Strife and Division at Church

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:08.310 If you're able, please remain standing and let's give our attention to titus chapter 2 00:00:08.589 --> 00:00:29.019 three. I'm going to read verse one through Verse Eleven, but focusing on 3 00:00:29.379 --> 00:00:37.490 versus nine through eleven. This titus chapter three remind them to be submissive to 4 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:41.609 rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 5 00:00:42.289 --> 00:00:45.890 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle 6 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:51.759 and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For or we ourselves were once 7 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:58.920 foolish, disobedient, let as stray slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing 8 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:02.960 our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 9 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:07.670 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, 10 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:14.310 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but 11 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:19.099 according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of 12 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:23.540 the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on US richly through Jesus Christ, 13 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:27.219 our Savior, so that, being justified by His grace, we might become 14 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:33.650 heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and 15 00:01:33.730 --> 00:01:38.129 I want you to insist on these things. So that those who have believed 16 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:44.010 in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are 17 00:01:44.290 --> 00:01:51.879 excellent and profitable for people, but avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions and 18 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:57.439 quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a 19 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.590 person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have 20 00:02:00.750 --> 00:02:05.829 nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and 21 00:02:06.069 --> 00:02:14.110 sinful, he is self condemned. This is God's word. You may be 22 00:02:14.229 --> 00:02:30.289 seated. Last time we considered titus chapter three, we considered this point, 23 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:35.490 that the Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was calling 24 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:40.610 titus and all faithful ministers of the Gospel to a certain and particular task, 25 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:46.520 to remind people of the lives that they are called to live on things that 26 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:52.199 are described in the first few verses of chapter three, being submissive to rulers 27 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.280 and authorities, be obedient, ready for good, every good work, and 28 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:59.550 so on. But not only to remind them of these things, but to 29 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:06.710 insist on the Gospel, to insist on the fact that the truth, the 30 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:10.789 historical reality, that the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, 31 00:03:12.389 --> 00:03:17.939 has appeared in the world, that Jesus Christ has come, this promised Messiah 32 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:23.259 has come into the world, has been made manifest in such a way that 33 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:30.810 he was seen, touched, heard and even crucified, and that this crucifixion 34 00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:36.050 brought about a renewal in the lives of those people who have put their faith 35 00:03:36.169 --> 00:03:39.969 in him. The Holy Spirit I'm being sent from father and the son, 36 00:03:40.330 --> 00:03:46.360 washes US and regenerates us, renews us, that we are those who have 37 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:52.000 been justified by His grace and have become heirs according to the hope of eternal 38 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.990 life. These are the truths that are about us. This is the good 39 00:03:57.150 --> 00:04:01.069 news that God announces in the World, the Gospel the God announces in the 40 00:04:01.189 --> 00:04:06.030 World, and this Gospel and all the various parts of it is what titus 41 00:04:06.150 --> 00:04:12.379 is to insist on as he ministers to these various churches on the island of 42 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:17.980 Crete. He's to insist on these things, particularly for this purpose, that 43 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:23.540 the people who have believed in these things, who have believed in God Budd 44 00:04:24.220 --> 00:04:30.970 would be careful to devote themselves to good works. So we see that titus 45 00:04:30.089 --> 00:04:36.410 is to insist on the Gospel as he seeks the Godliness that the Gospel produces. 46 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:43.800 But what good is having a treasure if you don't protect it? Because 47 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:48.439 things that are valuable can also be lost or stolen from you. And so, 48 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:53.990 for that reason, titus must not only insist on the Gospel, but 49 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:59.310 he must also protect it, protect it from two things in particular. He 50 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:06.500 must protect it from distraction and from division. The church can be distracted away 51 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:13.019 from the Gospel. Titus can be distracted away from the Gospel, and divisions 52 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:15.819 in the Church can divide people, and I'd from a Gospel Unity. They 53 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:24.970 had to something, something else. These are is what all instructs titus in 54 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:30.050 in versus a nine through eleven. So, after talking about these various Gospel 55 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:36.480 truths and saying these things are excellent and profitable for people, these truths have 56 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:43.639 profit, have value. You Bank on these and you will get dividends, 57 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:51.310 they will pay forward, but a void other things. Don't be distracted by 58 00:05:51.870 --> 00:05:58.069 foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions and corals about the law, for they are 59 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:04.459 unprofitable, they are worthless, he says, he net. He lists four 60 00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:10.779 things that distract us from the Gospel, four things that can distract tied us 61 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:16.980 from the Gospel. Foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, corals about the law, 62 00:06:18.089 --> 00:06:23.769 these are things that a tied us in particular faced we could perhaps list 63 00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:26.649 others, but they're things that, of course, apply to today as well. 64 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:33.759 Foolish controversies, we might describe this one as questions about things that just 65 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:42.800 don't matter, questions about things that paraded themselves as wisdom but are not really 66 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.310 that at all, and it takes wisdom to know what those things are. 67 00:06:47.990 --> 00:06:53.350 We're helped, however, by giving these having these lists and scripture. Paul's 68 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:58.829 just spent several verses giving us many commas with things in between, things to 69 00:06:58.990 --> 00:07:04.660 insist on, things of great worth of value and importance. But often times 70 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:12.699 people are distracted. They're distracted by things that that don't matter, controversies about 71 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:16.889 things which cannot be known. It's a good thing, and that for us 72 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:21.810 at a to be thankful and thankful to God for revealing his word to us, 73 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:27.490 but we are right to remember that his word has limits. He only 74 00:07:27.529 --> 00:07:32.839 says so much. There's a temptation sometimes, though, to be distracted by 75 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:39.199 the things that he doesn't say, to inquire after things which simply aren't there. 76 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:45.110 To speculate about all kinds, all kinds of things. We have to 77 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:49.470 be careful about going only as far as scripture does and would and waiting things 78 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:57.870 where scripture waits it and Paul in another place in Second Timothy, I'm tells 79 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:01.740 Timothy there to watch out for this thing as well and tells tells Timothy to 80 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:09.220 correct people who go about questioning these kinds of things, so that God may 81 00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:13.170 grant them repentance and lead them to a knowledge of the truth. Rather than 82 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:18.209 being distracted by things that don't matter, questions that can't be answered, he 83 00:08:18.810 --> 00:08:22.730 wants them to pursue knowledge that actually does matter, knowledge that leads to the 84 00:08:22.930 --> 00:08:31.279 truth. We have to be careful about this as well. We rightly want 85 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.120 to mind the scriptures for all their worth indeed, as if we do that 86 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:39.080 in the right way, we will keep going and going and going. There's 87 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:45.309 value that can be a continually mind in God's word. We also have to 88 00:08:45.389 --> 00:08:50.750 remember that sometimes there's questions that simply aren't worth asking, things that we can 89 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:56.940 spend vast amounts of time on that simply aren't worth it, that aren't profitable, 90 00:08:56.059 --> 00:09:01.019 that don't lead to the knowledge of the truth. They simply re lead 91 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:07.580 into a endless labyrinth or maze. We need to learn how to distinguish these 92 00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:13.330 things. Perhaps one specific example of this are the genealogies that Paul mentions in 93 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:18.409 the next of his list, the second of these four things. This is 94 00:09:18.490 --> 00:09:24.720 appropriate since we considered a genealogy even this morning, looking at Genesis Chapter Eleven. 95 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.840 It's, of course, right for us to consider the genealogies that are 96 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:33.039 given to us in scripture, to study them and to learn from them, 97 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:37.320 but they have their limits, as well. Every portion of God's word does, 98 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:41.950 and in the history of the church, among the Jews and among the 99 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:46.110 Christians, there have been various times in which people have sought to speculate about 100 00:09:46.110 --> 00:09:52.309 all kinds of origins and dates and ancestries and things that simply aren't knowable. 101 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:58.340 They're not they're not given. The genealogies were not given for these reasons or 102 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:07.289 for these points under the Gospel. This kind of speculation offers no religious benefit. 103 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:13.289 Pressing texts beyond what can be known is not a helpful thing. I'll 104 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:22.279 just mentioned that biblical commentaries are sometimes the worst offenders, spending page after page 105 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:26.919 after page dealing with things that simply don't matter, things that can't be known. 106 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:33.879 I'm simply offering up one speculative hypothesis after another. We need to be 107 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.549 careful about these things. One of the reasons we need to be careful is 108 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:45.509 because they distract us from what's true and what's important. If you're distracted, 109 00:10:45.590 --> 00:10:48.230 if you're spending your time on things that aren't valuable, well then you're wasting 110 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:54.379 your time and you end up do perhaps even diluting of the things that do 111 00:10:54.580 --> 00:11:00.779 matter. Worse yet, they can lead a to problems like number three, 112 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:07.610 dissensions and strife. Often Times, when we spend our time on things that 113 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:13.529 don't matter, on stupid or foolish controversies, we end up taking stands that 114 00:11:13.649 --> 00:11:16.889 don't matter. We end up dividing and quarreling about things that don't matter. 115 00:11:16.970 --> 00:11:22.279 Ambition is often at the root of this. We struggle and we strive to 116 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.240 prove our position on again, a meaningless point or something that can't even be 117 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:35.629 really decided, or something that scripture is very vague about. Another example of 118 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:39.029 this is given in the fourth of this these things things that distract us from 119 00:11:39.029 --> 00:11:43.230 the Gospel, and that's corals about the law. When Paul says this, 120 00:11:43.669 --> 00:11:50.100 no doubt he has the mosaic law particularly in mind. The MASAIC laws good 121 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:54.620 it what didn't just happen, but it's given to us, recorded in scripture, 122 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:58.580 for us to study and to learn from. It's for that reason that 123 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:03.809 we spend a lot of time here at Covenant Thinking about the Mosaic Law, 124 00:12:03.049 --> 00:12:09.769 reading the Old Testament, considering it. However, though it deserves our full 125 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:13.769 attention as it teaches us and leads us to the Gospel, we have to 126 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:18.600 remember, as scripture so clearly points out in so many places, that we 127 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.360 are no longer under it. And yet there are people who endlessly want to 128 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:28.720 debate this point over and over again, asserting what the scriptures are so clearly 129 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:31.870 teach, that we have, that the law has passed and we are under 130 00:12:31.870 --> 00:12:37.669 a new covenant, a Better Covenant, and so we need to be careful 131 00:12:37.710 --> 00:12:43.389 as we consider the law of God, the Mosaic Lawn particular, that we 132 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:50.379 understand its truths and we understand them in the clear context of scripture. Well. 133 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:58.370 When these things come about, titus is to avoid them. It's perhaps 134 00:12:58.409 --> 00:13:03.370 particularly easy for ministers to get caught up in these kinds of things. They 135 00:13:03.450 --> 00:13:09.769 have before them. All kinds of books articles continually being produced, often, 136 00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:13.960 or at least sometimes, that are in these categories. There's all kinds of 137 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.720 ways to spend one's time, to get distracted on these kinds of things, 138 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:24.360 not to mention if you have people in the church that are spending their time 139 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:30.950 on these things, worrying about these things and asking you questions and and putting 140 00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:35.509 to you these kinds of things, it's easy to focus on them. But 141 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:41.980 Paul warrants titus says, avoid these things, just just avoid them. Perhaps 142 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:46.460 there's certain emails that should just go unanswered, phone calls that are just left 143 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:50.940 on voice mail. Perhaps there's time things that should just be left alone, 144 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:58.690 but sometimes it should be dealt with even more strongly than that. There are 145 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:03.529 times when it's not enough to avoid, but the minister must protect the Gospel 146 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:11.399 by directly speaking to those, I'm who are leading the charge in these kinds 147 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.799 of things. Paul goes on to say not only to avoid these things, 148 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:20.879 but for the person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then 149 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:24.590 twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person 150 00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:33.149 is warped and sinful. He is self condemned the goal in speaking to this 151 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:39.179 person. The very first goal that we see is growth. Paul doesn't say 152 00:14:39.259 --> 00:14:43.419 the first time somebody does this, cut them off. They say the person 153 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:46.539 who is characterized by this, go to him, warn him, admonish him, 154 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:52.860 not just once but but even twice. But there comes a point when 155 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:58.409 warning and teaching must not go on forever. In fact, the pastor is 156 00:14:58.529 --> 00:15:03.570 not only advised to not waste his time by continuing going on and on, 157 00:15:03.850 --> 00:15:07.679 warning and warning and warning, admonishing, admonishing and monishing, but he's told 158 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.919 by the spirit of God to stop. Admonish him, warn him once, 159 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:18.919 warn him twice and after that have nothing more to do with him, leave 160 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:28.230 him alone now, after now. This passage doesn't expressly prove something like excommunication 161 00:15:28.750 --> 00:15:31.230 from the church, but it certainly fits with it and other examples that we 162 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:37.139 see in scripture, like in Matthew Eighteen, where the Lord says if someone 163 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.340 sins, that you bring it to them privately and then sort of semi publicly 164 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:45.059 and then to the church and if they won't listen, and that they should 165 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:52.529 be separated from God's people. Now, when, when the pastor the elders 166 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:56.690 approach someone like this, this pert these people will, of course, be 167 00:15:56.929 --> 00:16:04.440 surprised offended charge you with being unloving uncaring. But the man of God must 168 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:08.720 be firm if he is to administer the keys of the kingdom that he is 169 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:14.679 be given. Why? Because he is called to protect and insist on the 170 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:21.070 Gospel. Because that's ultimately where our unity is. It's not in all the 171 00:16:21.149 --> 00:16:26.149 various opinions on minor things that we might hold, but it's on the Gospel 172 00:16:26.230 --> 00:16:30.429 and the truths that support and uphold that. This is the work of the 173 00:16:30.549 --> 00:16:34.700 Minister of the Gospel. He must not only protect or not not. Must 174 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:40.379 Not only preach the Gospel, but he must also protect it. A kind 175 00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:47.929 of Gospel based discipline must be used now. This, of course, applies 176 00:16:48.009 --> 00:16:52.850 not only to ministers and elders who are called to rule and oversee, but 177 00:16:53.009 --> 00:16:59.330 also to each of you in the congregation. You also must learn the truths 178 00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:03.079 of the Gospel, learn to hold fast, learn the what is important and 179 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:08.720 what is not. We all must learn to repent of our speculations, of 180 00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:15.440 our additions, of our attempts to gain spiritual points by Lording certain things over 181 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.910 other people. Must Learn to heed correction when it is given by those who 182 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:26.109 rule over you. Why should we do this things? Why do we heed 183 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:34.539 these things? The reason is is that selfjustification leads to death, and that's 184 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:41.940 ultimately what these things, these quarreling, these divisions, these stupid, foolish 185 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:47.609 controversies, that's what those things are about, aren't they? When we speculate 186 00:17:47.809 --> 00:17:52.569 beyond what the word of God says, when we inquire about things that can't 187 00:17:52.609 --> 00:17:56.049 be known, things that are mysterious, what are we ultimately trying to do? 188 00:17:57.170 --> 00:18:03.279 We're trying to establish ourselves on something God has not said. We're trying 189 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:08.160 to establish ourselves on ourselves, and often we use these kinds of things to 190 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:15.190 establish ourselves, in our strength over and against other people. We divide up 191 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:18.150 away from the Gospel so that we might have a power in and of ourselves, 192 00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:25.509 a unity that centers around something that's important to us. You know, 193 00:18:25.710 --> 00:18:30.900 this is something that's true even of things that are of God's Word and are 194 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:36.420 of the Gospel. The Good News of the Gospel is that God has saved 195 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:38.140 us despite our works. And yet we twist this, don't we? We 196 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:44.410 twist this into saying well, because I believe in these things, because I 197 00:18:44.490 --> 00:18:48.210 can sort of check mark my way down a certain theological list, I know 198 00:18:48.329 --> 00:18:52.809 I'm saved. We put our pride, in other words in our understanding and 199 00:18:52.970 --> 00:18:59.279 in our knowledge, rather than trusting in these things, believing and hoping on 200 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:04.119 them. But a sad irony it is to take the doctrine of justification and 201 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:11.029 think that we are somehow justified by believing it or checking that box. These 202 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:18.630 kinds of things lead to death. Whenever we stand on ourselves, on our 203 00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:26.740 own ideas, our own smartness and inquisitiveness and power in the church, we 204 00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:33.619 will fall, we will even die if we hold onto these things for our 205 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:37.849 salvation. The Gospel, however, is the good news that God has come 206 00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:42.130 into the world and is manifested in this salvation in the world. Apart from 207 00:19:42.130 --> 00:19:48.210 our righteousness, apart from our self worship, our pride, our speculations, 208 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:52.849 our false spirituality, the gospel comes to us and says you don't have to 209 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:57.400 prove yourself in this kind of way, you don't have to prove yourself by 210 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:04.759 being unnecessarily inquisitive about things that don't matter or speculating about things that God hasn't 211 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:10.589 said. Instead, you can simply receive the gift that God has given you. 212 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:17.470 This clear manifestation of his salvation and you will be saved. And it's 213 00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:22.859 through this Gospel that God also unites us and creates a kingdom that we need 214 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:29.140 not establish our own little micro kingdoms here and there and all over the place. 215 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:33.180 What we read in other words and verses, in the first verses of 216 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:38.130 Chapter Three, is that the Gospel has the power to save, to unite, 217 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:42.970 to draw us close to the God and to one another. In the 218 00:20:44.049 --> 00:20:48.450 truth of Jesus Ky Christ coming and dying on a cross so that we might 219 00:20:48.529 --> 00:20:53.039 be saved, we have something on which we can insist, on which we 220 00:20:53.119 --> 00:21:00.359 can stake our lives, and that's why we also protect the Gospel, because 221 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:04.069 it is life, and apart from it, we will die, the Church 222 00:21:04.109 --> 00:21:10.509 of God will die. If we divide up into endless factions that don't matter 223 00:21:10.789 --> 00:21:18.269 and are based on Selfjustification, we won't last, we won't survive. But 224 00:21:18.349 --> 00:21:21.900 if instead we place all of our unity and our hope and the things that 225 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:26.099 we believe in, the things that are important, on Jesus Christ coming in 226 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:30.700 the flesh, we will live, because this is what God has promised to 227 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:36.690 us. So let us put our faith in those promises, let's trust in 228 00:21:36.769 --> 00:21:41.769 the Gospel that God has given us. Rather than trusting in ourselves or the 229 00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:45.890 vain imaginations of men, let us put our faith in God's word as it 230 00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:51.400 comes to us, because it's sufficient to do all that God sets out for 231 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:53.759 it to do. Let us pray for these things.