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Can a Gentle, Meek, Non-Combative Person Rebuke Titus 3:1–2, Part 2 · Pastor John Piper's answers

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: This is our second session on Titus Chapter three, verses
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: one and two. Last time we look at verse one.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Remind them, Remind believers Titus as their leader. Remind them
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: to be submissive to rulers in authorities, to be obedient.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: That's what's implied in submission, to be beyond compliant. That
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: was the main point I tried to make. Is that
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: so far right there? You just say, well, Christians are
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: to be known as and to be internally and outwardly
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: ready to follow all proper authority and guidance. Not known
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: as resistant, not known as trouble making or spoiling for
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: a fight, but compliant. But here is way beyond compliant,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: to be ready, eager for every good work. Now good
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: works are way beyond submission, way beyond obedient to the
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: government telling you what to do, or school teachers telling
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: you what to do, or pastor's telling you what to do,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: or bosses telling you what to do. This is way beyond.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: This is a disposition and an activity of doing good
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: for others that you're not required to do except that
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: you're a Christian. Now what's following here? To speak evil
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: of no one, To be non combative, gentle showing all
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: meekness to all people. So it seems as if here
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: we've got the active submission, the active obedience, and lots
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: of outward good works, and I think clearly implying an
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: inner good will towards others. But here it becomes explicit,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: not speaking evil, not being a combative person, being a
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: gentle person, being a meek person. These are internal. This
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: one is speaking for sure, and this one is showing
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: for sure. So these are outward acts, a way to speak,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: a way to show. But primarily we're going to see
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: this speaking is a certain kind of motivated speaking and
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: non combative and gentle or internal and meekness are internal
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: kinds of persons. This is not a personality trait, because
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Paul's telling it to all believers. Some people are much
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: more forceful than others, some are much more lamb like
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: than others. And he's telling all of us, don't be
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: a combative kind of person, don't be a be a
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: gentle kind of person, be a meek kind of person,
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  Speaker 1: which will issue in a certain kind of showing through
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: behavior and speaking. So, Father, as we ponder this second verse,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: we need real heart work done on us. Nobody is
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: born this way. If we think we're born this way,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: we don't understand it, because that's just carnal. We're born sinners.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: There's a sinful form of form of meekness, and there's
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: a sinful form of combativeness. And you're calling us to
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: something godly here, some thing rooted in the Gospel, something
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: glorifying to God, something magnifying to Christ. Please show us
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: what that is and make us that way. I pray
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: in Jesus' name, Amen, speak evil of no one. I
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: put the word Greek word blasphe Maine. He can hear
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: blasphemy in it. What does he mean by speak evil
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: of no one? That word? This word is translated numerous
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: different ways. Let me give you some example. So here
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: it's translated speak evil. That's pretty good, as long as
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: we probe into the motive of what that means. Here's
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: X nineteen thirty seven. You have brought these men here
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. That's
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the word. To speak evil in a blaspheming way toward
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: a deity, that's the word. Or here's X eighteen six.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: And when they opposed and reviled here's the word reviled.
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  Speaker 1: It's translated as reviled. They reviled him. He shook out
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  Speaker 1: his garments and said to them, your blood be on
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  Speaker 1: your own heads. I'm innocent. From now on, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to the to the gentiles. Sorry I left that off gentiles.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: So here, blaspheme o is translated reviled, and it's something
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: hostile people do to the apostles. Paul, here's Romans three
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: to eight, and why not do evil that good may come?
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: As some people slanderously charge, there's the word us was saying.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: So here, it's translated slanderously charging someone tell slandering them,
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  Speaker 1: telling them that they're doing something that in fact they're
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: not doing. One more example one Peter four. With respect
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: to this, they are surprised when you do not join
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: There's the word again, malign you. Now, with all of
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  Speaker 1: those possible ways of translating this word, we go back here.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: There's five different ways of translating it. What do they
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  Speaker 1: all have in common? What is meant here by speaking
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: evil of someone? And I'm going to suggest that all
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  Speaker 1: of those together are a kind of speech that has
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: a harmful intent. A harmful intent in other words, the
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  Speaker 1: evil here is an intention of the heart. This does
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: not mean don't ever say negative things about someone. And
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  Speaker 1: the reason I say it can't mean that is because
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  Speaker 1: the very immediately preceding verse said this. It's the last
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  Speaker 1: verse of chapter two, declare these things, Titus exhort and
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  Speaker 1: rebuke with all authority. So he's just told Titus, you
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  Speaker 1: got to get in the face of certain people who
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: are opposing the Gospel and damaging the sheep. You got
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  Speaker 1: to rebuke them, which means that when he says don't
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: speak evil, he cannot mean don't rebuke anybody, don't point
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  Speaker 1: out to anybody that they're in error. Rather, don't do
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: that in a certain way, and I'm suggesting, don't do
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  Speaker 1: it with harmful intent. Don't revile, don't slander, don't malign,
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  Speaker 1: don't blaspheme have a good will. Now we'll come back
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  Speaker 1: to that, because I'm gonna close this session by trying
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: to describe what would a non speaking evil, non combative, gentle,
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  Speaker 1: meek rebuke look like because most of us, most of
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  Speaker 1: us think of rebuke and say, WHOA, I don't think
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: rebukes are generally gentle. They're not non combative, they're not
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: mequ well, yes they can be or otherwise. Paul's speaking
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: out of both sides of his mouth here, and he's not.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Now he says, be non combative trends like that, because
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: that's a real good literal non You're not spoiling for
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  Speaker 1: a fight, That's what this means. Don't be the kind
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: of person who's looking around, where's somebody I can corract.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: It's not what you want to do. It's not your
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: disposition to be a combative person. This is going to
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: the inside. Speaking is outward. This is inward. I don't
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  Speaker 1: want to be that kind of person. And gentle is
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  Speaker 1: simply the positive way of saying that. I would say
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  Speaker 1: gentleness here is a disposition of desire for harmony. I
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  Speaker 1: want to be friends with you. I don't want antagonism
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: with you. My goal is not to fight, it's to
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: be conciliatory toward you. And then comes the last phrase.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And I think meekness is basically the same as these
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: two together. If you're a non combative, gentle person, that's meekness.
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  Speaker 1: And here he simply adds show it, which goes beyond
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: speak it, but show it. In other words, there are
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: facial expressions, there are gestures, there are shoulder movements, there
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  Speaker 1: are ways of walking, all that show arrogance and combativeness
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  Speaker 1: and insubordination and disobedience. You know that you can comport
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  Speaker 1: yourself with your body and show all kinds of things
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  Speaker 1: that contradict noncombative, gentle, meek dispositions. So I close with
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: this question, how is this taboo supposed to be effective?
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Because the goal is surely people's welfare. You want them
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  Speaker 1: to experience what's good and rich and helpful. And here's
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: a beautiful description of how Paul conceives of the effectiveness
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  Speaker 1: of this kind of demeanor. The lord's servant must not
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  Speaker 1: be combative same root stem, but kind or gentle to everyone,
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  Speaker 1: able to teach patiently, enduring evil. See that's striking back, correcting. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: there it is. There's going to be rebuke upon with meekness.
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  Speaker 1: There it is. So he's describing a way to go
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  Speaker 1: about helping people change from the mental or the attitudinal
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  Speaker 1: or the behavioral error that they're in. God may perhaps
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: grant them repentance. That's how it happens. The reason many
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  Speaker 1: of us get angry and pushy and bullying is because
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: we think we gotta do it, we gotta fix everything,
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  Speaker 1: and if they're not gonna respond, we've got to get
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  Speaker 1: angry at them. And he's saying, look, God is the
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  Speaker 1: only person who can ultimately bring about repentance, lead into
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  Speaker 1: a knowledge of the truth, so that they come to
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  Speaker 1: their senses and escape from the snare of the devil
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  Speaker 1: who has captured them. How you going to liberate anybody
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  Speaker 1: from the capturing of the devil to do the devil's will?
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  Speaker 1: You're not God is? And how does God do it?
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  Speaker 1: He does it through non combative kind teachers who are patient,
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  Speaker 1: who yes, get in error's face and correct it with meekness.
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  Speaker 1: So here's my closing effort. How shall non combative, gentle,
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  Speaker 1: meek people rebuke here's my best effort. One, it says
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: from the inside, I love you, and I want only
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  Speaker 1: your good and the good of those you influence. Two,
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  Speaker 1: I have no desire for your ruin. I think that's
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  Speaker 1: a description of meekness and gentleness. I have no desire
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  Speaker 1: to lord it over you. That's meekness. I have no desire.
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  Speaker 1: My internal disposition is not to lord it over you,
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  Speaker 1: and touff myself up by putting you down. I don't
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  Speaker 1: want to do that. I think that's meekness. But you
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  Speaker 1: are wrong. That's rebuke. And many people who are dispositionally,
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  Speaker 1: not spiritually, but dispositionally wired this way by birth are
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  Speaker 1: scared to do this. They don't have the courage to
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  Speaker 1: do it. They don't have the backbone to do it.
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  Speaker 1: They don't get anybody's face and show them their error.
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  Speaker 1: They don't do it from the pulpit, they don't do
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  Speaker 1: it in person. They are cowardly, but they look so meek,
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  Speaker 1: And I'm pointing out it is possible to be this
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  Speaker 1: kind of meek and say this with all necessary firmness,
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  Speaker 1: without wavering. Fifth, I urge you and long for you
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  Speaker 1: to repent. That means change from the wrong sixth. If
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  Speaker 1: you don't turn from your error, there will be separation.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, if the error is serious enough, there's
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  Speaker 1: church discipline and excommunication. And a person can, with all
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  Speaker 1: meekness follow this all the way to that separation. And then, finally,
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  Speaker 1: if there is firm or even hostile resistance against you,
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  Speaker 1: meekness may become equally firm and forceful and public. But
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  Speaker 1: I think if our inner heart is I love you.
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  Speaker 1: I want good for you, I want good for the
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  Speaker 1: people you influence. I desire none of your ruin. I
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  Speaker 1: desire no lording it over you. That meekness, there, that gentleness,
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  Speaker 1: that non combativeness, will enable you to rebuke as a
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  Speaker 1: non combative, gentle, meek person. May the Lord make us
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  Speaker 1: a kind of people. That's what he's really after here.
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  Speaker 1: There's no way to describe how you speak and how
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  Speaker 1: you show if you don't have the inner transformation that's
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  Speaker 1: being described here. Ah