Titus 3:1-15

We have Titus chapter 3, and we have three pages here. We will try to march through that. It'll finish up our study of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. And so here's some interesting things here. In this final chapter to Titus, here's Titus. Titus is mentioned in several different New Testament letters by Paul. He's not mentioned in Acts. Timothy is mentioned in Hebrews, but not Titus. So here's this fellow Titus. This is the one letter that we have to Titus, in our possession anyway.

But Paul was writing things that were very important to him and he makes, as we'll discover here, he makes some emphasis and points in Titus that he does not make elsewhere. And we'll see that shortly here. So Titus 3, 1 and 2, remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable and gentle, showing every consideration for all men. And we have in there several references. Being subject to authorities, we give reference to Romans 13, 1 through 7, and 1 Peter 2, 13 through 17, where there's a similar message.

Ready for every good deed contrasts Titus 1.16, where the opposite of that was the case with the people in Crete.

To malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, 1st Timothy 3.3 and James 3.17 have those same words, peaceable, gentle, right together.

And then showing consideration for all men, a message in Romans 12.18, Galatians 6.10 and Philippians 4.5. So we'll see that reminding is a common theme among the New Testament letters. Reminding, reminding, reminding, right?

Here's Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 2 Timothy, Titus, here 2 Peter 1.12 and 15 and Jude 5. So as a scattering through the New Testament letters and not all just by one author, remind, remind, remind is a common theme. So, why do believers need to be reminded of anything? You don't remember?

Yeah, that's exactly the point. Part of it is forget, but part of it is whatever is urgent tends to put out whatever is important. You notice that? The urgency presses to the sidelines. what is important frequently. It's just like in here, you know, the important thing we're doing is studying God's work. However, it's possible to have something very urgent, and this is not a declaration, but if we were to say, you know, the lobby's on fire, we need to go, you know, we would suddenly find the urgent pushing out the important. And life can get like that, right? Where what happens is all of a sudden we're off to the side on something because the urgent pushes the important off to the side, right?

Yes? Yeah, and that's a reminder. Why is that a reminder? That's right. We get up and, you know, I need to do this, and I need to take a shower, and you're glad that I did. But, you know, we have all the things we've got to do, and, you know, I've got to get this done, that done, and get prepared, you know. And there are certain things that, you know, if we came here and had forgotten, somebody would be alarmed, right? And so all these things seem like they're real important, right?

But the reality is, yeah, we have the frequent reminder. There's where your citizenship is. Keep your mind there. If you're beholding Him, are you beholding Him here? No. He's not sitting in the land of Israel right now. He's not in Bethlehem or Nazareth or Galilee or Jerusalem. Our beholding Him is where He is. That's where we're seated with Him.

And so the reminders are important. Because, again, what seems important is right in front of us. And so the reminder to continue to look elsewhere is there. And the forgetting thing is definitely a part of it. It's a human tendency. But frequently it's that what seems urgent pushes out the important. It's the most frequent thing.

What's the difference between reminding and nagging? Are these guys... let me nag you about this. Is that what they're saying? And what's the difference between the two? Attitude, okay. Alright. Nagging often. don't want to do in the first place. Frequently nagging comes when somebody else considers something important or urgent and we don't, right? So a part of it is if we never did have the understanding of, it's like you brought up, set your mind on things above, the reminder would just be kind of irritating. Or you go, huh?

So if it's something that you once understood, and then are brought to mind, you go, oh, yeah. And you actually appreciate the reminder. There's a difference there. Because you said, well, yeah, yeah, I did once consider that important. I did get it. And so I appreciate the reminder that nagging is something where, you know, you may think that's urgent or important, but I really am not quite so sure, right? Okay, third bullet down.

Why is it important to be subject to rulers and authorities? And if you're not so sure, I'm sure there are people around town who would be glad to join you in some other movement. Live a peaceable life is one reason why, which, by the way, peace and gentleness is a part of the picture here. What sorts of things does the Bible say about those who are in authority, whether you like them or not? Be subject to them. And what else? Pray for them. That's another thing.

As we read in Paul's writing to Timothy, is pray for them. And how do we pray for them? Pray that they'll trip and break their neck? How are we going to pray for them? The most important thing is that they come to know the Savior. that they would come to know the Savior, but how does Paul tell Timothy to pray? I think you're right, but how does Paul tell Timothy to pray? Pray for them so that what?

So that we have the continued opportunity for the gospel, and to live out our lives. This was written during the time Nero the Loon was in power. Still pray for him. Yeah, still pray for him. It doesn't necessarily mean that the person believes in God who is in authority. It doesn't necessarily mean that what they're doing is all good.

But nonetheless, God has put them in a place of authority for which they will be held responsible, by the way. You know, we'll get all wrapped around the axle about we've got some leader who's doing this and not doing that. And, you know, we'll say, you know, and so people will go nuts about some politician and realize they're going to answer for that. They're going to answer for all that.

Justice in the in the big picture of what God has done is doing and will do. Justice will be 100% served. Our tendency is to want justice now, but God's picture is in the big span of what we call time. In the whole consideration, God will be totally and completely just. Oh, and by the way.

Why is it that God can extend grace to you? It's because God is absolutely, and I mean down to the finest detail, 100% just. And He can extend grace to you because He demanded absolute justice by Christ paying our debt on the cross down to the finest detail, even the ones we miss. So there was an exacting, demanding justice of Christ's death on the cross in order that you could have grace extended to you. Infinite justice satisfied to offer you infinite grace. Isn't that great? Okay, next bullet down.

Are there any exceptions to being subject to rulers and authorities and what are they? Well, if it's against the biblical principles, then we could say, no, I'm not going down that road. Yeah, here we've got, here the authorities are in place, and the authority requires that I do this. Or, the authority says you may not do this. Whether it's a negative or a positive requirement, we have to stand by what God says. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Yeah, they stand by it. They didn't do what they did based on a guarantee that they would live through this experience, right? But graciously and mercifully, the Lord brought them through.

Interestingly, during the time when the Communists had full control of Eastern Europe, There was a lady who was a nurse and she was also a Christian. And of course, one of the basis, you know, points for, you know, do you get this nursing job is, you know, do you agree with the teachings of Karl Marx and Lenin and those guys? And she said, absolutely. to the degree that what they teach is consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ, I certainly do. And they didn't know what to do with that, but they let her go. So, very interesting. Quite a way to put it. It's a short list. Yes, yes.

So how do we go about being ready for every good deed? How do you get yourself ready? Does it take a course? Do you have to make sure you keep your vitamin and mineral intake high? What does it mean? How do you get ready for every good deed? There's essentially a spiritual readiness, isn't there? That's really the primary characteristic. It's a spiritual readiness to step into these things. There isn't any... Yeah, if you look at it, you know, readiness is primarily a spiritual readiness. And then it's also a mindset of availability.

He has prepared the good works. All we're doing is stepping into the good works that he's prepared. And we're motivated by grace. And remember that motive means we are empowered, enabled, and energized, and opportunity. What an opportunity to step into those good works that he's prepared. There is nothing about that that's from us. It's all of him. Okay.

Are we to be doing good deeds in order to have good karma? No. Where does that word come from? What does that mean? Karma comes from Eastern religions, right? Both Hinduism and Buddhism have a principle of karma. And Hinduism and Buddhism then say that karma is also based on, in the big picture, reincarnation.

But basically, what goes around comes around. And so as you do, things will come back to you in this life and between one life and the next. But in the big picture, karma assumes reincarnation. that if you do good things, you're going to have this happen, and if you do bad things, you'll have this happen when you're reincarnated in the next life.

And you may go backwards. So that cow may be your grandfather or something. Who knows? So it's important that people understand and that's modern, new, aging. The idea about karma was that if what goes around comes around, you don't want to mess around with the coming around business because that means the universe is punishing you, or whomever it is, is punishing you for your past mistakes. So don't intervene.

When Gandhi led the revolt, he actually was pushing against that teaching. because it was the idea that you... Okay, so let's say I'm homeless and I've got a broken ankle or whatever else, or any of the parables with Christ. If Christ had believed in karma, he wouldn't have healed them because God's wrath was being poured out on that person appropriately. Healing them would have violated it, and the next life that came back, They'd have to pay the punishment for that. And you have now cost them an entire lifetime of being refined.

Karma is a really weird... Well, and karma is graceless. Karma is absolute law. No grace, zero grace, none whatsoever. And karma also, just as Randy pointed out, karma also prevents you from being gracious and merciful. Why? because you might be interfering with somebody's karma. Is that why they're so unsympathetic to people like an Indian, the lepers and other people? Exactly. If you have a disease or you have some economic condition, that's why the caste system, right? That's because that's where you're supposed to be and don't mess with it or you're going to be disturbing the law of karma.

And it's absolutely graceless. It is against grace and against mercy. And it also, rather than what the Bible teaches, where it depends upon God, everything depends upon God and we are to depend upon Him. Karma all depends upon you. It's an important thing because there is a principle that God can bring about justice here, but in the big picture, rather than looking at karma as being how justice is carried out, justice is carried out in about three places. One is on the cross, justice is carried out sometimes in this life, and justice is carried out in a judgment on into eternity.

But it's not through multiple lifetimes, and it's not that I've got to be careful about expressing grace and mercy because I might be interfering with somebody's karma. There's none of that. As a matter of fact, when you can do good, that's right in here, when you can do good, do it, as opposed to don't mess with anybody's karma. Right? Okay. Karma, that sounds like something that somebody's going to name a car. I'm going to go out and drive my Karma. Okay, all right. Next one there.

Being peaceable and gentle and showing consideration for all men is a repeated message in the New Testament. Why? Does Paul mean just men, males? So anyway, why is it a repeated theme in the New Testament? It's what God wants. It's being conformed to the image. Pardon? Christianity isn't going to be very appealing to people if we're the opposite of those qualities. Yeah. Peaceable. What's behind being peaceable and gentle? What's behind it? The Holy Spirit. Yeah. One is it is expressing the character of God himself. That's part one. And what else? Yeah, these are consistent with love. Okay? Consistent with love. These are a repeated message in the New Testament. One thing is, this relates to the prior question, we Christians don't believe in karma. So instead of saying, well, you better not mess with somebody's karma.

So, you know, look, if they fell along the side of the road and broke their leg, that's probably what they deserve. Right? But the Christian viewpoint would say, no, my expressing mercy and grace is expressing God's character. Right? So we're anti-karma. Right? We're anti-karma, if you will. Why? Because we say intentionally expressing and continually expressing mercy and grace is exactly what God has in mind. And it's not karma. Not even close. Does Paul mean just men? No, this is anthropos, this is, you know, people. Okay.

Next one, Titus 3, 3-7, for we also were, once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy. hateful, hating one another, but when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Wow, there's a lot in there. We probably will not spend the rest of our time digging the depths of that.

I'd like us, however, to compare a passage we read just last week, Titus 2, 11-14, which is quoted there in the bottom of the handout. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify himself, a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds."

You see some similarity between those passages? Okay? So what do we see that's the same or similar between those two? The grace of God appeared in both of those. Yeah, if you look at it, it says the grace of God appeared in the Titus 2 passage here. We also have this, when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared. So we have this appearing at Christ's first coming.

In both of them. Good. Anything else you see that comes out there? I would tend to say in general that both of these passages refer to things past. to the present and to the future, though do they not? Both of these passages have reference to the past, the present, and the future, all within the passage. And so that I would see in common as well.

He says, for his own possession, in Titus 2 and in 3, he says, by his right, we wouldn't be made errors. Heirs and Possession? Yep. Okay. One, in both of them God is our Savior. Only in Titus 2 passage there, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is identified in Titus 2 verse 13 there as God. But both of them have God as the Savior.

Are either of these, do they look like temporary things? Or are they eternal? in both the passages. In both cases, there are eternal consequences for what happened in the past, what's happening now, and on into the future. Let's put it this way, when we talk about eternal, do each of these passages place eternity as hopeful or scary? Hopeful or scary. Is it positive, like, hey, there's a great thing that's happening, or does it look like you better watch out? But both cases, the statement about the future is positive and hopeful, as opposed to, you know, boy, you better watch it.

You know, you're just barely hanging. You know, you don't, God might just fry you. You just don't know. Right? You don't get that message here. You have to be their passage, do you? So why would Paul write things that are the same or similar? again and so soon. Why would he do that?

It's a reminder. It's a reminder, yes! He just talked about reminding and guess what he does? He reminds, okay? Boy, that's amazing. Okay, so what's different about the passages and why? They're not identical. Do you see something that stands out as different? Well, he talks about all Yeah, and here's all the awful stuff. We were once da-da-da-da-da, and it goes on, it's like, oh man. Yeah, so that's one significant difference. The appearing is preceded by, well, we once were terrible.

Enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. Paul says, we. Was Paul, as a Jew, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures? Is that possible? I thought he had all the rules down so that doesn't happen. Is it possible that once he got out from underneath the intense legalism that he realized that, no, I was subject to lusts and pleasures too?

Okay, let's turn to the top of page 2. Paul is repetitive and emphatic about good deed and good deeds with Titus. Both terms. See below. He uses these words rarely in the rest of his writing. Let me put it this way. What you see here in Titus from 116 in the middle of that page to 314 is repeated reference to good deed and good deeds. He has more reference to good deed and good deeds in this book of Titus than the rest of his writings combined. Isn't that interesting?

So, why be so repetitive and emphatic with Titus? Was it necessary to do so because Titus personally needed to hear about the good deeds or because of the character of the people of Crete? Do you think Titus had a real shortcoming and he just needed to hear about it again and again and again? Or was it because of the character of the people of Crete that Paul kept harping on it, harping on it, harping on it every chapter?

Which one do you think it is? Yes. Yeah, I would have to say. It was interesting. I was flying back from Uganda this last time. We flew over Crete. And of course, the people were real puzzled is why I'm sitting there looking out the windows and taking pictures and all that. But I was just looking at it and here's this long, stretchy island.

Yeah, the people of Crete were, they were people who, if you want some deception done, anywhere else in the Roman Empire, they would hire a Cretan if they really wanted somebody to be sneaky. The Cretans felt you were a real culture hero if you went and befriended somebody and then stabbed them in the back. If you could pull that off, they thought, man, it's good. So being dishonest and all these things, that was just deep in the culture.

And by the way, what did Titus get sent to Crete for? He was a troubleshooter, but he was sent to do something, which we saw in the first chapter, verses five through nine. What was he sent there for? Remember, Timothy was sent to Ephesus to correct the false teachers. Titus was sent to Crete to do what?

Yeah, to appoint elders. Now, imagine going into a country, to an island, you know, country like this, where the hero is the guy who's the ultimate befriender than backstabber. The guy who is deceptive. Now, you're supposed to go into that culture and pick out people who are qualified as elders. Whoa. Good luck.

And so that's why You see this from chapter 1 to chapter 2 to chapter 3 and on and on. Every chapter, good deeds, good deeds, good deeds, good deeds. Because it was the exact opposite that the Cretans were doing. If you were of the Cretan culture, The thing to do, as a centuries-old tradition, is just to please yourself. And truth? Nah. Deception is what is honored. Backstabbing. You hear, buddy? Gotcha! Right? That's what was honored there. So that's why the focus on good deeds.

Okay, let's look at Titus 3, 8, and 9 towards the bottom of page 2. Titus 3, 8, and 9 reads, This is a trustworthy statement, and that's the last time we're going to hear that, although he said that in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and now in Titus. This is a trustworthy statement concerning these things I want you to speak confidently so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men, but avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. So verse 8 is the positive statement, what believers are to pursue. On the other hand, verse 9 is the negative statement, what believers are to avoid, especially Titus.

Don't get caught up in this. They will love to get you caught up in the argument. Who are you related to? What's your genealogy look like? It's not against genealogy as a kind of personal interest and hobby, but seeking personal advantage and looking for some particular spiritual advantage from being related to somebody or being descended from somebody.

So why avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the law? Why not just go ahead and go with it sort of recreational? So why avoid them? Unprofitable and worthless. Are those two different words? Is he just repeating himself or is there a different nuance to those words? Unprofitable tells you what? What's that? Yeah, there's no gain from it. To say it's worthless, there's no gain and there isn't some other advantage in any other way, right? So it's a zero, okay? It's a zero at best.

Okay. Should believers always avoid any controversies at all costs? You get into any kind of controversy, you need to always walk away. Should we just say, nope, I'm not, we're not going to work, no. I'm not going to talk about this. I'm going to walk away. I won't open my mouth. Paul didn't. He reproached me. He did what?

Was that controversial? So let me ask this question. What's the difference between what Paul did and the controversies that is being talked about here? What's the difference? Is he talking on both sides of his mouth or is there a distinction we need to understand here? Well, Peter was confusing people about not showing grace. And so is making the distinction profitable and worthy? Yes. And I think that's the measuring stick, is we need to assess, you know, is this just a waste of time, or is there value in spending the time going through this and sorting it out?

Yeah, foolish controversies. So it isn't a matter of I never. address any controversies. I always walk away and keep my mouth shut. No, that's not what he's saying. He's saying there are controversies that are foolish, there are controversies that are unprofitable, and they're worthless, and there are things where we need to step up to the plate and figure out which one's which. Yeah, yeah, the difference between law and grace, especially because the disputes about the law here is a big deal. Let's dispute about the law that you're not under.

Okay. Right. Okay. All right. Should believers always avoid controversies at all costs? We addressed that. Do these problems appear to originate with the Gentiles or with the Jews, as you read this particular warning? Which one does it look like it originates with, the Gentiles or the Jews? I think you're correct.

They're the ones that are worried about genealogies. Why are the genealogies particularly important to the Jews? Yeah, you got to be a descendant of Abraham. As a matter of fact, some of them taught, if you're a descendant of Abraham, you're just in like Flint. I mean, nothing else matters anywhere near as much as that. So that was a part of their mythology. A part of their mythology was that at the last time, Abraham stands at the gate of hell to make sure no Jew ever gets in. That's part of their myth. Part of their myth.

So, is recreation unprofitable and worthless and should we avoid recreation? You sit down and you play Scrabble. Is that something we say, oh, that's terrible. What's that? It's only worthless if you lose. Yeah. What's the difference between what he's talking about here and just saying, hey, let's go play tennis or something, right? Or somebody says, you know, I love mountain climbing or I really enjoy snowboarding or, you know, I can knit for hours. What's the difference between that and these issues here?

I mean, after all, a lot of the Jews would say that arguing about the law is just recreational. It's just fun. I've heard a saying one time, you know, you wrestle and wrestle and wrestle with the pig and then suddenly it dawns on you he's enjoying it. You know?

Is there a difference between just sitting there arguing about the law and trying to make sure that you're related to Abraham and that and playing Scrabble and going snowboarding? And what's the difference? I would suggest that the difficulty with the law or genealogies or foolish controversies is the perception that by doing this we're getting somewhere.

You know, one of the stories I've told is about the Jewish group and there were two different views and, you know, one group of people thought this was the Jewish tradition. The other group thought, no, this is the tradition. And then the rabbi finally steps into the room, and the people go running to the rabbi. Rabbi, can you help us resolve this thing? This group thinks this is the Jewish tradition, and this group thinks this is the Jewish tradition. And the rabbi listens and says, no, neither one of those are the Jewish tradition.

And then the group start arguing and squabbling really big. He says, that's the tradition. So a part of the problem with getting caught up in these things is all the arguing and squabbling is looked at as productive. And it is far more productive to play Scrabble or go snowboarding or, you know, something of that sort than it is to sit there and argue and argue and argue and thinking you're getting somewhere, right?

And thinking you're talking about something really important. Okay. Page 3. Titus 3, 10 and 11. Now this is a changing subject. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned. Let me ask you a question.

Has that ever happened at Holly Hills? I've been around for 10 years here. Has that ever happened at Holly Hills? Have we rejected a person who's factious? I think it might be possible. You think it might be possible? Yeah. Let me tell you, it has happened.

It doesn't mean that we get somebody up here and slap them around and insult them triple or anything of that sort, but it has happened. We've had people come in and they keep And we said, nope. And we have had more than one person leave because they were factious.

So would you characterize that as being extremely argumentative? Yeah, some people, it seems like their point is they want to press their point, regardless of what anybody else teaches. Yes, and in fact, some that have been Press to leave and obviously we've not gotten any big public shouting matches or anything of that sort But those who have been been influenced So, you know, here's the door are people that that have come in wanting to teach and Wanting to persuade the elders to go against something that has been the teaching of Holly Hills for decades And if I go one of them, I just got a letter from in the last month. I Continuing to want to argue. Yeah. So, what does a factious man or woman look like? What are they doing when they come in? They're causing a lot of disruption in the fellowship. Yeah, disruption in the fellowship. Yep.

Just before starting our study time here, I was telling Wayne that I've seen at least three different circumstances over a period of the last 30 years, roughly, including very recently, recent, you know, weeks and recent last couple months, where someone came into a church body and started banging on, you know, Calvinism. And in each case, the three churches that either been a part of or you know, heard about, a significant minority split off and started banging on the Calvinist doctrine. So, interesting pattern. So I just, I've noticed that once that gets a foothold, That's what happens. And that was also one of the people who departed here was starting to bang on the Calvinist doctrine and drive that here. And so one of the reasons for rejecting a factious man after the first and second warning is you don't let him get a foothold and start tearing chunks of the body away.

Paul met with the elders from Ephesus. It's recorded in the last part of Acts chapter 20. And he says, be on guard for yourselves. From among your own selves, men will come and tear the flock in pieces. Be on guard for yourselves. So even among the elders, it's possible for that to happen. Deal with it quickly. One and two warnings, and after that, don't let it go on, because it will be a problem. is rejecting them too harsh an approach, what does rejecting them look like?

You get the two biggest guys in the church, and you grab them by the collar, and you grab them by the belt, and you pitch them out the front door on his nose, and make sure that some of the parts land on the concrete steps. Is that the way you do it? Make sure that the person who is pitching them out has at least a size 10 shoe and it's hard. Is that how it's done? Place kicker for the football team, right? Yeah. Make sure when the guy's leaving that he goes through the goal posts, right?

So what does rejecting look like? Yeah, and when you reject them, is it simply a matter of, you know, you can stick around and just don't say anything? Or does it also involve them actually leaving? Do you reject their doctrine but accept them? What does this look like? I think it has to be, well, I mean, is it a matter of rejecting them because of their doctrine?

Yeah. With the idea of restoration, have they changed their minds as far as the one scripture? Yeah. We had one instance. It's now a few years past. We had one instance where the person who was bringing in the doctrine that was the problem, I noticed he kept avoiding me. You know, I'd be in the room and he'd always be scooting out, you know, before I could get up to him. So I ended up having to write to him in order to get a hold of him. But I said, you know, you are welcome to come to Holly Hills if you don't do this and this.

So it wasn't, you know, get out of here, you're a, you know, so-and-so and so-and-so and two T's in rat. Right? Two R's in dirty and two T's in rat? No. No, it wasn't any of that. You're welcome to come here as long as you don't da-da-da-da-da-da. So it is essentially the possibility you actually could continue here.

But given those things, and he had avoided my presence, so essentially avoiding the letter was not something he could do, especially since his wife got it. Anyway, so he chose not to come back and not to even talk to me about it anymore. So if that's what you're going to teach, then you're not welcome here. But I put it in a positive way. You're welcome here if you don't teach this and this. So it doesn't have to be a big yelling, screaming, knock down, drag out, call the cops. phenomenon, and at least in recent times it hasn't been that. Could it get there? Yes, it could. It could. So far I haven't seen it.

There was one fellow in prior instances in Carson City, it was an elder, and the fellow was chasing women You know, and I had to approach them and say, you know, you're welcome to be here, but do not chase the woman. They're feeling like you're a wolf and they're a piece of meat, you know, and we don't want that here. Never saw him again. So. OK, why give warnings? Why not take a zero tolerance policy and reject them immediately? Soon as you see it, bang, that's it. You're out of here. Why does Paul say warn them once or twice?

Well, that's showing grace. I mean, the guy has the opportunity to change his mind. Okay. Yeah, the guy does have the opportunity. What's interesting is most often what I've seen is that as soon as I talk to them about it, they're gone. Most often. That's what I've seen.

And it's not because I come at them with teeth, you know, dripping blood and all that. It's just simply, you know, this is the path you need to take if you're going to stay here. Which they could decide, okay, I'll take the path described and, you know, stay here. But that's not usually what happens. But the warning gives them an opportunity. They're open-minded at all. That's right. To get into it. Yeah. started a discussion of what the issue is. Right. Yeah, the warning leaves open the opportunity that they could change and they understand what the issue is. There is the possibility that they could stay in fellowship here. Is that kind of coming alongside technically?

Well, let's take the coming alongside, let's compare that to Galatians 6.1.

You know, if you see someone who has fallen off the path, caught in a trespass, a trespass, by the way, means to fall off the path, is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, that is you who are, because he just described that in chapter 5, walking in fellowship with the Spirit, walking by means of the Spirit, You who are spiritual should restore such a one. And that word restore is a word that's used in the literature of the New Testament times for mending a net. The disciples, you know, mend a net. It's also used in the medical literature that Dr. Luke, I'm certain, read about setting a bone so that the healing could take place properly. You who are spiritual should restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness.

So the rejecting isn't, you know, look, you don't teach that here. Boom! Right? I'm going to punch you in the nose, and if you ever teach that again, that won't be the last thing that gets punched, you know. So it isn't coming in there and, boy, I'm going to set you straight or make sure you're crooked. It isn't that approach. The idea is that there is the opportunity, the reason for the warnings, the opportunity for the person to be set straight in doctrine and not be divisive. But there comes a point after those warnings when you say, nope, you got to hit, you know, hit him off. That's for the factious man. I mean, that's what would determine that he was doing it on purpose. Yes. Right. Right. Right. Okay.

Titus 3, 12 through 14. When I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, I make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them.

Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs so that they will not be untruthful." So, what do you think of Paul's instruction to Titus? Is Paul being too bossy? You know, do this, do that, you know, make sure you do that. Make every effort. Be diligent. Is he being too bossy? You don't think so? He knows what they're going to be up against. Okay. All right.

Why do you think he's so emphatic? He doesn't say, you know, hey, if you have the time and inclination, you know, it'd be good if you could do this. Why is he so, you know, it needs to be this, this needs to happen. How come he doesn't suggest and recommend?

One is he has the authority as the apostle. That's one. So it's not, he's not stepping out of line. It's not, you know, someone who doesn't have the authority or someone who is of equal authority. So he does genuinely have the authority. So that's one reason there.

Tychicus and Apollos are the two names that we see repeatedly in the New Testament. Tychicus is often a letter carrier messenger. In other words, there was letter and written and spoken messages, rather. And Apollos, a teacher and apologist for the faith.

Why is Paul so big on words like, make every effort diligently, nothing is lacking? Is Paul getting overly intense or is there a good reason for saying things that way? Yeah. Well, because that was an importance. That was intended that they do those things. Okay. You know, help them, give them everything in those words. Okay. Why would you make a distinction between this is what needs to happen most certainly and if you have the time and inclination, do this. Let me give you an example.

Nancy and I are going to have an open house at our house, but I don't come and call people up at 6 o'clock. You haven't been over here yet. What are you doing? Are you going to show up? When? I'm going to put you down. Right? So we're not going to do that. Why? It's because if you have the time and inclination, it's great if you can come over. But he doesn't do that here. Why? Why does he put it as such an imperative?

Maybe it's Purge 14. Our people must be exhausted. Notice, nothing he has here is a suggestion. Everything is a must. This must happen, that must happen. One thing is, it is based on absolutes. Not only does he have the authority, but there's high priority. It's high priority. It isn't, you know, when I send Artemis and Tychicus to you, Come to me at Nicopolis if you can pull it off, if it's convenient. It's of high priority that they do so.

Yes. Okay, yeah. You know, I think what happens is in the course of our lives, we have to ultimately decide what's priority, don't we? What's priority? And we have to make choices based on what's important. And Paul is giving instruction not only based on his apostolic authority, but on understanding what's important. What is priority?

Let me read the last one and then we'll have to call it quits here. I'll leave it to you to follow up on it. It's a good one because it has to do with sorting out phileo and agape love. Titus 3.15, all who are with me greet you. Greet those who love, that's the Greek phileo love, sentiment and affection. Love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

So I'll let you sort through that. We've got some both explanation and some questions there. And we'll let you work it out between you and the Lord. Okay? All right, let's pray. We've finished our study of these three books. Lord, we do thank you for your word.

We thank you for these instructions to Timothy and to Titus, how insightful they are, how they emphasize certain things and bring those important points home. And just as we've seen this morning, pray that we would discern between the urgent and the important. Pray that we would not be taking as nagging, but taking as a good thing to be reminded of these critical and important truths. And we pray, Lord, that we might have the perspective that has been emphasized here twice in these last two chapters, and that is you have our past covered, you've got our present covered, and you have our future covered forever because you love us. We thank you in Jesus name, Amen.