Sunday, February 2, 2025 PM

The book of Titus. Titus chapter 1. We'll be reading verses 5 through 9. Titus chapter 1 verses 5 through 9. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you for this evening. We thank you for this word.

We pray that you would help us to rejoice in its truth and to respond in joy and in obedience. We thank you for the way you love us and provide for us, guide and direct us. And we pray all these things in Jesus name.

Amen. All right. Titus chapter 1 beginning in verse 5. For this reason I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you.

If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable.

A lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

So as we look at this passage we're going to start with verse 5 and thinking about the quality leadership. Titus is all about what a good church needs. A good church needs good doctrine, good direction, good deeds.

And verse 5 is really about that good direction. What kind of leadership is needed for a local church? And I think it's interesting to talk about elders in the life of a Baptist church. That might be something of a novelty given someone's experience with Baptist churches.

From my own part, from the time that I was 14 years on, 14 years old on, I was part of churches that basically had elders. The church my dad planted in Guthrie and then Graceway Baptist Church, Southwoods Baptist Church where I was an intern, pastoral intern, and then they sent me out, ordained me to preach at Liberty Baptist Church, which was functionally working with elders.

They didn't have a title, but we worked towards that and they were eventually, under their current pastor Blaine Dias, he was able to bring them forward to where they do have elders now. I was there for the elder ordination many, many years ago.

And then of course here at Sunnyside Baptist Church. So for the great majority of my life, getting close to 30 years, I've been a part of Baptist churches with elders. Now that's not normal. It's not normal in the life of Baptist churches.

In fact, the seminary that I went to in Memphis had taken up the cause of how un-Baptist elders are and that any church that had elders was basically liberal and ought to be extinguished. They just loved to fight.

They just had to have a passion and a crusade. Gave them vigor in them in the morning. But I think it is biblical. And this verse this morning, I think is a good example of why it is biblical to have a plurality of elders in a singular church.

Now the leadership described here in Titus is very similarly described in Timothy. We see the pattern certainly in the book of Acts. The nature of the leadership that we see in place here is not that of a dictator or that of a board or a CEO, some sort of corporation or something like that.

We have a small group of leaders dedicated to the good of the church, to the glory of God. They are described in the New Testament as shepherds, pastors, elders, overseers, or the other word we saw in this passage, this translation, as bishop, which just Episcopal in the Greek means overseer.

We translate it as bishop, which is an overseer. Pastor is in the word for shepherd. And then the Greek word for elder is presbyteros, you hear Presbyterian in there. So the Bible uses three different terms to talk about the same role or same office in the church, pastor, elder, overseer, or bishop.

And Paul is making the point to Titus that if they're going to succeed in their mission there on the island of Crete, the best way forward is that there's going to be need to be quality leadership in each local church.

And so he has this reminder for Titus, a reminder for this reason I left you in Crete. Don't forget Titus. I left you there to do something particular. And you need to do this. You need to appoint elders, plural, in each church, each city that had a church, singular.

The Cretan Christians need to know that, as we see in verses one through four, that Paul, who is the slave of God, who is the apostle of Jesus Christ, he has, in the hope of eternal life, left Titus on the island of Crete with the message of the gospel.

The message of the gospel, which God has revealed in order that it might be proclaimed for the salvation and the sanctification of the elect. So we have the Apostle's mission, and we have the Apostle's message, but we also discover that this is not going to be accomplished outside of the apostolic method, which is the local church.

The planting of churches. Local churches is how the spread of the gospel is accomplished. The church must be well ordered. It must be organized to be that effective agent of discipling all of the nations.

Titus needs to keep that in mind. We have a lot of things that we need to be concerned about. We have a lot of needs. Some people are struggling greatly with sickness. Some people are struggling greatly with finances.

Some people are struggling greatly with decisions, relationships, and so on. We have many burdens, many cares, but just like Titus needed a reminder, hey Titus, keep on track. You might get distracted by the fact that there are a bunch of Cretans.

You might wonder how long do you have to stay here on this island, and what's the next opportunity of ministry. Don't forget this. For this reason I left you in Crete, to set things in order, to make sure that these local churches have good leadership.

What do we need to remember? What do we need to remember? We need to remember why Jesus Christ, our master, delays. Do you remember the parable that Jesus told about the field that had the wheat and the tares?

And the servants of the master, the owner of the field, came to him and said, an enemy has done this. He's sown tares among the wheat. It's become evident in their growing up together that there's a big problem here.

And so the servant said to the master, let's rip up all those tares. Master says, no, if we do that you'll harm the wheat. You'll harm the crop. Let them grow up together, and when the harvest comes, then we will separate them.

Jesus says the field is the world, and not the church. Field is the world. The church isn't supposed to be filled with as many wheat plants as tares plants. That's not what Jesus says. He says the field is the world, and there's all manner of wheat and tares that are growing up together in this world.

And we're going to delay, he says, I'm going to delay the harvest until the full crop of the wheat comes in. Jesus delays. He delays his return. The parables say the master was long in coming. The bridegroom was long in coming.

He delayed in coming. He went on a long journey. He went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. Why does he delay? Why not end all the evils and troubles and sicknesses and sorrows of this whole world?

Why does he delay? For the sake of the elect, for the sake of the saved, for the sake of the saints, for the sake of the harvest. Maximal harvest, maximal good, maximal glory to God, maximal sinner saved.

He waits. So, given that that's the priority of our King, that's the priority of our Master, what is our priority then? He gives it to us in the Great Commission. And Jesus came up to them and said, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and though I am with you, even to the end of the age.

But labors unto the harvest. What are we to be about? To be remembering this, we are here to make disciples. That's what should be the priority of our lives. In many different fashions, we can make disciples.

In the home, outside of the home, through our acquaintances, in our connections with one another in the church. As we pursue Christ as his disciples, we should be making disciples of families and friends and co-workers and acquaintances and neighbors and fellow church members.

And what does that look like? Envision everyone you know. Envision everyone you know from left to right, and all of their direction is towards Christ and on his throne. Somewhere along that line of everyone you know that are marching towards Christ, the whole world is hurtling towards the return of the King.

Everything's going to be settled and sifted at that great day of judgment. Everything's heading, everyone is heading towards Christ. Now they're either going to be on the wrong side of the cross or the correct side of the cross.

They're either going to be a rebel or they're going to be redeemed. Everyone you know is on one side of the cross or the other, either against Christ or for Christ, but everyone has a date ahead of them where they're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

What does discipleship look like? Accept that everybody you know having their orientation towards Christ anyway, you doing what you can in the grace of God to help them take one step towards Christ in the right direction.

Either moving towards the cross, their most necessary come to Jesus meeting where they need to repent of their sins and trust in Christ as their Savior, or having done that they are truly his to move on to the glory of Christ in more full submission to Christ in more full worship of Christ.

In any case, everyone you know is in that situation, what are you doing to help them take that next step on towards Jesus? And it could be the simplest of things, praying with them, inserting scripture into your prayers for them, sharing with them a passage of scripture, trying to have an opportunity to read the Bible with them, spend time with them and encourage them.

So what can you do to help someone take a step on towards Christ? That's all there is. That's all it takes. You don't have to memorize a whole system in order to disciple someone. You just help somebody else take one step towards Jesus to honor him and trust him and love him.

That's what it is. That is where everything is headed. Sometimes I think that because we're so burdened with cares, so concerned with suffering and with trials and temptations and evil of various kinds, very often Christians begin to think that the whole goal of the Christian life is to hang on and endure till finally we can get over with this life and get on to heaven.

But in this case, I think that we become so heavenly minded we're no heavenly good. Because heaven, the amen of heaven on earth is to cause everyone to come to submission to Jesus Christ. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

But we can be so heavenly minded that we're no heavenly good. We should be helping others on to Christ in whatever fashion that is, and it could be rather simple. I was encouraged earlier by a young man who helped me with my sermon this morning.

After I finished preaching, he pointed out something that I should have seen. I told him I greatly appreciated that. Wish I would have thought of it. I can be disciple too. Thanks Carter. Now Paul reminds Titus why he's doing what he's doing.

And it needs to be a rectification. He says that you should set in order the things that are lacking. Set in order the things that are lacking. There was a problem. My office is ever on the verge of organizational apocalypse.

But I have to set things in order in order for good to be done in that space. Paul is saying to Titus, set things in order. Correct the chaos. Put things into their proper relationship so that there can be success in this church.

You have to set in order what remains to be rectified. There's always some sort of problem or deficiency or some degree of disorganization in a local church. Things are always shifting, always changing.

And everyone involved in the local church, none of them are perfect. We forget things, overlook things, don't know things, accidentally trip into one another's schedules, and that's just life in a local church.

How do we set things in order? How do we set things in order? Well, one of those things is to have good direction. And the kind of direction that a local church needs is described by elders. We're going to be thinking about why we need more than one, and what an elder is, and what does an elder do, and all of that.

But there is a need to set things in order and to be organized. It is odd to me to hear people say that the key to eliminating all of the problems of the modern church is simply to return to the relative simplicity of the early church.

If we could just be like the early church, there'd be no problems. Have you read the New Testament? I don't want any of their problems. Oh my, the problems of the early church. How blessed we are that Christ has been shepherding his church for nigh two thousand years, washing his bride with the water of his word, and we're a whole lot better off than the early church.

I'm all for our modern church becoming more biblical, but there's no sense in idolizing the early church. So Paul, even in the island of Crete, Titus needs to set in order the things that remain, putting good elders into each local church.

Why? Because there's a lack of organization, first of all. Secondly, there's unchecked false teachers that he references throughout this little letter, and he also shows that there's a big need for instruction in conduct and in doctrine.

And Paul knows how to solve all of that. He knows exactly what is needed for all those problems, and what is needed is to put elders in each church. Titus needs reinforcements. Titus can't do it all. You can't just be the Bible Answer Man and go back and forth through the island of Crete and be the guru that everyone has to hunt down and find to solve the problems.

No, the apostolic mission of making disciples of the nations with the apostolic message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is accomplished through the apostolic method, which is the local church. The Apostles helped to start the church, they started local churches all over the place, and then those local churches planted other local churches, and by the grace of God, continued to perpetuate and populate the kingdom of God.

So, there needs to be reinforcements. Now, we read, appoint elders, notice plural, in every city, singular, as I commanded you. So, why more than one? Why do we need more than one elder, more than pastor in each church?

Why do we need a plurality of elders? Well, first of all, because the Bible says so. As we read in the book of Acts, they went through the different cities and they appointed elders, plural, in each city, wherever they planted a church, singular, they had a plurality of elders.

That was the biblical model in Acts, and it specifically instructed that that should occur in Timothy and in Titus. So, it's obedience to the scriptures, but also, remember the way that Paul addressed the elders of the church in Ephesus, how he reminded them of their duties to the local church, precious to the sight of God, that Jesus shed his own blood for these saints, but also that they needed to work together as shepherds, as elders, to defend the flock, to defend the sheep of God against wolves, and warn that even wolves may appear from their own number, that they need to be ready to hold each other accountable and to protect the flock.

So, this is an improvement of leadership in terms of their accountability, support, encouragement, increased wisdom, diversity of gifts, it's for the benefit of the congregation, it's for the growth and unity and defense of the local church, it's for the increase of Christ's kingdom through the orderly function of the church, ultimately for the glory of God, we need reinforcements, we need a plurality of elders in the local church.

Now, interestingly enough, in Acts chapter 6, there was a division of labor. The apostles were functioning as the elders of that first church there in Jerusalem, giving themselves to the ministry of the word and prayer, and did not have enough time to adequately oversee the bestowment of the property held in common, the donations that were coming in to see to the need to the widows and the needy in their congregation, they couldn't do it all.

And so, there was a division of labor in which the apostles continued the work of the word and prayer, and then the deacons began to serve in these other ministries of the church. But there was a plurality, there wasn't just one guy, it wasn't one man doing it all.

The focus was not on one, but there was a group. Now, what is an elder? The Greek word, of course, is we said presbyteroi, elders plural, or presbyteros singular. We remember in the Old Testament that cities were ruled by their elders who sat in the city gates.

And as people came and went, they helped to adjudicate issues and said, here's the course of the city, here's how you solve this problem. And they were to be above reproach and be men who were respected, and they would render just judgment and so on and so forth.

And so they were to have great wisdom, and their concern would be that their city, that they themselves, and that their city and everyone involved would be faithful to the law that God had given them, they would be faithful in their keeping of the covenant.

Well, by the New Testament period, prominent older men and Jewish synagogues were known as the elders, and the local church in many ways was modeled after those local synagogues, after all, Paul would go to the synagogue, preach the word until he got kicked out, and then they start their own gathering.

And so they also had elders in the local church. Acts 14 .23 is where we read that when they had appointed elders for them in every church, elders plural for them in every church singular, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

So an elder is a leader in the church. Someone is called, if someone is called a pastor, they're an elder. If someone is called an elder, they're a pastor. Also a bishop, but Baptists don't do that, usually.

Sometimes we have Baptist bishops, but it's not our normal experience. But these roles are all going to be lowercase p, pastor, lowercase e, elder, lowercase b, bishop. Jesus was dead set against titles.

Matthew 23. Don't deal in titles. You're all brothers in Christ, right? You have one teacher, that's Jesus Christ, you have one father, don't let anyone call you father, don't let anyone call you rabbi, don't let anyone call you leader, don't let anyone call you special titles.

He's dead set against titles. It's okay to have roles, distinctive roles that we serve in, but titles are out. Titles are out. An elder is a leader in the church, gifted to serve in a particular way, gifted to serve in the ministry of the Word and in prayer, to feed the sheep, to tend the lambs, to nourish the flock, as Jesus said to Peter.

What does an elder do? Elders are servants of the Word. Fundamentally, the role of elders is to lead God's people by teaching God's Word and praying, caring for, shepherding God's people. The teaching must be by the public handling of God's Word and also by the exemplary lives that the elders lead.

Not that the elders have to do all the holiness for the church, but they are showing an example of how all the rest of the saints should live, right? There's a consistency between what they teach and how they live, and if there's not, then they can't be an elder, because why would you listen to such a person?

In fact, the Bible says don't. 1 Peter 5, 2 says, "...shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion.". So, an elder will teach the flock, pray for the flock, defend the flock against error.

We're gonna see that all of that in Titus. The goal is what? Discipleship. Remember, why was Titus on the island of Crete? Remember, why are we still here? Remember, why does our Lord delay? If the goal is truly discipleship, making disciples of all the nations, if the goal is that we follow Christ, then in the life of the local church, a few of us need to serve the rest of us through teaching all that Christ commanded, and then everyone else continues to help disciple one another as well.

We don't have just six vine growers around here. Every Christian who is united to Christ, who is the vine, according to Ephesians 4, knitted together to nourish one another and help each other grow. Every single Christian is a vine grower.

That's not a special assignment for elders only, but elders are going to take the lead in that. So, deacons stir up everyone to serve, elders stir everyone up to grow. It's a good partnership. And it says how, he says to Titus, appoint elders in every city.

Paul and Titus and his missionary teams are hearkening from either the church in Jerusalem or the church in Antioch somewhere. They're being sent out to plant churches, okay, and so the elders of one church are starting other churches and appointing elders for that church, and then that church grows and continues to grow, and then they disciple others, and then when other men meet the qualifications of an elder, then those elders appoint that man as an elder, and they just keep on going, right?

If the Lord ever gives us an opportunity to plant a church, how would we do that? How would we do that? The elders of our church would send forth elders of our church to another church. They would start that church until they were on their own, right?

How do, how are elders selected? Well, it says they're appointed. Now, I've read some really funny commentaries how that actually means democratically elected. I think that's hilarious. It's strange the brain, not only the Greek, to say that appointing elders is that they're democratically elected.

It's actually not what it says. You know, Paul and Titus, Paul is giving the parameters to Titus, and he left Titus to do this, and Titus, just pick them. You're an elder. Well, that's not very democratic.

Well, that's the way it went here in Titus, and it's the way it went in Acts, too. They appointed elders. They're planting churches. People are getting saved. These men are qualified. These are the ones who are being selected as elders for the sake of the body, and it's not because Paul and Titus think, we really like these guys over these guys.

It's Jesus saying, here's what I want from my shepherds. Here's a shepherd. Here's my, here's the elder. Here's the, here's the parameters. Here's the description. These are the ones who are elders from my church.

Oh, and here what deacons look like, so you can spot them, too. Who is it who gives elders to the church? The Holy Spirit. Who is it who gives deacons to the church? The Holy Spirit. Who is it who gives teachers to the church?

The Holy Spirit does, and then we're told how to recognize them. That make sense? Jesus Christ builds the church. Do we build, are we the builders of the church? Are we the architects of the church? Is it our ideas and our preferences?

Jesus Christ builds the church. He tells us who these different people are and how they're gifted, and then we're supposed to say amen if we're paying attention to his word. So, now, we also find that in the requirements of how an elder is supposed to behave and act, it matters about his reputation with the congregation, right?

Is he blameless, or is he someone who's a bad reputation with the saints? So, the saints are involved in bringing forward their amen to whether or not this is a real elder or not. When the apostles asked for deacons to come forward and serve, they had the congregation pick out from among them those who had the qualifications to be deacons.

The congregation is to give the amen, which is why, in our own bylaws and covenant, when we're ready to appoint a new deacon or a new elder, guess what the elders do? We talk to everybody in the church.

Say, hey, we're thinking about appointing a new elder, asking a man to come along and become a new elder or become a new deacon. Before we get too far down the road, we want to ask you all, this man is willing to be considered, but we want to ask everybody their feedback on that.

Why do we do that? Because that's what happened in the scriptures and their qualifications and considerations of what it means to be an elder means that you have to have a right relationship and reputation and name amongst everybody in that church.

Do you have a good name, right? Do you have a good reputation? Are you somebody who they respect? So, there is a partnership between the elders and the church body at large because of the way that it's described in the scriptures.

In order to have a good church, we have to be properly organized. That organization is defined by a certain quality of leadership, and it's a plurality of elders directing the body of Christ into the will of Christ through the teaching of the scriptures.

Because, after all, I just came across this line of the day as I was reviewing our our bylaws and covenant. It said, in any case where this document contradicts the scriptures, the scriptures have sway.

Because, we're admitting, we're not the ones in charge. We can get things wrong, but we want to be in submission to the Word of God as he has given it to us through Christ by the Holy Spirit. So, that's why we have a plurality of leaders that we be properly organized and ordered.

All right, let's close by singing the doxology together. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen, and we are dismissed.