The sermon discusses the qualifications and responsibilities of elders in the church, focusing on the necessity for them to be men of virtue, capable of teaching and upholding sound doctrine. Paul warns against false teachers, described as rebellious, deceitful, and motivated by sordid gain, who upset families and distort the gospel. The sermon emphasizes the contrast between these false teachers and faithful elders, whose character and teachings are aligned with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It underscores the power of sound doctrine to protect the church, refute false teachings, and transform lives, as shown by the example of the Cretans. Elders are tasked with silencing and correcting false teachers to maintain the purity and order of the church.

Hear now the word of the Lord. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. For this reason, reprove them severely, so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

To the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. May God bless the reading of his word.

Amen. You may be seated. Well, when we last left Titus, Paul had given Titus particular instruction on the kind of man who would be able to do what verse five of Titus chapter one called for. What was that? Titus chapter one verse five, put in order, set in order what remains in the church what must an elder what must a pastor and overseer all of those offices refer all of those names are bringing the same office What must an elder be to put things in order in the church?

No, he must be a man of virtue. He must be a man of order. If he's to be an example of Christ to his congregation, and there to follow his example is he follows Christ will check first to see if his life is full of Christ if he's to put things in order in the household of God check first to see if his household is in order. If he is to be faithful to the bride of Christ, we'll check first to see if he's faithful to his bride, his wife. And So Paul gives these pastoral qualifications, a one-woman man, faithful children, not given device, a man full of virtue instead.

Because that's the kind of man, that's the character of the man Who will be able to put things in order in the church you'll be able to do verse five But Paul gives one more qualification Beyond a life full of virtue beyond a life of high character beyond a well-ordered life. Paul gives one final qualification, the ability to teach. You'll remember that right in verse 9. Find that in verse 9. It's also in Paul's letter to Timothy.

But in verse 9, what does Paul say about the qualification of being able to teach? Let's read verse 9 together. Read verse 9 with me. An elder must hold fast to the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort and sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. An elder must hold fast to the faithful word.

He must be able to communicate, write doctrine. Why? Why must an elder be able to teach? What's the answer? Well, Paul gives two answers.

Reason number one, we just read it there in verse 9 so that he will be able to exhort in sound doctrine Crossroad Church you must be taught that which is good true and beautiful You must be taught the faith once and for all delivered to the saints contained herein. Crossroad Church we are to obey the command of God in Titus chapter 1 verse 5 to put things in order in our church. Well here's the book of order. Here is the standard. This is what we build our lives upon church, the perfect, inerrant, and completely sufficient Word of God.

And so to put things in order, an elder, your pastors, must be able to teach and apply this Bible. That's reason number one. You must be taught sound doctrine. There's also a second reason why an elder must be able to teach and that is found at the end of verse 9. And look there with me.

This is all going to connect with our passage in just a moment, what's the second reason an elder must be able to teach? End of verse 9. To refute those who contradict. There are men who will contradict sound doctrine. There are men who will teach and practice and encourage you to practice that which is not contained herein.

And they will make inroads into the church and they will bring about destruction wherever they go. These men are wolves. These men are false teachers. These men are rebellious men, Paul is going to describe them. And if these men are not opposed, if these men are not corrected, if they are not refuted, These men will come in and they will deceive you, they will destroy you, and they will ruin the church and your family.

Notice what these rebellious men that Paul now goes on to describe in verses 10 through 16. Notice how these rebellious men are described. Notice how Paul talks about them. Notice what they do. Verse 11, they upset whole families, teaching things they should not teach.

They're false teachers. These men are false teachers and they are upsetting our families. Verse 13, they are not sound in the faith. Verse 14, they turn away from the truth. Verse 15, they are defiled.

And verse 16, they are detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. We're gonna get into all that, but it should be relatively clear to you at just that cursory glance why Paul is writing the way he writes in our passage this morning. It should be becoming more and more clear to you why Paul brings up false teachers immediately after the qualifications of faithful teachers. Again, what has Paul just told Titus and by extension you at the beginning of chapter one. What's the responsibility of elders in verse five?

To set things in order in the church. That's the assignment at the beginning of the chapter. And yet, what are these rebellious men, what are these false teachers at the end of chapter one doing? They're upsetting whole families. They're defiling the church.

They are turning the church away from the truth. What are they doing? Far from putting things in order, these false teachers, these rebellious men are sowing disorder. You're supposed to see a contrast. And so in Crete, Titus has a whole bunch of false and rebellious men, false teachers to deal with in Crete.

And in America, we have a whole bunch of false and rebellious teachers to deal with. And So what is the way to deal with them? What's the way to deal with false teachers? Answer, verse 11. Elders must silence them.

Answer, verse 13. Elders must reprove them. So that's what verse 9 sets us up to see. Elders must teach the flock, yes, but your elders, faithful pastors under the Lord Jesus Christ, elders, yes they teach the flock, but elders must also be the kind of man who can protect the flock as well. Evil teachers are going to come in and elders must teach them, teach the flock, must guard the flock, but they also must be able to protect the flock from these evil men by way of contradiction and refutation and silencing.

So if in your mind you think that an elder should only be, should only be, I'm not saying he shouldn't be this, but if he can only be the kind of man that has Only kind words all the time and just you just so sweet and gentle Yes, and I met he should do you should be those things But if that's all that you think an elder is supposed to be I don't know how you you're gonna be able to square that with this passage where they are literally told muzzle that wolf. Now I have never wrestled with a wolf, literally. But I've seen movies and in the movies no matter nicety makes that wolf lie down. It's hard, it's violent. But a man who is to be a pastor must muzzle rules.

How? If elders are to silence and to recrude false teachers, how? What are they to do that with? How are elders to guard to protect the flock from the deception and destruction of false teachers? Paul answers that with book ends, you know Your pastor loves to talk about book ends Because they're in the Bible How are elders to silence and reprove false teachers?

The book ends. Sound doctrine. Sound doctrine. Elders guard and protect the flock by teaching the flock sound doctrine and refuting those who contradict with sound Doctrine that's verse 9 That's also chapter 2 verse 1. Did you notice the book ends of our passage?

Verse 9 read it there the elder will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. Sound doctrine. Then in chapter 2 verse 1, what's Paul bringing up again in chapter 2 verse 1? But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine sound doctrine it could be translated right teaching accurately handling the Almighty Word of God the true gospel true teaching so chapter 1 verse 9 to protect the flock faithful men must teach sound doctrine. Chapter 2 verse 1, to protect the flock, faithful men must teach sound doctrine.

And in between, in verses 10 through 16, unfaithful men who depart from sound doctrine. False teachers who seek to deceive and destroy the church. And so what's the prescription Against these false teachers and their false doctrine. What's the prescription? Faithful teachers and their sound doctor If even in the structure of the passage you get this beautiful image, You've got this enemy here in the middle.

What are you going to do? I mean they could to the left or to the right, they could devour your congregation and God and his almighty sovereignty in Titus chapter 1 and in the first verse of chapter 2 puts bookends. You can't go this way, you can't go this way, false teachers, because you got faithful elders teaching sound doctrine. I love the picture. The picture of the structure is so good.

The bookends of our passage this morning demonstrate that Paul is drawing a contrast between the character and content of faithful teachers, chapter 1 verse 9, chapter 2 verse 1, and he's contrasting their content of faithful teachers and the character of those faithful teachers with the character and content of false teachers. The only way to deal with false teachers in their false teaching is for these faithful teachers to preach To refute to contradict with the true gospel sound doctrine So let me say this really clearly is kind of the main idea of the whole passage sound doctrine trumps false doctrine That's great, I'm just kidding So let me say that again. Sound doctrine trumps false doctrine. Sound doctrine, the true gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the very power of God unto salvation, it trumps false doctrine, which means you need sound elders to correct those who contradict. So that's our passage this morning.

A contrast between what is sound, the bookends, and unsound. Sound teaching comes from men of sound character, and unsound teaching, unsound doctrine, comes from men of false character. Out of the abundance of one's heart, the mouth speaks. From the pure, purity. From the impure, putrescence.

And so it's to the character of false teachers that we first turn. The character of false teachers. We see this particularly in verses 10 through 13, but really all the way through the passage. Let's read the first four verses again. Look at verse 10, for there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.

One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. His testimony is true. This reason will prove them severely so that they may be sound in faith. Friends, Paul is describing here the character of false teachers. And notice the descriptors that he's using, beginning in verse 10.

We'll go through these real quick. Rebellious men could be translated disobedient men. Is that not the opposite of what is required of an elder and his children? Do you remember Titus chapter 1 verse 6, just four verses earlier? Children of an elder are to not be accused of dissipation or Rebellion.

Same word. An elder and his children are not to be accused of rebellion and yet here's a false teacher. The opposite of a faithful teacher, Men in rebellion. Paul goes on, these rebellious men are empty talkers. That could be translated idle talkers or vain talkers, talkers, babblers.

They just make up answers. They just come up with ideas. And you know it doesn't take a lot of work to come up with new ideas. I don't think it does. It doesn't take a lot of work to come up with twisted versions of old ideas that are bad.

It doesn't take a lot of work to then deceive and lead people away with those wrong ideas. You know why? Because sinners, apart from the sovereign work of Christ in the life, Sinners want to be deceived. Again, apart from a sovereign act of God's Spirit upon the life of a person, a sinner hates the truth. So here comes an empty talker tickling the old ears.

People follow. They keep tickling my ear. Like the feeling. You know, another apostle, not Paul, but Peter, he says the same thing in 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 18 where he writes this, for speaking out arrogant words of vanity, these false teachers entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality. Paul and Peter, they're saying the same thing.

Empty talkers, vain talkers, deceive. They tell sinners what sinners want to hear. They appeal to the flesh rather than the spirit, and in doing so they deceive people. And that's why they must be stopped. Because they're teaching a false gospel.

They're leading people into eternal damnation. They're leading immortal souls away from everlasting life in Christ Jesus and into everlasting hellfire. That's huge. That's why they must be stopped. And at the end of verse 10, Paul gives these false teachers a name.

You see that there at the end of verse 10? Especially those of the circumcision. Circumcision. Well the circumcision, those are Jewish teachers who are teaching a false gospel. I'm going to come back to what that false gospel is in just a moment.

Notice what Paul says about the circumcision in verses 11-13. These false teachers must be what? Silenced. Why? Because they're upsetting whole families.

Teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. Earlier, Paul called them rebellious and now they're upsetting whole families. Isn't it once again interesting that the character of false teachers is at total odds with the character of faithful men Are you noticing that these false teachers are upsetting whole families And yet what must a faithful elder, what must an elder of the church possess? He must possess a happy family. He must possess an ordered family.

Why? Because He is to order the household of God. He is to manage the household of God. He is the steward of God's household. And so he must have a happy and well-ordered family in order to do it in the household of God.

And yet those are the circumcision. These false teachers, far from protecting and caring for and shepherding households, they are upsetting entire households. You know the verb there for upsetting could be probably better translated, ruining entire households. It's the opposite of a faithful elder. Then notice the end of verse 11 there, another characteristic of these false teachers.

They teach for the sake of what? For the sake of sordid gain. Now come on, That's an easy one to see, right? Are you understanding what Paul's doing yet? Sorted gain, is that not the exact opposite of the elder qualification that Paul has just given to us at the end of verse 7?

Remember verse 7, an overseer must be above reproach, not fond of what? Sorted gain. Here again, the character of false teachers is at complete odds with what a faithful overseer must be. So let's just put them all together. These false teachers are rebellious, they're upsetting entire households, they're teaching for sorted gain.

Everything contrary to that of a faithful man that that's very sorted game we've talked about already but let me just make sure you remember filthy lucre it's a good translation these false teachers they love money they love money far more than they love their people these false teachers are like their father the devil and their cousin Judas having more concern with the dollar sign than the household of God which makes sense then why entire households are coming to ruin under their leadership and teaching because the affections that these false teacher have for their people is false. It's got an affection for the murder, an affection for fame, not an affection for the people. So that is why Paul is saying these false teachers must be silenced. These wolves must be muzzled because with their mouths, with their words, they are tearing the church apart like wolves tend to do. And an elder, a faithful pastor, cannot let that happen.

A faithful elder will not let that happen to his people. Because far from sordid gain, an elder loves his people. His gain is Christ. His gain is for Christ to be exalted in the lives of the people that he loves. In Crossroad Church, I love you and I commit to you by the grace of God to do the same to muzzle the wolf no matter the cost so help me God Because I love you because pastor Matthew loves you he will do that because pastor David loves you He will do that Because we love you deeply because our love is not sorted game Our love is to see you love Christ we will not let the wolves have their way in your lives God help us so are you seeing the contrast between faithful men who teach sound doctrine and unfaithful men who Teach false doctrine you see in that contrast at all.

It's right there Yes Thank you. Okay. Well, in case you couldn't see it the contrast continues we'll go through that's really fast look in verse 12 and 13 Paul uses a generalization of Cretans to make a point which by the way, if you don't like generalizations, uh-oh You got to God use one Paul uses one here to make a point. Cretans in general are bad. Cretans are liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttonous.

I really appreciate what John Stott says here about Paul's use of a Cretan so-called prophet. So I want to quote him to you. This is John Stott. This is what he writes. Many of the church fathers identified the author of this saying as the sixth century BC Cretan teacher Epimenides.

Epimenides was held in high honor by the Cretans as both a prophet and a miracle worker. His threefold estimate of the Cretan character, liars, evil beasts, and lazy glutton, was decidedly unflattering, and yet there seems to have been some confirmation of it. These Greeks themselves were the ones to coin the verb for lie or cheat and the ones to coin the noun for falsehood. And Epimenides himself went further and joked that the absence of wild beasts on the island of Crete was supplied by its human inhabitants, the Cretans themselves. And as for lazy gluttons, combining greed and slough, the Cretans' extreme greed was so proverbial among the whole Greek world.

And so one might think that Paul was riding with a twinkle in his eye because he had the Cretans on the horns of a dilemma. If they endorsed their prophets' statement, they condemned themselves. And if they repudiated it, they made him the liar he said they were. Way to go, Paul. Paul uses one of the Greeks own generalizations, one of their own spokespersons to make a point.

Cretans in general are liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. And that's exactly the character, as we continue with this idea of what the character of false teachers are. It's exactly the character of false teachers, liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. And yet, what must a faithful teacher, what must a faithful elder be? Faithful elders are to be the exact opposite of those things.

Paul's made it very clear. Faithful teachers are not to be liars, not liars. Elders are to be truth tellers. Not like evil beasts who attack and bite and devour instinctually. No, Paul tells us in verse 7 of chapter 1 elders are to be slow to anger, elders are not to be quick tempered.

And while these false teachers are described as lazy gluttons, what are elders? Elders are to be devout and hospitable and not addicted to wine. The exact opposite of liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttonies. Look at verse 14. Paul says that these false teachers turn people away from the truth and yet Paul in verse 9 says that the faithful elder must hold fast to the truth.

Verse 15, the false teachers are defiled and unbelieving and yet what is the faithful pastor called to be in verse 6? Him and his children, he and his household, they are to be believing. I just don't know how much clearer Paul can make it. He is drawing a clear contrast between the character of false teachers and the character of true teachers, faithful teachers. At the end of verse 16, false teachers are worthless for any good deed.

They're no good. Yet Paul describes the faithful elder in what way? Titus 1 verse 8. Elders are to love what is good. Exact opposite of verse 16.

Elders, faithful teachers, they love what is good. I hope you're seeing the contrast between these two characters. Rebellious, empty talkers, deceivers, upsetting whole households, teaching for the sake of sordid gain, liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons, turning people away from the truth, unbelieving, defiled. All of that contrary, the opposite to the character of the teacher of righteousness. That's really what you have in verses 10 through 16 is the foil for faithful teachers.

Some of you like to read novels, good novel, a lot of times there's the main character and then there's the foil, the main character, the anti-hero, the anti-elder in this case. That's what Paul is doing here. Paul gives you what an elder of the church of Jesus Christ should be in verses 6 or 9 of Titus 1 Here's what an elder a faithful teacher should be 6 or 9 and then he gives you the foil the anti-elder in verses 10 through 16 Surrounding all that is sound doctrine. Sound doctrine. So here's the question.

Do you want to grow in Christ-likeness? I hope there is a huge amen when I ask that question again. Do you want to grow in Christ-likeness? Amen. Come on now.

Here on either side of our passages, of our passage, You got elders teaching a hot gospel that transforms hearts and minds into the image of Christ on both sides sound doctrine a Gospel and just it's the power of God unto salvation that's surrounding this path, right? You want to grow into Christ likeness with them? Yes. Yes Well, it ain't gonna happen by imbibing false doctrine by false teachers. You've seen their character, haven't you?

Not anywhere close to the image of Christ. It ain't going to happen by listening to men who aren't qualified to be your pastors. Ain't going to happen by finding a podcast, but by the way I don't hate podcasts, but it ain't going to happen by finding a podcast that tells you what you want to hear by men who aren't your pastors and are qualified to be your pastors Said it before you need to get your peas right Pastor before podcaster Get your peas right Don't think that just because it's tickling your ears that your affections for Jesus and your conformity to the Savior will then necessarily follow. Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with podcasts, but there are a lot of false teachers with empty words that would love to tickle your ears And you won't grow in Christ's likeness while having your ears tickled by false teachers and false teaching If you need any clue as why not had you seen what they are like? How do you grow in Christ's life?

Sound doctrine from sound teachers who are qualified by God to teach you. Look at the example of their lives. Examine their character. Sound doctrine produces sound character. False doctrine produces evil character.

That's the contrast that Paul is making clear to you. So just to make sure you're getting it, what is the cure for false teachers and their false doctrine? Sound doctrine. You got it. Sound doctrine taught by sound men, sound doctrine taught by faithful men, pastors, who will exhort and silence and rebuke false teachers with their sound doctrine.

With this, the Bible, with the pure perfect power of God unto salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sound doctrine. And so for just a moment I want us to consider the content of false teachers false doctrine. The content of false teachers false doctrine and then after that I want to conclude with the triumph of sound doctrine from sound teachers as elders heed the call to protect the flock of God okay so the rest of the sermon talk about the character I think a big part of this passage, but I want you to see the content explicitly of these false teachers and then the triumph of faithful shepherds' sound doctrine. So briefly, the content of false teachers' false doctrine.

We've already seen that these false teachers are members of the circumcision. I told you we come back to that. And the circumcision means that these false teachers were Jews, they were preaching a false gospel, and now in verse 14, Paul tells Titus the contents of their message. Look in verse 14, Paul tells Titus that these false teachers were paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men and they are turning people away from the truth. And that's the exact same thing that Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 1.

False teachers will devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Paul is telling Titus and Paul is telling Timothy the same thing. And Paul even doubles down for Titus. In case Titus didn't get it in chapter 1, at the end of the book Paul says the same thing. In fact let's go there look at Titus 3 verse 9.

Just turn the page look at Titus 3 verse 9. Paul tells Titus in chapter 3 verse 9 avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strive and disputes about the law for they are unprofitable and worthless. So he tells Timothy in 1st Timothy 1. That's what he's referring to here in Titus 1 verse 14. What are the false teachers teaching?

What is the content of their message? Myths and genealogies. Myths and genealogies. Their content is, the content of their false Gospels is myth and genealogies related to Judaism. So what are those?

I can't just say myths and genealogies and move on. Well briefly, genealogies. You've got false teachers in their day. I think we have a modern day example of this. We got false teachers claiming authority because they come from a certain tribe of Israel.

Or they come from some bloodline, some genealogy that was supposedly superior to others. Well we got Abraham for our father, they might say to the Gentile Christians. You gotta listen to us. We're up here. You're down here.

But that's not the gospel. It's not the gospel. For all our sons of Abraham, all our children of God, who have been what? Bought with the blood of the Lamb. It is the blood of Jesus that matters.

It is His sacrifice and His name that matters. Not the name of your ancestors, His name that matters. It's not some genealogical bloodline of sinners that makes you more right before God. It's not some genealogical bloodline of sinners that makes you one with authority. No, it is the blood of Christ.

To be a child of God made adopted into the family of Almighty God. That happens Not because of who you are, but because of who the Savior is. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That's what I think is going on with this idea of genealogy in Titus and in 1st Timothy. False claim of authority because of some bloodline which ends up denying the sufficiency of the blood of Christ for the remission of sins.

But what's a myth? What's a myth? Well, a myth is something that's not from God. It's a fable. It's not true.

Myths in our passage are the man-made rules and regulations of Judaism that Paul is talking about. Look at the end of verse 14, commandments of men, right? Not the commandments of God, these are the commandments of men. Paul loves the law of God. He is not for a moment here telling you that the law of God is not something that you should delight in.

But he is talking about the commandments of men and these men's insistence upon the commandments of men. The issue here in Titus, let me tell you really clearly, isn't Paul telling Titus that the law of God is bad? No, far from that. The issue here is adding to the law. The issue here is misusing the law.

Friends, why do you have the law of God? What do you do with the law of God? The law of God has been given to you to show you your sin and your desperate need for the Savior. The law of God is a tutor that takes you by the hand and leads you to Christ. And as you see your need for the Lord Jesus hung on the cross for you, bearing your sin in His body on the tree, you need Him, you trust Him, you're made born again, that same Savior, God Himself, then takes you by the hand and leads you back To the law of God for you to delight in and to show you how to live in his world You might disagree with that That's a bummer Because that is exactly the lawful use of the law.

But these men, these false teachers, they are like the Judaizers in Galatians chapter 3. That'd be a good chapter. Chapters 2 and 3 of Galatians. Go home and read perhaps tonight. Go ahead and read the whole book.

They are adding to the law of God. They're insisting on Judaism being the entry point into God's good graces, you've got to eat a certain way, you've got to give up on marriage, and then you can come to Christ. There's no salvation unless you first jump through a few hoops. Jump through our hoops, then salvation can be yours and Jesus. And That's exactly how Paul explains it to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4.

Let me tell you what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4. Timothy, Some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. That's the message of these false teachers, by the way. Doctrines of demons. Some will fall away from the faith paying attention to doctors and demons who forbid Marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth That's why Paul says what he says in verse 15 of our passage this morning.

Look at verse 15. Titus, chapter 1, verse 15. To the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

Verse 15 is Paul talking about things that these false teachers forbid, and verse 14. They forbid, these false teachers forbid what God has not forbidden because they are spiritually blind. They're defiled and so everything they look at is defiled too. To borrow an illustration, I didn't make this illustration up, it's really good. These false teachers are like a driver who has mud all over his windshield.

And this driver with mud all over his windshield is driving through a beautiful, scenic countryside. But because of the mud on the windshield and on his windows, all he thinks is that everything out there is filthy. Because that's all he can see. He can't see the beauty and purity out there because his windshield is defied. To the Christian, to the one made new, to the one who is no longer blind, to the pure, all things are pure.

They see the gifts of God for what they are. They know God. They know his gospel. So they delight in the things that God has said are pure. We have eyes that see.

But to those who are defiled, like these false teachers, They've got mud over their eyes. They've got scales over their eyes. They're blind. And so to them, nothing is pure. That's verse 15.

Nothing is pure. And such were some of you. You were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God in His Gospel.

These false teachers were teaching a false gospel. If I could sum it up in a sentence, they were teaching that you had to become a Jew first. You had to obey the commandments of men, the traditions of men within Judaism. You had to get cleaned up first, obey these man-made commandments first, and then come to Christ. Friends, it's just not the gospel.

It's not the gospel. The gospel is not the news that you must reform yourself so that then Jesus will come and finish the job. A thousand times no. Salvation is from beginning to end a sovereign work of divine grace towards sinners, all of which comes from Almighty God. The Gospel is Christ's death being your death.

The gospel is Christ's resurrection being your resurrection. You come with your sin and you die with him. He deals with your sin. You can't. He raises dead men up to a new spiritual life.

You can't! In any reform of your life that doesn't first stem from the finished work of Jesus, any attempted reform in your life that doesn't stem from the work of Jesus Christ, God says that that faithless work, that faithless reformation in your life will just damn you further. The gospel is Christ's righteousness and Christ's righteousness alone being what makes you right with God. And the gospel is that this righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ may only be yours through repentance and faith. No work of the law, no hook to jump through can justify you.

It is God who justifies and he does so freely by his grace as a gift to Jew and Gentile, right? There is no distinction, Paul says. Paul says so in Romans chapter 3. In fact, Romans chapter 1, Gentiles are sinners. You know, the Jews, they're, ha ha, I told you man, and he turns to Jews so are you in chapter two and he doubles every chapter three all of sin for all of sin and fall in short of the glory of God But those same sinners may be justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works?

No, but by a law of faith. We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. That's Romans chapter 3. The God-man, Jesus, fulfilled the law. The God-man, Jesus, obeyed the law in your stead.

So that in Him, you might become the very righteousness of God. So that in Him, who obeyed the law when you did not so that in Him, in Jesus, you might become a member of His church so that in Him, in Jesus, you might become a true member of Israel where in Jesus Christ all the promises of God are yes and amen. That's 2 Corinthians chapter 1. So I hope you're understanding the content of these false teachers false gospel. I've given you the contrast of the character of false teachers and the character of faithful teachers.

I tried to give you the contrast of content of false teachers' gospel and the content of the one true gospel in Jesus Christ. Let me give you a quote to see if that might help you put things together. Robert Raffa says, these false teachers' position was that a Gentile must first become a practicing Jew, submitting to circumcision, and showing oneself zealous for the law in order to become a Christian. Demonstrate your purity and then you're in. And brothers and sisters, I do not, I am not trying to, I see I get in trouble when I try to apply the test.

That's when you get in trouble. We can become just like the Judaizers with our children. If we ask them to be like that. You can't get baptized until you demonstrate that You really need that. What's the difference?

You're being a Judaizer. Jump through the hoops and then we'll change. I don't want you to be a Judaizer. Why not be a Judaizer? It's not the Gospel.

The gospel is this. This is the gospel. It's so good. We love the gospel. The gospel is not demonstrate your purity and then you're in.

The gospel is know your impurity. Know your impurity. The gospel is to know your sin. It is to confess your sin. It is to confess your impurity to Him who is faithful and just, the Lord Jesus.

And He will what? Cleanse you from all your unrighteousness. He will make you pure. The gospel, the true gospel, is in Acts chapter 15, which is another one you should read when you go home. The true gospel is in Acts chapter 15 verses 8 and 9.

And I'll condense it for you. God who knows the hearts of sinners gives the Holy Spirit. And He makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile, cleansing their hearts by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's Acts 15, 8, and 9. That's the true gospel.

These false teachers aren't teaching that. They're teaching a false gospel which leads people to hell. That's what verse 16 says in our passage, Titus 1 verse 16, look there, by their deeds they deny God. They are detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. So what's to be done?

What is to be done to these rebellious men and these false teachers? They must be silenced by faithful men. That brings us to our final point, our final consideration. It's very brief, it's very important. Faithful teachers must correct false teachers.

Just to reiterate, verse 9, pastors are to refute those who contradict sound doctrine. Verse 11, pastors are to silence those who are upsetting whole families. Verse 13, faithful men are to reprove false teachers severely so that these false teachers would be corrected and perhaps won back. It's the sense of verse 13. You know that's the desire, don't you?

That's your desire if there was a false teacher in our midst. We'd want to win them back. We'd want for false teachers to repent, to believe and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. But if they don't, then Paul says in chapter 3 verse 10 at the end of his letter, starts his letter this way and ends his letter this way. Paul says at the end of chapter 3 verse 10, if false teachers won't repent, they won't be corrected.

They are to be rejected and they're to be condemned. Condemned. Because if these false teachers are not silenced, if they're not muzzled, if they're not refuted, these wolves will tear families apart, they will bring ruin upon the church and death to her members. So again that's why you need qualified elders, real men who know how to speak and exhort their sheep with love and tenderness while at the same time knowing how to put it in a different gear and to rebuke and silence false teachers you Need pastors you need men who are not afraid to mince words Men who will not let their sheep be bitten men who at cost to themselves know I must muzzle the wolf. They will not have my people, the people whom Christ has given to me.

This is what must exist in the heart of any faithful pastor. Which is why at the end of the pastoral qualifications, this is what Paul talks about. There have got to be men that can do this, who can stand up against these kind of malicious, evil wolves. This is what must exist in the heart of every faithful pastor. You may not bite my people.

You may not. You will not bite my people. You will not terrorize my people. You may not attack my people. But you may bite me all you want.

You may attack me as their shield all you want, but you will not. You may not have them ever. That's a faithful teacher, that's a qualified elder, and this is what pastors, this is what stewards of God's household must be as they teach and proclaim the true gospel of Jesus Christ and shepherd his flock. Jesus has promised the same for you. I will not let you go.

I hold you in my hand and I will not let them have you as under shepherds, Matthew, me, and David, your pastors. This is what we must be about. Faithful teacher, qualified elder, You must proclaim, regard the flock, you must proclaim the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And that true gospel, the good news that Faithful Shepherd's Herald, that gospel is triumphant. It's triumphant.

Do you believe that? Do you believe it's triumphant? Do you know why it's triumphant? Do You know how you could demonstrate from Titus chapter 1 how it's triumphant Look at verses 12 and 13 This is the end look at verses 12 and 13 Paul tells you cretins are really bad You read that right? Cretans are bad.

They know it, you know it. Cretans are evil. Liars, lazy gluttons, they're really bad. But the gospel has come to Crete and the Gospel has come to stamp that evil out. The Gospel has come to Crete and it's now in every city and the Gospel has come to stamp that evil out.

How? I'm glad you asked. Because Romans 1, 16, the life, the death, the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, that news, that gospel, is the very power of God to convert sinners. The very power of God to take spiritually dead men and make them alive the very power of God to make sinners born again and made new and Set free and they slaves to Christ But this poem will actually believe that the gospel can really do that kind of work I mean in a place like Crete. Did you read the generalization in verses 12 and 13?

When Paul goes on to say in verse 13, this testimony is true, these are bad mammajammas. Does Paul actually believe that the gospel can really do that kind of work in a place like Crete? In a place this bad? Can he really do a work that I just talked about in Romans 1.16, the power of God in America? Will you tell me, what did he just ask Titus to do in the verses prior?

He just tasked Titus with appointing elders where? In every city. From what pool of people? The same cretins in verses 12 and 13. Oh yeah!

That's the power of the Gospel. God will make men sound in the faith from these same creatures. That's the power, that's the triumph of this gospel. That's the triumph of sound doctrine. Jesus said that God could raise up children from stones.

Remember that in the Gospels? How much more than can God take the stony hearts of sinners from Crete and in Oralum to the ends of the world? How much more, if he can raise up stones and make them children, how much more can God take the stony hearts of sinners and break them, and triumph over them in the promise of his gospel? So as you look out over Orland, you look over at Iowa, you look at a nation, you look at the world, You might wonder, as false teachers seem to abound, you're looking out and you're thinking, man, the world's getting rough. The world's getting bad.

You see wolves on the airwaves. You see false teachers on TV. You got loved ones that are attending congregations that are not faithful. Pastors of our land, by and large, weak and effeminate. You may wonder, will the gospel be triumphant Even here?

I mean surely not here, we're too far gone. I hear that a lot. Will sound doctrine actually prevail? When you want to, then you will. Remind yourself of Paul's words here in the Bible.

And remember the words of John 3 as well. That this is God's world, and he sent his son to save it. You remember John 3, 17? For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to what? Satan.

He used the word world there. It's pretty big. So dear brothers and sisters, don't you ever forget that though the wrong in this life, in this world seems so strong, God is the ruler yet. Remember, this is your Father's world. The battle is nothing for Jesus who died and Jesus who ascended on high.

He shall be satisfied and earth and heaven be one. The gospel is triumphant. Isaac and I ask if you'd come and lead us in a song of triumph as we consider what we just heard. And if you're in your chair, in your seat, you can stand and turn to hymn 31. Hymn 31.