Let's turn now to Paul's letter to Titus.
The subject of Paul's letter to Titus is
again the church and its elders.
All these three letters, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy
and Titus, relate to the church and its
leadership.
And the first thing he seeks to do
is establish order in the church and get,
appoint elders to conduct the church in a
proper way.
And then in chapter 2, he speaks about
sound doctrine.
In chapter 3, he speaks about doing good
works.
So you first have appointing elders, rebuking false
teachers in chapter 1, teaching sound doctrine in
chapter 2, and doing good works that come
out of that sound doctrine which he emphasizes
in chapter 3.
Now it's very interesting to notice that some
of Paul's closest co-workers were not Jews.
Paul himself was a very strong Jew, a
Pharisee of the Pharisees.
But the one who was his constant traveling
companion was a Greek doctor called Luke, who
wrote Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
And we see Paul worked so closely with
Luke.
And the other person he worked closely with
was Timothy.
Timothy was also half Greek, his father was
Greek.
And Titus was also a Greek.
And so there, in these people traveling together,
Paul and Timothy and Titus and Luke, was
a demonstration of this wonderful gospel of the
New Covenant that people from different nationalities could
work together without any problem.
Not only without any problem, Paul's closest co
-worker was someone who belonged to another nationality.
If you find you can work only with
Indian people, something is wrong.
And if you're a Malayalee and you can
work only with Malayalees, you haven't understood the
gospel.
Or you're a Tamilian and you can work
only with Tamilians, you haven't understood the gospel.
The gospel made Paul work not only with
people of another language, but another completely different
nationality.
That means it doesn't make a difference to
me whether a person is Chinese or African
or Russian or South American or North American.
Everything is, there's no, nothing that hinders our
working together because of nationality.
Temperament can be different, nationality can be different,
language can be different.
And yet some of these people may be
my closest co-workers.
And I found this to be true.
People are completely different, community, language, I can
work together with.
Doesn't matter where they are and that's how
it should be with all of us.
And we must get out of these sectarian,
narrow, communal ways of thinking that we have
where we feel more comfortable with people just
of our own nationality.
We have to say that such people have
not seen the body of Christ.
If you despise people of another nationality, if
you despise people of a certain group, maybe
there are certain national traits in certain people.
There's no doubt about it.
But when a person comes to Christ and
he's filled with the Holy Spirit, he's delivered
from those national traits.
There are certain habits in a certain community,
we know that.
Certain communities act in a certain way.
But when a person comes to Christ, he
comes out of all that.
We don't deny some of these national traits
or communities.
For example, here Paul tells Titus in verse
12.
Titus was in an island of Crete.
Crete is in the Mediterranean Sea.
And Paul tells Titus, one of the Cretan
prophets, that means one of their own religious
preachers, not Christian, said about themselves, Cretans are
liars.
Cretans are evil.
They're like beasts.
Cretans are lazy.
And Cretans are gluttons.
These are Cretans.
So, people of a certain nationality may have
certain traits.
And he says their own people say they
are like that.
But when such a Cretan comes to Christ,
and he's filled with the Holy Spirit, he
won't be a liar.
He won't be evil.
He won't behave like a beast.
He won't be lazy and he won't be
a glutton.
So don't judge a person according to his
nationality.
Because you've seen 99% of people of
that nationality or that community behave like that.
You know, we have so many prejudices against
people of different communities.
And that hinders us from becoming spiritually rich.
I must give you my testimony that God
has made me spiritually immensely rich.
By fellowship with Chinese people, African people, people
of different parts of India, American people, various
types of people have made me spiritually rich.
And my heart has been opened to godly
people in all these communities and all these
nations.
Godliness is not found in any one nation.
And just because you find that people of
a particular country are very arrogant.
Okay, that may be true.
I've seen certain people from certain countries, particularly
wealthy countries, they are very arrogant.
But the Christians in that country, I've seen
some very, very humble people.
So the Cretans may be liars, but the
Christians in Crete are not liars.
And people of this community, for example, may
be very worldly and they have no family
values.
But a Christian who comes out of that
may not be like that.
So don't judge a Christian by what community
he comes from.
He's part of a new creation.
That's very important.
That's why Paul had no problem having as
his closest co-workers people of a completely
different nationality.
He didn't have any preference for his own
nationality.
And I say this to you.
When you seek to find a co-worker
and you have a preference for a fellow
Malayali or a fellow Tamilian or a fellow
Hindi-speaking person from your particular state, you
may not find the will of God.
You may completely miss the will of God
because you said, Lord, I'm willing to do
your will, but it must be someone from
my community.
God says, forget it.
I'm not going to show you my will.
You just find somebody yourself and you will
miss the will of God all your life.
That's happened because they've got a rut in
their mind.
It must be somebody from my community who
speaks my language.
I tell you, you'll miss the will of
God.
God will not show you who your co
-worker should be because his plan for you
may be for you to work with somebody
from another nationality, from another country, from another
part of India.
And you're not willing for that.
I just mentioned that in passing.
I believe there's a lot of things that
need to be broken down in us before
we can really be integrated and work together
in the body of Christ.
Without any distinction of race, intelligence, if I
say I must only work with people of
the same intellectual level as me, God will
say, forget it.
Go and find somebody like that.
I'm not going to guide you.
He won't say it like that, but you
won't get any guidance.
And you'll find somebody and you'll say, this
is the one whom God led me to.
You think it is, but it's not God.
You chose him yourself.
You chose him because he was at the
same intellectual level.
You chose him because he was the same
community.
You chose him because he's the same temperament.
Well, that may be okay in marriage, but
in co-working together for God's work, we
need to be open to anyone whom God
leads who may be completely different nationality, language,
culture, everything.
Intellectual level.
Okay.
Now, in the first part of this letter,
he says, I want to, I'm speaking here
as a bondservant of Christ for the faith
of those chosen of God and the knowledge
of the truth which is according to godliness.
Notice as Paul writes these letters towards the
end of his life, his tremendous emphasis on
godliness.
Think of these three last three letters of
Paul's, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.
How much does he speak in these letters
about speaking in tongues?
Zero.
How much does he talk in these letters
about healing, physical healing?
Zero.
How much does he speak in these letters
about prosperity?
Zero.
You take the apostle John at the end
of his life.
He wrote 1 John.
How much does he speak in 1 John
about speaking in tongues?
Zero.
How much does he speak about physical healing?
Zero.
How much does he speak about prosperity?
Zero.
See, these people, when they came to the
end of their lives, they concentrated on the
things which are absolutely most important.
What does John speak about?
Love, obedience.
What does Paul speak about?
Godliness.
The secret of godliness in 1 Timothy 3.
The truth according to godliness, Titus 1.
If a man wants to be a vessel,
sanctified, he must cleanse himself.
Godliness.
Don't have 2 Timothy 3.5. Don't have
just the form of godliness, but the reality
of godliness.
I think it's true that if you look
up a concordance, I didn't have time to
look it up myself.
But look where Paul uses the word godliness.
And you'll find he uses it much more
in these last three letters.
He hardly ever uses that word in the
earlier letters.
He has come to realize at the end
of his life, he also grew up to
maturity.
Yeah, we have spoken about many, many things
in our earlier life, about the coming of
the Lord, and about speaking in tongues, and
casting out demons, and healing, and all those
things.
But I say, I have come to see,
he says, at the end of my life,
the thing I need to stress is godliness.
And you know you've come to maturity when
you realize that is what you have to
stress in your ministry.
That is the man I would like to
listen to.
A man who is mature, and who has
seen what Paul and John saw at the
end of their life, that godliness is what
builds the church of Jesus Christ today.
Not tongues and healing and prosperity.
We are not against those things, but those
are not the things we stress.
So today, in a world where people are
preaching so many things, if you want discernment,
if you want to know who is mature,
look at the example of the apostles, and
you will see for yourself, the truth which
is in line with godliness.
There is a lot of other truth.
There are truths like 2 plus 2 is
4.
There are also many truths like that, about
the earth going around the sun, and those
are also truths, but I'm now talking about
the truth in line with godliness.
He says that's the thing that matters, and
God has made me an apostle for that.
And he says, I'm writing to you Titus,
and I left you in Crete, verse 5,
so that you can set in order the
things that are wrong, and appoint elders in
every city.
In every church, Paul was concerned towards the
end of his life, there must be elders.
Always plural.
Never one single pastor.
He never says appoint a pastor in that
church, and appoint a pastor in that church.
Always elders.
People who are leading the church.
Two, at least in a church.
So that it's not a one man show.
Elders means the one who is most spiritually
mature.
Not the one who is oldest in age.
The one who is spiritually an elder.
Who can lead a church?
The two people who are most spiritually mature,
whether they are full time workers or secular
workers, the two who are most spiritually mature
in a church, are the elders of that
church.
But what do we see very often today?
Some young man who's got no maturity, just
because he's got a degree from a bible
school, gets up and becomes a pastor, and
there are many people sitting there in his
church, who are far more mature than him.
That's not the church of Jesus Christ.
That's an organization.
In the church of Jesus Christ, elders means
those who are the most mature people in
that church, who know God best.
They are the ones who are supposed to
lead that church.
That's the way God wanted it.
But a lot of things in today's Christendom
are not the way God wants it.
Okay.
It's not just a man who can preach
well, let me say.
It's the man who is most mature.
So if you want to lead a church,
you've got to grow to maturity.
It's very important.
Evangelism, anybody can do.
Even a 15-year-old can do evangelism.
Okay.
And the qualifications of an elder are listed
here in verse 6 to 9.
We saw that in Timothy 2.
He must have a good testimony.
Verse 6.
He must be the husband of one wife,
and having children at home who believe.
Not accused of dissipation or rebellion.
Because if a man's children are rebellious, he'll
have a church which is rebellious.
If he can't control his house, how can
he control the church of God?
See, so much emphasis on the way a
man brings up his children.
I respect a servant of God when I
see his children.
Even when they are small.
I've seen children of many, many believers in
our church.
And I've seen some children are just perpetually
misbehaving.
They can't sit quiet in the church meeting.
And there are others who are always well
-behaved.
It's got nothing to do with the children.
It's got to do with their parents.
Some parents are just so lax and indisciplined,
they let their children do anything.
Such people are totally unfit to have any
responsibility in the church of God.
A man who is an elder in a
church must have disciplined children.
His children must learn to sit quietly in
the meeting even when they are small.
Otherwise, how in the world can he be
an elder in a church?
A man whose children are always running around.
And I've seen churches where mostly the elder's
children only run around the most.
And I say, what is that man being
an elder?
Just getting up there and preaching?
He should resign and hand over his eldership
to somebody else who can control his children.
I believe that.
That's what God's word says.
If a man cannot control his children, how
in the world is he going to control
such a big church?
He can preach to them.
But he's preached to his children and it
hasn't succeeded.
How will it succeed when he preaches to
the church?
He must have his children under control.
And when you folks, those of you who
are married, if you want to have any
responsibility in the church, make sure you can,
first of all, practice in your home and
control your children before you seek to control
the church.
If they cannot respect you, you can't expect
to earn the respect of the church.
He must be not one who is quick
-tempered and angry.
You know, one who is ready for a
fight.
Such a person is not fit for an
elder.
No.
People are always ready for a fight.
They must join some team of gundas or
something like that.
They're not fit to be elders in churches.
Elders in churches are people who don't want
to fight with anyone.
Who are peaceful.
And they must not be interested in money.
Oh, so important.
They must have no interest in gaining money
from people visiting the rich people's homes.
They must be hospitable.
Their home must be open to people who
can come for help.
They must love what is good, sensible, righteous,
devout, self-controlled.
And an elder must be a man, verse
9, who holds fast to the faithful word
of God in accordance with the teaching so
that he can exhort with hygienic doctrine.
Sound doctrine is a word that comes frequently
in Timothy and in Titus.
Sound means hygienic.
It's from the Greek word from which we
get the English word hygienic.
Hygienic doctrine.
You know what hygiene is?
Like in a hospital where they are keeping
everything clean.
They wipe the floor frequently and clear it
of germs.
You're happy to be in such a hospital.
A church is like a hospital where we
treat sick people, spiritually sick people.
And the church must be a hygienic place.
How many of you would like to go
to a dirty hospital?
A lot of churches are like that.
Like government hospitals where you get sicknesses which
you never had when you went there.
And some churches are like that.
Some new believer comes in and he develops
some habits there which he never had when
he was outside.
Bad habits.
What sort of hospital is that?
Because they don't have hygienic teaching, they don't
have hygienic standards in that church.
So he speaks about hygienic doctrine.
Doctrine that leads to godliness.
If you want to build a church that
pleases God, preach godliness.
And he says, because there are many rebellious
men and their mouths must be silenced.
Verse 10 and 11.
Empty talkers.
Don't let an empty talker get up and
bore everybody in your church.
Sometimes I've had somebody get up and speak
and he just goes on and on and
he's boring.
And I say, brother, can you finish in
one more minute, please?
Because we've got to hear some other people
also.
And if he doesn't finish in one minute,
I get up and I put my arm
around him.
And I say, brother, we heard you, we
appreciate what you said, but I think you
should sit down now.
Let's hear somebody else.
You've got to silence these empty talkers.
Not in a rude way, but we have
a responsibility to make sure that people who've
got nothing to say don't get up and
say that in the pulpit.
Because there are so many people sitting there
spending one hour of their precious time.
Don't waste their time.
Empty talkers.
Very, very important that we don't let such
people.
We've got to silence them, it says in
verse 11.
Because sometimes they are also deceivers.
They upset whole families and the only thing
they are interested in, verse 11, is money.
If you have a preacher come to your
church and you find that the only thing
he's interested in is money, just send him
packing off as soon as possible.
That's the best thing you can do for
him.
That'll be his salvation and the salvation of
your church also.
The only thing they are interested in, verse
11, is your money, it says.
That's how the Living Bible paraphrases it.
The last part of verse 11.
They teach and the only thing they are
interested in is money.
They are not interested in building up people
to a godly life.
Do you see how much, as we have
studied through the New Testament, how much the
Bible speaks about money?
It's a very important factor.
Jesus spoke about it.
The Paul spoke about it.
He warned Timothy about it.
It's a very, very important factor and if
you are a true servant of God, you
will speak about it frequently and warn people
about it.
I find very little of preaching about it
today because most preachers are not faithful with
money themselves.
And that's why they can't speak about it
and expose the sin that there is in
Christendom today in this area.
And he says, you see, some of these
cretins are like this and so that testimony
is true.
Therefore, reprove them so that they can become
sound in the faith, verse 10, verse 13.
And then I want to read to you
this verse.
In the midst of this, you know, this
cretin society, imagine what to be a light
in a cretin society was like.
You are surrounded by liars and gluttons and
evil people and animal-like people and lazy
people.
And in the midst of that darkness, the
church has to shine.
And in our society, it may not be
these things.
It may be these things.
It may be other things.
The very thing that our society specializes in,
the church must be different in every area.
It must be different from the society around
us.
If the society around us, no husband helps
his wife in the work in the home,
then in the church we must be different.
We husbands must help our wives at home.
In Indian society, a husband never changes the
baby's napkins.
That's always the wife's job.
He never goes to the toilet and washes
the baby's bottom.
That's the wife's job.
Why?
Who produced that child?
Did the wife produce it herself?
Why doesn't the husband give the baby a
bath once in a while?
Why does he have to always leave it
to the wife to do that?
That's Indian society, but that's not Christianity.
In Christianity, husband and wife are co-workers.
They are co-workers in producing the children.
They are co-workers in bringing up those
children.
Definitely.
That's how it must be.
We are to be different from the society
around us and be a light.
We are not to become slaves of the
ungodly standards of the society around us.
Further, in Titus 1.15, it speaks about
if you are pure, all things are pure
to you.
But if you are defiled, you'll find that
nothing is pure.
Everything is defiled to you.
That means some people see dirty things everywhere.
Their mind is like that.
Always, it's something dirty.
Even in something good they see, they'll think
of something dirty in connection with that.
That's how our minds have been corrupted by
the devil.
Now we've got to allow the Holy Spirit
to purify our minds that we don't always
see something dirty when there's nothing dirty there.
And that we don't always put a bad
motive to everything we see.
See, there's a verse in Proverbs which says,
I'm not sure whether it's chapter 27 or
it's one of those chapters, where it says,
As in water, face answers to face, so
the heart of man to man.
And the meaning of that verse is, if
you do everything with the wrong motive, when
you see somebody doing something, you'll always say
he's also doing it with the wrong motive.
If you preach only for making money, when
you see somebody else preaching, you'll say he's
also preaching to make money.
Because you're seeing in his heart a reflection
of your heart.
But he's not like that.
He may not be impure like you.
But you see your impurity reflected in him,
even though he's not like that.
If you're pure, you'll find that you don't
go around judging people like that.
You will say, yeah, he may be doing
it with a good motive.
I'll never forget the story I heard of
a very godly man who belonged to a
society of brothers who decided to live in
great poverty many centuries ago, lived a very
simple life to follow Jesus.
And they had taken some type of decision
that we will live very simply and be
witnesses for Jesus.
And one day, this man, he saw one
of his brothers dressed in a very good
dress.
And all the other brothers in a simple
dress.
And he looked at his brother with this
very expensive dress.
And he said to himself, perhaps under that
good dress, he's got a humbler heart than
I have under this simple dress.
That's a godly man.
He does not judge that man by his
dress.
Now most people would look at that and
say, that fellow must be arrogant.
Look at the way he dresses.
To those whose minds are corrupt, they see
corruption everywhere.
Because they see their own heart reflected in
that person.
He's pure.
But when a man's mind is pure, he
thinks good thoughts.
He puts a good motive behind everything.
If you're the type of person who always
puts a bad motive behind everything, it's because
you've got some corruption within yourself.
You've got to cleanse yourself.
A godly man doesn't go around attributing bad
motives to everything he sees.
To the pure, all things are pure.
You remember when we saw Isaiah chapter 6.
Isaiah saw the seraphs.
And one of the things the seraphs said,
holy, holy, holy.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
Is it true?
You look at the whole earth and you
say the whole earth is full of corruption.
Everybody's a crook.
The angels looked at the same earth and
said the whole earth is full of his
glory.
How is it the angels got a different
opinion from you?
Because their minds are pure and yours is
filthy.
They saw the glory of God in so
many things.
Look at the beauty of creation and look
at so many wonderful things.
Look at some wonderful believers here and there.
But a corrupt man, he can only see
filth everywhere.
To the pure, all things are pure.
To the defiled, everything is impure.
They say they know God, but they deny
him by being detestable and disobedient.
Chapter 2.
He speaks about doctrine.
Hygienic doctrine.
Verse 1.
And what is hygienic doctrine?
And when you read about all this hygienic
doctrine he's speaking about, he's not just talking
about forgiveness, justification, baptism in the Holy Spirit,
water baptism, the coming of the Lord, the
church, eldership.
This is not what he's talking about.
He's talking about practical life.
He says, please teach other people hygienic doctrine.
And there are different groups of people here.
Older men.
There are older men in the church.
Teach them to be dignified, sensible, sound in
the faith, deeply loving and in perseverance.
Older people should be full of love for
younger people.
If a man is older and he doesn't
love and he's not dignified, I say something's
wrong with him.
You should be more loving when you're older
than when you're younger.
Older women must also be reverent in their
behavior.
They must not be malicious gossips.
They must not be drunkards.
And they must teach what is good.
Can older sisters be teachers?
Sure.
It says here, they must teach.
But whom must they teach?
They must teach, verse 4, the younger sisters.
And what must they teach?
They must teach the younger sisters how to
love their husbands.
And they must teach their younger sisters how
to love their children.
And they must teach the younger sisters how
to be sensible.
And they must teach the younger sisters, verse
5, how to be pure.
They must teach the younger sisters how to
be workers at home.
Primarily, not neglect the home and go working
in some office and neglect their children.
They must teach them how to work at
home first.
and they must teach them how to be
kind, they must teach them how to be
subject to their own husbands so that the
word of God is not dishonored.
What a lot of things older sisters can
teach.
Why do you have to go teaching the
Bible before you teach these things?
These are the things an older sister should
teach younger sisters.
How can they teach such things to the
younger sisters if they have done it themselves?
This is hygienic doctrine.
Practical Christianity is hygienic doctrine.
Please remember that.
It relates to life, it relates to love,
it relates to being sensible, it relates to
home life, it relates to bringing up children,
it relates to loving your husband, loving your
children, it relates to being a worker at
home, as women are supposed to be primarily.
It's a sad thing, let me say today,
that many, many women have neglected their home
and have started going to work to make
money, to raise their standard of living and
neglect their children.
And that's how some of those children become
godless.
Now, I'm not preaching what I did not
practice.
I married a medical doctor 32 years ago.
She has never made one rupee in her
life.
We have only served poor people with that
medical facility.
She never went to work because we had
four children.
And we decided, medical doctor or no medical
doctor, children are more important.
Making money is not the important thing.
And today, after 32 years, with all my
four children born again, baptized and living for
the Lord, I don't have any regret that
my wife and I made that decision way
back when our first son was born.
And we made that decision when I was
going through tremendous financial difficulty.
I said, I am not going to make
my wife work and live off her income.
We live simply.
We live in a small little room.
We lived in a small little room for
a number of years.
That's okay.
But we want to bring up our children
for the Lord.
And I tell you this because today there
is another tendency in the world.
They want to raise their standard of living
and neglect their children.
I say, your children are far more important
than your standard of living.
Please remember that.
Years later, you'll have no regret if you
have sacrificed something, maybe millions of rupees that
you could have earned, but you brought up
your children in godly ways.
I say to all mothers and wives, don't
ever neglect your children like it says here.
Be a worker at home first, verse 5.
And if your children have grown up and
they're not at home, then you can go
and work.
That's okay.
I'm not saying you shouldn't.
But primarily your responsibility is at home.
And if you're an older sister, you must
be able to teach a younger sister how
to be a worker at home.
That's God's way.
Now there may be some exceptions where a
husband is an invalid or something like that,
where a woman has to go to work.
There are exceptions, but I'm talking about the
general rule.
Teach the young men to be sensible.
This is sound doctrine.
In everything, you yourself, you're a young man,
Titus.
Show yourself as an example of good deeds
with purity and doctrine, dignified, sound in speech,
in order that the enemy can never say
anything to put us to shame.
That's the principle.
The devil should not be able to point
to your home and to God and say,
God, look at that Christian worker.
Look at what his children are doing.
Look at that mother running around making money
and look at what's happened.
Look at the way our children are behaving
at home and in the church.
Look how rebellious they are.
They don't have any respect for their parents
because the mother is busy making money.
And the devil points that out to God
and what does God say?
Well, God says, I can't say anything about
that family, but look at that other family.
That's different.
Don't let the enemy have anything to say
that'll put you to shame.
Your children are a reflection of your values.
Remember that.
You can fool everybody in the world that
you're a spiritual man, but you can't fool
your children.
They know everything.
Okay.
They know what you live for.
And teach born slaves to be subject to
their masters in everything.
That is, people who work in offices.
Most people in our churches are people working
in a factory or an office.
Paul tells Titus, teach them how to conduct
themselves with their bosses in their office.
They must be well-pleasing to them.
They must not argue with their bosses.
How many preachers are there who tell people,
don't argue with your boss in your office
or factory?
When a Christian argues with his boss in
his office or factory, he's a disgrace to
the name of Jesus Christ.
I'm not saying he should not stand up
for his convictions when he's asked to do
something wrong.
I remember when I was working and I
had to stand up sometimes to my senior
officers and say, I'm sorry sir, I'm a
Christian and that's against my conscience to do
that.
So please forgive me, excuse me, I can't
do it.
That's different.
But to argue about something, no.
Not argumentative.
And listen to this.
Not pilfering.
Verse 10.
Do you know the difference between pilfering and
stealing?
Stealing is, if you go to work in
your office and you steal the tape recorder
from the office and take it home.
That's stealing.
Pilfering is where you take a sheet of
paper, just one sheet of paper, to write
your private letter.
You take a ball pen from the office.
That's not stealing, that's pilfering.
Little things which you say, oh, I have
plenty of them, we can take it.
Did they buy paper for you to write
letters?
No.
It's in these small, small things that you
find whether a man is godly or not.
If you're faithful in little things, you'll be
faithful in much.
And if you have done that in the
past in some office, you must calculate the
approximate cost of that and give the money
back.
That's true Christianity.
That's what Zacchaeus did.
And I believe I've done that.
I've kept my conscience clear.
No office in the world will ever say
I took a paper or a pen or
a pencil or a rubber from them.
Nothing.
If I did, I paid back.
No pilfering.
This is Christianity.
Showing all good faith.
Why?
Because this is how you adorn the doctrine.
Have you seen ladies who want to adorn
themselves?
Why don't Christians adorn the doctrine they preach
with a godly life?
This is Christianity.
Because the grace of God has come teaching
us, verse 12, to deny ungodliness, worldly desires,
and to live sensibly, righteously, godly in this
present age.
Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing
of the glory of our great God and
Savior, this speaks about what the Lord has
done for us in the past.
Brought salvation.
What He's doing for us in present, verse
12.
We live a life denying ungodliness.
And what we look forward in the future,
verse 13.
11, 12, and 13 are past, present, and
future.
Christ is coming.
Why did Christ give Himself for us?
Verse 14.
That He might purify for Himself a people
who are zealous to do good works.
If you are converted and saved by Christ,
you must be a person who is very
eager to do what is good.
That is God's will for you.
So this is sound doctrine.
This is hygienic doctrine.
It's not just a question of justification and
sanctification and baptism in the Holy Spirit.
All these things are sound doctrine.
Practical Christian life is sound hygienic doctrine.
A doctrine that does not lead to a
godly life is not hygienic doctrine.
It's the doctrine of the slums.
It's the doctrine of that filthy hospital that
doesn't sterilize its equipment, that doesn't clean its
floors.
It's the doctrine of that filthy church that
does not lead people to godliness.
Hygienic doctrine is what we need in the
church.
Paul tells Titus, speak these things, exhort these
things, reprove people with all authority.
You know what is the great need in
Christian pulpits these days?
In two words I will say, godly authority.
Godly authority.
That is what is needed in Christian homes
and Christian churches today.
Be one with that type of godly authority.
And like it says here, let no one
disregard you.
Chapter 3.
He goes on to speak about how we
are to live in the world, being subject
to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to
be ready for every good deed.
And here is this verse which I have
encouraged almost everybody in our church to hang
up in their dining rooms and sitting rooms.
Speak evil of no one.
Verse 2.
Speak evil of no one.
Have you seen these notices sometimes in some
offices you see, thank you for not smoking.
If you come to my house you will
see a notice, thank you for not gossiping.
There is such a lot of gossiping that
goes on in Christian homes.
So much they sit together and talk about
all types of people.
It is worse than smoking.
You can smoke brother, but please don't gossip.
Do you believe that?
You'd stop somebody from smoking in your room,
sitting room.
Oh brother, can you please put out your
cigarette?
Why don't you do the same thing when
a fellow starts to gossip?
You think smoking is worse?
Smoking is 10,000 times better than gossiping.
Any day.
Speak evil of no one.
Don't be contentious.
Be gentle.
Show consideration for all men.
Because once upon a time we were also
foolish.
What are you speaking evil of that person?
You were also like him once upon a
time.
God's grace has saved you from that.
Maybe you are a better person today.
But that's God's grace.
We were also foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, spending
our life in malice and envy, hating other
people and hated ourselves.
But the kindness of God redeemed us.
He saved us.
Not on the basis of any good works.
You see this is Paul's emphasis even at
the end of his life.
He said it in Ephesians.
He says it here.
God did not save us on the basis
of any good thing we ever did.
He loved us and He saved us.
Not because of our righteousness but according to
His mercy.
Washed us.
Renewed us by the Holy Spirit.
This is the secret of all Christian life.
The Holy Spirit which He poured out upon
us.
Whom He poured out upon us through Jesus
Christ.
Throughout Paul's ministry and all his writing he
places an emphasis on the Holy Spirit.
Justified by His grace and made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life.
And he says in verse 8.
Speak these things confidently.
Confidently.
Whenever you preach.
Verse 8.
Speak confidently.
I remember hearing what an actor once said.
A very famous actor.
He said once to a preacher.
He said the difference between us actors and
you preachers is this.
We talk about when we are acting.
We talk about unreal things as if they
are real.
But you preachers.
You talk in such a sluggish way about
real things as if they are unreal.
That's really true.
I have heard so many preachers in my
life.
They don't have a fire about them.
They don't have a zeal about them.
There is no earnestness.
They are talking about eternal things.
About eternal life and eternal death.
About hell where people can burn forever.
They speak in such a sleepy sluggish way.
Who is going to believe them?
There must be confidence in what you speak.
They speak from the Bible as if they
themselves are not sure whether this is really
God's word or not.
Don't ever be a preacher like that.
If you are not sure brother.
Don't speak.
Go and do business or go and do
something else.
If you are not sure this is the
word of God.
If you are not sure that this is
inspired by God.
Please don't disgrace and bring confusion into the
church by opening your mouth.
Keep your mouth shut and go and do
something else.
If you speak God's word, speak it confidently.
Because you believe it is what God has
spoken.
These are things that concern eternity, eternal life,
eternal death, heaven and hell.
I believe it with all my heart.
And that's why I speak confidently.
I preached confidently 40 years ago.
And I preach more confidently today.
Because I am more convinced of the reality
of it.
I have proved the promises in this book.
And I found them to be true.
I have confidence.
This is not some fairytale somebody has invented.
It's a great tragedy in Christendom.
We don't have people who speak confidently.
First they don't know what God's word says.
And then they speak as if they are
not sure whether this is God's word or
not.
And don't get into foolish controversies.
Verse 9.
In strifes and disputes.
So much of emphasis Paul says at the
end of his life about controversies, strifes, disputes.
Don't get involved in all these things.
If you find a factious, argumentative type of
man.
Give him a warning first.
Brother please don't.
Let's not talk about this.
Give him a second warning.
After that just reject him.
Because such a man is self condemned.
You know once a man came to my
house.
And he began to argue about some doctrine.
Some silly small doctrine that was a big
thing for him.
It has nothing to do with the central
things of the Christian life.
I said brother, see I don't want to
talk about that.
I've got a different conviction.
You've got a different conviction.
Let's talk about Jesus.
Let's talk about his word, his work.
And if you promise not to talk about
this.
We can sit and talk.
He was some stranger.
And then after 2-3 minutes again he
would go back to that subject.
Well I gave him a second warning.
Like it says here.
And I said brother if you're going to
go back to this.
I'm sorry I'll have to ask you to
leave.
And so he.
Okay we talked about the Lord for 2
-3 minutes.
And back again to his favorite topic.
And his topic was by the way.
You must not take medicine when you're sick.
That's what he was trying to convince me
about.
I said brother if you want don't take
medicine.
I'm not trying to convince you.
But if I'm sick I like to take
medicine.
Because I want to be healthy.
This is not a major issue for me.
And finally I had to say brother you
come back to this subject again.
I've got many other things to do.
Please excuse me.
I let him to the door.
Open the door and said goodbye.
God bless you.
But then he started writing letters to me.
Now I know his handwriting.
As before I open the letter I tear
it up.
I have no time for these type of
discussions and arguments about these things.
Which are not central to godliness.
I don't want to waste my time in
the church.
Leading people to all these silly little crazy
things.
That some people have got in their head.
Okay.
That's the letter of Paul to Titus.
Titus.
Now we look at Paul's letter to Philemon.
A very brief letter.
One chapter.
Just 25 verses.
This is Paul's letter to a rich man.
Philemon.
Aphia.
Verse 2.
Is probably his wife.
Archippus.
Whom we considered in Colossians 4.17. Is
probably his son.
And Philemon.
I don't know.
Maybe he was in Colossae.
And he was probably an elder of a
church.
And the church was meeting in his house.
And there are some wonderful things we see
here.
First of all he says.
Grace to you.
And I thank my god always for you.
I pray for you regularly.
See.
Paul had to tell him to do some
things now.
And it's a great help when a man
knows that you are praying for him.
You love him.
See we don't pray for people we don't
love.
If you look at the list of people
you pray for.
All of them are people you love.
And a lot of other people we don't
love so much.
That's why we don't pray for them.
Paul prayed for Philemon.
He loved him.
And when he said that Philemon was so
delighted.
That this great apostle Paul found time to
pray for him.
And that softened Philemon's heart to receive what
Paul had to say.
Now what Paul had to say was.
He thanks him for all the love and
faith he has.
He says I praise the Lord for what
God has done in your life.
And I've had a lot of joy and
comfort in your love.
Verse 7.
He's not flattering.
Paul never flattered.
He wasn't buttering him because he wanted a
favor from him.
He was telling the absolute truth.
Philemon was a godly man.
And so many poor believers had come to
his home.
And he'd been very hospitable to them.
He was a rich believer.
An elder in a church that met in
his large house.
And so many saints have been refreshed.
And so he says in verse 8.
Even though I have enough confidence in Christ
to order you to do something.
I'm not going to order you.
I'm going to appeal to you.
I'm now, verse 9, an old man he
says.
And I'm a prisoner.
He wrote this from prison.
I'm an old man, Paul the aged.
And I'm a prisoner.
You owe your life to me.
You know, you were saved through me.
And I could order you to do something.
But I will not order you.
I beg you.
See the graciousness of the servant of God,
the Apostle Paul.
A wonderful example for us.
That when we speak to people who are
converted through our ministry.
Who respect us so highly.
That they will do anything for us.
I know people like that in this country.
Who will do anything for me.
They'll even lay down their life for me.
And if I order them to do something.
I know they'll do it.
But I'll never order them.
I will beseech them.
That's the true servant of God.
He never takes advantage of his authority.
A very good example for all of us
to follow.
When we go somewhere and people are blessed
through our ministry.
And when they are blessed.
They are willing to do anything.
Don't take advantage of their willingness to do
anything.
Be gracious.
And what does he want to tell them?
What does he want to tell Philemon?
He says, you know there is a man
called Onesimus.
Who is your slave.
And he got upset or something happened.
And he ran away from your house.
And he ran away and he came here.
To Rome.
And in God's sovereignty.
He came in touch with me.
And I led him to the Lord.
And he is born again now.
Now I know.
According to the laws.
If a slave runs away.
You got every right to kill him.
You got every right to do what you
like with him.
Because slaves had no rights in those days.
The government was on the side of the
masters.
They were not servants who got to pay.
Slaves means they are bought like you buy
furniture.
If they ran away they had every right
to be killed.
And he says.
But now I am asking you for this
favor.
When Paul asked for a favor.
He is asking nothing for himself.
He is asking for somebody else.
He would never ask a favor for himself.
He is really a godly man.
He wants a favor.
And when he is saying all this.
You think he is going to ask for
something for himself.
No.
He is asking for somebody else.
And he says.
When Onesimus comes back.
He is not going to come back as
a slave.
Verse 16.
He is going to come back as a
brother.
He is saved now.
Once upon a time he was just a
slave in your house.
Now he is a brother.
And maybe.
He says.
Maybe God used his running away from you.
Verse 15.
So that he can come back as a
brother to you.
And especially beloved brother to me.
How much more to you.
A brother in the flesh and in the
Lord.
If then.
Verse 17.
You regard me as a partner in the
gospel.
Please accept him.
Just like you would accept me.
You know.
This reminds us of how Jesus is speaking
to the father.
You know.
Jesus could say something like this to the
father.
This child of yours ran away from your
house.
Lived in sin.
Lived a godless life.
And I found him.
And I brought him back father.
Please accept him.
And accept him.
As you would accept me.
That's how we are accepted by Jesus.
By the father.
As he accepts Jesus.
Paul has got that same spirit.
He says.
How should you receive Onesimus?
Supposing you see me coming to your house
Philemon.
How will you receive me?
Please receive Onesimus like that.
And look at this.
This is the spirit of Christ again.
If he has wronged you.
If he has run away with some money
from your house.
And cheated you.
Please tell me how much it is.
Charge it to my account.
This is what Jesus said.
Charge that to my account.
This is the spirit of a godly man.
Charge it to my account.
I'll pay you whatever he owes you.
Of course.
I want to mention Philemon.
That you owe me your own self.
Your life you owe me.
But I won't mention that.
Whatever he owes you.
I'll pay it.
What an attitude.
For a man to have.
To somebody he converted.
Here's a man who got converted.
And he was in terrible debt.
And this preacher.
Instead of collecting money from him.
Tries to help him out.
Have you seen preachers like that?
And Paul was not some rich man.
Getting money from all over the place.
From the little that he earned.
With his tent making.
He said.
Onesimus.
Don't worry.
I'll help you a little bit.
With what I earn.
I can give you a little bit from
my savings.
And give it to you.
To clear your debt.
Boy.
What an example.
Think of India.
Had more servants of God like this.
Who are here to help poor people.
With the little they have.
Instead of trying to get what they can.
From poor people.
And he says.
I have confidence in your obedience.
That you will do more than what I
say.
And you also.
Please prepare me a lodging.
Because I think.
I'll be freed from my prison soon.
And I'll be able to come to you.
And he says.
All these co-workers of mine.
Are also greeting you.
Now.
What I want to say is.
Philemon.
God.
Paul did not tell Philemon.
Now.
Don't keep him as a servant.
Give him one room in your house.
No.
He was still a slave.
Paul did not carry on a crusade against
slavery.
He knew that if he carries on a
crusade against slavery.
He will not be able to build a
church.
There are some.
To carry on a crusade against slavery.
Is a good thing.
But if you carry on a crusade against
slavery.
He knew in that time.
He will not be able to build a
church.
His calling was not.
To carry on a crusade against slavery.
There are some people who are called to
do that.
Abraham Lincoln.
When he was president of the United States.
He carried on a crusade against slavery.
Okay.
Let him do that.
But Paul realized.
I have only one life.
And God has not called me to do
this good thing.
God has called me to do a better
thing.
Now.
That's a word for us today.
You can get taken up with some social
cause.
Or liberation theology.
Or something like that.
And say.
That's what we must do.
Well.
You can do that.
That's a good thing.
But you'll miss the best thing.
The best thing.
Is to save people from hell.
And to build a church of Jesus Christ.
You can have a choice.
I'm not saying this is not good.
But I'm saying you're missing the best.
And the good.
Can be the enemy of the best.
So that's what we learn in this letter.
He said.
Take him back as a slave.
And so.
When the church.
Met in that house.
He was brother Onesimus.
And brother Philemon.
After the church meeting was over.
He was Onesimus the slave.
And Philemon the master.
What a demonstration.
Of the unity in Christ.
The Lord does not come to.
Abolish all social distinctions.
He did not come to establish communism.
To make everybody equal.
Philemon and Onesimus were not equal.
That's one book that shows that.
The Holy Spirit is not a communist.
He didn't come to establish communism.
Philemon remained the rich master.
Onesimus remained the slave.
But they were one.
In the church.
As brothers.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father.
We thank you for the balance that we
get from your word.
Wonderful teaching concerning every aspect of life.
Help us to walk in the light of
it all our days.
We pray.
In Jesus name.
Amen.