SERMON: “Some Key Characteristics of a Godly Church” (Titus 3:8–11)
“Some Key Characteristics of a Godly Church” (Titus 3:8–11)
Series: “Titus:
Godly People, Godly Church,” #16 Text:
Titus
3:8–11
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date: September 1, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion: PM Service
I.
Introduction
Sometimes we really
want to find some neat story in our family history. I’ve done a deep dive on the Marksbury name,
and though the name is English, I’ve been able to track it back to before the
time of the American Revolution — our family immigrated to the colonies and
then fought the British. The line goes
back to the Douglas line in Scotland, where among the noblemen were the
marquees of Queensbury (a possible origin for the Marksbury name). One of the Douglas earls in this line was a
Presbyterian Covenanter, one of those in the seventeenth century among those
who stood up to the Church of England and bravely proclaimed that Christ is
Lord over His church, not the king of England.
Such studies can be very fascinating.
We could talk about the ethical implications of this current
fad. Do we know who we are as a people
anymore? In the diversification and
globalization of our culture, are we seeking renewed identity in these
genealogical studies? Are individuals
simply taking advantage of current technology to answer the greatest questions
of all — who am I; where do I come from; why am I here; where am I going?
Sadly, some professing Christians use these kinds of studies
to stray from the truth, just as they were in Crete. They talk about the mysterious blood lines
and fables that have no biblical bearing.
Instead of focusing on the gospel, they use and abuse the Bible to delve
into deeper, arcane studies, which amount to silly pursuits that have no
spiritual profit. Yet, they can get so
puffed up with pride that they begin gathering disciples and forming their own
sects and denominations.
A church must seek to maintain key characteristics if it is
to be a godly church. It can’t insist on
the gospel and the good works that flow from it if the fellowship does not also
avoid foolishness and discipline its members.
Therefore, the godly church must anchor itself with the gospel, avoid
foolishness, and apply church discipline.
II.
First, the godly church anchors itself with the
gospel (v. 8).
This is a trustworthy statement; and
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.
We’ll note two ways in which the church anchors itself to
the gospel. First, a godly church holds
to the trustworthy word of the gospel.
Second, a godly church works according to the gospel.
A.
First, a godly church holds to the trustworthy
word of the gospel
Paul begins by noting, “This is a trustworthy [or
‘faithful’] statement.” He’s likely talking
about the content we considered last time, particularly vv. 4–7. That section is creedal in nature, and some
have suggested it may be an ancient hymn.
What is the saying in essence, though? It’s the gospel, the message of good
news. It proclaims the goodness and
kindness of God the Father, the washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit, and all
it happens through Jesus Christ. That
means that the gospel is trinitarian, as we considered last week — all three
persons of the Godhead save you. It’s
also a monergistic message: you’re saved by God’s work, not your own. And the saying is trustworthy even though you’re
not — God saves you despite yourself.
Paul reiterated that precious and familiar message for a
reason. He expresses his desire for
Titus to “speak confidently” about it. As
the ESV has it, Titus is to “to insist” upon it.
There is always false teaching in the church which we must
beware. In 1 Timothy 1:7, Paul warns
about those “wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not
understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make
confident assertions.” Here, a good
teacher, Titus, must make confident assertions as to the gospel and the message
of Scripture in general. Those who understand the gospel, though, understand
good works, bringing us to the next point:
B.
Second, a godly church works according to the
gospel
Paul says that the reason Titus is to insist on the message
of Scripture is “so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage
in good deeds.” The gospel transforms
our hearts from dishonoring God to honoring God, from disobedience to
obedience. As the Cretans continue to
learn the truth of God’s Word, they may indeed be careful to do good
works. All believers must keep their
minds sharp, their eyes and hearts open, and pay attention so that
opportunities don’t pass by.
It's only when we have the gospel right that we can have
good works right. That’s what we see
with the two great commandments: first, love God, and second, love thy
neighbor. There are three Latin terms
that we use to describe the Christian life — orthodoxy, orthopathy, and
orthopraxy — right doctrine (orthodoxy) leads to right passions (orthopathy)
which leads to right practice (orthopraxy).
Believers ponder the truth of Scripture, worship accordingly, and then
consider good works, preparing themselves for identifying and engaging in good
works.
Paul explains, “These things are good and profitable for
men.” Of course, good works are
good! According to 2 Timothy 3:16, the
Word of God is profitable, so gospel-driven good works will benefit
others. Good works bring true spiritual
profit to the world.
Just as a quick reminder, good works are “for men” or “for
people.” They are not for God; they do
not save us. However, good works are
excellent and profitable for our neighbors, a means by which God provides for
others through us. This includes both
Christians and non-Christians, for back in v. 2, he said, “showing every
consideration for all men.”
That only comes because of what vv. 4–7 says. You cannot live out God’s grace for others in
the form of good works if you are not a recipient of God’s grace. Are you habitually mean to others, or
perpetually passive aggressive? Perhaps
you’ve never met the God of all goodness and kindness! If you do know Him, remember that you can
draw on His power and love through the Holy Spirit to live differently with
people.
Remember, though, that Paul tells Titus to insist on these
things. After this, he switches gears to
talk about factious doctrines and individuals.
The godly church cannot remain godly if certain teachings and behaviors
go unchecked. It would be like running a
hospital without keeping it sterile; eventually, people will get hurt. So,
III.
Second, the godly church avoids foolishness (v.
9).
But avoid foolish
controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they
are unprofitable and worthless.
The Greek word underlying the term “foolish” is moros. A psychologist in 1910 used it to coin the
term moron to describe someone with a mental disability, someone who is
dull-witted. American eugenicists ran
with it in their attempts to identify those who would and would not produce
quality of offspring — a dark moment in scientific history. Of course, today, people often use it to
describe someone who expresses unpopular ideas (or someone who cuts people off
in traffic). But that’s none of that is
the original intent of the word.
There are certain ideas that come, not from a mental
deficiency, but from a sinful one, creating controversy. It may be a simple idea, or it may be
complex. And Christians must avoid or
step around these potholes of foolishness that others leave in the gospel
way. There are four areas of foolishness
the church must avoid if it is to be gospel-centered: foolish controversies,
foolish genealogies, foolish dissentions, and foolish quarrels.
A.
Godly churches avoid foolish controversies.
In this postmodern age, it seems that questioning becomes a
virtue. I don’t mean asking good,
investigative questions, but stirring the pot to see what arises. Calvin says here , “Although it is necessary
to seek, in order to find, yet there is a limit to seeking, that you may
understand what is useful to be known, and, next, that you may adhere firmly to
the truth, when it has been known. Those who inquire curiously into everything,
and are never at rest, may be truly called Questionarians.”[1] This is the difference between a seeker of
truth and a dishonest skeptic. Trolls
who spend their days on fences, questioning everything, find sore backsides and
no rest in the evening.
There is, of course, sometimes more than trollish behavior
with foolish controversies. This is
sometimes someone wanting a conversation and an eventual change in some
doctrine or conviction, but he lacks the fortitude to come out and say, “We
should believe differently as a church.”
Maybe the person doesn’t even realize he’s on a trajectory of change; he
asks questions because he has theological doubts but is going about getting to
the truth in the most foolish way imaginable.
Those who trust in the gospel, love God’s truth and ask
questions based on that affection. This
is why 2 Timothy 2:23 says, “But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations,
knowing that they produce quarrels.” Those
only interested in controversy are trouble, and stirring the pot is detrimental
to godly life in the local church.
B.
Godly churches avoid foolish genealogies.
Some Early Church Fathers like Irenaeus and Tertullian
thought this might refer to Gnostic teachings.
Scripture reveals that the Son of God came straight down from
heaven. The Gnostics, on the other hand,
talked about eons, emanations coming from the original creator God and
manifesting in multiple deities before this much lower “being” known as Jesus
arrived on the scene. It isn’t godly to
get caught up in searching for secret connections and to develop secret
teachings; it would be foolish to do so.
C.
Godly churches avoid foolish contentions.
He tells them to avoid foolish “strifes,” plural. This person isn’t stirring controversy
because of theological questions. He’s
just upset about something, like the direction of a ministry, the current
membership and giving numbers, or a recent change to the church. So, he might gossip and even slander. This will result in numerous instances, as
others gossip about the gossip, and perhaps other grievances. Soon, the women’s groups are gathering for
roast pastor sessions, and there may even be secret meetings of members.
Thus, the godly church must avoid such things. You who have been transformed by the goodness
and kindness of God should not have an unhealthy craving for such things. It should have no part in our church.
D.
Godly churches avoid foolish quarrels about the
law.
We’ve already noted that theology is important, but not
foolish controversies or matters relating to the Mosaic Law. Some have suggested here that the Jewish
mystics were teaching about the importance of one’s own genealogy. The godly Christian, however, knows that his
real importance is in the family of God, not in a family of man. What’s more, legalistic applications of the
law provide no comfort among sound believers who rest in the finished work of
Christ. That’s why 1 Timothy 1 talks
about those who desire to be teachers of the law but have no idea what they
talk about.
All this amounts to heterodoxy — teachings that are
supposedly Christian, not doctrines that come from other religions. Case in point is Seventh Day Adventism, a
religion started by a man setting a date for the rapture (note: he got caught
up in finding some hidden message in Scripture and debating it). One of his followers, a self-proclaimed
prophetess named Ellen G. White, then began to teach that the only acceptable
day to worship is on Saturdays; anyone who worships on Sundays has accepted the
mark of the beast. From there came
teachings that denied the Trinity, taught that Michael the Archangel was Jesus,
that Satan bears our sins as a scapegoat, and that your diet and lifestyle
determine your salvation. This
illustrates teaching that claims to follow the Bible but got sidetracked along
the way on a number of issues.
When people come to you with some contrived understanding of
the faith, some hidden “key” to interpreting the Bible, some nuance or prophecy
to open some blessing for you, reject it.
Avoid it. Shun it. Put a road sign up for others and lead your
children to walk around it. Why? Well, in case Paul has not been clear yet, he
continues, “for they are unprofitable and worthless.”
These controversies have as much profit as idols or law
keeping — they cost more than they return.
As such, a godly church must challenge those who peddle false teaching,
as we see next.
IV.
Third,
the godly church applies church discipline (vv. 10–11).
Reject a factious
man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and
is sinning, being self-condemned.
We’ve spoken a great deal about church discipline in the
past few weeks, especially in the morning service. People don’t like church discipline because
they misapply the words of Scripture, but this is an essential aspect of a
godly church. We saw that in Matthew 18,
Jesus even talks about putting professing Christians out of the church
fellowship, which we studied a few weeks ago.
Well, these verses in Titus are a basic treatise on church
discipline. Since we’ve already talked a
bit about discipline, we won’t devote too much time here. I’m seeing just two basic points: when
exercising church discipline, we must first identify the problem and second
deal with the problem.
A.
First, we must identify problems within the
sound church.
He presents as “a factious man,” or as the ESV reads, “a
person who stirs up division.” KJV has,
“an heretick,” which makes us think more centrally of theological error; one
writer notes, “A heretic is one
therefore who refuses to accept true doctrine as it is revealed in the Bible,
and prefers to choose for himself what he is to believe.”[2] Yet,
this applies to the other kinds of strife or factious behavior a person
may create, and Galatians 5:20 includes creating division as a work of the
flesh. It can’t go unnoticed forever.
This person, having chosen his own beliefs, tries to create
division by calling people to his way of thinking. He walks around asking people, “Do you like
it this way? Wouldn’t you prefer if
things were run in a different way, or if teaching emphasized this or that?” Perhaps the division is more localized; a man
or a woman creating strife with a marriage.
Either way, it appears we’re dealing with a subversive.
Identification means asking questions: Are we dealing with a
wolf dressed as sheep, or with a mean sheep?
We don’t know what is in that individual’s heart, and we may never
know. So, in the name of Christian
charity, we believe the best until we have no choice but to do otherwise. We must address the issue, bringing me to the
next point:
B.
Second, we must deal with problems within the
sound church.
Paul says warn the factious person “with one and two
admonitions/warnings.” This isn’t a draconian term: parents
use admonition or instruction to bring up their children (Eph. 6:4). In fact, this is the word from which we get nouthetic counseling, biblical
counseling that challenges the mind, the will, and the disposition. According to 2 Timothy 2:25–26, the Lord’s
servant should be “with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if
perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
and they may come to their senses and
escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do
his will.” So, Paul is talking about
sitting down with the person with Scripture and lovingly talking to him.
Really, that is still part of the identification process,
though the church has begun responding rather than ignoring the issue. Now, a genuine Christian will respond
positively to a friend’s rebuke. A false
believer, or a Christian completely given over to sin in that season, will
reject biblical counsel. The goal is always reconciliation of a wayward
brother or sister and regeneration of the lost, if need be, though.
If the person is not responding to biblical counsel and
warning, though, a godly church must take the next step. God commands us to “reject” such a one,
placing the person out of the congregation (cf. Matt. 18:17; 1 Cor. 5:13). As 2 Thessalonians 3:14 says, “take special
note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to
shame.” That doesn’t mean that we treat
him as an enemy, but our relationship changes to that of calling a sinner to
repentance (cf. v. 15). He’s no longer a
part of the church.
Why take such a drastic step? Well, as we read here in Titus 3:11, we now
know “that such a man is perverted and is sinning.” The word here is “twisted” or “warped,”
turned aside from the moral truth or gone the wrong way — engaging in sinful
foolishness makes the factious man foolish.
To use one’s mind against its created purpose warps it continually. They will engage in more sin, and the term
for “sinning” here is active, meaning that they have embraced sin.
So, Paul concludes that such a one is “self-condemned.” Matthew Poole, a Puritan writer, noted that
“he who spends his time about questions and genealogies, and strifes of words,
and little questions about the law, instead of preaching Christ, is told by his
own conscience that he doth not do his duty.”[3] It’s not even the church’s judgment in church
discipline that condemns the individual; his life testifies to the fact that he
is condemned. Yet, the church will
encourage more condemnation, sin, and factious behavior if it doesn’t
follow-through with church discipline.
V.
Conclusion
The church that strays from the gospel path will no longer
be a godly, sound church. And two things
will derail this gospel train fast: entertaining foolishness and factious
people in the church. We must avoid that
which is not profitable and worthless, and we must apply church discipline when
necessary. That is the only way to
ensure that we are keeping our commitment to Scripture.
[1] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
(Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 339.
[2] Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s
Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), Tt 3:10.
[3] Matthew Poole, Annotations
upon the Holy Bible, vol. 3 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853),
805.