Titus 1:13

The book of Titus and chapter 1, verses 12 and 13. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said the Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true, wherefore rebuke them sharply. They may be sound in the faith. May God bless to us, he is sacred and holy word this evening. There was a young military officer that was traveling from Newark to New York City. And he often used profane language and words as he was conversing with a fellow passenger. His profanity greatly annoyed a young lady who was sitting quite close to him. And at last, on his infancy. able to bear his language any longer, she decided she was going to do something about it. She leaned over and inquired politely, sir, can you converse in a foreign language? Slightly surprised by the question, the officer replied, yes. She continued, then if you wish to swear anymore, you would greatly oblige me and no doubt the rest of the passengers nearby. if you would swear in another language. Astonished at her admonition and audacity, the young soldier was speechless momentarily. However, he never swore again in conversation with the fellow passenger. Sometimes it is necessary to rebuke sinful behavior and sometimes sharply as we see, as the text indicates here. Now, Paul sees the need for Titus to deal with those who are professing Christians on the island of Crete. Remember, he’s still trying to establish churches there. They’re like loose congregations, and he wants to establish elders over them. And so Titus needs to rebuke them because of their bad behavior. The apostle has just quoted, as we saw in verse 12, a heathen poet, once a native of the island, who condemned his own people for their bad behavior. Paul’s experience on Crete evidently demonstrated the truthfulness of such a denunciation, because he tells us in verse 13, this witness is true. Sadly, even those who claimed the name of Christ were guilty of line, acting as a line, as some type of evil beast or wild beast, and being lazy and intemperate. Not wishing to have the gospel disgraced, Titus here is given a command to rebuke these people sharply, that they may change their behavior and not act in this sinful fashion. I want to talk about rebuking sinful behavior from this passage of Scripture tonight. Now, let me begin by saying this. You need to be certain sin has been committed before rebuking. This witness is true. You need sufficient grounds to rebuke someone. When matters are certainly known to be true, then you have that sufficient ground in which to approach this person and reprove the sin. And this is the reason Paul confirms the poet’s condemnation, of the people of Cree, because he knows the truth of what this poet has said. Therefore, Titus has sufficient grounds for rebuking them and for rebuking them sharply, as the text indicates. Now, you may not always have enough evidence to rebuke someone. You may suspect sin, but you may not have any proof of sin. But when specific facts are known and are clear, then you can proceed in earnest in dealing with someone who has sinful behavior. Now, I want you to look with me, if you would, at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verses 10 and 11. Here is an example of this from the Corinthian Church, 1st Corinthians chapter 1 and verses 10 and 11. Paul, when he wrote the Corinthians, one of the first things he did was rebuke all the division. all the infighting that was going on in the church. But notice what he says here. Verse 10, now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. There be no divisions among you. But do you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment? For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brother, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions. among you. Now it appears here that Chloe was a woman’s name, very probably a woman who lived at Corinth, a member of the church there. She seems to be the head of the family. Evidently, the husband is dead in this situation. And thus, she is respected by Paul. But you’ll notice he says here the phrase which are of the house is an italics. But you’ll notice above that, it says by them of Chloe. In other words, it literally says by them of Chloe. So we have the idea here, I think, of there had to be more than one. So that’s where the house comes in, in the interpretation here, of this passage and how they explain it. It means it’s plural. More than one. of that household witnessed to the divisions and strife. We could be sons and daughters, could be servants in the household. Whatever the case may be, there was more than one testifying to the fact of all these divisions in the church at Corinth. This family being grieved by all these divisions reported to the Apostle Paul, hoping that he in some fashion may intervene, uses authority to put an end to these contentious divisions in the church. This is no idle tale that’s carried to him by a single individual, but several witnesses are talking about this serious problem. And thus Paul, with certain knowledge of the circumstance and the situation, proceeds to rebuke the Corinthians for these factions among them. In verses 12 and 13, you know, L. Why does some say you’re of Paul, once a year of Paulus, one say a year of Simon and so forth, or Peter and so forth, you know, is Christ divided? He starts rebuking this kind of behavior and this division that is among the church there. Later on, when Paul rebukes the Corinthians, there’s a member in the church, look at Chapter 5, if you would, who was living in incest. He rebukes the Citoui, the church, for not dealing with the issue. But you’ll notice what he’s saying here, it’s based upon common knowledge. You’ll notice in verse 1 of chapter 5, it’s reported commonly that there is fornication among you. In other words, many testify of this. It’s common knowledge that this is the case. And so he addresses that. It’s a publicly known fact. When you call Paul rebuked Peter, when he was at Antioch, he had firsthand of the man compromising with the Judaizers in Galatians chapter 2, we read about the rebuke. But it was done before his eyes. He saw it. He rebuked him publicly there while he was there. So he had firsthand knowledge of the circumstance. So you need sufficient grounds for rebuke. That seems to be obvious here from the text. Now, you must use caution so that you don’t accuse falsely. You know, zeal can run before knowledge and that isn’t good. You don’t want to unjustly reprove someone. I read a story about a judge in the Western mining town many years ago who once presided in a murder trial with the defendant. and was absent at the trial. The evidence was presented, and after careful deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict of not guilty. The judge shook his head and said, well, I’m not well, I’m going to have to send you back to reconsider your verdict. The jurors got the message so shortly they return and with a guilty verdict. He said, that’s more like it. After all, we hanged the defendant earlier this morning. putting the court before the horse here in this case. Now we’re not to be like that. We’re ready to hang the person and we don’t, you know, we don’t have any evidence against him. It’s not our job as Christians to seek out, to spy out the sins of other people and that, you know, to delve into their private affairs as a busy body. There were those who tried to spy out Daniel, remember, to see if they could find some kind of fault. in which to condemn him. Charity thinketh no evil according to 1st Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5. And it certainly demonstrates a lack of love to receive questionable reports against those who are counted as brothers and sisters in Christ, so we have to be careful in this regard. You must not rashly reproof someone without knowing the real facts. We need two witnesses. We need some witnesses regarding these matters. There’s a grave danger in saying as Nathan did to David, thou art the man when you have no evidence of wrongdoing. We can’t be like that. You and I are not mind readers and therefore we have no right to judge the motives of people. We have to judge their actions in what they say. That’s, you know, their deeds. So we have to be careful in this regard. That has to be something that we have as credible evidence. If you have a suspicion of something, we may inquire about the matter carefully before charging in to rebuke. Look at the book of Deuteronomy a moment. And chapter 13, I want to read verses 12 through the first part of 15 in the book of Deuteronomy. Here’s what the law says here. If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God have given thee to dwell in there, saying, certain men, the children of Belio, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known. Then thou shalt inquire, and make search, and ask diligently, and behold, if it be truth, and to think certain that such abomination is wrought among you, thou shalt surely smite. the inhabitants of the city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and so forth. If you hear it said, if this be the case, he says, check it out. Make sure. You don’t, you know, you don’t act rashly here and do something without having any evidence. So he makes, he says, make diligent search here. I think that would be wise for us to follow that principle of the law in any rebukes that we may engage in. So you need to be certain sin has been committed before rebuking. Now, according to the nature of the sin and the sinner involved, you may need to rebuke sharply. Wherefore, rebuke them sharply, the scripture says here. Now, rebukes may be either public or they may be private, and a lot depends on the circumstances, whether it’s a public sin, whether it’s a private sin, whether it’s known by everyone or whether it’s not. But look at Matthew chapter 18 with me, if you would. Matthew 18, verses 15 to 17. A very familiar passage with regard to discipline in the church. So, moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, I hast gain thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then, then take with thee one or two more than in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if you neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a public. Now normally, we would proceed, I think, privately to rebuke someone for sin. you may go to your brother in Christ and you may tell him his fault. Now, if it’s a public sin, if it’s something it’s known, you know, in Peter’s case, Paul did it publicly because it was right in front of everybody that he was, you know, following the Judaizer’s thoughts about separating from the Gentiles and so forth when they were eating. But you tell him his fault alone in private, and your task is to unmask the sin, cause the person to see where he’s gone wrong, and hopefully he will repent. And then you don’t have to go any wider than that. You don’t have to tell everybody in the jury, you know, everybody around you, if this person has sinned against you personally and you deal with that sin and it’s corrected, you don’t have to go around everybody else and tell them what happened. However, if this doesn’t work, things can become more severe. And then the Bible tells us we were to take one or two individuals with us, so we can either help us with regard to addressing the sin. But at any rate, they would act as witnesses to all that’s said and done, so that now you can take it to a broader court, so to speak, the church at large, and you’ll have the two witnesses that you need, because you have your testimony plus the two witnesses now that you’ve brought into the picture. If there is sorrow and repentance at the stage when you bring the two witnesses in, then everything can be taken care. care of at that level and it doesn’t have to go any further. However, if that doesn’t work, now we have to go to the church at large. Tell it to the church, it says here. And perhaps the elders themselves will get officially involved in rebuking the sin. There will be suspension perhaps from the Lord’s table for disorderly walking, rebuke sharply at the same. this point. Eventually, if they still don’t repent, when the church rebukes them, then ultimately they have to be excommunicated from the church, which means you have now declared them not part of the body of Christ, and therefore they are to be treated basically as a heathen, someone who is unconverted at this point. So rebukes may be either private or public, sharp reproof is sometimes necessary. It’s true that all sins are not the same, and all the people who sin are not the same either. And we have to tailor what we say in our rebukes according to both circumstances. Some sins are more vile than others and some sinners or more obstinate than others. Some there are sins of them. of ignorance. Some there’s true malice involved in what they do. Some sins are secret. Some are brazen and openly done in defiance. Some sinners are tender and their hearts are broken as soon as they hear a word of rebuke. And others may have like hearts of stone. They’re proud and arrogant and they don’t seem to want to address the issue. And therefore we have to deal with each case according to the kind of sin that’s committed and the spirit of the offender when confronted with their sin. If you look with me of the book of Jude, the second and last book of the Bible here, there’s an interesting statement that’s made in verses, well, let’s look at verses 22 and 23. It says, and of some have compassion, making it, difference and others say with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flush you must recognize that those fallen in the sin are not all in the sin are not all alike some may be simple and ignorant in their sin some may be obstinate and you must use wisdom in your dealings you’ll notice it says making a difference here seems to be you will evaluate the situation to decide how best to proceed with regard to the response of the person you’re dealing with. Some can be won over by your love and they will accept your rebuke and they will repent. Others must be forced by fear of destruction and sharp measures in order for them to repent. So you must use gentleness with some. Others, you have to use force. You sort of yank them out of the fire, so to speak. They got one foot in hell. and once, you know, they’re heading toward apostasy, and he says here, maybe there needs to be sharp rebuke. Maybe there needs to be church discipline of some sort in order to get these people to repent. It’s interesting when Paul talks about sin among the Ephesians, he says, rebuke with all long suffering and doctrine. Be patient. You know, deal it with gentleness. He tells Timothy. But when he deals with the Cretians here, he tells Titus something different. Who are full of these vices, he tells them, rebuke them sharply for their behavior. The word sharply here is a word that’s used by, with regard to surgeons, when they will cut into the person’s body. And then in order to, like, heal the wound up or seal it up, they might use a hot iron and sear it. And if the wound or sore requires it, you know, they have to cut. They have to cut. and then sear it. In desperate cases, they may have to take a limb off, an arm or a leg or something of that nature, and that’s a more severe remedy. In the same manner, every spiritual physician has to deal with dangerous error in ungodly ways, and sometimes drastic measures have to be taken. If a disease doesn’t respond to milder treatments, then stronger measures have to be taken. On the same as strong. true spiritually. You can start out with a milder approach, but if that doesn’t work, you may have to ratchet up the pressure, so to speak. Now, all of this doesn’t sit too well with the character and beliefs of today’s Christianity. It doesn’t sit well with the general outlook of the world at large either. Today’s religious leaders might say, Paul, all this looks a little too unloving and too narrow-minded, you’re never going to grow a megachurch that way. I suppose many would be content to have a large church, even if it’s full of people who are liars, act like evil beasts, and are slow-bellies, or lazy and temperate. This is what I see today. Many of the so-called churches of our society are nothing more than a social club, or perhaps a civic action committee to help the poor. We’re not really following the principles of God’s Word, as we should be. God’s Church has to be different from the world around it. And there’s a sense in which if people are behaving in a worldly sinful fashion, they can’t go on like that and be representing the Church. It has to stop, either by repentance or by the Church eventually expelling them. Sometimes, therefore, it’s necessary that you repeat. sharply. According to the nature of the sin and the sinner, you may need to rebuke sharply. Now, thirdly, tonight, the purpose of your rebuke is the recovery of the fallen individual. Because you’ll notice, he says, that they may be sound in the faith. This is why you’re to rebuke them sharply. This tells us here that rebukes are to have a good purpose. Even the sharpest rebukes in the church ultimately are, for the purpose of bringing this person to repentance, to change their ways. People are often mistaken about the motivation and that comes with, let’s say, a stern admonition or rebuke. Even with church discipline, we know that sometimes a surgeon has to cut off an arm and a leg. He doesn’t do it to harm the individual. He does it to save the life of the individual. And the same thing. is true spiritually. The most drastic measure the church can have and take is to excommunicate from its membership. You’re declaring this person, as I said to non-believers. Jesus indicated a heathen. Is this because the people of God hate you? Is it they simply wish to get rid of you? No, this great censor of the church is for a good purpose. It’s to bring you to repentance, to bring you to realize how severe and serious this matter is. Look with me at 1 Corinthians 5 again. Maybe you’re already there from our last book. First Corinthians 5, you’ll notice when he talks about this man living in incest, and he talks about the church needing to get this guy out of the church because of the behavior that he’s engaging in. Notice verses 3 to 5 here, what he says. For I verily, as absent in the body but present in the spirit have judged all right, ready as though I were present concerning him that have so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, evidently by his authority, when you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Now, when this man is to be expelled from the church, it’s not to curse him and condemn him and damn his soul. It is true that he’s turned over in a sense to Satan. Satan has given an opportunity to punish this individual bodily, it appears, according to this text. Anyone who is excommunicated by the church loses some protective aspects that come with belonging to the among the people, being among the people God belonging to the church. And they are exposed to satanic. attack. But you’ll notice the words here that the spirit may be saved. The desire is that after all, suffering at the hands of Satan, this man will be brought to repentance. So Paul and the Corinthian Church are not damning the man’s soul, but seeking the man’s recovery from his fallen state. Second Corinthians seems to indicate to us the man did repent. So Paul tells us that the church should receive him back lest he be swallowed up with sorrow. do you recall how Peter sharply rebuked Simon Magis in the book of Acts chapter 8? Simon Magis was formerly a sorcerer. Everyone in the city there feared him. And when Philip the evangelist came to town, he began to preach the gospel. Many believed were baptized, and it appeared that Simon Magis himself was converted. Peter and John came to Samaria. for the people there that they might receive the spirit of God. And at this time, extraordinary gifts were associated with Christians. So just like on the day of Pentecost, when they could speak in foreign languages and so forth, the original church was so empowered. And so you read that Simon saw these remarkable gifts that had been granted by the laying on of the hands of the apostles upon these people. And he wanted such ability. And he said, I’ll offer you money to be able to do this. And he’s immediately rebuked by Peter. Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Paul’s conclusion was that, it seems to me at least, that Simon, you’re not converted. You don’t have any part or lot in this matter of salvation, according to what I can tell. Th are in a gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Now, he doesn’t damn the man’s soul, but such a sharp rebuke was meant to bring this man to bring this man to repentance. They may truly trust in the Lord, I think. Perhaps the thought of his heart may be forgiven him, thus in dispensing a severe rebuke. The church has not thought. out damnation toward the sinner, but seeking the recover the sin. It’s a drastic measure. It’s a call for repentance. So rebukes are to have a good purpose. Now, the ultimate state for the Christian is to be found sound in the faith. When the article V appears before the word faith, it does not mean believe, but what is believed. In other words, the doctrine that is believed. The word sound here is another medical term that’s used in the medical field here for being in a healthy state. Sinful ways, doctrinal errors make you sick in the faith. Therefore, to be healthy in the faith is to be following the principles and doctrine of God’s word. So you need to be in a spiritually healthy state. And this is the goal. of the elders in the body of Christ is to bring you to that state. Now, because spiritual soundness is so necessary, you ought to carefully watch over your soul in this regard. Let me say first here. Remember your duty is to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And therefore, you have to keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Make sure that you are sincere in your devotion to the Lord. The second thing is this. Realize that spiritual health requires your soul to be cared for. This means that if we want to stay in spiritual health, we need to be reading and meditating upon the Word of God. We need to be praying and be engaging in prayer, the adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. We need to be faithfully attending church where the exposition of the Word of God is taking place, whether the Lord’s Supper is served, where there’s fellowship with other believers, and there’s someone there watching out for your soul and so forth. Thirdly, you must mortify the corruptions of your flesh which daily surface and trouble you. Subdu those lives. lust. Deal with those sinful activities that pop up. These are some questions you ought to, I think, ask yourself in this regard. Do I have a great desire to be sound in the faith? You remember that poor woman in the gospel, we had that issue of blood for 12 years, and she went to all these physicians, spent all her money, and she never got healed. She wanted to be sound in health. And so what did she do? When she heard that Jesus was coming, and passing through. She presses through the clouds that she might just reach out and touch him. And you recall how that power went out from the Lord, we we read in Scripture, and she was healed of this issue of blood that she had. Now, in a similar way, do we want to be sound in the faith? We want to be healthy spiritually? Then we ought to pursue it. there ought to be a real desire to be this way. Like the woman here, we ought to, you know, pressed toward that goal. And remember that Christ is the great physician who can help us in this regard. You’re never going to be sound in the faith unless you desire to be sound in the faith. Unless you see it as a vital necessity as Paul does. The second question you ought to ask yourself is this. Do I think God is pleased with a half-hearted Christian? You recall the Lord of Glory as he speaks to the seven churches in Asia Minor in the book of Revelation. When he writes and speaks to the church at Laida Cia, they were neither hot nor cold, he was not happy with them. You know, he could spew them out of his mouth. Leukewarm Christianity isn’t satisfying to the Lord. Somehow or other Christians have come to believe that they can give a half-heartedness with regard to serve Christ or following Christ and it’ll be okay. As if their faith isn’t affecting their lifestyle. Your faith is affecting your lifestyle. The truth is Paul indicates here your faith isn’t sound if your lifestyle is sinful. If your faith isn’t affected, if you think your faith isn’t affected by your lifestyle, it is. Do not think, well, it doesn’t really matter how I live because my life is. My doctrine is straight. You know, I’m trusting in Jesus Christ for my salvation. It does matter how you live. And your doctrine can’t be straight if you’re not living according to what the principles of the Word of God says. That’s not how you learn Christ. That’s not following Christ as your example. Our Lord called upon the Laeadesians to repent. And that’s what he calls upon Christians adieu who would be half-hearted about these matters. either be sincere in your faith or don’t claim to be a Christian. Don’t think that somehow or other you’re okay going on like that. Remember he says to the Laudezian, as many as I love, I rebuke and chase it. I’m not going to let you go on like this. And that’s how it is with the true Christian who becomes lukewarm. He’s going to be disciplined because Christ would have this person repent. Well, the military officer was cured of a swearing, at least on that particular flight, by the rebuke of a young woman. Sometimes it’s necessary to rebuke sinful behavior even sharply. Now, you need to be certain sin has been committed before rebuking. We’ve got to have sufficient grounds. We have to have witnesses, evidence. According to nature of the sin in the center, you may have to use a regulation in your rebuke. Sometimes you need a sharp one. Sometimes you just need to tell the person his sin and maybe that’ll be enough. But realize the purpose of the rebuke is the recovery of the fallen individual. Our goal ultimately is soundness in the faith. And therefore, this is what our text indicates to us tonight. Let’s go.