Titus #5

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:06.240 Mm hmm. Let's pray together. Lord, we come to you in prayer. 2 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:13.400 I'm asking that you would bless us in the preaching and hearing of your 3 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:19.160 word. Lord, we asked that you would make continue to make known your 4 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:24.879 promises to us, your great oaths. You are a God who never lies. 5 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:31.839 You are a God who is infinitely capable of doing all your holy will. 6 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:40.600 Nothing stands in your way, not our sins, not the political powers 7 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:48.240 of this world, not the devil. Nothing nothing stops you from pouring out 8 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:55.439 your goodness and making yourself known. And so we pray to you and asked 9 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:58.600 that you would continue to do this work in us as you have promised to 10 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:03.280 do. And we pray this in Jesus name, are great mediator. On 11 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:08.799 then, well, please remain standing if you're able, and let's turn our 12 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:23.799 attention to Titus Titus chapter one. This morning. I'm going to focus on 13 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:33.319 Paul's command to Titus to appoint elders, to point elders with the qualifications that 14 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:38.480 are coming after that in mind, we'll begin at verse five and i'll read 15 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:49.959 through verse nine. So Titus chapter one five through nine, this is why 16 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.239 I left you in crete, so that you might put what remained into order, 17 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:59.680 and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. If anyone is 18 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:04.920 above of reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are faithful and 19 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.759 not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseers, God 20 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:14.960 steward must be above approach. He must not be arrogant or quick tempered, 21 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:20.680 or drunkard, or violent or greedy for gain. The hospitable, a lover 22 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:25.919 of good, self controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must 23 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.039 hold firm to the trustworthy word is taught, so that he may be able 24 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:37.240 to give instruction and sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 25 00:02:38.400 --> 00:03:07.719 May God bless his word to us, Please be seated. Some of 26 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:15.879 you are fifteen, maybe sixteen, seventeen eighteen, thinking about maybe getting um 27 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.240 your first job, and of course many others of you have gone through this 28 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.360 experience, and you remember your your first jobs on that first time that you 29 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:30.360 walked into a place and perhaps received a badge or a T shirt that said 30 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:38.080 that you work here, right, and now you're in charge. Now you 31 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.719 can do things and say things that you would have never dreamed of doing. 32 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.919 Maybe just a week before, right, a week before, you would have 33 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:52.879 never just walked behind a cash register and start opening it up. A week 34 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:57.960 before, you would have never gone into that room that says employees only restricted 35 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:02.240 access. And now you through just like you're somebody, and you are because 36 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:06.639 you got the shirt, right, you got the shirt and hopefully some training 37 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:11.560 as well, but some jobs not even that. You just got a shirt. 38 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:16.079 But there's something that's empowering about that, al right, something of that 39 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:20.360 says I'm authorized and everybody knows it now. Of course, right, you 40 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:24.360 could pretend to do that and you could get in big trouble for that, 41 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:28.680 right, if somebody pretends that they are authorized to be a police officer, 42 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:32.240 for example, when they are not, you can get in big, big 43 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:38.639 trouble. Right. It's a um. But that that that feeling and that 44 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:46.439 um, that experience is is remarkable on even this level. Well, something 45 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:56.079 like that happens at an even greater level when Jesus appoints people to serve in 46 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:00.720 his church, and when people and when Jesus even up points people to appoint 47 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:06.319 people to serve in his church, which is what he's doing here. The 48 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:13.800 apostle Paul is telling Titus Uni, you are authorized to go do this work. 49 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.920 And although it's not mentioned here, it's it's not just Titus Um. 50 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:24.920 This word authorized is used in a lot of different contexts, um, to 51 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:29.680 describe a lot of different processes. There's a lot of things in the pastoral 52 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:33.920 epistles where we don't have all the details about how these things happen. Right, 53 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:39.600 How exactly is tight us going to appoint elders in every town? Well, 54 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:44.959 presumably some of that is finding those people or maybe training those people. 55 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:51.839 We have an interesting parallel and Acts chapter six where the church is called to 56 00:05:53.519 --> 00:06:00.680 put forward names of deacons who meet certain qualifications, and then as those as 57 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.720 the church puts those men forward, than the apostles then authorized them to do 58 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:10.120 the work. Just follows the model that we follow here. In our church. 59 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:15.000 Men are nominated for office um, they are tested, trained, um, 60 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:20.000 voted on, and then authorized through the laying on of hands to go 61 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:26.160 about and do that work. And so something like that is probably what is 62 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:30.480 happening here. Um. It's probably a little bit dependent on each situation. 63 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.360 I know this from talking with church planters around our denomination and in other denominations. 64 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:41.639 Right, there's always a every process and every person is is a little 65 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:46.360 bit different and depending on how the Lord is working in this man or that 66 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:51.279 man's life. But it's a really an amazing and remarkable thing. And that's 67 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:57.480 the big idea of this sermon. My main point here is that it's through 68 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:03.160 faith, not in our t shirt or badges, but ultimately in Jesus Christ 69 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:10.720 himself, who was appointed by God a word that is used to describe him 70 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:15.399 as he has made for example, a high priest, a king. It's 71 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:19.519 through our faith and him and his appointment over us as head of the church 72 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:27.759 that we then go and appoint elders in our churches. Through faith in him 73 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:34.480 we go about and do this work. Let's first think about Titus's situation, 74 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:39.800 and I want to make a few observations how it's not that different from our 75 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:45.319 own, even though there are some similarities. First let's start with just how 76 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:48.759 do you plant a church? How do you plant a church in the Apostolic 77 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:56.399 way? Well, you could summarize it maybe in these four steps. First 78 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:03.160 you send people to go and preach and teach. Send him out, you 79 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:07.879 pray for them, you give them money, you support them, and you 80 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:13.000 say go. And then that person goes and maybe they go to a synagogue, 81 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.399 maybe they go into a house, maybe they go into a marketplace. 82 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:22.040 They go and try to find people and preach and teach. If there are 83 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:26.079 Christians who may be already there, then they are You perhaps invite someone to 84 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:33.120 come to preach and to teach and and to administer the word, inviting people 85 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:37.919 to come into contact with the Word of God. So that's step one. 86 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.639 Someone goes, preaches, teaches, step to get persecuted. This is the 87 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:48.039 apostolic way, right you read acts, and this is the common pattern. 88 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:50.759 Right, they go, They Paul, for example, he'll preach, he'll 89 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.759 teach, and then he runs out of town. Not because he's scared, 90 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:01.559 but may be scared um, but he's under attack, right, he's trying 91 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.159 to preserve his life. We know, however, that he's more committed to 92 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:09.919 the Word than to his own life because he comes back. That's step three. 93 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:18.080 Return and find out what's growing disciple, preach, teach some more. 94 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:24.799 And then finally, as these believers that the Lord is growing mature and the 95 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:31.720 fruits of the Holy Spirit are produced in them, then from those you begin 96 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:37.080 to appoint elders. In these various places. You point elders so that you 97 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.919 can, as Titus is going to do, put what remains into order, 98 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:46.799 and as men are chosen and appointed to serve as leaders in these various congregations, 99 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.080 the work of the Lord, and discipleship and and teaching and preaching and 100 00:09:52.200 --> 00:10:00.159 caring and loving and sometimes rebuking and challenging, all of this continues to go 101 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:05.480 forward. That's a rough sketch, and there are variations, but it gives 102 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:11.240 you the basic prison picture. And so, as I said in a previous 103 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.919 sermon, what Titus is called to do here is very similar to what we 104 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.759 are trying to do here in Tucson and throughout southern Arizona. As I mentioned 105 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.759 previously, the whole island of Crete is about a third of the size of 106 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:31.759 Pima County, somewhere around fifteen major cities on the island. From end to 107 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:37.679 end, it's about the distance from Cells to Wilcox, from Green Valley to 108 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:45.080 casas Adovies. According to a report from Barnard Research, the Tucson Sierra Vista 109 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.840 um oh I forget what they call it Commercial District or something like that, 110 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:56.039 it's just a way of designating groups of areas um that area. Tucson ranks 111 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:05.320 sixteen in America's most post Christian cities number sixteen out of this um most post 112 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:09.440 Christian cities. What does that mean? It means that more than half of 113 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:16.679 our community meets at least nine of the following characteristics. There's sixteen of them. 114 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:20.519 They're very brief. I'm going to read them to you. Means that 115 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:24.519 more than half of our community meets at least nine of these. They'll say, 116 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:31.399 yeah, that's that's me. Does not believe in God, identifies as 117 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.799 an atheist or agnostic. Disagrees that faith is important in their lives. Has 118 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.240 not prayed to God in the last week. Has never made a commitment to 119 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:45.559 Jesus. Disagrees that the Bible is accurate. Has not donated money to a 120 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.039 church in the last year. Has not attended a church in the last six 121 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:56.399 months. Does agrees that Jesus committed sins. Does not feel a responsibility to 122 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:58.840 share their faith. Has not roughed the Bible in the last week. Has 123 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:03.000 not volunteered at church, has not attended Sunday school. Has not attended a 124 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:11.679 religious small group, and on a Bible engagement scale, it's low. Hasn't 125 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.399 read the Bible in the past week or disagrees strongly or somewhat strongly that the 126 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:22.159 Bible is accurate, would not describe themselves as born again. So if, 127 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:28.080 according to this study, for whatever that's worth, if you meet nine, 128 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.799 at least nine of these characteristics, that's a lot, I think, if 129 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.840 you mean nine of them, not eight or seven or six or five. 130 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.240 But if you meet nine, that qualifies you under this study for what they 131 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.879 call post Christian. And what they are saying is that within Tucson, more 132 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:50.720 than half of the people here in our city meet these meet this qualification. 133 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.960 It's possibly higher, possibly a little lower, but that's a lot. It's 134 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.320 every other person more. I know lots of people like this, and I 135 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:05.840 suppose you do too. Maybe you'd say that even some of these things describe 136 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.559 you a little bit or maybe a lot. And what are we to say 137 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:16.840 of those that are Christians? How mature are they? Think of yourself, 138 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.840 Think of the people you know, Think of the men that you know. 139 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:28.320 Do they meet the qualifications the qualities that Paul lists here for Titus? How 140 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:33.000 many men do you know that are ready to say, yeah, I could 141 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:39.919 do that, I'd be willing to help. Our challenge is similar to Titus 142 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:43.480 and that there are many people who don't know Jesus, who are hopeless and 143 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:48.559 trapped and in need of salvation. They need to hear the good news. 144 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:54.159 And there are many more who maybe do know Jesus a little bit but not 145 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:58.200 very much, many people that are not in close contact with the Word of 146 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:05.960 God as they need to be, Many Christians whose faith is very shaky, 147 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:11.960 whose worship is so meager, whose lives are are really threadbare with hope, 148 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:16.279 because they lack the Word of God, they lack the faithful proclamation of it 149 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:24.240 in both the explicit teaching and in the lives of godly man. But our 150 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:28.799 challenge is also different in some ways. It's not exactly the same, and 151 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:33.480 that's worth thinking about for a moment as we think about how we apply this 152 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:37.960 command in our own church, in our own context. Whereas Titus faced a 153 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:43.399 world that was pre Christian right and partly anybody had heard about Jesus when Titus 154 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.120 came into Cree, we face a world that has been described as was in 155 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:54.759 this study, as post Christian. The difference has been described well by a 156 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.440 man whose last name I cannot pronounce, so I'm not going to try, 157 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:03.080 but you can find his article on the First Thing's website called this time Won't 158 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:07.519 be the Same. I want to read a little bit of his description the 159 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:13.480 difference between these two things. Let you see if it resonates. Because the 160 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.559 Gospel is new to him, that is the old world pagan, the pagan 161 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.039 needed to learn it from the beginning. The neo pagan is in a very 162 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:26.720 different position. He needs to unlearned things that he has learned about the Gospel 163 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:33.759 that happened to be untrue. We see a trivial symptom of the problem in 164 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:37.799 the great number of people who think the little drummer boy was supposed to have 165 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:43.919 accompanied the shepherds, a notion that makes Christmas the Christmas narrative seem most implausible 166 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:48.399 to anyone more than ten years of age. But non existent drummer boys are 167 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.759 the least of the problems. The neo pagan is likely to have entirely mistaken 168 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:58.240 views about what Christians believe concerning creation, the fall, redemption, about God 169 00:15:58.519 --> 00:16:02.600 Man, and the relation between God and man. In other words, there's 170 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:07.799 a lot of people who think they know what Christianity and have entirely mistaken notions 171 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:15.120 about it. A couple other quotes he says, the pagan world was unfamiliar 172 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.720 with Christian ideas. By contrast, the neo pagan world is brimming with them. 173 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.679 The makers of that world have even appropriated some of them, but have 174 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:29.240 emptied them of Christian meaning. The old world had not yet felt the caress 175 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.879 of grace. Our world, once brushed, now flinches from its touch. 176 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:42.960 That kind of visceral reaction when people find out you're a Christian, ah that 177 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:51.919 feeling that you are immediately identified as an immoral person, even a big it 178 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:59.279 or someone who's hateful. These are the challenges that we face. Helping people 179 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:04.119 to un learned things they think they know will not be easy. Teaching them 180 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:10.880 to be skeptical of themselves in a world that prizes above all the self and 181 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.720 confidence in self will be hard. Calling people to be willing to suffer, 182 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:22.200 even unjustly, for the sake of Christ on hot topic issues like sexuality will 183 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:30.200 feel impossible, but it's essential, and we need mature Christians to lead the 184 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:37.160 way. Men who meet these qualifications, men who know the Word of God 185 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:42.960 and are willing and ready to do the hard work. The necessity of elders 186 00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:48.079 is clear from the work that they're called to do here notice what he says. 187 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:52.039 In verse nine. He says, so that he may be able to 188 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.920 give instruction and sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it. And then he 189 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.559 continues, for there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, deceivers, 190 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:07.000 especially of the circumcision party. They must be silence, say that they are 191 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:12.359 upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach, 192 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:22.920 teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. Or consider um, 193 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:33.279 I consider this passage from First Timothy chapter four. In First Timothy four, 194 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:40.079 he reminds He reminds them that um chapter one, that in the latter times 195 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:45.200 some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of 196 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.319 demons, through the ensured and srity of liars whose consciences are seared, who 197 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:56.240 forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving. 198 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:00.400 He describes in other places that in the last days there will be people 199 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.920 who are insubordinate too, empty talkers. In another place he describes that in 200 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.519 the last days there are people who have itching ears. You know, accumulating 201 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:14.119 all kinds of teachings on people that go into houses and and and upset and 202 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:21.720 disturb. It's a hard situation. What kind of people are going to be 203 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:29.680 needed to bring the word of the Lord to the world. In order to 204 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:32.160 bake a cake, you have to have ingredients, right, You have to 205 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:36.160 have certain things that all get into that bowl at the right time and at 206 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:40.960 the right temperature in order to make something delicious. And what Paul is saying 207 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.079 here is of an elder is the same thing. There are things that are 208 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:49.160 required here of an elder required here, UM, of those who will go 209 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:55.480 and do this work, who will be the Lord's under shepherds and will help 210 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:03.240 UM both in preaching and teaching, in disciple ng and training. We'll talk 211 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:07.839 more about these qualifications UM next time. UM. Let me just summarize them 212 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:14.279 by saying, by put it giving you these three cs competence, compassion, 213 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.759 and character, or if I could sneak another one in their conviction based character, 214 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:26.799 integrity, skill, love. These are the kind of men that we 215 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.640 need to watch over the sheep, to teach, to feed, to guard, 216 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:37.559 to love, to train, help and we all have a part to 217 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.240 play. If you're like Oh good, I'm not an elder. I don't 218 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:45.920 have any part in this. That's not true. We all have a part 219 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.680 to play as the body of Christ in this work that Titus is calling us, 220 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.960 or that Paul called tit us to do and calls us to do as 221 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:59.720 well. For my part as a pastor of this church, it's a lot 222 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:04.119 of prayer and teaching. It's talking to people, disciple ng giving folks things 223 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:11.519 to read. I'm giving opportunities to serve encouragement through rough spots, challenges when 224 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:18.079 things aren't going well. Um, even rebukes occasionally, and as necessary, 225 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:22.720 guarding the flock against those that are not ready but would seek to promote themselves 226 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:27.640 and put themselves forward. All of these things are things that I feel responsible 227 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:36.319 for and try to do according to the Lord's mercy and grace. What's your 228 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:41.039 part, Well, first, it's to grow to be growing in Christ in 229 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:47.000 your own capabilities, compassion and character, even if, even if you will 230 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.920 never be an elder or a pastor. This is something that we all do, 231 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:56.799 and we all do together, and we grow in together. And for 232 00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:02.119 those of you, um, young boys and men, who may be one 233 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:07.039 able to serve one the Lord one day in this capacity, we have an 234 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:14.440 opportunity and obligations to help and come alongside these brothers. Take Timothy as a 235 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:18.160 as a good example of this. Yes, Paul is the one that authorized 236 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:22.359 him and brought him along as a co worker, but it was years before 237 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:29.640 that is that his mother and his grandmother were testing and training and encouraging and 238 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:36.480 challenging him, praying for him, bringing him to Jesus. All of us 239 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:41.720 have roles in this process, sometimes very direct, sometimes indirect, but we're 240 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:47.119 all members of the same body. We're all members of this same body which 241 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:53.359 is called forward in this work, and every member matters. You matter in 242 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:57.799 some way or another. Each of us should be in community and serving and 243 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:03.799 giving bill into the lives of one another, growing in unity, building, 244 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:08.720 as Paul says, building ourselves up in love as God gives us grace. 245 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:18.680 And so as we come to uh clearer and clear understanding of this in ourselves, 246 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.200 it's also our responsibility as a congregation to be have a clearer and clearer 247 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:29.359 understanding of what these qualifications are in the lives, in in our lives, 248 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:33.359 and in the lives of others. I think I can put that more clearly. 249 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:38.359 There are times when we when you are called upon to say, yes, 250 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:45.319 I believe that person is qualified and I am going willing to submit to 251 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:51.200 him as an elder, as a ruler in this church. Well, how 252 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.039 are you going to know if he's qualified? If you don't know what Paul 253 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.599 is talking about here? How are you going to have a sense of what 254 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:02.960 godly maturity is unless you've never thought, unless you've thought about it and considered 255 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:07.720 it and pondered it. It's all of our responsibilities to think carefully through these 256 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.799 things and to not be foolish and rash about who we put over us as 257 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:19.759 our leaders. And once we elect them and and ordain them to be our 258 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:26.079 leaders, once they are authorized and important appointed, do we continue to pray 259 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:30.599 for them, encourage them, Do we strengthen them in their work? Do 260 00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:36.000 we honor them and respect to them and submit to them in the Lord as 261 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:38.680 we ought? I see what I mean as a congregation. And this is 262 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:44.599 all of our responsibility. And these are the things that we need to aim 263 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:48.359 for. It's the work of the Great Commission. It's how new churches are 264 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:55.000 established and strengthened. It's how other churches develop and spring up. If new 265 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:59.799 communities are to grow around the world, communities of believers, and even in 266 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:06.000 our own city and county. They're going to need to be leaders, and 267 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:10.839 lots of them, and not bad leaders or false leaders, or somebody who 268 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:15.200 stole a policeman's uniform out of the closet or an elder's uniform, whatever that 269 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:21.400 looks like. Uh. We need people. We need brothers that are really 270 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:27.279 and ready and qualified to do that hard work. We also need informal lay 271 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:33.359 leaders, many people at every level working and serving one another. But here 272 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:37.119 the focus on these is on these ordained elders. These are things that as 273 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:44.279 a church we need to be thinking about, praying about, and actively doing. 274 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:48.480 It doesn't happen all at once. Maturity, growth, sanctification, these 275 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:56.559 things they take a while. Sometimes it's worth thinking about that and being active 276 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.880 in that work. A few years ago, we had someone over to our 277 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.799 house to give us a price on some new windows, and it all sounded 278 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:12.200 great, all right, UV protection, better security, noise reduction, clarity, 279 00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:17.839 awesome clarity in the glass. We were told, um, they showed 280 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:22.079 us examples, they told us about their great reviews. But of course this 281 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.599 whole time, you know, like something's coming, right, what what's the 282 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:30.440 catch all? This is gonna cost something? Right, and the boy did 283 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:36.680 it? Wow? When we look at this list here, When Titus looks 284 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:38.039 on this list and he sees this, you know, he's looking at Paul's 285 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:42.319 letter on his desk and all these features, all these qualities of these elders, 286 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:49.680 he's got to ask himself what's the cost? What's the cost? A 287 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:52.240 lot of times we don't think about the cost. We just dive in, 288 00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:56.039 and then we get all disappointed and sad when things turned out to be hard. 289 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:03.319 But there's even more that's involved here, or more that's required than just 290 00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:07.400 counting the cost, because the way that you get men like this isn't the 291 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:15.200 way it works in most other places, in most businesses. Here's how this 292 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:19.559 works. You get your qualifications together like this. Okay, that looks good. 293 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:25.720 It's not a bad list of qualifications overall. Maybe for a normal secular 294 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:30.440 business, maybe a race something here and there, a certain way of understanding 295 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.960 things, but overall, you want a moral person, right, you want 296 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:36.000 somebody who's a hard worker, that kind of thing. So you put together 297 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:37.880 a small team, maybe a big team, but you start going out and 298 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:42.240 you look for people that will meet these qualifications, You search high and low. 299 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:47.480 You do what you can to recruit to make the position attractive. Then 300 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:52.640 you find ways to onboard them. If they can't work or if they if 301 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:56.279 if it's not working, then you give them training. You give them manuals, 302 00:27:56.359 --> 00:28:00.519 booklets, you give them coaches, maybe even therapy and or time. 303 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:06.039 You develop people so they grow into what they need to be for that job 304 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:11.119 that hopefully is is um not a crazy idea to you? Many of you 305 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.319 have experienced that in your own workplaces. So we've got to kind of ask 306 00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:22.720 ourselves here, how is is Titus being called to do anything different than we 307 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:27.279 might see in our HR departments in our workplaces? Is something else going on 308 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:30.880 here or or not? I do think something else is going on here. 309 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:36.240 There are a lot of things in the description that I just in the thing 310 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:41.000 I just described that we can use and should testing, training, helping, 311 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:45.720 coaching, that's all. It's discipleship, right, that's good. But as 312 00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:52.200 I said, either last week or the week before, the opposite of godliness 313 00:28:53.279 --> 00:29:03.799 is godlessness. And it's possible to have a very very outwardly moral person that 314 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:10.400 doesn't even know Jesus Christ, that doesn't know Jesus, that doesn't know how 315 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:15.400 to lead you in Christ, that doesn't know how to love you in Christ, 316 00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.240 even though he's a great guy, and you'd love to have him as 317 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:23.119 your neighbor, and you might even employ him in a business. Because it's 318 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:30.599 possible for a person, man, woman, boy, girl to go about 319 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:37.960 the work of self improvement and outward morality and even inward in a little way, 320 00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:42.680 and to go about doing that work in his own strength, and to 321 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:48.000 find a measure of success, but not in any way that is going to 322 00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:55.160 lead anyone to Christ, in a way that will only lead people to himself, 323 00:29:56.680 --> 00:30:00.680 a moral hero for us to look at, and man, if I 324 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:04.599 could just be like him now. Of course, Paul gives us examples. 325 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:11.799 He he tells Titus here to be an example. Titus is to follow his 326 00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:15.359 example. Paul says, to people, be imitators of me. But there's 327 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:21.799 different. There's a difference here. Let me keep going. Imagine this man 328 00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:23.920 who's great at a lot of things. He's a good listener, he's a 329 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:29.440 good manager. He's capable of organizing people, of raising money, of helping 330 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:34.599 the poor, of even teaching good, positive moral messages. We could even 331 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:40.599 imagine a scenario in which this process of moral and self improvement cost him a 332 00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:45.359 lot. Maybe he'll be able to tell you how he stopped drinking so much, 333 00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:49.119 or how he got his priorities right with his wife and kids finally and 334 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:53.039 now they're doing great. Maybe he'll be able to tell you about how he 335 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:56.279 learned to live on less and to be more generous. And no doubt, 336 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.759 you can learn a lot of good things from this man, but you won't 337 00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:10.920 learn true godliness. Why because true godliness is only found in God, and 338 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:17.079 God is only found in Christ. And you don't find Christ in your own 339 00:31:17.079 --> 00:31:22.039 good works. If we found him in our own good works, what need 340 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.240 would there be for our savior, for Christ, appointed by God, to 341 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:33.000 come into the world and to die this horrific, terrible death in which the 342 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.200 wrath of God was poured out on him. For what because we made a 343 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:41.200 few mistakes in our self improvement program. No, because we are sinners, 344 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:48.400 and there is an a broken nous, a relationship that is just totally and 345 00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:59.559 completely and irrevocably if it were not for God's miraculous grace, broken when we 346 00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:01.720 look at our own good works, and when we look inside of ourselves, 347 00:32:01.720 --> 00:32:10.160 at our own moral um determination and don't look to Christ. It's kind of 348 00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:15.160 like the young woman in so many love stories who's head over heels for some 349 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:19.440 guy who's just a terrible match. He lacks self control, he doesn't love 350 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.000 her, he calls it causes her all sorts of grief. But because he's 351 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:27.200 so handsome and he makes a lot of nice promises, she's blind, right, 352 00:32:27.240 --> 00:32:29.440 you know this story, right, We've seen this in movies and in 353 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:34.119 books. Right, She's blind to the hero that we all know that she 354 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:37.640 really needs to be with. Were like, why doesn't she see this? 355 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:44.160 Why doesn't she just good with the guy who is honorable and treats her ride 356 00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.240 and loves her? Right, this is like every Jane Austen novel. Maybe 357 00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:53.960 it's because she's distracted, right, She's focused on this other thing, this 358 00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:59.279 thing that makes her feel good, this thing that maybe doesn't demand very much. 359 00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:07.160 And we are like that with our our moral self self improvement projects, 360 00:33:07.160 --> 00:33:13.160 self empowered to self improvement projects. There that they whisper these sweet nothings in 361 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:16.599 our ear and say, you can do it, You're so great. Just 362 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:23.359 try a little harder, organize your schedule a little better. And then we 363 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:29.400 always come up short. Meanwhile, the savior of the world is standing right 364 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:32.880 there. But we continue to cling to ourselves and our pride, and when 365 00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:43.559 we do that, we don't get him. He's hard that way, he's 366 00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:50.799 exclusive, He's not going to tolerate it. On the one hand, putting 367 00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:55.359 our faith in Christ costs us nothing. He loves us freely, he gives 368 00:33:55.400 --> 00:34:00.319 us promises of true life. But on the other hand, it costs us 369 00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:05.880 everything. We have to be willing to give up all those things which look 370 00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:13.280 like look like life, look like happiness, look like joy, but aren't. 371 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:19.360 And that includes depending on our own good works. And there's another way 372 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:25.920 that he's hard about this, another way in which it costs to become like 373 00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:35.159 the description here and in Titus one a lot of times, the way that 374 00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:38.639 Jesus gets us to give up on ourselves so that we trust in him is 375 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:46.199 by putting us through hell. He puts our law keeping our self determination of 376 00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:55.320 the test and a hard He allows Satan to tempt us as Job was tempted. 377 00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:01.320 He pushes us to the limits, and beyond the limits, he makes 378 00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:07.280 a struggle to the point of exhaustion and beyond. He brings us to this 379 00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:14.599 point Jesus brings us to this point where we literally start saying the things that 380 00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:22.679 Job and Moses and David say things like, I'm dying here, I don't 381 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:29.119 know what to do, I'm lost, I'm afraid, I'm out of breath. 382 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:34.880 Help me. I can't do it. Lord, Jesus, have mercy 383 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:47.639 on me. I'm a sinner. These descriptions, and we read these things 384 00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:51.920 and we sort of imagine a graph. You know, it's like, okay, 385 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:55.679 here, I'm at the bottom and then up into the right. That's 386 00:35:55.719 --> 00:36:01.400 not usually how it works. You Usually, the Lord brings lots of suffering 387 00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:07.800 and frustration and exhaustion, and he brings us to our end in our emotions, 388 00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:15.000 in our bodies, in our minds, where we finally start giving up 389 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:23.159 on ourselves and trusting in him. But you believers here know that he doesn't 390 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:29.639 leave us in the valley of the Shadow of Death. He doesn't leave us 391 00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:35.840 to die, He doesn't leave us to hell. He leads us through these 392 00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:42.800 places. He walks with us, He encourages us, he brings us out, 393 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:47.840 so that when these things are produced in our lives and in the lives 394 00:36:47.880 --> 00:36:55.119 of our fellow believers, we know that it's him. It's the result of 395 00:36:55.280 --> 00:37:01.039 his green pastures, his waters, his raw, his staff. It's him. 396 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:05.840 It's all him. And when you have a man who understands that, 397 00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:10.960 who's lived it and is living it, that's a man who can take you 398 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:17.039 to Christ. That's a man who can give you the water of eternal life 399 00:37:19.079 --> 00:37:27.480 when you need it the most. That's a man who's qualified. When we 400 00:37:27.559 --> 00:37:30.760 think about what was going on and Creed and what's going on in here in 401 00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:38.039 Tucson, we have to remember this, God is at work. God is 402 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:45.760 at work. He's not standing by watching us build our tower of Babel that 403 00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:52.199 we call the church. He's building his own temple, and he's using us 404 00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:59.920 as his very own stones. And this includes our elders, past, present, 405 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:05.000 and future. Jesus is not standing idly by waiting for us to just 406 00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:10.800 do these things. He's shaping, he's carving, he's placing, he's moving 407 00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:15.199 his leaders into place. He's moving all of us into place, each and 408 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:22.400 every soul, building us up into this beautiful temple, a place where he 409 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:29.280 will dwell closely with us and where we all live together in the worship of 410 00:38:29.320 --> 00:38:36.960 God. He's doing it in such a way that our capabilities and our character 411 00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:45.719 and our compassion is not built on on sand and it just gets washed away 412 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:54.559 at the first trial and at a second coming. No, he's building these 413 00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:59.679 things in us, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the gifts and requirements 414 00:38:59.719 --> 00:39:04.760 that are mentioned here. He's building these things in us, and he will 415 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:09.119 complete that work. He does this not only for our benefit benefit, but 416 00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:14.360 for all of us, so that when his under shepherds teach us and warn 417 00:39:14.440 --> 00:39:16.440 us, protect us, and encourage us, we know that they are not 418 00:39:16.519 --> 00:39:22.599 doing it for themselves, which is why they endure persecution, but they do 419 00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:27.079 it for Him, and they do it for us. And we also know 420 00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:32.800 that they do it not by themselves, but by Jesus himself. So on 421 00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:37.000 conclusion, this means that the call for us to appoint elders is not just 422 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:44.559 a reminder to be growing and praying together for maturity as a body and for 423 00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:50.880 future church bodies, but the call and behind that call for us to appoint 424 00:39:50.920 --> 00:39:57.519 elders, behind this amazing list, there is also a promise. The promise 425 00:39:57.639 --> 00:40:00.559 is Hebrew seven tells us that God has a point to the Son who has 426 00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:07.960 been made perfect forever and in his perfection and in his strength, and by 427 00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:14.000 praying to him and putting our faith in him and in him alone. He 428 00:40:14.159 --> 00:40:19.119 then gives us these graces. He does his works, making us more and 429 00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:23.760 more like Him. So as we pray, as we encourage, as we 430 00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:30.159 look around us, as we strengthen one another in all of our various callings, 431 00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:37.440 and today focusing particularly on those who are serving or may one day serve 432 00:40:37.079 --> 00:40:43.880 as elders in Christ Church. We do that not looking to them and their 433 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:50.639 abilities, but with complete and total dependence on Christ. And when we do 434 00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:53.679 that, and when we see His work in his church, it will give 435 00:40:53.800 --> 00:41:05.440 us confidence and praise in Him. Let's pray, our Heavenly Father, we 436 00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:13.599 pray this morning for those who are elders in your church, on both those 437 00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:19.159 ruling elders and teaching elders, who are responsible for the oversight of your flock. 438 00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:22.639 What a high calling, Lord, Uh, perhaps we could say, 439 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:30.960 even a dangerous one, with many sacrifices and difficulties and struggles that are required 440 00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:36.239 in it. We thank you, Lord for those who have um willingly taken 441 00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:43.000 on these tasks, who have submitted themselves to um the calling of you and 442 00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:47.320 of your people, and how and who, even in seeing their own weaknesses, 443 00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:52.519 Um, and because of seeing their own weaknesses, continue to go back 444 00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:59.840 to you over and over and over again to know your word and trust your 445 00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:06.320 word, so that they might be solid solid in you and able to bring 446 00:42:06.440 --> 00:42:12.400 others to the rock. Lord. We ask we we thank you for them 447 00:42:12.400 --> 00:42:16.000 in this work that you do in your church. We pray for them and 448 00:42:16.039 --> 00:42:21.079 ask for your blessing on them. Keep them, protect them, grow them, 449 00:42:21.159 --> 00:42:25.480 strengthen them, help them to become more and more Christian. You know 450 00:42:25.559 --> 00:42:30.920 all that they are looking to Christ, depending on Christ, trusting Him in 451 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:37.719 every circumstance and in every way. We also pray Lord for our future elders. 452 00:42:38.719 --> 00:42:44.119 We asked that you would, Um, you would be working in and 453 00:42:44.239 --> 00:42:47.840 through us on to strengthen them, to comfort them, encourage them, build 454 00:42:47.880 --> 00:42:54.920 them up. May our conversations always be a pleasing to you, UM. 455 00:42:54.960 --> 00:43:00.400 May they may we be about the work of of loving one another, of 456 00:43:00.519 --> 00:43:07.519 serving one another and giving you all the praise. Lord. We also pray 457 00:43:07.599 --> 00:43:12.000 Lord for those who do not yet know you. We asked that this work 458 00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:16.559 of discipleship would be a done in and and through us to our friends and 459 00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:22.719 to our neighbors, and that from these future disciples, these people that turn 460 00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:29.280 to you and faith and hope and in love, that from them as well 461 00:43:30.039 --> 00:43:36.360 you would raise up overseers under shepherds for your church. I pray this all 462 00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:37.199 in Jesus Name. On then