Sunday Sermon: Conclusion to Titus and a Q&A (Titus 3:12-15)

You're listening to the preaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast we feature teaching through a New Testament book, an

Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday. Each Sunday we are pleased to present our sermon series.

Here is Pastor Gabe. For right now, we're in Titus chapter 3, verses 12 to 15.

In honor of the word of the King, would you please stand. Reading from Titus chapter 3, beginning in verse 12 out of the

English Standard Version. Hear the word of the Lord. When I send

Artemis or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

Do your best to speed Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their way, see that they lack nothing.

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful.

All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all. You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to you for teaching us according to your word.

We have been through this series in Titus and we have heard about how doctrine pertains to life and how even the way that we live our lives will affect what it is that we believe.

And so I pray that our faith would have a sure and firm footing on the gospel of Jesus Christ and that everything that we do in our lives flows out of that.

As the world will throw at us various philosophies and ideologies and political ideas and religions and so forth, whatever it is that comes at us, we examine it through the lens of your word.

We know that God who has created all things, who is enthroned over the universe, your truth governs all, including every person, whether they believe in that truth or not.

We as followers of Christ have come to know the truth, may we be in submission to it.

And knowing that this truth has saved us, that by faith in Jesus we are forgiven our sins and brought back into fellowship and right standing with God.

Since we know that truth is what has brought us into fellowship with God, may we be bold to share the message of that gospel with the world and with others.

We consider back over those things this morning as we reflect upon what we have learned in Titus, continue to teach these things as we think about them and even in the future studies that we commit ourselves to as students of your word.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray and all God's people said, Amen. As we finish

Titus, we see really one exhortation that's given here, only one in this conclusion to this letter, other than the specific instructions that Paul gives to Titus of things that he wants

Titus to do. He says in verse 14, it was a verse we even considered last week, let our people learn to devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful.

That verse does not sit there on its own. It's not just Paul making an exhortation for the sake of giving an imperative.

This instruction is being given in light of all of the gospel truth that we have read up to this point.

Should you devote yourself to good works? Yes. But you do good works in light of the good work, the good work that God has done for us.

As R .C. Sproul has said, you are saved by works, just not yours, but God's work that he has done for us.

We have read over the course of this letter that the grace of God has appeared. If you look at chapter two, verse 11, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self -controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great

God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

My friends, that's the basis of the good works that you should be doing because Christ has bought and paid for you and has purified you to do the work that would be pleasing unto the

Lord. And then we read later, just a few weeks ago as we were studying in Titus 3, verse 3, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.

Again, his works done for us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our

Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

And so therefore, my friends, as followers of Jesus Christ, as those who have been brought from death to life, as those who have been brought into the household of God and are now fellow heirs with Christ, what should our lives look like?

Our lives should look like Jesus. And the way that we live be not like the pattern of this world.

As said in Romans 12 too, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

And we must have the mind of Christ and desire to do the work of Christ because of the work that he has done for us and is doing in us.

The works that we do therefore are going to be a reflection of the fact that we are

Christ's. Beware of falling into the fleshly tendency of faking it until you making it, of doing the works, thinking if I can work myself toward a more genuine faith.

Remember Christ and look at Christ. So reflecting very quickly here on these last few verses, and then we get to our questions today.

Verse 12, when I send Artimaeus or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis for I have decided to spend the winter there.

Artimaeus is a name that we don't see anywhere else in the New Testament, so we don't know anything else about him other than here.

Tychicus is a man, that's a name that we saw when we got to the end of our study in 2 Timothy. He's mentioned there.

He's at the end of Colossians, he's at the end of Ephesians. Apparently a man that Paul would send as an itinerant preacher to preach for a period of time.

And for Timothy, it was so Timothy could leave his station there at Ephesus at the church where he was preaching and could come to visit

Paul who was in prison in Rome. That's what we read in 2 Timothy. Here apparently,

Tychicus could be sent to Titus so that Titus could do the work that he needs to do in other churches there on the island of Crete.

So as Titus preaches in one place, he could leave it to Tychicus and then he could go on to another location.

Nicopolis, the place where Paul is stationed at this particular time, is a city on the west side of Greece.

It is a coastal city. We don't have anything else said about Nicopolis in the New Testament.

Likely Paul had planted a church there and was another place where Christians were flourishing, but we don't know anything else beyond what is mentioned here at the end of Titus.

Verse 13, do your best to speed Zenos the lawyer, again, a name that we don't see elsewhere in the

New Testament, but Apollos is a very important figure, somebody who was a teacher at Ephesus and at Corinth and was very beloved by the

Corinthians, in fact. Speed them on their way, Paul says, to see that they lack nothing.

And then we have that exhortation in verse 14, let our people learn to devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful.

So we see a two -fold purpose of encouraging the body of Christ to be diligent and devoted to good works.

Number one, so to help cases of urgent need. So what kind of works are we talking about here?

We're talking about works that would be beneficial to the body. And we've seen those kinds of instructions over the course of Titus, being considerate of one another, helping to build one another up in this faith, specifically here

Paul is talking about even helping in cases of material needs. If somebody is in need of some kind, pay attention to the needs, even the material and sustenance needs among the members of your own congregation so that they may help one another, helping to care for each other in the body.

As Paul says in Galatians chapter 6, as we have opportunity, let us show charity to everyone, especially those who are of the household of faith.

So there's an obligation there that we would care for one another in the body of Christ, in the church, although there is importance to caring for others that are outside the church as well.

Second reason that Paul gives for this exhortation is to not be unfruitful.

So first of all, there is a benefit to others, and then there is even a personal benefit to helping others.

It is so that we would continue to be diligent to look after one another in the body of Christ, and in so doing, we would grow in fruitfulness.

It even helps to sanctify the body. It helps to grow us in the faith. Whatever you devote yourself to, that's what you're going to become an expert in, right?

An athlete becomes the most effective at the sport that they're committed to when they practice that sport, and the more that they practice it, the better they get at it.

If an athlete were to spend more time playing video games than he were to actually go out and physically do the sport, what's he going to get better at?

He'll get better at the video games instead of the sport that he says that he's committed to.

So the same is going to be for every one of us. If you commit yourself to the works that show love and care for one another in the body of Christ, you will draw closer to the body of Christ, then you will be connected to or united with the world.

And for those who have secular occupations, who work secular jobs, there needs to be more of a diligence there to find ways of being a servant in the church so that you not get dragged away by worldly concerns.

My dad loves Fox News, and so there had been times in the past where we had to tell my dad,

Dad, you're watching too much Fox News. You need to pull back a little bit because it's starting to control your thoughts and you're just thinking everything's a conspiracy.

There are other friends of mine that I have seen that have devoted themselves to the same thing, social media or other news sites or stuff like that, and you begin to think that way and you begin to panic and you lose sight of God instead of trusting in Him and devoting yourself to prayer even.

We get used to seeing things that are happening in the world and think that we need to be active, we need to be soldiers out there.

We got to get out there and do the work and not realize that the most effective tool that we have as Christians is prayer, appealing to the

God of creation and knowing that all things are in His hand and in His sovereign control.

So continue in these things that you would not be unfruitful. And then finally, verse 15, all who are with me send greetings to you.

Greet those who love us in the faith and grace be with you. What is that last word there?

Grace be with you all. I had mentioned this at the very beginning of Titus, though we're reading these pastoral epistles that are to two men,

Timothy in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus in the book of Titus, yet these were not books that were meant to be read just by those men.

As Paul finishes this letter with grace, be with you all, it is evident here that Paul intended for this letter to be read by others and to follow these instructions likewise.

And so the Holy Spirit continues to guide us and instruct us in these things also that we might learn from these very instructions that are given to us here.

It's a short letter. It's three chapters. We've devoted ourselves to several weeks in studying these things.

We can devote ourselves to much more time because even in the small sections that we've looked at, there's such great and deep truth.

We could spend more and more time in our concordances and our cross -references and looking across the scriptures and seeing how

God expounds more on even the doctrines that are stated here. But this has been a short letter to remind us of how doctrine and life go together.

What you believe affects the way that you live. The way that you live is even going to affect what it is that you believe.

You've probably heard the old saying, you are what you eat. If you put in doctor stuff, you're going to become a doctor.

If you eat lawyer stuff, you're going to become a lawyer. If you don't put anything in, you go into politics.

Just kidding. If you eat the good food of the word that is given to us by the spirit of God, we will grow in godliness.

But if you continue to consume the world, what are you going to look like? You'll show worldliness.

So may we understand even through this short letter how the good word of God affects and changes us and grows us so that we may be godly men and women in the faith.

Now, as we have brought this to a conclusion, as we have continued to exposit our text,

I opened the floor, rather, to any questions that you might have at the close. It's fitting that most of the questions that I had actually came from some of the things that we looked at last week because that's what was fresh on everybody's mind.

So let me begin with those questions, and then we'll get to some of these other ones as well.

So the nearest text to what we studied last week, if you'll remember in Titus Chapter 3, we had studied about the manner of discipline that Paul says needs to be enforced in the church to keep the false teachers out, avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law for they are unprofitable and worthless.

As for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self -condemned.

And I mentioned there's other manners of discipline that are talked about in Scripture, the most notable of which in Matthew Chapter 18, where Jesus talks about how you are to confront a brother who has sinned against you.

And that's the first place that I think we should go when it comes to understanding church discipline is

Matthew 18 verses 15 to 17. But some questions came regarding what other manners of discipline there are.

I didn't have enough time to go through it last week, so thank you for those who asked the question that we may consider it more this week.

So here's our first question that we have for today. When do we use the Titus 3, 10 through 11 form of discipline versus the

Matthew 18, 15 to 17? Steps of discipline. Now, let me remind you again of those steps in Matthew 18, 15 to 17.

That is a four -step disciplinary process. The first step, if your brother sins against you,

Jesus says, then go to your brother and settle the matter between you and him alone.

If he is convinced, then you have won your brother. And in that sense, the matter is settled.

This is about a sin that one is committed against another. You might also understand that as I've seen a brother sin.

Nobody else has seen it, but I've identified it. I've noticed it. And so I'm going to go to my brother and confront him in that sin, whether it's personally against you or you've just seen a brother that has been in sin that needs to be confronted.

I've had numerous times as a pastor where somebody's come to me and said, did you see what so -and -so did?

And I've said, no, but you did. So you need to be the one to actually go and confront a brother or sister if you were the one that observed it.

And so that is the first step of that matter of church discipline that Jesus lays out there in Matthew 18.

The second step, if he won't repent, then you bring two or three brothers along that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

That's taking something that was written in the law of Moses and even bringing it into regular practice in the church.

No one should be charged with or accused of something that doesn't have witnesses behind it.

But if that person won't listen to the evidence of these witnesses, therefore, it needs to be brought before the church.

That's the third step. And if they won't listen even to the church, let them be to you as a

Gentile or a tax collector, which is a statement of excommunication. And that is the fourth step.

So that's the first sort of process of church discipline that we see in the

New Testament, the one that Jesus gives for the church in Matthew chapter 18. Now, that's not the only one.

That's a four -step process. This one, as I mentioned last week, is a three -step process. Look at verse 10 again.

As for a person who stirs up division, you warn him once, first step. You warn him twice, there's the second step.

And after that, third step have nothing more to do with him. And then he gets removed at that point. That's a three -step process, slightly different.

And in the context in which I illustrated this last week, this is not a private sin matter. This is not an issue of a brother having sinned against you.

This is with regards to a teacher, somebody who is teaching specifically, teaching something that they ought not to teach.

That's the word that is used for a person who sews up division or stirs up division rather in verse 10.

It's one Greek word, and it's the same word that we use to translate the word heretics or heresies.

So this is a person who is falsely teaching. And that false teaching is causing division.

We've seen that previously in the pastoral epistles of statements of they're teaching falsely, and it's spreading like gangrene.

It's actually causing parts of the body to rot and fall off. Members of the church that are losing the faith and leaving because of this false teaching that is allowed to continue.

And so how do you deal with somebody who's speaking falsely in this way? You warn him once that the things that he is saying are contrary to the word.

It is contrary to what we have been taught in the gospel which accords with or leads to godliness. And then you warn him again.

Brother, we have said this to you, or sister even. Doesn't have to be somebody in an official teaching capacity.

And the person that continues to deny the truth and teach falsely eventually is dealt with in excommunication.

This is something that is much more public. It is not a private or a secret sin. It is not somebody who is trying to work through a certain doctrine that they're just not sure about.

We can be patient with one another in that matter. But this is a person who is actually speaking something falsely that is causing division in the church.

And so that's the manner of discipline that's used here. Now there is another matter of discipline that's used in 1

Corinthians chapter 5. That's a two -step process. And there it's a very known and public sin.

If you'll remember 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is addressing a matter with a man that is in sin in the church.

And he was committing incest. And Paul says this is a level of sin that even the pagans know is reprehensible.

And yet you're allowing it to continue and not doing anything about it. That guy needs to be gone.

So that's the two -step process. You confront him and then you excommunicate him. So this is a person who could still repent of this sin.

But while they're in a sin that's so public that is bringing such a reproach against the church, this needs to be handled in that he is removed until he comes to repentance and then can be welcomed back into the body and the grace of God can be demonstrated.

The purpose of church discipline is not let's get the people out that we don't like so that we can have the church that we like a little bit better.

The purpose of church discipline is first of all, it's for the purity of the church. That the bride of Christ would be pure and that Christ would be glorified.

But secondly, this isn't the main reason, but it is nonetheless what we would hope would be the result of church discipline is that the person who is being disciplined would repent and that they would come back in the body of Christ.

Now that can't be the main objective. Why can't that be the main objective? Because most of the time, what's going to be the result?

The person's probably not going to repent. So if it's the main objective to church discipline and that's not the result that we get, then we're liable to sit there and go, okay, what did we do wrong?

Because that person didn't repent. But if we did as we were instructed to do according to scripture and God was glorified and his church was pure, then regardless of that person's decision, we can sit and understand that we did as God instructed us to do and may he be glorified whether this person comes to repentance or not.

So the question specifically, why are we going to question four? Back to question one. Sorry, I'll cue you here.

I won't just go to the question without letting you know. So when do we use the Titus 3, 10 through 11 form of discipline versus the

Matthew 18, 15 to 17 steps of discipline? So specifically, this is with regards to false teaching.

Whereas the Matthew 18, 15 to 17 steps of discipline have to do with a specific sin, a personal sin, or something that somebody or the whole body may not be aware of.

Like it could be the sort of a thing where when you confront the other person and he repents, then the matter is taken care of.

It doesn't have to go to the next steps of discipline that end up involving more people, two or three witnesses, and then the whole church becomes knowledgeable of it.

If it's something where somebody did it against you, don't take vengeance out on your brother. I'm going to make sure everybody knows about this, but rather out of interest for your heart and his and even the purity of the church.

Confront it one -on -one and if he repents, praise God. But with regard to Titus 3, 10 through 11, this is much more public.

It's not a private sin. It's a teaching issue that's now sowing division.

Hence the statement in verse 10, as for a person who stirs up division. So let's go to the second question now, question number two.

Is the manner of discipline in Titus 3, 10 through 11 just for believing teachers?

If so, is it used anytime an elder slash pastor is in sin or is it specific to the good teachers that fall into heresies?

So first of all, with regarding this manner of discipline, is it just for believing teachers?

The answer to that would be no. It would be with regard to anybody who is really teaching anything.

They don't have to be in an official teaching office like an elder, nor do they even need to be a

Sunday school teacher, but it could be anyone that is coming into the church and spreading things and saying things and trying to encourage people in doctrines that they should not be encouraging.

In our small group this past Wednesday, I gave this particular example. There was a man who was coming into our church in Kansas, whose name was

Lawrence, not that Lawrence, different guy named Lawrence. But he was coming and we knew that he was from another church.

The reason why we knew that is because he worked with a guy that was in our church and that man knew the church that Lawrence was a part of.

Now, there was concerns because why is he here? Is he trying to come from that other church to proselytize?

It was a heretical church. They denied the Trinity for one and all manner of other things, like the reason why you're sick is because there's sin in your life.

You know, they might teach something like that. They had to name it and claim it, sort of a gospel. If you believe it, then you'll receive it, you know, silly things like that.

And so this was a church with a false gospel and false doctrine, very charismatic. And sometimes they would send out proselytes and what those proselytes would do, they would find out which

Sundays a church in Junction City was doing a baptism. And they would show up on that Sunday and after that person was baptized, they would go up to them after the service and say, you didn't really receive a real baptism.

You have to come to our church to receive the real baptism. And this was not a Sunday in which we were doing a baptism, but Lawrence had showed up anyway.

So it was stirred. The questions were being stirred among us. Why is he here? Is he repentant?

Does he know that his church is a problem? And so he's looking for the truth and that's why he's come to us.

So I went up to Lawrence. I had talked with him before. It wasn't my first time meeting him. We had encountered one another in the community before.

And I said to him, brother, if you're here today as a brother, if I can call you brother and you want to listen to the sermon, then you're certainly welcome to do that.

You can praise God with us, sing, listen to the service. But if you're here from faith tabernacle to proselytize, then

I'm going to have to put a stop to it and you won't be welcome here. And he said, no, you know, I know brother

Jim and I've talked with you before. And so, you know, I just want to hear, I just want to be here and worship with the saints.

I said, okay, great. Then you're welcome to do that. Well, within about a week or two, a couple of the old ladies in our church came up to me with a business card.

And they said, do you know that Lawrence is handing out these cards? And I looked at it and on the backside, it was all the proselytizing stuff from the false church.

So I said, okay, that's it. Lawrence is out. He's been warned. He can't come back. And so he was, he was warned once and he was warned twice and still continued to do it.

And so security was notified. And so on a particular Sunday that he showed up, they met him in the parking lot and said, you're not coming in today.

We're encouraging you to go somewhere else. Well, at that point, he responded by like throwing curses and hexes and Ichabods against the church.

And it's like making gestures at the building and shouting things like, the spirit of God is not here.

You are going to hell. And yeah, anyway, so we could clearly see that that was the right decision was to prevent him from coming in.

In this particular case, he did not hold any sort of capacity. Our church, he was not even a member of our church, but he's teaching falsely.

And so he's given those warnings and not heeding those warnings. He was removed.

We had nothing more to do with him. So this could be with regard to a believing teacher. It could be with regard to an unbeliever that is in your church.

It's not just something that is used for an elder or a pastor in sin. And if one of our teachers who, we're going to say that any teacher here has been vetted.

We know what they believe by the time they're allowed to teach something. So the problem is probably that that teacher who is already here at Providence Reformed Baptist Church, that teacher has come into something bad.

And they've started to be convinced by this false doctrine. Like, you know what, we need to start teaching that here.

And so then they start saying things that now need to be confronted. Brother, I don't think you have this right. You know, that's even contrary to our statement of faith.

And so we're going to confront that and hopefully see a change in that person that will bring them back in line with what we teach according to the scriptures.

And if after several warnings, that's not working out, then that person's going to be removed from their teaching position.

Same rule applies to me. I'm not standing up here saying this as somebody who's exempt from this rule.

The church needs to be aware of it so that if I start teaching stupid things, then you know to go to the scriptures and confront me with that.

This is contrary to what you've taught us in the past. This is why the apostle

Paul says in Galatians chapter one, even if we, even if we or an angel from heaven come to you teaching a gospel contrary to the one that we taught you, let that person be accursed.

Paul doesn't even exempt himself from that. If God forbid something were to happen to Paul and he starts teaching something falsely, well, you guys need to know that I should not be in your midst, that I have now accepted a false spirit and need to be confronted in that.

And so again, whether believer or unbeliever, this rule applies. Let's go to the next question.

Question number three, same manner of question. I'm just kind of divided this up. In the instructions for discipline in Titus 3, 10 through 11, if they are for unbelieving teachers who believe and teach heresy, why be so patient with them instead of rebuke them immediately in their sins as in the sins mentioned in verse nine?

Well, again, as an unbelieving teacher, it would not be a person, at least in the context of this church, it would not be a person that's in that teaching position.

It would have to be somebody who comes in who as an unbeliever just believes false things and starts spreading those false things among the body.

And it's not a person who's coming in asking questions or somebody who is willing to receive correction in those things that they believe.

It's a person who's so absolutely firm in this that they're unmoving. And when we've confronted them about the false teaching that they're trying to spread to others in the congregation, they just remain belligerent.

They're steadfast and purposed in what it is that they believe, though it be false and unwilling to change their ideas, then we would have to say that they can't be here anymore.

Now, we've had situations before when we've interviewed a person for membership. I've had this situation arise many times in my decade and a half of preaching where I've talked with somebody in a membership sort of capacity and that kind of interview.

And in the process of the interview, we come to find that there are certain things that they believe that are in contradiction with what we believe is a statement of faith.

And so what might happen in that interview is to say something like, are you willing to receive instruction here and see that what it is that you believe is not actually in line with our doctrine?

And if they are unwilling, if they say, no, this is what I believe and I think we just need to be tolerant of one another, then we're going to make the suggestion there, then this church is probably not for you.

And that confrontation is not necessarily something that happens on a teaching sort of a platform, but simply to say, we're not making a statement about this person's faith.

We don't know whether you're saved or unsaved, but just with regard to this doctrine that you believe, it's going to be a problem if you come to this church and not be in alignment with our statement of faith, which is, as we would say, our statement of faith is simply a summary of those things that are written down for us in the

Bible. And so again, in that interview sort of a process, it's not necessarily exercising the disciplinary matter in Titus 3 verses 10 through 11, but coming to an understanding that we're not aligned and we're not in agreement on some of the important doctrines that we hold up as a church.

Why would we be so patient with them instead of rebuking them immediately and their sins? Well, again, it wouldn't be a person that has a teaching position.

We do want to be patient with those who come in who are unbelieving, but there is going to be an expectation among unbelievers that at some point, you're going to have to be convicted over your sin and come to repentance.

And if this can be a case -by -case basis, it's not like we're putting a number on it, but after a period of time, if we recognize that person is not going to repent of their sin, then we have to say that you can't be welcome here with us.

Because one thing that we don't want them to get the impression of is that, yeah, I don't even believe in Jesus, but these

Christians still welcome me and then they get this false idea, Jesus would too, and not stand before Christ on the day of judgment and hear, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness,

I never knew you. And so that's something that even in our testimony as a church that we need to be giving to those who would come into our midst that would be unbelievers.

Are they going to be convicted of their sin and come to a faith in Christ and a hope in the gospel, or will they continue in their unbelief in the sin that they love?

Question number four, still regard to discipline. If the instructions for discipline in Titus 3, 10 through 11 are for unbelieving teachers who believe and teach heresy, why be so patient with them instead of rebuke them immediately in their sins?

Did I say that twice? Oh, I just had that twice. Okay, nevermind. I was able to knock out a question already.

Let's go to number five. I just put that one in there twice. Question two, or question five.

In Titus 2, 3, Paul begins his instructions regarding older women with likewise.

An author I read says that means all of the qualifications in verse two for old men also applied to older women.

Do you think that is what likewise means in this circumstance? Let's look at it again. In Titus chapter two, if you have your

Bible open, verse one says, as for you, this instruction specifically for Titus, teach what accords with sound doctrine, that which is in line with the gospel of Christ and even results in producing godliness.

Verse two says, older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self -controlled, sound in faith and love and instead fastness.

And then verse three, older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is good. So what do we do with that word likewise? Does it mean that everything that was just said to the older men also applies to the older women?

There's a couple of ways to interpret that. And I don't know that the usage of the word likewise is necessarily clear to lean to either one.

But one understanding of likewise could be exactly that. What Paul had just said with regarding older men should also be applied to the older women.

So what did we see regarding older men? Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self -controlled, sound in faith and love and instead fastness.

We also have a call to purity there. And we see an instruction that would be given to women to be pure.

Remember that when we were looking at these instructions, we saw that sober minded was reflected on each one of those generations.

Older men should be sober minded. Older women should be sober minded. So should the younger women and so should the younger men.

We do see how instructions kind of carry through all four of those categories that are laid out.

So it wouldn't be improper then to read that likewise as having the instructions for older men also apply to the other groups.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior because even the men were told to be sober minded and dignified.

That's reverent behavior. But another way to consider the likewise, and this might be the other explanation for it, is that Timothy or Titus rather is simply being told, as you've taught the older men, so instructions also need to be given to the older women.

So it's not just men that you should focus on. And that might be Titus's inclination.

I'm a guy. These are men. These are going to be the guys that are going to be the foremost leaders in the church.

They're going to be the most influential. They're going to guide everything else that happens here.

It's from the men that we're going to choose the elders as we read the qualifications for elders in Titus 1, 5 through 9.

So it would be natural for Titus to think that's where my focus needs to be. And so for Paul to say older women likewise, so you're to teach older men and even older women.

And that could also be the explanation there for the likewise. Question number six.

I have heard some teachers use Titus 1, 12 where Paul criticizes what the

Cretans are like as support for the use of critical race theory, or that it's permissible for Christians to make ethnic or racial stereotypes.

Have you heard this argument and how do we respond to it? So if you remember back to Titus 1, 12, we read that one of the

Cretans, a prophet of their own said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.

This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith.

Now, when I was thinking about this, this past week, because of this question that came up, I laughed to myself.

It wasn't something that I had ever noticed before in the many times that I've been through Titus 1. But notice that the statement was, one of the

Cretans, a prophet of their own said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.

And how does Paul respond to that? It's true. So if the

Cretans are always liars, and this is a Cretan that's saying this, and it's true, then couldn't he be lying?

So it is a humorous thing that Paul is kind of bringing out about the fact that a

Cretan has said this about the Cretans. But nonetheless, this is their reputation, that they are just completely untamed men.

They're evil and wicked in every which way. And so when you are there in Crete, and you are ministering to them, and even in the way that you're dealing with the churches there, there's a certain way that you're going to have to be with them that you may not be used to dealing with people in the other churches that we have worked in.

Now, notice here, though, that when it says this of Cretans, this is a very locational or regional sort of observation that's being made about their behavior.

Look at what Paul said in verse 10 before we get to verse 12. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of whom?

The circumcision party. Who is the circumcision party? Those are the Jews. They were the

Judaizers. So where Paul is making a statement here about the Cretans, this isn't an ethnic group.

It's not a certain people group in the sense that this is their race or their ethnicity, and they're all like this.

This is a group from that region, and the people from that region in the island of Crete tend to act like this.

We constantly make generalizations like this. You have heard me say many times from here, the church in America is like this, and that would include anybody who is kind of under that evangelical umbrella in the general way that we understand the church of America, the church in America of acting like sometimes.

It is rare that a church is like this one, where you have expository preaching, going through books of the

Bible, reading verse by verse, and coming to an understanding of what God has said in his word, and meaning to expose the

Holy Spirit's intention. That is an uncommon form of preaching in America today. Most of the preaching that you hear in most pulpits, even here in Casa Grande, Arizona, is very topical.

It's a preacher with an idea that he wants to impose upon others, and he's going to grab the

Bible verses that go best with the topic that he wants to impose. That's most of the preaching.

It's called eisegetical, where you are imposing your intention onto the text rather than drawing the meaning out of the text.

And so when we make a generalization like that, the church in America is like this. That is a perfectly reasonable and applicable observation.

And Paul is making that kind of observation here. It's not a statement about a certain ethnicity.

It is a statement about a particular people that live in a region, and what those people are like.

And so therefore, there is a way that you're going to deal with them that's going to be different than the way that you deal with somebody else.

Whenever I go to preach someplace, I'm invited to come and preach. I went to Georgia just a couple of weeks ago.

My parents live in the Atlanta area, and so I had a pretty good idea of the kind of people that I'm going to be witnessing to there.

That wasn't a foreign group of people to me. But there have been other places where I've gone and preached to, like when

I was in Utah a few years ago. That is a completely different kind of culture than what you even find here in Arizona.

And so I was getting a feel from those pastors who have been there in that group and have been ministering for years and have been with those people and have been part of their lives.

And I was getting a feel from them about what the people, what the men in Utah are like, because it was a men's group primarily that I was preaching to.

What are they like so that I know what I need to kind of cater my lessons toward? What kind of doctrines are you wrestling with?

What kind of sin issues are prevalent in this group of people that need to be confronted? And that is perfectly reasonable to make those kinds of assessments.

We do that all the time, preparing missionaries to go to different parts of the world and know how to minister to those groups of people.

So no, this isn't an excuse to necessarily make racist jokes or make generalizations that might be particular to a certain ethnicity or skin type or language or something to that effect.

Sometimes I think we can get a little too sensitive with our generalizations. Some of them are actually very good and needed and even worthy of a laugh.

It's good to poke fun of ourselves. For example, I am white and I have the rhythm of a white man.

And so therefore, I'm perfectly acceptable in receiving that kind of criticism because it's definitely true of me.

There are certain things like that that are mostly funny. When I grew up in the South, we had jokes about people who were in the

South. When I had two sisters who were blonde, we shared blonde jokes in our family. And those blonde jokes were very applicable to my two sisters.

So there are some things like that that can just be kind of funny and we don't need to be too sensitive about them.

But don't see a text like this as Titus 112 as an excuse to be insulting.

That is certainly not the reason and the purpose that Paul gives it. Last question that we have here, question number seven.

Why is eschatology considered a divisive topic in many churches today? Some will put one view in their statement of faith and shun every other view.

Others cry divisiveness to shut down conversation. But Revelation 1 .3 says, blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy.

There was a survey that I became aware of about 10 years ago in which pastors, hundreds of pastors from multiple churches were asked this particular survey question.

What one book of the Bible do you dread the most to teach? The same question, sort of the same question was asked among lay persons.

Hundreds of people who attended churches, although the question was slightly different. What is one book of the

Bible that you wish your pastor would teach but doesn't? The same book of the Bible was at the top of both lists.

What book of the Bible do you think it was? Revelation. Yeah, you know. So why is it that we seem to be, that churches and pastors especially seem to be so hesitant to delve into these issues?

The reason for that is because you know, I think it's a common sense answer. There are so many different views and so many different opinions regarding the interpretation of eschatology or the study of last things.

And people are so passionate about what it is that they believe that when they hear somebody say something contrary to what they believe regarding the end times, it's an immediate turnoff.

And I can say this is just as much true of me as it is of anybody. There's a preacher that I really like.

I've listened to many, many sermons from him. But the series that he's going through right now on his radio program is

Revelation. And he holds a completely different view of Revelation than I hold. And I've already studied his view.

I don't need to hear it again. So most of the sermons that are coming up on his radio program right now, I'm going, I just don't want to hear this today.

And so I'm turning to another program and listening to other lessons. We tend to take those things pretty personally.

And so we, there are things that I think a church needs to do in preparation first before we would enter into a study like that.

And that we're doing that out of grace and out of love for the congregation. It's not just a pastor or the elder standing up and saying, here's our view.

This is the road that we're taking. And so here's the way that I'm going to teach it. And you all have to be in line with it. Our statement of faith is very open with regards to what view of the end times that you might have.

There are certain things about the end times that everyone needs to share. Jesus is coming back again to judge the living and the dead.

We all need to be on the same page regarding that. Though our opinions may differ regarding the timing and the events that surround his return.

Does this happen first or does it happen after his return? That's largely where our disagreements come in regarding eschatology.

So a good spirit that should inhabit a church before we enter into a real in -depth study of eschatology itself, or maybe something like the book of Revelation, would be for all of us to be on the same page with regarding, first of all, grace toward one another.

We're going to differ on some of these opinions. You may not even agree with the teacher that is teaching them, but that we would be gracious toward each other.

And may it be a discussion that we enter into that becomes something like iron sharpening iron. Our differing opinions can help to perfect what it is that we believe regarding these things and not become something that is divisive.

But because there's so much preparatory work that goes into that, that's another reason why matters of eschatology or an in -depth study of that kind might tend to be put on the back burner.

Even with regard to my podcast, there's only one person on the podcast, well, other than my wife who helps me out with it, but it's me.

I don't even have to war with anybody on the podcast. If you don't like what I'm teaching, you can listen to somebody else's podcast.

But even with that, even with regards to the teaching there, I am right now in the New Testament in the book of Luke.

When I finish Luke, I'm going to go to John, which I've already taught through. What is the one book of the Bible in the

New Testament on my podcast I haven't touched yet? Revelation. And that's what's coming up last after I've taught through all of the rest of the

New Testament. I'm going to get there, but there's been some other preparatory work that has been done before I get to the book of Revelation.

So these are the things that we need to keep in mind. And we've seen over the course of reading through Titus, there has been some eschatology that has come up here.

And we've even read it this morning. We are waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great

God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Brother Chris read this morning also from 2 Timothy 4, where Paul says, I'm being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Even in books like this that we've read through in the pastoral epistles, we've come into passages that have eschatological significance to them, that our hope may be

Christ and not just in the present day, but even in the day that is to come. It is important to consider these things just because we wouldn't study something like revelation right now doesn't mean that it's unimportant.

It is important for all of us to consider this and to keep it on the forefront of our minds. Because as Paul said to the

Colossians in Colossians chapter three, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Because when

Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

So not only do we remember what Christ has done for us in the past, we know what Christ is doing for us in the present as we are being sanctified, but we're even looking future toward those things that Christ is going to do for us in the coming days.

That we may have our minds fixed upon Christ past, present, and future and looking forward to that day when we will be united with him in glory.

It's even here in the pastoral epistles and it will likewise be in the book of Romans, which we will be studying next.

Through the night, lead me on To the light, fling my head

Precious Lord, lead me on Near my cross

I fall Precious Lord, lead me on The day is past and gone

At the river's end, guide my feet

Hold my hand, take my hand

Precious Lord, lead me on You've been listening to the preaching of Pastor Gabriel Hughes, a presentation of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

For more information about our church, visit our website at providencecasagrande .com On behalf of our church family, my name is

Becky, thanking you for listening. Join us again Monday for more Bible study, when we understand the text.