Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Oct 28, 2020: Titus 1 Its Time To Fulfill Your Calling
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as we look at Titus chapter 1 this evening, I've titled the message, It's Time to Fulfill Your Calling. And I want to encourage you to consider that this evening. It's time. It's time. The time is late. It's time. The time is urgent. As Paul tells us in the book of Romans, it's high time for us to awake and to fulfill the calling that God has given to us. It's time to fulfill your calling. And we find this emphasized here because here in Titus chapter 1, it seems that Titus is not really being very aggressive in fulfilling the work that God had given to him. Paul had given him an assignment. Titus was a companion of... Paul and he was with him on his missionary journeys. He has been with Paul probably for, you know, 10 or 15 years by this point and involved in the ministry with Paul, probably a convert of Paul's ministry and that he received the gospel as Paul was sharing it. And as he was a companion of Paul, we don't have all of the details, but there was an occasion where they were on the island of Crete together. And this is an island that is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Greece. And as they were ministering there, Paul had to continue on and move on to other locations. And so he stationed Titus to stay there on the island of Crete to continue on the work and to put some things in place and set some things in order. But it seems that Titus wasn't finished with those tasks yet. He hadn't fulfilled that role that Paul had given to him yet. And so now Paul writes him this letter sometime later. He writes back to Titus and says, Titus, what are you still doing there in Crete? It's time to get to work and to put in place those things that you need to accomplish. Titus, it's time to fulfill your calling. Now, as we look at the book of Titus, it's a letter from Paul saying, to a pastor, to a missionary. And we can, in some ways, think that, well, this isn't talking to us then, generally speaking, as believers. And yet, as we work our way through the book of Titus over the next couple of days and reading through the Bible in three years, I would encourage you to remember that every Christian is called to be a leader. young Christian, old Christian, new believer, long time seasoned believer, every Christian is called to be a leader. It's something that God has established that we are called to make disciples. And God has this calling in all of our lives. Now, some he calls, of course, to, you know, more formal roles of leadership. And there are some who are called as missionaries to go and plant churches in different locations. And the specifics of the calling might be different between us. But generally speaking, the book of Titus applies to us. No matter what station in life we are, as believers in Jesus, we're called to make a difference, to have an influence, to make disciples, and to impact the world around us. This is different than other areas of our life. You know, in the workplace, you can decide if you want to be a leader or not. You get to choose if you want to, you know, pursue a career that puts you in charge of people and gives you authority and roles of authority over people. You're free to make that choice. You can make those decisions. But as a Christian, you don't get that choice. You don't get to choose whether or not you want to be an influence in people's lives. You don't get to choose whether or not you want to represent Christ to the world around you. You and I, we don't get to choose whether or not we want to be ambassadors for God or to show people the character and nature of God in our own lives. We don't get to choose that. That is part of our calling as believers in Jesus. And so Titus is appropriate for us. It's time for you to fulfill your calling. Now to help us get started and to move forward in that calling that God has for us, we're going to look at three points this evening in Paul's exhortation to Titus to encourage us to move forward, to take steps of faith and do the things that God has called us to do. We're going to start by looking at verse five for point number one. Here's the first point. Set in order things that are lacking. The first step to take, the first thing to consider as we think about our calling and it's time now to fulfill that calling is we need to set in order things that are lacking. Looking again at verse five, here's what it says. For this reason, I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. Again, here's the apostle Paul writing to Titus on the island of Crete, And he's reminding him, Titus, this is why I left you in Crete. This is why I left you there. You need to set in order the things that are lacking. There's some things that are lacking in the church on Crete. And Titus, we talked about those things. We had a conversation about it as I was departing. You know, Paul would be able to say, you know, I gave you instructions on the path ahead and what it was that you are to fulfill and the things that you're to focus on. But now Paul is writing to Titus again saying, I need to give that instruction to you again. For this reason, I left you in Crete. Titus, let me remind you. understand Paul didn't just like abandon Titus and all of a sudden Titus looked around and said oh no where's Paul now what do I do right and then later on when Paul writes this letter then he gets his instructions no Paul instructed him he he set him on a path he he gave him clear direction but what we find here is that Titus has not been fulfilling that call that God had given to him He'd not been following the instructions that the Lord had set before him through the Apostle Paul. Paul says, I left you in Crete for this reason. Let me remind you of why you're there. It's because you need to set in order the things that are lacking. Now, why was it that Titus had not yet set these things in order? Why hasn't Titus fulfilled this calling and taken these steps and put these things in place? Well, Paul doesn't tell us exactly. We don't have, you know, another portion of scripture to tell us exactly what was happening on Titus's side there in Crete. But there's some things that we could consider perhaps. As Paul is perceiving a slowness to fulfill this task, as he perceives a reluctance perhaps, perhaps it was the result of timidity. You remember that Paul wrote to Timothy and with a similar exhortation in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul says, I want to remind you, Timothy, about the gift of God which was in you through the laying on of hands. And let me remind you that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And so Timothy, as a young man, was called to a big task in the kingdom of God, but he held back. He was more reserved than he ought to have been because of his timidity. And Paul had to encourage Timothy, no, be bold, trust God. Remember that God has called you and he's gifted you for the things that he has set before you. And so go forward, have faith, trust God. Don't hold back in timidity. We don't know for sure that Titus was timid like Timothy was, but it's a possibility. It's a possibility for you and I as well. You know, what's interesting to consider about this is set in order the things that are lacking? We're not talking about things that we have no awareness of. Titus knew what his task was, and yet there was still a lack. And this evening, I would encourage you to consider that also. What is it in your life that What is it that God has commanded you, spoken to you about, put upon your heart that you know something of what God wants from you and what God wants you to do, and yet, as you sit here tonight and consider that, you say, you know, that area is still lacking. You know, maybe it's in your personal relationship with the Lord and some spiritual disciplines perhaps, some things that God has put upon your heart and spoken to you about, and you know He set those things before you, and yet as you consider and reflect back right now, you realize, yeah, God told me about that, but it's still lacking in my life. I'm still not engaging in that area that He laid before me. Or maybe it's something within your family. Perhaps a way that God has, you know, instructed you and spoken to you about being a family together. And perhaps it's different roles within the family. Perhaps it's about your family's spiritual life. Perhaps, you know, it's about this or that. But there in your family, you know God put something on your heart. And yet as you survey your family situation at this point, you realize it's still lacking. It's unfulfilled. It's unfulfilled. That part, there's still a gap there. There's a hole there that's missing those things that God had instructed me. Could be in the workplace. It could be in the neighborhood. It could be within the church. That God has put things upon your heart. He's spoken to you and given you instruction. And yet as you consider that this evening, that area is lacking. Why is it lacking? Are you timid? A little bit fearful and scared to... Put into practice the things that God has said. That's how Timothy was. Paul had to encourage him, serve him. No, remember the gift of God. Remember what God has said. And perhaps that's what Titus was going through. Another possibility is that Titus had been working on this, but that the task was really hard. You know, there are some things that God sets in front of us that we're not going to conquer in one week. We're not going to fulfill and complete in one month or one year or five years. Some things that God sets before us are a 20-year plan, right? That it requires for us to be persistent. And so perhaps Titus was working on this, but it was just a hard task, right? It was difficult to fill these roles and to set in order the things that were lacking. And so perhaps Paul here is encouraging him, reminding him, remember what I left you there for. And so press on, persevere, don't give up. You need to continue on and be faithful because that's what God has called you to. And so perhaps he was working, but the task was hard. And so he needed to persevere. And again, I would ask you to consider this. Those things that are lacking in your life that God has instructed you to fulfill and to walk in. Is it lacking because of timidity? Or is it lacking because you're working towards it? You're obeying God. You're taking those steps. But maybe tonight you need to be reminded and refreshed in perseverance. To press on and don't give up. And to continue to move forward in the things that God has said, regardless of the results that you might be seeing. regardless of the lack of results that you might be seeing. But you need to trust God and continue to do what he has called you to. Don't give up. God often calls us to work like a farmer. You know, a farmer has to work for a long time before he ever sees the fruit of that work. And God often works that way in our lives. So persevere, press on, keep doing the work that God has set before you. Well, the third option that I would ask us to consider before we move on tonight. One option, perhaps Titus was timid and he was just fearful and he was scared to take that step and do those things. Maybe he was doing the work, but it was just a hard work and it wasn't going to be done, you know, in a short period. Or thirdly, maybe Titus had become distracted. I want to give Titus the benefit of the doubt. I'm not going to suggest that Titus was, you know, just like lounging around in vacation mode, not doing any work, not doing anything. I'm not suggesting that. But perhaps Titus had become distracted with other things that kept him from fulfilling the main thing that he was sent there to accomplish. It is possible that Titus was busy doing lots of good things, but And there was lots of good things that he was doing, but those good things became a distraction for him. And he wasn't able to then focus on his primary mission. And so it could be that Paul here is saying, look, Titus, you know, I've been hearing about, you know, you're doing this and you're doing that and it's good stuff. But let me remind you why I left you in Crete. I left you in Crete to set in order the things that are lacking. I didn't leave you in Crete, you know, to put together, you know, this thing or to work out that thing or to chase after those other things. You know, I didn't put you in Crete for those reasons. I put you there for this specific purpose, to appoint elders, to establish the structure for the church. That's what you're there for. Don't lose sight of the mission, right? And it can be a problem in our lives that we get so busy doing good things that we forget to do the main thing. It's a matter of prioritizing. It's a matter of priorities in our service unto the Lord. And perhaps as you look at the things that God has instructed you, you find that there are things that are lacking. And it's not because you're just being lazy and not doing anything in regards to the Lord, but perhaps it's because you're doing so many things that or you're doing other things and neglecting those specific things that God has instructed you about. And so this evening, I would encourage you, set in order the things that are lacking. It's time to fulfill your calling. It's time. It's not time to dabble in these other things and hold back from timidity. It's time to persevere and press on and get to work in the things that God says. has called you to. It's high time to awake, again, as Paul said in the book of Romans. Our redemption is nearer than when we first believed. It's time, and we need to have a sense of urgency that it's time to fulfill the things that are lacking, the things that God has told us about, and yet we have not yet accomplished those things. Well, as Paul continues on to instruct Titus, We're going to find point number two in verses six through nine. Here's point number two. Develop godly character. Develop godly character. As Paul reminds Titus of his primary task, it was to ordain elders, to establish leaders in the church. And he's going to go on here in these verses and give the qualities of leaders. Here's what to look for in a leader. And essentially, I would summarize these qualities as godly character. And so as we look at these, the encouragement to us is to develop this kind of character, to be these kinds of people that we would be ready for the work that God has called us to. Let's read verses 6 through 9. Here's what it says. If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination, For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled. Verse 9. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort... and to convict those who contradict. Here Paul gives this list of qualities that would be found in these who would be leaders within the church. And I'm not going to work through all of these specific details and these qualities and try to define, you know, each one of them. There's much meat there, and I would encourage you to spend some time considering these things. But instead, I would just ask you to first consider the context. Paul's writing to Titus about the church. And as Paul is writing to Titus about the church, he's saying there's things that are lacking. Specifically, it's lacking godly leaders. And the kind of people that you need to find to fulfill the role of godly leadership is, well, what Paul lists here. These are the qualities to look for. These are the qualities to look for. Now, Paul outlined these qualities also in the letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 3. There's a lot of similarities, a lot of overlap. The details, you know, are different in some cases between the two. But the general idea here is that this is godly character. This is what a mature believer looks like. We need to understand that within the church, within the church at Crete, within the church here at Living Water, within any church that ever existed, there are potential leaders who do not have good character. Paul says you need to look for these things. These are going to stand out because not everybody has these qualities. And yet at the same time, I would exhort us and ask us to consider that these qualities are not some strange qualities that, you know, are... meant to live in just this little exclusive group. These are qualities that God desires of every believer. Let me put it a different way. It is not God's will for you to remain in immaturity. That's definitely not God's will. I can say with 100% certainty, God does not want you to be immature spiritually. God wants you to be mature spiritually. to develop a solid relationship with him, to know him, and for your relationship with him to impact your character, your life, every aspect, every corner, every crevice, every dark closet of your life. God wants to influence and impact in extraordinary ways. This is a good description of normal Christian character. These are qualities that God can expect and should expect from every one of us. And yet Paul has to outline these qualities because it's not actually very easy to find people with godly character in the context of the church. It's not a surprise that it's hard to find people with godly character in the realm of politics, right? Boy, that's hard. Try to find someone with good character, you know, with a person of integrity, someone who represents the Lord, that you're going to have a difficult time in that arena. In the church, you would think it would be pretty much automatic, like everybody has godly character. But Paul is saying, no, you can't just pick a guy who looks like he could fit the job. You got to check the qualities because there's a lot of people in the church that don't have these characteristics. They're not established in the Lord enough for their life to be changed, for their character and nature to be changed. It should not be so hard to find good Christian character within the church. As Paul goes on in a few more verses, he's going to deal with the evil leaders within the church. And again, remembering the context, understanding in the church, there are good leaders who have these good godly qualities. There are potential leaders who... Maybe, you know, are capable in many ways, but they don't have the character. And then there's also outright evil leaders, misled, deceived, all kinds of different motivations, but they're just completely off and they will lead you astray. There is selfish motivation in the hearts of leaders within the church. There's problems. that Paul is describing here that are all in the context of the church. And I bring that all up to say, look, none of us are beyond this and we all have due reason or appropriate reason to examine our hearts and to consider the godly character, the qualities that are listed here. All of us have opportunity to examine our character and And not excuse it, but to repent, to grow, and to build and develop these qualities. The first area that Paul addresses here is in verse 6. He says, you know what? People with godly character should have a good home life. Again in verse 6, he says, if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. So as you're looking for these leaders, here's one thing to look for. Someone who has a good home life. Now, he's talking about specifically the role of a pastor within the church. And so there's some certain details that go along with that. And so that's why he's speaking in the masculine, because God has ordained that men be pastors and leaders within the church. Not that there are no women leaders, and it's not a slight against one gender, but it's but he's dealing with the specifics of that role. But we can consider this beyond that specific. There are roles within the home life that God has established and ordained. There's a role for the husband. There's a role for the wife. There's a role for the children. There's a role for parents. And here what we can understand Paul saying is that, look, you fulfilling your role in the home is the first thing to consider when it comes to fulfilling your calling that God has set before you. You need to be thinking about, you need to be considering what has God called you to as a mom, as a dad, as a husband, as a wife, as a kid, as a parent? What is it that God has called you to within the home? And you need to be faithful to that. That's part of your godly character. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 3, if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? If we cannot fulfill our role within the home, then we have no business trying to fulfill, you know, another role outside of the home. Like, home comes first. It's the first priority. You know, home can be the hardest place to live out godly character in many ways. But it's the most important place. It needs to come first. You need to be the husband, the wife, the the mom, the dad, the child, the parent that God has called you to be. And if you can't do that, how can you fulfill any other role within the kingdom of God? Because that's the priority. That's what God has set as the most important. And so if you're unfaithful to your wife, you have no business in other realms of ministry, in other realms of the kingdom of God. If you're unfaithful to your husband, you have no business. That's not godly character. And there's no excuse for it, no matter what ways we might try to justify it. We could go on and on, but continuing on to verse 7 and 8, here he gets into some of the personal details of that godly character. He says, for a bishop must be blameless. Again, as he talks about an elder or a bishop, we would refer to that person as a pastor today. And so the pastor, the bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, that this person is entrusted with the work of God. And so they should not be self-willed that I have to get my way and it's, you know, my will that is going to take precedence over everything. Not quick-tempered. So, you know, losing, you know, your temper quickly, having that short fuse. Not given to wine. Drunkenness is forbidden for all believers. Given to wine is that kind of the moving in that direction. Not necessarily drunkenness exclusively, but But moving in that way, not being given over to wine, not violent and not greedy for money. So all of these things are, well, it's appropriate for us to examine our hearts and to consider our character. Do I have these things happening that are not appropriate for me as a believer in Jesus Christ? Instead, we are to be hospitable, to be friendly, to be warm and welcoming and loving to people around us. We're to be lovers of what is good. to be excited about and passionate about good things, to be sober-minded, that's to be clear-headed, not to be hot-headed, not to be caught up and taken to extremes, but to be sober-minded, to be just, that's to be doing what's right, holy, that is to be set apart for the Lord and self-controlled, that is to be able to control our fleshly desires and appetites. These are all aspects of godly character. And these are things that God calls us to develop. Again, these are very similar to and almost identical to the list that Paul gives to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 3. And so Warren Wiersbe says about that, that these standards apply to the Christians on the island of Crete, as well as to those in the city of Ephesus. And it proves that God's measure for leaders does not fluctuate. A big city church and a small town church both need godly people in places of leadership. These were given to different people in different contexts, different, you know, areas, different seasons of life, and yet it's the same standards that God would give to us today. And so we can't look at the day and say, you know, things are a lot more challenging for us today and much more difficult. And so, you know, these qualities are not as important for us today anymore. We're in a different region, different place. No, these are the things that are essential for godly character, essential for you and I in our walk with the Lord, in our maturity in the Lord. And I would encourage you to consider that along with Galatians chapter 5, the fruit of the Spirit. As you think through the fruit of the Spirit, boy, it just fits so perfectly in these qualities that God describes here for godly character. in Titus chapter 1. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There's a lot of overlap. There's these things that are the fruit of the Spirit written to the churches of Galatia, not a pastoral letter like Titus, but to believers in general saying, look, the Holy Spirit will produce in you these qualities. And so for you and I this evening, we can understand that what we need is the Holy Spirit to be at work in our hearts to produce this fruit, to develop this godly character. Where we see these qualities and recognize our weaknesses, we need to confess our sinfulness, confess our weaknesses, repent from those and ask God to change us. We can develop godly character by walking in the Spirit, by turning from sin as we recognize it, And by giving God the ammunition he needs to change us. Check out verse 9. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convict those who contradict. In all of the pastoral epistles, that's 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, Paul has a very strong emphasis on the word of God. And here he says, look, one of the qualities of these godly people that you need to look for is it's a person who holds fast the faithful word, who holds tightly to the word of God as he has been taught, who has sound doctrine, who knows the scriptures. This is ammunition. If you want to develop godly character, you need to hold fast to the faithful word. Remember in Ephesians chapter 6, the Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit. That's the tool, that's the instrument that God uses to develop godly character in us. Along with walking in the Spirit, along with repenting as we fall into our weaknesses and find ourselves falling short of this, you know, standard of godly character, we walk in the Spirit and We turn and repent and ask God to change our hearts and we invest ourselves in the word of God that the sword of the spirit may have its work within us, that God may shape us and mold us by his word. I often say that the power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. And it's why I encourage you to join with us as we work our way through the Bible in three years. We're going to be finishing up this round of the Bible in three years this year. And so over the next couple of months, we'll finish up the New Testament. And then in January... Unless the Lord gives us new direction, we'll begin again in Genesis. And we'll begin to work our way through the Bible in the next three years. And invest ourselves in the word of God and allow God to mold us and to shape us and to change us and transform us by his word. Develop godly character. That is to walk in the spirit. To repent. of our failures and our weaknesses in these standards and to immerse ourselves in the word of God, holding fast to it, that he can change our hearts. It's not God's will for you to stay immature. And so you need to look at these things. You need to consider them and understand this is the standard that God desires for you to live up to. Every believer should be qualified for leadership because we're all called to be leaders. So develop godly character. Set in order the things that are lacking because it's time to fulfill your calling. It's time to develop that godly character and get to work on the things that God has set before you. Well, finally, in the closing verses, point number three to consider this evening is stand against deception. Stand against deception. Verse 10 says this, for there are many insubordinate people both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain. Here Paul says, look, here's why this is so important. Here's why godly character and godly leaders are so essential for the church. It's because there are many insubordinate. There are many insubordinate. Now again, remember the context. Paul is writing to Titus about the church. He says, look, inside the church, there's going to be lots of problems. There are going to be people who are insubordinate. They will not listen to authority. They will not submit themselves to God's plans and purposes. They will not follow God's agenda or seek God's will. There are many insubordinate. In the context of the church, There are many insubordinate. And so again, it's appropriate for us to consider to allow God to speak to us. Is that me? Am I one of those who are the many insubordinate? The many who will not submit to the will of God and the plan of God and the purposes of God. The many who would be part of leading others astray. And that's what's happening here. He calls them idle talkers and deceivers. And he says, especially those of the circumcision. These were the Jews who had believed in Jesus, but they still held on to their Judaism really strongly. And they would go behind the Apostle Paul and try to convince new Christians that they had to also follow the law in order to be saved. And it's false doctrine. But they were convinced and they were persuaded. And they tried to get people to turn away from Jesus and trust in religion instead. They're insubordinate. idle talkers and deceivers. And Paul says here in verse 11, their mouths must be stopped. There are some people that must be quieted. They must be shut up. Their mouths must be stopped, Paul says. And so you need to have these people with godly character who can handle these who are insubordinate, who are leading people astray. He says in verse 11, they subvert whole households. Now, a whole household you could consider, of course, as a family, right? And a whole family is taken away and deceived away from the Lord. But it's very likely that what Paul is talking about here is not so much a family home, but a church home. Because for them in those days, they didn't, you know, have the structure and facilities like we have. And so churches would be smaller and would meet in homes, right? And so there would be those who would creep in and lead away an entire congregation and deceive them and trick them into following something that's not of the Lord because there are those who are insubordinate and they teach what they ought not to teach. Notice the end of verse 11. He says, for the sake of dishonest gain. Their motivation is selfish. They're focused on themselves. They're consumed on themselves. This, if you're kind of comparing it to what we just went through, is the opposite of godly character. It's selfishness. Idle talkers, not talking about what the Lord has said, not talking about what God has declared, not talking about, you know, the word of God and holding fast to that, but talking about other things that the Lord has not said. Now, some of them did this because they were deceived, and some of them did this for dishonest gain. They knew the truth, but They saw this as a means to get something that they wanted. Paul goes on in verse 12 to say, Paul says, look, I understand this task is challenging. In the area that you are, Titus, even their own prophets or their own poets say, look, this is a hard people. They're liars and evil beasts and lazy gluttons. That's a hard thing to say about a group of people, right? But Paul says in verse 13, this testimony is true. That's the truth, Titus. Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. Now, as you look at this in the Greek, in the original Greek in verse 12, it says one of them, a prophet of their own said, Californians are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. No, I'm just kidding. It's not Californians, but The word in Greek for liar comes from the name of Crete. It was that entrenched in their culture and who they were. And we live in similar cultures. We have similar issues today. There is an abundance of lies and deception. Evil beasts. Paul says, look, this is true. I think it's important for us to be aware and to be alert, to recognize there is this reality. And sometimes we can kind of be in a delusion and not understand. There are evil beasts in the world around us. And that's not some fanciful, you know, animal creature. There are people who are legitimately evil, who want to cause harm, who are being used by the enemy to bring deception and destruction and hurt to families, to individuals, to communities, to nations. There are evil beasts. And again, this is why it's time to fulfill your calling because there is real war going on. There's real battle taking place and the stakes are high. And so Paul says, therefore rebuke them sharply. You need to come against this strongly. There needs to be a sharp rebuke. It needs to be severe. It needs to be firm. You need to meet this head on. But notice the objective. It's found there in verse 13, that they may be sound in the faith. This is an amazing thing about God. even though they are evil beasts and lazy gluttons and liars, God's objective is to bring them back to right relationship with him, that they would be sound in the faith, that they would be brought back to a right relationship with God, a right fellowship within the church. The goal is always restoration and reconciliation. That is always how God works. And so don't take the, you know, sharp rebuke as an excuse to just be mean and drive people off, right? But no, the whole point is, it's a very serious thing, so it needs to be dealt with in a serious way, but never lose sight of the objective of restoration. Verse 15, he says, to the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny him. being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Paul says, look, to the pure, everything's pure. For those who have godly character, they walk through life and there's not issues with everything because they are walking with the Lord and they're representing to the Lord. But to those who are defiled, even the pure things, even church attendance is defiled. Even sharing the gospel is defiled. Even, you know, no matter what it is, to those who are not pure, to those who are ungodly, even the good things that they do, they're defiled. He says they profess to know God. Knowing God is a good thing, right? And there are those who claim to know God, but in works, they deny him. In their life, their behavior proves that they don't know God, no matter how much they profess to know God. And again, this is so important because there are so many people who would say, I love God, but then their life is filled with disobedience to God. And it's, although a profession of knowing God and loving God proves that they don't know God and that they don't love God. In works, they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. It's time to fulfill your calling. And there's a need for us to stand against deception. The enemy is hard at work seeking to lead people astray, to move people away from the things of God. And it's happening against us and it's happening against the people all around us. It's why it's not time to mess around with the things of the Lord, to be light on our relationship with the Lord. to put off and defer for later developing our godly character. It's why right now we need to be actively pursuing to set in order the things that are lacking. Don't put that off. God put that on your heart for a reason and there needs to be an urgency to do what it is that God called you to do. Don't put it off. Don't delay because there's battles that are raging. There are evil beasts and liars and lazy gluttons who want to bring destruction to your life, to your family, to your church. So develop godly character. Stand against deception. Fulfill the calling that God has given to you. Well, I want to finish up with the last thought here that Paul gives in verse 16. Again, it says, they profess to know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. And it's that last part that has my attention tonight, being disqualified for every good work. There is a danger for us of being disqualified if we are deceived and caught up with those who would seek to deceive us. If we're not prepared and we haven't developed that godly character, we may not be qualified to for the good work that God has set before us. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on the sidelines when God is doing his work. I don't want to be on the sidelines when God is bringing everything home and accomplishing his purposes. I don't want to be on the sidelines when God is accomplishing great things for his glory and for his kingdom. Imagine if there was a player on the Dodgers that had been disqualified. Imagine. And they worked hard. They were part of the season, you know, all season long. But then they didn't get to participate in the World Series because of, you know, some thing that they had done that disqualified themselves. How would that feel to just be on the sidelines because you were disqualified for that good work? You didn't get to participate in that glorious season in a similar way. I don't want to be on the sidelines of God's work. I don't want to be just watching others because I disqualified myself. And so others are doing the work of God and seeing the fruit of God's work in their lives and in the lives of those around them. I don't want to be on the sidelines. Today, as I was preparing for this message and reading through this passage, I was listening to a teacher who, he was my favorite Bible teacher ever. Well, maybe one of my favorite Bible teachers. He was high up there on the list of, man, I love to hear his Bible teachings. And he was teaching through Titus chapter one. It was great stuff. But it also reminded me today as I'm listening to this great teacher, this great teacher is disqualified and he's not teaching anymore. He's on the sidelines. He's not part of the church that he built. He doesn't get to see the fruit and the results and be part of the work that God is continuing to do there. He's disqualified. That is a possibility for any one of us. And it's why we need to understand that it's time to fulfill our calling. It's not time to mess around, to goof off, to put aside the things of the Lord. What God has put upon your heart What are those things that God has commanded you? Paul told Titus, when I left you there, I gave you these instructions. What are the instructions that God has given to you? It's time to fulfill your calling. Set in order those things that are lacking. Don't let them continue on lacking. Even if you're fearful, even if the task is hard, even if there's a ton of other good things that you could be doing, make sure that you set in order those things that are lacking and don't neglect your character. but develop godly character, walking in the spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to produce God's fruit in you, God's nature and character in you. Where you fall short, you will fall short. We all do. We confess, we repent, we ask God to change us, and we immerse ourselves in the word of God continually, daily, so that God can mold us and shape us into his image. And we stand against deception for our sake and for the sake of those around us. We stand against the things that are not of God. We stand opposed to the things that are of this world. We stand opposed to the things that would lead us astray and away from the things of God. I don't want to be on the sidelines. And so I want to set things in order. I want to develop godly character. And I want to stand against the lies and the work of the enemy. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. Lord, we have things in our lives that you have called us to, works that you've set before us, commands that you've issued to us. Lord, you have things that you want to accomplish that we couldn't even imagine or even dream of. And yet, Lord, you desire to use us, to work in us. And so Lord, help us to be aware of these realities. I pray that you would stir up within us an urgency, God, to know you, to walk with you, to pursue after you and everything that is in regards to you, Lord. Help us to set those things in order that are lacking, those things we know about. And Lord, the things that we've forgotten about that you've told us about, Lord, would you remind us of those things that we could set them in order and we could put things in their right place. Help us, God, to develop godly character. Lord, that we might be great ambassadors for you, great representatives of you to the world around us. And I pray, God, that you would allow us to be light. Lord, that we would stand against the darkness, that we would be different from the darkness. Lord, that we would be a lasting influence. On the darkness, Lord, again, the rebuke was so that they might be sound in the faith. Lord, help us to reconcile people to you, to be reconciled in our own relationships with one another. Lord, to stand against deception, that people might know you, that relationships might be restored, that your name might be known and magnified. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.