these kind of conversations and have clarity about how to proceed through them. 00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:35.679 The congregation's life is centered here on Christ, on what He's done in His wondrous grace for us, when mercy has been shown upon us when judgment should have been ours, when we've been justified by grace, and we've been given an inheritance so that we might rejoice in the hope of eternal life together. 00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:52.159 For some of you who are newer to us, and you've been in those kind of places, and we've many of us have had the kind of conversations about them, and you've come in here and you've said something's different here. 00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:58.800 Something's happening here that wasn't happening where I was from. 00:45:00.320 --> 00:45:02.880 And now you understand why. 00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:12.800 It's because what is central, as Paul said, needs to be central, is what keeps getting repeated here. 00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:16.719 And I want to say to you, you're welcome. 00:45:17.039 --> 00:45:20.239 The gospel has to be central. 00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:26.559 But I want to say something to all of us who have been here, and all of us who are here. 00:45:27.679 --> 00:45:31.920 This centrality of the gospel doesn't happen by default. 00:45:32.400 --> 00:45:42.719 It's not just something we can put into neutral and just assume that it's always going to be here and assume that the fruit of the gospel is always going to be on display here. 00:45:43.039 --> 00:46:00.719 Because Paul is warning us that there's going to be people and there's going to be situations and questions that may sound very, very attractive, but underneath them is an energizing not of the spirit, but of Satan who wants to come in and divert and destroy God's people. 00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:03.599 And we have to be on our guard. 00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:12.079 As he said, keep the unity of the faith, guard the gospel, guard the truth of it. 00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:17.199 And so we have to insist on what is excellent. 00:46:17.519 --> 00:46:20.719 We have to reject what is worthless. 00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:30.159 And if necessary, we have to do the hard thing and even release the person who is causing the factions. 00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:50.000 We have to continue doing what only the gospel can do: living a life with gospel clarity, living a life with relational spirit-driven honesty, and living a life in which we're all committed to walk together in the light of truth. 00:46:51.519 --> 00:46:53.679 I want to say something as I close. 00:46:53.920 --> 00:47:04.559 We've been talking a lot about the gospel, but I want to remind everyone here that what Paul is doing here is not simply talking about church management policies and procedures. 00:47:06.079 --> 00:47:14.239 He's helping us see what is really the essence of the Christian life and what is the essence of our church life. 00:47:14.480 --> 00:47:16.079 It is the gospel. 00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:23.199 These are not just operational instructions, it's the vital overflow of what only the gospel can do. 00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:29.440 And all of us are here because of it. 00:47:30.239 --> 00:47:32.480 And only it. 00:47:34.159 --> 00:47:40.320 We're here because we were once foolish, disobedient, deceived. 00:47:41.119 --> 00:47:44.960 We were enslaved by various passions and pleasures. 00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:49.760 Left to ourselves, we would go astray in a heartbeat. 00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:54.480 But the kindness and the love of God has appeared. 00:47:55.920 --> 00:47:59.760 While we were sinners, Christ died for us. 00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:06.400 While we were filled with all of these things, his love appeared and his mercy saved. 00:48:06.639 --> 00:48:16.719 And he's washed us and he's regenerated us and he's renewed us and he's given us the overflow of the Spirit that works the fruit of love, joy, and peace within us. 00:48:16.880 --> 00:48:21.199 And he's done so with abundance and overflow. 00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:24.960 And he's making us different. 00:48:25.519 --> 00:48:29.039 People whose lives are now good and profitable. 00:48:30.079 --> 00:48:36.159 And if you're here this morning and you say, look, I'm still stuck in verse three. 00:48:36.239 --> 00:48:38.000 I don't know verses four to seven. 00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:43.039 I don't know this kind of love, this kind of this kind of kindness. 00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:44.880 I don't know this kind of mercy. 00:48:45.039 --> 00:48:46.800 I don't know this kind of grace. 00:48:47.039 --> 00:48:48.320 What do I do? 00:48:49.599 --> 00:48:51.199 You come as you are. 00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:55.119 God's not asking you to bring something with you to Him. 00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:59.039 He's saying, bring yourself to Him, just as you are. 00:48:59.679 --> 00:49:01.599 And admit who you are. 00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:09.920 Admit that you are foolish and disobedient and deceived and enslaved by passions and pleasures. 00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:12.480 Admit that before God. 00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:30.159 And the scriptures say that if you do, if you confess your sins before Him and you come to Christ as the only hope for deliverance and salvation, if you receive Christ Jesus, the scriptures say that he is rich to all those who call upon him. 00:49:30.480 --> 00:49:32.800 And it doesn't matter whether you're a Jew or a Gentile. 00:49:32.960 --> 00:49:41.119 He said, anyone from everywhere whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:53.599 And then you can enter in to the glorious forgiveness and inheritance of the gospel, and you'll find yourself wondrously transforming. 00:49:54.239 --> 00:50:02.480