Titus 3:10-11

Titus, chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 for our text tonight and study. A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he is such, he that is such is subverted and sinneth being condemned of himself. God blessed to us the reading of His Holy and Sacred Word this evening. Years ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints began a program, by the way, that’s the Mormon cult. They unveiled a program called Evening of Fellowship. And the idea was to bring in evangelical Christians for a time of, you know, patting on the back and fellowship so that the Mormons would be more readily accepted as part of the Christian faith. One of the speakers for this three-day bash was Dr. Richard Mao, President of Fuller Theological Seminary. Believe or not, Mao apologized to these cultists who have another scripture, who believe the lie of Satan that they become God. gods who deny the Trinity, who denied the deity of Christ, and so forth, and he apologized, and he said, we evangelicals have sinned against you. We’ve often seriously misrepresented the beliefs and practices of the members of the LDS faith. Then he added, elements in Mormon thought that if emphasized, while deemphasizing other elements, could constitute a message within Mormonism of salvation by grace alone through the blood of Jesus Christ. So here is the movement of foot to embrace the Mormons as brothers in Christ despite their heretical doctrine. Paul taught that those who proclaim another gospel should be damped, but Dr. Mao evidently thinks otherwise. The Bible clear. talks about how we are to deal with heretics in this passage of scripture. Now, last week, we talked about the identity of a heretic. We tried to deal with some of the issues surrounding that. You’ll notice that we said it’s usually someone we would say was part of the church because they have to be rejected by the church. We also said it’s someone who holds a serious doctrinal error. Someone who is opposed to the faithful saying, it’s mentioned in verse 8, and then that refers back, I think, to at least verses 3 to 7, about man’s depravity, about the necessity of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, about justification being by grace alone through faith in Christ alone and so forth. And then someone who obstinately maintains this doctrinal error, because they have to have a first and a second admonition. Paul now deals with the rejection of heretics. And that’s what I want to talk about tonight. What is the church to do? Now, you should realize the church must reject heretics. After the first and second admonition, reject, he says. Admonition does not always cause heretics. repent. You’ll notice it says after, which indicates to us that the first and second admonitions did not take hold. They didn’t do not produce the right effect that we wanted. There are occasions when an admonition will cause someone to renounce their false doctrine and return to the true fate. But often a heretic will cling to his malicious teaching. despite the warnings of the church to do otherwise. Having patiently and lovelingly tried to turn this person from the error of their ways and having failed to do so, the Bible indicates to us here that the church cannot simply allow the heretic to continue to come and corrupt others. They must be treated as, someone who is to be cast out of the church. And as such would be looked upon then as an unbeliever. We’re saying they’re not part of us. Now, if you would, look at 2 Timothy, Chapter 2, verses 16 and 17. Paul writes here, But shun, profane and vain babblings, for they will increase into more unbelled. godliness and their word will eat as doth a canker of whom hymenaeus and philetus who concerning the truth have erred saying the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith some so Paul speaks of these two individuals hymenaeus and philetus who have erred doctrinally concerning the truth of Christ they were teaching that the resurrection was past. There is no resurrection then of the dead. I don’t know if they allegorize these scriptures that the Bible lays out for us or how they handled these things, but there is no final resurrection of the body, and therefore this Paul classifies this erratical. Paul taught there is a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and on the unjust. Christ himself said, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice shall come forth. They that have done good under the resurrection of life, they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation. Both Paul and Jesus certainly taught bodily resurrection. Paul sees this error as a canker, he says. This is like a malignant, sore or tumor or gangrene or something like that that would eat away at healthy tissue in the body. Only in this case, it’s the body of Christ that we’re talking about. For some have their faith, he says, overthrown by this false teaching. In other words, there are those who get carried away and follow the heretical teachings of these men. Now, of course, we would say that they did not, you know, they don’t ever repent of that. They weren’t truly converted in the first place. But at the same time, there’s a sense in which the people are being pulled away from the true teaching of God’s word. So the church has to address this issue. Admonition doesn’t always cause heretics to repent. Rejection of a heretic here is commanded. He doesn’t say, well, you know, it would be a good idea if you did this. He says, reject them. The Greek word here means to refuse them, to reject them, to shun them. We normally call this excommunication, where the church expels them out of their midst. Obviously, there is a private application of this rejection as well as a public one. The public one comes from the church. where the excommunication takes place. But even privately, there is a rejection of these individuals. Jesus tells you to address wrongs privately with a person, with several witnesses, and then bring the person before the church in Matthew 18. First, you might bring several people in and go with you to treat the person, but eventually it comes before the church. So there’s two. more public admonitions that are given, one with two or three others, one before the whole church. But if the man won’t listen to the church, then he is to be treated as a heathen and a publican and cast out. So this is a person that now must be treated as an unregenerate person, a wicked individual, an enemy of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter how religious this person may appear to be. It doesn’t matter how spiritual you think his speech is, or what scriptures he quotes, or perhaps the good works that he supposedly does. The church has rejected this individual, and privately now, you, as a member of the church, must follow that lead and forbear any friendly conversion. with the individual. Now look at 2 John, if you would with me. Chapter, well, there’s only one chapter, verses 9 to 11. Second John, verses 9 through 11. John writes here, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father, son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house. Neither bid him God’s speed. He that biddeth him God’s speed as a partaker of his evil deeds. Even privately, I suggest to you from this text of Scripture that we are not to treat these people any differently than the church. As the scripture says, mark them, which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them. Romans 16, verse 18. Dr. Gordon Clark said he once taught on this subject, and he said there was a very evan, um, gelical woman who objected to such a rejection of the individual. She argued that we should never give up on an individual, hoping that this person will be recovered. We should continue to admonish them and hoping that they will repent. Clark pointed out that this lovely lady failed to realize that there had been previously private warnings. There have been public warnings by the church, and they have not brought about the desired effect. If ostracism does not bring about repentance. There is nothing else we can do but to pray for this individual. Yet ostracism is part of the procedure. It is another lever, if you would, to move this person to repent. And if we don’t follow that, then we’re not helping this person. It’s just here. I think that many members fail to follow the biblical requirements. You can’t just continue treating this person as if nothing happened. As if the relationship is sound. As if this person is still a brother or sister in Christ. You can’t invite this heretic over to your house, you know, for fellowship or Bible study or something of this nature and keep up friendly relations because it undermines the church discipline. Now, I don’t care how much you think you may be helping this situation. You may have a good heart in what you’re doing, but you’re being disobedient to the word of God. Focus your attention on prayer instead. So rejection of a heretic is commanded. Reject, he says. Now, what are the implications of this rejection by the church? If a family member is involved in such a rejection, he still remains a natural system. or brother, daughter or son, mother or father, husband or wife. Excommunication does not make void the marriage covenant. In an individual family, one does not deny the heretic house, bed, or food, to whom it was due before church discipline took place. A wife whose husband has been condemned as a heretic, must continue to fulfill her duties as a wife. She’s not released, I don’t think, from these basic duties. Yet the individual cannot be treated now in any fashion as if this person is still a believer in Christ. In most cases, however, we’re dealing with a separate household. And in that circumstance, we should avoid company with this heretical person. Leave this person. to God’s judgment. Necessarily pray with them, have fellowship with them, go to, you know, Christian conferences together, or something of this nature. In a case of a heretic, the church may even bar this individual from coming to the assembly because they might spread their false teaching. Now, you might think, boy, that is a terrible way to treat a person. It must be done. I have to emphasize this to you. It’s part of the process that he might have his conscience terrified because he’s been delivered over to Satan. That he may be shamed by the public rebuke of the church and the private rebuke of individual members of the church. That he might learn the wickedness of his doctrine, that the people of God will not listen to him any longer. And that he might be brought to repentance. It’s spared eternal destruction. We see in 1 Corinthians, the man living in incest is put out, or at least the church is told to put him out of the church. When we get the second Corinthians, it seems in chapter 2 he’s repented. And Paul says, now, I’ll receive him back. You know, take him back in and accept him. He was brokenhearted. But my friends, he might have taken that, go that far in order to bring him. this about in his life. So you should realize the church must reject heretics. Secondly, you should realize the reason for such severity by the church in rejecting heretics. Verse 11, knowing that he that is such is subverted and sineth being condemned of himself. The unrepentant heretic is subverted or we might even say perverted as the word will allow for that the Greek word will allow twisted, torn up, turned aside this kind of language. Literally it sort of means turned inside out. Twist it around. A heretical person is corrupted. Completely turned and twisted away from the truth. Have you ever seen a place where the tornado has gone through and you see the storm damage and you see houses and some of them have been moved off of their foundations. The storm was so strong it actually pushed them right off the foundations of where they’re built. So they’re not sitting on the they’re turned sideways off the supporting base. The heretic has been blown about by every wind of doctrine and it’s not sitting properly he’s not sitting properly on the foundation of the truth of God’s word any longer. He’s not sound on the fundamentals. Now some errors are not fundamental. You can go to some plans of houses after tornado its path through. There’s some devastation. Sometimes some houses just have shingles ripped off or or siding torn or something of this nature. Some have broken windows, damaged shingles, you know, so forth. But the house is still on the foundation. Repairs can be made fairly short order. But here we have a greater problem because the heretics house is twisted. It’s moved off the foundation and therefore it’s ready to collapse. It’s going to have, it’s the complete ruin of the house is what we’re looking at. A herericist. The heretic normally is going to deny some vital truth concerning Christ or the salvation that is in Christ. Whether it has to do with Christ’s person, his deity, what it has to do with his resurrection for the dead or his atonement, or it has to do with, you know, works righteousness or something of this nature. Something it takes away from Christ or his work. It’s really normally what heretical doctrine is associated with. And who can make the crooked straight? Apart from God’s miraculous intervention in the life of these individuals, there is no hope. There’s a passage in Josea 417. It says Ephraim is joined to his idols. Let him alone. Let that sink in a moment. Ephraim is joined to his idols. He’s turned away from the truth of the living God. From the message of Scripture. He has rejected the prophets that God. has sent. And what does God say? Let him alone. He’s due for punishment. He’s due for my judgment to fall upon. And that’s what Josea indicates to us. What did Jesus say about the scribes and the Pharisees? When they clung to their heretical doctrine and opposed him, let them alone. The blind lead the blind, they’ll both fall into the ditch. Let them alone. There’s a point at which Christ stopped speaking to them. In a similar manner, the heretic is wedded to his air. He’s not going to listen to the servant of God or to church who’s attempted to turn him. You have to simply let them alone. If the heretic attempts to engage you in a conversation, you look at them and say, you need to repent. You can just walk away. Leave it at that. So the unrepentant heretic heretic is perverse. They’re subverted. The unrepentant heretic is a sinner and self-condemned. When we talk about a heretic, we’re talking about false doctrine, it’s not just a matter of a difference of opinion. It is a matter of a deviation from the truth revealed in Scripture. We have to understand this. It is sin. It contradicts God’s basic, vital message, especially concerning salvation in Christ. The heretic sins willfully, adding to his sin. Not only does he maintain his error, but he does so despite the light of God’s word that’s been held before his eyes by those who have tried to turn him. The faithful admonition of the elders and the whole church has not changed him. The voice of his own conscience condemns him. He’s self-condemned. He is determined to persist in his error. He rails against the truth. He promotes false doctrine. He attempts to draw false teacher or false disciples after him into his error. This is a serious matter. It’s not a light matter in God’s sight. Charles Taze Russell was the founder of the Jehovah Witnesses. Was born in the town of Alleghenium, which is now part of Pittsburgh. It’s Pittsburgh. In 1852. His parents were Presbyterians. He said he was indoctrinated in the catechism of the Presbyterian church. At the age of 15, he decided he was going to join the congregational church, finding it more to his liking than the Presbyterian. However, he was soon troubled by some of the doctrines doctrines that were clearly taught in the church. In particular, the doctrines of predestination and eternal damnation. He had real problems with those. This, as he put it, wrecked my confidence in human creeds and systems of Bible misinterpretation. how the church handled Russell’s situation, I’m not sure. Whether he left the church, whether he was rejected by the church, I can’t tell you. But he began to look for smaller religious groups that he could join. And he met with some second Adventist groups. To see if this handful that he met with had any more sensible things to offer, as he put it. than the creeds of the great churches. Soon he organized a Bible study of six people who promised that they would gather regularly with him, and eventually this group elected him as pastor, 1876. He began publishing a periodical, which he called Zion’s Watchtower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. And this magazine proved to be an important factor in the expansion of his moon. By 1880, some 30 congregations came into existence in seven different states. Listen to the teachings that he held against the fundamentals of the Christian faith, despite the light of what he was taught growing up and what he heard at the Congregational Church. On the Doctrine of the Trinity, he writes in his studies in the Scriptures, Volume 5. If it were not for the fact that this Trinitarian nonsense was drilled into us from our earliest infancy, and the fact that it is so soberly taught in theological seminaries by great-haired professors, nobody would give it a moment’s serious consideration. On the person of Christ, he wrote this in his studies in the Scriptures, Volume 5. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a God. Still the united voice of scriptures must emphatically assert that there is, but one almighty God, the Father of All. The Logos, Christ the Word, himself, was the beginning of the creation of God. Heretical teaching. On the resurrection of Christ, the man Jesus is dead, forever dead. Our Lord, human body did not decay or corrupt, whether it was dissolved into gases or whether it is still preserved somewhere, no one knows, volume 5 again, of his studies in the scripture. don’t read volume 5 on hell eternal torture is nowhere suggested in the Old Testament scriptures and only a few statements in the New Testament can be so misconstrued as to appear to teach it that’s from volume 1 of his works, studies in the scriptures my friend such a person as this is a heretic and is self-condemned since their sins are voluntary and deliberate and their very opposite of God’s truth, their consciences will condemn them. If you look at 1st Timothy chapter 1, 1820, we read these words. This charge I commit unto thee, Son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war, good warfare, holding faith in a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck. Blumenheim is Hymenaeus and Alexandria, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not the blaspheme. These men put aside the true faith, their conscience condemns them. Remember how Judas had his conscience condemn them? Him, I mean, and he said, you know, I have sinned him. betraying innocent blood. If you follow the life of Russell, you’ll find he’s exposed as a fraud, and he knew he was a fraud. He had to know that what he was doing, and the religion he started, was simply a means of extorting money from people, the unsuspecting. And it all became public and embarrassing court cases. that he had to face. During his divorce case with his wife, it was revealed that the wealth of all his societies was under control of a holding company, but 99% of the money was in his hands and only 1% and 2 other people’s hands. Russell’s Watchtower publication sold what he called Miracle Wheat for a dollar a pound. It was asserted that it would grow five times faster than any other brand, of wheat. During the court case with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the eagle declared it would show that Russell’s religious cult is nothing more than a money-making scheme. Well, the court vindicated the eagle’s assertion because he was found guilty and condemned. His miracle wheat was tested by the government and proved to be of very poor quality. The eagle also also exposed Russell’s imaginary sermons. He would write printed reports of these addresses that he gave in foreign lands when he had never even been there. Never even gone that place. He lied under oath about knowing the Greek alphabet, about being ordained by a valid, recognized body, about his high scholastic ascendancy, on the witness stand, Counselor Stoughton caught Russell in lie after lie after lie regarding these things. Stoughton wrung statement after statement from him showing that he was a premeditated perjurer, including the whopper that his wife had not divorced him when it was a matter of record. That that was the case. Russell’s moral life proved him to be able to be able to. a lewd individual. His wife Maria Acley sued for divorce on the ground of his conceit, egotism, domination, and improper relations with other women. He knew his conscience had to condemn him. They say if you want to make money, one of the good ways to do it is start a new religion. And I guess that’s what he found out that he could do. Down through the century, God’s word has proved true with regard to heretics. All this teaches you and I to keep a good conscience before God. That we’re not self-condemned. Never treat rejection by a true church lightly. And in the end, those who have depart from the faith, even their conscience, is going to condemn them. And they’ll be self-condemned. Friends, you can never treat the Mormons, or the Muslims. Jehovah Witnesses or any other heretical teachings or teachers or groups as brothers in Christ. They are not brothers in Christ. The church has to reject any who turn from the vital truths of faith. If you can’t understand this, then you don’t really love the truth. You cannot count, you do not count the truth as precious if you don’t reject the false. what is the chaff to the wheat, said the Lord. You got the chaff of God’s word. Everything else that’s being taught out there, the heredical teaching is wheat. No substance to it. No nourishment in it. We must earnestly contend for the faith, once delivered under the saints. And that may mean putting someone out of the church and saying, you are not a believer in Christ. Not in the state you are in. unless you repent, we cannot accept you as such. Keep that in mind in dealing with these issues that come up from time to time in the church. Let us close with what a word of prayer.