SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). These false teachers were rebellious (vs 10)
(2). These false teachers were deceptive talkers (vs 10)
(3). These false teachers were carnal & worldly (vs 12)
(4). These false teachers were upsetting other Christians (vs 11b)
(5). These false teachers were wrongly motivated (vs 11b)
(6). These false teachers were corrupted (vs 15)
(7). These false teachers were to be silenced (vs 11):
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• A grandmother was looking after her two little grandchildren;
• A 7-year-old girl, and a 5-year-old boy.
• Both of them had been really naughty.
• But as the time approached for their mother to pick them up,
• The little girl said to her grandmother, "Are you going to tell Mummy?"
• The grandmother replied, "No, I'm not. But if she asks me, I can't tell a lie."
• The little boy looked up to her and said,
• "Why not? I'm only five, and I can lie great."
In the early Church it did not take very long for false teachers to arise:
• Wherever God sows the truth;
• The enemy will quickly show up and start sow lies.
• Titus faced a formidable enemy;
• The false teaching was a mixture of Jewish legalism;
• i.e. the need to keep certain Old Testament practices; e.g. Circumcision & dietary laws.
• Man-made traditions (i.e. unwritten rules & regulations of men)
• And mysticism (i.e. additional knowledge – special insights you don’t have)
• i.e. Today – Book of Mormon, Watchtower interpretation, Mary Baker Eddy etc.
• These false teachers are basically saying faith in Christ is not enough;
• You need these other additions if you are going to be really wise.
• They were teaching you need more than Christ & more than grace if you want to be saved.
• Paul gave Titus some revealing information about these false teachers;
• Four things to note.
(1). These false teachers were rebellious (vs 10):
“For there are many rebellious people”
• These false teachers were unruly, refusing to put themselves under authority.
• ill: Like disloyal soldiers in the army who refused to obey the word of command.
A healthy Church does not seek to impose a uniformity of belief:
• There are many issues in which we might have opposing views.
• BUT there are certain key truths;
• That a person must believe if he is to be considered a Christian.
• This are non-negotiable, they are essentials;
• They are what set Christians apart from the cults & sects.
Ill:
• On the radio this morning:
• They were talking about the two key opposition opponents to Barack Obama;
• In the 2012 presidential election,
• The two main opponents are both Mormons;
• The Radio presenter said that the Mormons feel they are a persecuted minority;
• After a spokesmen said, they are Christians they believe in the resurrection of Jesus.
• The fact they deny rest of the Christian creed about Christ was overlooked!
• There are a number of key doctrines that are essentials;
• Especially those doctrines that relate to the person & deity of Jesus Christ.
These false teachers were insubordinate, mutinous, and noncompliant:
• They would not submit to God’s servant Titus;
• And they would not submit to God’s word – the Old Testament scriptures.
• Verse 16 describes them as ‘Disobedient’;
• Meaning they cannot and will not be persuaded.
(2). These false teachers were deceptive
talkers (vs 10):
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group”.
Ill:
• Astronaut Michael Collins, was on one occasion giving a speech;
• He quoted the statistics that on average men speak 25,000 words a day;
• While the average woman speaks 30,000 words a day.
• He then added:
• “Unfortunately, when I come home each day I’ve spoken my 25,000;
• And my wife hasn’t started her 30,000.”
The apostle Paul describes these false teachers as “Full of meaningless talk”
• These false teachers had oratory gifts;
• To paraphrase: “they had the gift of the gab”.
• They had a lot to say and they said it very well.
These false teachers always had an answer and point of view for everything:
• BUT their talk was ‘meaningless’, it was ‘vain,
• We would say today it was all ‘hot-air’,
• Because it was without content or substance.
• These people claimed to be teaching the truth;
• But they were actually peddlers of error.
The main idea of ‘meaningless talk’ was that it was profitless:
• These teachers excelled in talking;
• But they failed miserably in doing.
• All their clever talk and extra knowledge never produced a change of heart of lifestyle;
• It couldn’t because it was not of God.
• They may have engaged the attention of their hearers;
• But they certainly did not help them in their walk with God.
• i.e. An example of that fact is found in verse 16:
• “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him”.
(3). These false teachers were carnal &
Worldly (vs 12):
“One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars,
evil brutes, lazy gluttons.””
In the ancient world the Cretans had a terrible reputation:
• They were known as drunken, insolent, untrustworthy,
• Untruthful and excessive people”.
• Paul even quotes one of their own poets Epimenides (Epi-men-dees).
• Epimenides was a Cretan who first made one immortal statement:
• "All Cretans are liars."
• This was not a beautiful description but it was true;
• And out of the word ‘Cretian’ came the insulting name ‘Cretan’;
• Meaning: ‘to lie, to speak like a Cretian’
Now obviously not all Cretan’s were like this:
• Both inside and outside the Church there were many who lived decent lives;
• But the reputation and the practice of many gave them this stigma.
Ill:
• Playing football in Spain,
• We took on the waiters and staff for a friendly game.
• Obviously England won!
• Several of the Spanish staff had T-shirts on;
• Those T-shirts depicted a bulldog and a ‘no to hooliganism’ sign.
• Sadly that is the reputation that the British football fan still have abroad.
• You and I know that does not apply to every fan only to some.
• But the reputation lingers on and on and on!
• Both inside and outside the Church there were many Cretan’s who lived decent lives;
• But the reputation and the practice of many gave them this stigma.
These false teachers displayed the most unpleasant characteristics of a Cretian:
• Notice how the apostle doesn’t hold back in his criticism;
• He gives these false teachers a double whammy calling them:
• “Liars, brutes and gluttons”.
• What an indictment!
• Instead of living for the things of God;
• These false teachers were living just to satisfy their own appetites.
Notice how strong the language is that the apostle uses:
• These men are not just “brutes”, but they are “evil brutes”;
• These men are not just “gluttons”, but they are “lazy gluttons”;
• And in verse 16 Paul sums up their character:
• “They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”
Any Christian with any common sense never mind spiritual sense would never follow them;
• But as the saying goes:
• “The trouble with common sense is it just isn’t that common!”
• Yet some Christians had been taken in by them;
• And so Titus needed to shut them up! He had to stop them leading others astray!
(4). These false teachers were upsetting other
Christians (vs 11b):
“…they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach”
• Unable to influence the assembly as a whole;
• These folks went from house to house.
• ill: They were like a wolf who did not charge the whole flock of sheep;
• But picked off the older ones or the infirm ones from around the edges.
• As a result of their strategy whole families were affected by their false doctrines.
• Not only that…
• Remember the early Church was a house-Church movement;
• Before buildings, assemblies of God’s people met in homes.
• And while in each other’s homes;
• These false teachers had the opportunity to influence groups of believers.
Chapter 1 verse 10 and chapter 3 verse 9 tells us a little regarding their false teaching:
• They were teaching Jewish legalism;
• They taught a person also needed to be circumcised as well.
• In other words they taught that faith in Christ alone was not enough;
• Therefore they were teaching another gospel – a false gospel.
• Verse 14 tells us that also alongside the Word of God;
• They were teaching Jewish myths and fables;
• It was a clever mixture of truth with error.
• And that what’s makes these people so deadly.
ill:
• Agatha Christie type mysteries when a character is killed;
• When some poison has been hidden in the food or in the persons sherry.
• Everything tasted good and fine, and as they enjoyed good food and drink;
• They were totally unaware that they were slowly poisoning themselves.
(5). These false teachers were wrongly
motivated (vs 11b):
“They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain”
• The motivation of these false teachers was not to minister to the Church;
• But to look after themselves – they wanted to fill their own pockets.
Quote the Greek historian Polybius:
“The Cretans on account of their innate avarice, live in a perpetual state of private quarrel and public feud and civil strife…”
“…money is so highly valued among them, that its possession is not only thought to be necessary, but highly creditable; and in fact greed and avarice are so native to the soil in Crete, that they are the only people in the word among whom no stigma attaches to any sort of gain whatever”
These false teachers were ‘worldly’ minded and therefore ‘worldly’ motivated:
• Their incentive was not to minister to the Church;
• But to look after themselves – they wanted to fill their own pockets.
• Financial gain was their aim and driving force.
• May be that is why earlier in the chapter when talking about Church leaders;
• One of the qualifications (chapter 1 verse 7) was;
• N.I.V.: “Not pursuing dishonest gain”.
• K.J.V.: “Not greedy for money”.
(6). These false teachers were c corrupted (vs 15):
“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.”
Ill:
• Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah,
• A Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy.
• After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said,
• “Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?”
• Mark Twain replied:
• “Certainly, Jesus said; “no man can serve two masters.""
These false teachers were living out this lesson that ‘no-man can serve two masters’:
• When a person lives a double life
• That is one thing outwardly – that is in Church before others;
• But another inwardly – that is in private – away from other believers.
• Something negative happens!
• Outwardly you might command respect,
• But inwardly we slowly deteriorate,
Ill:
• We become a like a house with subsidence;
• We may be unaware but our houses are slowly cracking up;
• And in time may even fall down around us.
• These false teachers love of money;
• Caused them to teach false doctrine and live false lives;
• The result was a corrupted mind;
• And a defiled conscience that they had dulled and so it no longer convicted them.
Note:
• Don’t miss quote verse 15 to try to justify wrong behaviour or practices;
• Remember the context in which this verse lives.
• The apostle is writing in the context of false teachers of Jewish legalists;
• Who were teaching Jewish dietary laws still applied to Christian believers.
• We know from 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 3-5;
• Which is a similar letter to this one – that this was one of the problems.
• To these false teachers (Jewish Legalists) eating certain foods was a sin;
• But the apostle says that to those who have pure minds and consciences all food is clean.
• Remember the application of this quotation is in reference to food and food only!
• So be careful about quoting verse 15 in connection with other things!
The point of verse is this:
• It is not the food which is defiling these leaders;
• But it is these leaders who are defiling the food!
• ill: Jesus himself taught that the dietary laws of the Old Testament were now ended;
• In Matthew chapter 6 verses 22-23
(7). These false teachers were to be silenced (vs 11):
“They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach”
Ill:
• D.L. Moody used to say the best way to show that a stick is crooked;
• Is to place it alongside a straight stick.
• Paul had already told Titus to do just that in verse 9 of chapter 1:
• “…encourage others by SOUND doctrine…”
• Now he tells Titus to make sure these false teachers are silenced.
• If necessary to (verse 13 says): “rebuke them sharply”.
Ill:
• False teaching is like yeast;
• It enters secretly, it grows quickly, and it permeates completely.
• Therefore the best time to deal with false teaching is at the beginning;
• Before it has time to spread.
Notice:
• Paul’s objective was to turn these false teachers from error and back to the truth;
• He says in verse 13: “So that they will be sound in the faith”.
• He could have told Timothy to just kick them out;
• But instead he was concerned for their souls and wanted to restore them in their faith.
• For this to happen, Titus must “Shut them up!”
• And they must be willing to submit to his authority and that of the scriptures.
