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Why Elders Must Be Appointed – part 2
Titus 1:10-16
March 23, 2025

We started looking at this text this morning.

Basically we are giving Paul’s explanation to Titus
As to why he must appoint elders in every city.
• This is NOT preference issue.
• This is NOT a tradition issue.
• This IS a protection issue.

The church needs elders because the threat to her is real and great.

The church has enemies.
• Satan who prowls around like a roaring lion.
• And the savage or ravenous wolves he appoints to attack the flock.

Both of these enemies seek to deceive, destroy, and devour the church.

Therefore the elder must be a man (9) holds “fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

And what we began to look at this morning and continue looking at tonight is THE REALITY OF THE THREAT.

In the 7 verses we read here the overwhelming focus is on the reality of the danger the church faces.

• We see words like “rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers”
• We see words like “upsetting whole families”
• We see words like “liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons”
• We see words like “defiled and unbelieving”
• We see words like “detestable and disobedient and worthless”

And perhaps the scariest word of all is the word in verse 10, “many”.

The first line of defense are the elders who are appointed
To silence them, rebuke them, and even to correct them.

And this is Paul’s reasoning to Titus why he must (5) “appoint elders in every city as I directed you.”

We have broken this text down into 3 main points, and we are currently looking at the first one.

#1 THE WOLF
Titus 1:10-12, 15-16

The church needs to understand the danger that she faces.
If you want to know why you need shepherds,
It becomes much clearer when you see the wolves.

In our text Paul has given us 5 characteristics of the wolf to help us know the degree of danger we face there.

1) DECEPTIVE MESSAGE (10)

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,”

• They are liars.
• They give you bad doctrine.
• Paul told Timothy that they are ear ticklers.

To expound just a little on what we saw this morning:

They are the men who sought to HOOD-WINK the Galatians.
Galatians 3:1 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”

“bewitched” is BOSS-KY-NO
It means “to charm”

It’s like snake oil salesman who captivated you with their charm
In order to deceive you in regard to the will of God.

Specifically telling the Galatians that
• Faith in Christ was insufficient
• Salvation hinged upon a total keeping of God’s Law
• All this began with circumcision.

They made it sound right.
They made it sound good.
But it was a doctrine that would send them to hell.

They are the men who sought take the Colossians CAPTIVE.
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

“takes you captive” is SOO-LOG-O-GAY-O
It means “to carry off the booty”

These false messengers
• Sought to replace Christ as the means of salvation
• They denied His deity with human logic
• They denied His necessity
• The replaced it with human wisdom

These men are spiritual pirates
Who capture you and end up plundering you.

They are the men who EXPLOITED those Peter wrote to.
2 Peter 2:3 “and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

“exploit” is EM-PAR-OOH-O-MY
It’s where we get our word “emporium”
They “make merchandise of you”

They are slick talking liars
Whose only goal is to capture you and profit off of you.

And Paul said there are “many” of them like this in the world.

• These are wolves, but they wear sheep’s clothing.
• These are dangerous men, but they come to you as pastors.
• They are numerous, they are relentless,

The church needs elders to spot them and silence them.

An example of how numerous and how an elder spots them.
TURN TO: 2 TIMOTHY

This was a church founded by Paul, pastored by Timothy, and even the apostle John, and look at the danger in their midst.

• (1:15)
• (2:16-18)
• (3:1-8)
• (4:9-10)
• (4:14)

Do you see the threat?
Paul pointed them out to Timothy because he had to protect the flock from them.

They are men with a DECEPTIVE MESSAGE

2) DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE (11)

“they are upsetting whole families, teaching things the should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

• Like Hymenaeus and Philetus, they upset whole families saying the resurrection already came.
• Like the men at Corinth who said the resurrection didn’t exist.
• Like the men who contacted the Thessalonians telling them they were experiencing the wrath of the day of the Lord.

Wolves only desire to destroy the flock.
Like their father the devil they come only to “steal, kill, and destroy”.

The church needs shepherds to spot them and stop them.

3) DEPRAVED NATURE (12-13a)

“One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true.”

• Paul quoted a Cretan poet named Epimenides who was believed to be a religious prophet.
• Paul speaks here of their nature.
• In fact it became known that “to Cretanize” was a figure of speech for lying.
(macarthur, John [The macarthur New Testament Commentary: Titus; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 1996] pg. 61)

A wolf is a natural born enemy of the sheep.
There is no friendship

The church needs to be protected from them.

4) DEFILED CONSCIENCE (15)

(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.”

These guys are not pure, and nothing is pure to them.
That is a way of saying nothing is sacred.

I remember watching a Harrison Ford movie years ago where he was the president and terrorists grabbed his daughter and were threatening to hurt her.

He looked at the terrorists and said, “Have you no horror?”

And the answer here is, “NO, they don’t”.

They are “defiled and unbelieving” and “nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”

• A wolf will eat a sheep and give absolutely no thought to the pain the sheep is feeling.

• The enemies of the church will destroy your faith for a buck and give no thought to the judgment you will experience as a result.

These are dangerous enemies and the church must be protected.

That is what we covered the morning, but I wanted to cover it again
Because, to a degree, I want you to be horrified.

I want you to understand the horrible danger you face.
I want you to understand why the church must appoint elders.

There is one more characteristic of the wolf we need to see tonight before we move on.

5) DETESTABLE PRESENCE (16)

(16) “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

First we notice that these men are TERRIBLE HYPOCRITES.
“They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him”

• They claim Christianity but they are not Christian.
• They are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
• They are false apostles masquerading as angels of light.

2 Peter 2:17-22 “These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

That is them, they are frauds!
• They are hypocrites who make their followers twice as much as son of hell as themselves.
• They are blind men that lead other blind men into a pit.
• They are dogs who return to their vomit.
• They are pigs who return to the mud.
• They are dried up springs, they are powerless mists, they are slaves of corruption who can bring freedom to no one.

They are “detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

The Greek word for “detestable” here is only used here in the New Testament.
It’s only used one time in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) too.

Proverbs 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.”

There it is translated “abomination” and it is in reference to
A man who will justify the wicked and condemn the righteous.

What use is a judge who acquits the wicked?
What use is a judge who condemns the innocent?

He is of no use at all.
He is in fact “detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed”

False prophets in the Old Testament are described in terms just like this.

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 13:17-23

• There you see female false prophets are most certainly for sale.
• They’ll say anything you want for “handfuls of barley and fragments of
Bread”.
• They will “put to death some who should not die and keep others alive
Who should not live”

They are detestable.

The end result is that they “disheartened the righteous with falsehood”
And they “encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way”

What horrible enemies to the people of God.

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 23

First look at verses 1-2.
• There is the danger.
• It is men who scatter God’s flock.

See how detestable they are, look at verses 16-17
• Like the false prophets in Ezekiel they encourage the wicked.

And we see God’s estimation of them in verses 30-32

They provide no benefit for the people.

AND TO THAT WE ASK:
Is there any benefit to having a wolf amongst your flock of sheep?

• It IS NOT a desirable presence.
• It IS NOT a beneficial presence.
• It IS a detestable presence.
• It IS a worthless presence.

Someone has to be able to spot the wolf
And keep him away from the flock.

God’s remedy?
Elders

“appoint elders in every city as I directed you”

I hope you see the imminent danger.
I hope you understand the threat.

For it is the threat of the wolf
That leads the flock to see the importance of the shepherd.

Well that is the bulk of the passage: THE WOLF
But that is not all that is contained.

#2 THE FLOCK
Titus 1:11b

The flock only shows up here in one small reference,
Though undoubtedly they are the chief focus of God.

We see the flock in Paul’s statement “they are upsetting whole families”

No doubt this is what matters to God.

God would not care about the presence of the wolf
If He did not value the sheep.

• It should grieve your heart when you see a whole family upset in the faith.
• It should grieve your heart to see one deceived and led astray.

No one should see a lamb being devoured by a wolf and say,
• “No big deal, i’ve got more.”
• Or “No big deal, I didn’t really like that lamb anyway.”

The entire motivational force of the passage is that
The church needs elders because God loves the church.

TURN TO: JOHN 17

I just want to read part of this high priestly prayer of Jesus which He prayed in the upper room on the night before He was crucified.

Look at verses 6-15

Do you feel the love of Christ for the flock in those verses?
• Do you feel Him praying (11) “Holy Father, keep them in Your name”
• Do you feel it when He prays (15) “keep them form the evil one.”

You have Jesus, hours from crucifixion,
And the thrust of His prayer is that His Father will hold on to His flock.

Do you see how much He values her?
Do you see His love for her?

SOON HE WILL BE LEAVING.
What is His plan for her protection?

• Well certainly He is praying for her here.
• Certainly He still intercedes for her continually before the throne.
• But that is NOT ALL His plan consists of.

TURN TO: JOHN 21

• After Jesus again appeared to the men while they were fishing and they joined Him on the shore.

Read verses 15-17

Do you see His plan implemented for the protection of His sheep?
• He is appointing Peter to take care of His church.
• He is appointing Peter to shepherd and feed His sheep.

How much do they matter to Him?

And what did Peter end up teaching us?
1 Peter 5:1-4 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Peter shared the task didn’t he?
Peter called on other elders to “shepherd the flock of God among you”
• He knew the value of Christ’s flock.
• He knew how much they mean to Christ.
• He knew Christ’s desire that men rise up and protect her.

Certainly Paul understood this as well.
We have cited it often in this study, but listen as he speaks to those Ephesian elders.

Acts 20:28-32 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

He wanted those men to take care of Christ’s flock.
The flock that Christ purchased them with His own blood.

And that is precisely the motivation here
As well when Paul writes to Titus.

Titus, the flock of God is on the island of Crete.
They live on an island saturated with wolves.

“Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons”

Some of these liars “are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

Titus you have to go and “appoint elders in every city as I directed you”

Someone has to go and defend Christ’s flock.
Someone has to go and shepherd Christ’s sheep.

Do you understand the love God has for His flock?
Do you understand the love Christ has for His bride?

You must understand the danger the church faces.
You must understand how valuable she is to God.
Then you will understand why the church must appoint elders.

We cannot allow the faith of the flock to be upset by liars.
The flock must be protected.

The Wolf, The Flock
#3 THE SHEPHERD
Titus 1:11a, 13b-14

Here we see the role of the shepherd.
Here is THE SOLUTION Paul gives to the presence of the wolf.

Here is why Titus must appoint elders in every city.

(11) “who must be silenced”

(13b-14) “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.”

“silenced” is EPI-STA-MID-ZO

“EPI” = over
“STO-MA” = mouth

It means to put something over the mouth,
Or to bridal the mouth, or to silence the mouth.

There is an AUTHORITATIVE INTERVENTION that is occurring here.

You have a man teaching something they should not teach,
Someone has to have the authority and the backbone
To stop them from teaching.

• Someone has to remove them.
• Someone has to silence them.
• Someone has to make sure that they do not spread their lies any more.

In our world that is not a popular position.
But someone has to do it.
You can’t just let it continue.

AND THEN once you silence them and stop them from spreading their lies.

According to verse 13 someone must “reprove them severely”

“reprove” is ELENGCHO

It is the same word used in:
Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.”

There it is translated “show him his fault”

But you’ll notice that Paul doesn’t just stop at “reprove”.
Paul says “reprove them severely”
• That word means “abruptly; severely; sharply”

In other words, make sure he knows that this is not acceptable.
Leave no doubt that such teaching is not tolerated.

PERHAPS WE SHOULD PUT IT THIS WAY.

How would you talk to a wolf that was trying to attack one of your lambs?

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?
This is no laughing matter.
It is not tolerable.

Someone must be willing to approach the false teacher,
And in no uncertain terms let them know
That such teaching will not be tolerated.

1 Timothy 1:3-4 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”

CORRECT THEM.

Do you want to see some examples?

Matthew 3:7-10 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 11:37-52 “Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. “You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? “But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. “Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.” One of the lawyers said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. “So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

Acts 8:18-23 “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

Acts 13:6-11 “When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? “Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.”

Do you get the point?
This is non-negotiable and no room can be given.

And incidentally, this isn’t only for wolves.
This is also for solid teachers who accidentally stray from the truth.

When Peter misrepresented the gospel what does Paul say?
Galatians 2:11-13 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

Peter was a genuine shepherd, but he got it wrong there,
And we are thankful that there was another shepherd to correct him publicly.

Why would Paul do that?
• Why would they be so direct?
• Why would they be so severe?

BECAUSE THE FLOCK MATTERS AND THE FLOCK NEEDS TRUTH.

Would you rebuke someone for putting poison in the watering trough where your sheep water?

Would you make sure the sheep knew not to drink from it?

Would you be emphatic in your instruction?

Of course you would!
It must be done.

Now, what we also love about this passage
Is the PROPENSITY FOR REDEMPTION.

For Paul says we severely reprove those men, “so that they may be sound in faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.”

We reprove them so that they will get it right.

We will rejoice if they repent and change their teaching
And become of use to the church.

I always love the story John Macarthur tells about when he was asked to preach in one of his seminary classes.

The dean of the seminary I attended was Dr. Charles Feinberg, one of the most brilliant and respected men I have ever known. He was Jewish, and after studying for 14 years to be a rabbi, he was converted to Christ. He knew more than thirty languages. He even told me once that he taught himself Dutch because he wanted to read Dutch Reformed theology. He also read through the Bible four times every year. Needless to say, he was exceptional and intense. We were all rightfully in awe of him, and I loved him at the same time.

In those days, every seminary student had to preach in chapel. When my turn came, I was assigned to preach on 2 Samuel 7, the great text on the Davidic Covenant. My sermon was probably a fine example of structural craftsmanship. It had a zinger for a beginning and a zapper at the end. It would have been a great success, too—if it hadn’t been for my lack of biblical content in the middle section. I preached a “practical” message that was only superficially related to the biblical text. In that passage, Nathan encourages David to build a house for the Lord. And God says, “Wait a minute, you didn’t check in. That’s not the plan.” So I preached about how important it is to not to presume on God.

When I finished, I felt pretty good. The chapel audience seemed to have followed with interest, and I even thought I heard some murmurs of approval. But I really only cared about the opinion of one man—my mentor, Dr. Feinberg. The faculty sat behind us when we preached in chapel, and they had legal-sized criticism sheets, which they filled out during the student’s sermon. After we were done preaching, we would stand at the door, and the faculty would hand us their sheets as they left the room. I just wanted Dr. Feinberg’s.

He was at the end of the line, and I could see that he had folded his sheet up very small and very tightly. When he handed it to me, he did not even look up at me. He kept his eyes straight down and walked firmly past. That was not a good sign. So at my first opportunity, I unrolled his paper. I was eager to read his feedback, hoping desperately that he would be impressed with my sermon.

To be sure, I expected some constructive criticism. But the few bold red words that stared back at me were much worse than anything I had prepared myself for. He had completely ignored all the suggested categories and scoring helps that were printed on the sheet. Instead, he wrote across the page in bold red letters a one-line critique that hit me like a hard punch to the solar plexus: “ You missed the whole point of the passage .”

That is the worst possible mistake any preacher could make—but especially in front of someone like Dr. Feinberg.

Like many young preachers, I had naively concerned myself with just about everything except getting the meaning of the text right. My preparation was focused on delivery, gestures, anecdotes, the right mix of humor and illustrative material, and the alliteration of my main points. I had actually approached the biblical passage itself almost as an afterthought.

Later that day, I received a message instructing me to go to Dr. Feinberg’s office. When I got there, he was sitting at his desk, shaking his head in disappointment. “How could you? How could you? That passage presents the Davidic Covenant culminating in the Messiah and His glorious kingdom—and you talked about ‘not presuming on God’ in our personal day-to-day choices. That would have been a fine admonition to preach from Numbers 15:30-31 or Psalm 19:13, but you can’t reduce 2 Samuel 7 to that ! You missed the entire point of the passage, and it’s one of the greatest of all Old Testament passages. Don’t ever do that again.”

He never said another word about it to me, but that incident hit me like a sledgehammer. In fact, it was the deepest single impression I ever received in seminary. Never miss the point of the passage. To this day, when I come to the text each week and begin to study its richness and depth, I can still hear Dr. Feinberg’s heartfelt admonition ringing in my ears. If you don’t have the meaning of Scripture, you do not have the Word of God at all. If you miss the true sense of what God has said, you are not actually preaching God’s Word! That reality has compelled me for nearly 40 years of preaching.
Https://www.gty.org/library/Articles/A274/The-Day-I-Missed-the-Point

That is what we are talking about here.
A direct, even intense rebuke,
• Because God’s word deserves it and God’s flock deserves it.

But one also meant to redeem.
• So that the man be useful to the flock in the future.

And all of this culminates as Paul’s explanation to Titus
As to why he must appoint elders in every city.

The church needs these men.

• They need qualified men who will love the bride of Christ like they love their own wife.
• They need qualified men who will manage the household of God like they manage their own household.
• They need mature men who will love and serve the church like Christ desires.
• They need faithful and consistent men with a reputation for being genuine both inside and outside the church.

• And they need bold and courageous men who will face the wolves that threaten the flock.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

The church needs men who will take that seriously
And enforce it for the benefit of the flock.

This really isn’t something that can be overlooked.

If the church is to be cared for the way God intended,
Then she must appoint elders to oversee and give an example
And shepherd and protect her.

The job of Titus was to go and make sure she had them.

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Why Elders Must Be Appointed – part 1
Titus 1:10-16
March 23, 2025

AS YOU’RE WELL-AWARE,
We’ve spent the last few weeks discussing the qualifications of an elder.

• We looked at his home life,
• His maturity,
• Even his reputation among those outside the church.

Certainly every word of that is important for a congregation to know
When it comes time for them to recognize and ordain their leaders.

This morning we are going to move FROM THE WHAT TO THE WHY.

We see what an elder is supposed to be,
This morning we are going to examine why we need them.

The command to Titus was very clear back in verse 5.
Titus 1:5 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,”

We certainly don’t forget what Titus was left on the island to do.
• He was to travel from city to city all over the island.
• First he was to “set in order what remains”
• And secondly he was to “appoint elders in every city as I directed you”

This wasn’t a suggestion from Paul, this was a command.
And Paul went directly into explaining exactly
What to look for in a potential elder.

But up to this point, Paul has yet to answer the question of “WHY?”
• WHY did Titus need to appoint elders in every city?
• WHY was this so important?

Couldn’t Titus just go and teach all of the congregations
And then move on and allow them to just sort of “self-govern”?

What was Paul’s reasoning behind this?

Well, that is the question Paul answers now beginning in verse 10.

I do remind you what we learned last Sunday night in verse 9:
Titus 1:9 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

We talked about the ability of an elder
And how he must be able to exhort and to refute.

After that Paul goes directly into why we need such men.

(10) “For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially of the circumcision, who must be silenced…”

With that statement Paul is revealing to us why elders must be appointed.
• There is a predator that threatens the flock of God.
• There are deceivers who threaten to do tremendous harm to God’s flock.

God’s design is to appoint elders who will do the job
Of protecting the flock from those destructive attackers.

And this is an important point to grasp from Paul.

When talking about why the church needs elders,
It is not about tradition, nor is it about preference.
The church needs elders because of the dangers she faces.

And that is what we want to discuss this morning.

We’re going to divide this text up into 3 main points and hopefully by the time we are finished we will all see why the church needs elders.

We’re going to begin by taking a detailed look at the threat.

#1 THE WOLF
Titus 1:10-12, 15-16

Jesus said:
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

In Acts 20 Paul warned the Ephesian elders:
Acts 20:29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;”

Those “savage wolves” are clearly on Paul’s mind here.

When you read these 7 verses,
There is no doubt where the main focus is.
• Paul is focused on the threat to the church.
• He is describing the wolves.

The description of the threat dominates the text.

In verse 10 he calls them:
• “rebellious men”
• “empty talkers”
• “deceivers”

In verse 12 he calls them:
• “a prophet of their own”

In verse 15 he calls them:
• “defiled”
• “unbelieving”

In verse 16 he calls them:
• “detestable”
• “disobedient”
• “worthless”

It’s not hard to see where the focus of the passage is.

As Paul reveals the importance of appointing elders in every city,
The chief reason is the threat that faces the flock.

Before a congregation will ever understand her need for leadership,
She must first understand the danger she faces.

THE CHURCH HAS ENEMIES

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

We know about the roaring lion.
• We’ve certainly all read the story of Job and how Satan attacked him.
• We certainly remember the way Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
• We remember Satan’s attempt to sift Peter like wheat.
• We remember Satan entering Judas to coerce him to betray Jesus.

But we should also know about
His numerous servants whom he sends to wreak havoc in the church.
• Jesus called them “ravenous wolves”
• Paul called them “savage wolves”

Ultimately they are false teachers and false preachers in the church.

2 Peter 2:1-2 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;”

You see
• The warning of false teachers who will secretly introduce destructive heresies.
• How they succeed in leading many away from the truth through their sensuality.

These are dangerous men and even women who threaten the church.

Later in the same chapter:
2 Peter 2:17-19 “These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”

Jude warned of them as well:
Jude 12-13 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

They are a dangerous threat to the flock of God.

Now, if we were talking about a literal flock and a literal wolf,
And were trying to explain to the flock how dangerous a wolf is,
HOW WOULD WE DO IT?

If you had a sheep who had never seen a wolf, but you wanted to explain to that sheep how dangerous they are, what sort of things would you tell that sheep?
• Perhaps you’d mention their teeth or their claws.
• Perhaps you’d mention their size or their speed.
• Perhaps you’d mention how they run in packs.
• Perhaps you’d mention their brutality and lethality.
• Perhaps you’d mention their natural instinct.

THE POINT IS, you’d want that naïve sheep to understand that,
• Even though you may not see them this very moment, they are out there.
• That wolves are not to be messed with.
• Who is set to protect them from those wolves.

Well, that is what Paul is doing here.
He is explaining why the spiritual wolves are so dangerous.
• It’s not about their teeth or claws or anything like,
• It’s their deception that is their threat,
• But they are lethal and brutal none the less.

So church, listen as Paul explains to Titus
About these wolves that threaten the flock.

1) DECEPTIVE MESSAGE (10)

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,”

The first aspect of the wolf that Paul reminds Titus of…

The reason the church needs elders is because
“there are many rebellious men”

The word “rebellious” there is the same word used earlier in verse 6
When Paul spoke of the overseer’s children not being “accused of rebellion”.

It is simply a life void of submission to authority.
It is just someone who yields to no one.

And Paul points out that there are “many” of them.
• It is a bigger problem than you know.

These are men who do not subject themselves to the truth of God
Or any authority that God hands down.

Paul also calls them “empty talkers and deceivers”
And the word really needs no further explanation.

They talk and they teach and they preach,
But they don’t say anything of any value.

There is no weight to their words.
There is certainly nothing true about what they have to say.

Paul warned Timothy about such men too:
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”

That would be these guys here too.
• Just men who give “what is falsely called “knowledge”
• But it’s nothing of value and it’s nothing of truth.

In reality they have rejected the truth.
In reality they have rebelled against God’s revealed word.

Perhaps that is why Paul goes on to say, “especially those of the circumcision”.

We think about the Jews of Paul’s day
We understand them to have been men just like this.

Romans 10:3 “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”

And while Paul does not get specific about the message the preach,
The rest of the New Testament certainly gives us some ideas.

Later in verse 14 Paul will say,
“not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.”

And that gives great insight to us.

Paul warned Timothy:
1 Timothy 1:3-4 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”

In Judaism you are aware that
• They certainly have the Mosaic Law or the Torah,
• But of more interest to them than that is the Talmud which is the writings of rulings of Rabbi’s throughout the centuries.

They were oral traditions and rabbinic explanations
That really grew to govern Jewish life.

And in many cases “myths” is just the word.

I was reading part of it this past week regarding Sabbath laws,
Specifically carrying a load on the Sabbath,
Even more specific than that, how a man is forbidden to take a load from inside to outside or outside to inside on the Sabbath.

And it is quite extensive.
• If a man outside reaches in and sets his load inside, he is guilty.
• If a man inside reaches out and takes the load from another and brings it in, he
is guilty.
• If a man inside takes a load and sits it down, he is guilty.
• If a man outside reaches inside and takes a load, he is guilty.

BUT…
• If a man outside reaches his load inside and it is taken by a man inside and sat
down, neither is guilty because they each only broke half of the command.

And I mean, it is endless nonsense like that.
It is utter stupidity.

And you see referenced in Scripture
How such “myths” threatened the church.

Think about the Colossians.
Colossians 2:16-23 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

• Some Jewish zealot no doubt was convincing the Colossian believers
• That to be pleasing to God they had to adhere to all of these ordinances of their self-made religion.

The Colossians needed someone to expose all of that nonsense.

Or we think about the Galatians, who were being compelled to be circumcised.
Galatians 3:1-3 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

I remember years ago at Crawford
Getting into a pretty strong disagreement with the man leading the youth
Because he decided to take all the youth through “Lent”.

They were going to give up something for lent
In order that they might grow closer to God.

But that is not how you grow closer to God.
“Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Paul told the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 8:8 “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.”

AND WE COULD GO ON AND ON,

But what you have there are wolves coming into the church
And seeking to destroy the faith of the congregation
By subtly leading them away from their dependance on Christ
And by pushing them toward dependance on their own works.

Those types of myths are dangerous.

AND ANOTHER PROBLEM
Is that people seem to gravitate toward such nonsense.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

• As Paul told the Colossians those types of myths certainly have the
appearance of godliness and the flock is deceived.

• Other members of the flock actually like it, for legalism is very self-gratifying,
and they gravitate toward such teachers.

THIS IS WHY THE CHURCH NEEDS ELDERS.
That is why Timothy was called to faithfully preach the word to them.

But “myths” aren’t the only deviation from the truth that threaten the flock.

Paul also mentioned “commandments of men who turn away from the truth”

We think of Jesus conversation with the Pharisees.
Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”

• It was all of this nonsense about whether or not the disciples washed their hands.

It had no bearing on the heart.

Jesus would say later:
Matthew 15:17-20 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

YOU SEE THE POINT.
We are talking about men who attack the church
By introducing subtle yet destructive heresies.

• They are legalistic myths
• They are ceremonial traditions
• They are subtle but they are destructive

And the ultimate threat is that they “turn away from the truth”

WE SEE SUCH MYTHS AND TRADITIONS TODAY

• Listen to Catholicism discuss Purgatory
• What about liberal theologians who promote universalism
• What about legalistic denominations that deny SOLA FIDE and insist upon
works to secure salvation.

• Baptists were always notorious for not being able to dance.
• I had a great-grandmother who was convinced if you played cards you were
a heretic.

Over the years we’ve heard people elevate things like instruments in the church, or dress codes to salvation level behavior.

There are an endless number of ways in which the flock of God
Can be attacked by the deceptive message of savage wolves.

There are no shortage of myths or traditions that can lead men astray.

Colossians 2:4 “I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.”

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

You get the idea.
The wolves the church faces today
Are those who are “rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers”

And the church needs elders to spot those dangers.

There must be men who are (9) “holding fast the faithful word in accordance with the teaching”

Who are “able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

A church that thinks they don’t need elders
Is like a flock of sheep who thinks they don’t need a shepherd
To spot the dangers around them.

We are dealing with wolves who have A DECEPTIVE MESSAGE.

2) DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE (11)

“who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

We’ll get to the “silenced” part later

But look again at the threat of these spiritual wolves.

“they are upsetting whole families”

Paul wrote to Timothy about Hymenaeus and Alexander:
2 Timothy 2:16-18 “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.”

That would certainly be an “upsetting” message.

Telling believes that the resurrection has already occurred.
• Talk about robbing a congregation of their hope.
• Talk about taking away the motivation of eternal reward.

Or what about the people at Corinth?
1 Corinthians 15:12 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

• At Corinth they didn’t say it already occurred, they just said it wasn’t real.
• What a message to preach to the church.

Or how about the wolves that wrote that letter to the Thessalonians and turned their world upside down?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

• The Thessalonians were suffering extreme persecution at the hands of the
Jewish zealots in their region.
• Apparently someone wrote to them and told them that the reason they were
suffering so much is because they had offended God and were
experiencing the day of the Lord judgment.

They were obeying God and suffering as a result
And some wolf told them God was punishing them.

It is certainly deception, but it is deception with a purpose.
The goal is to destroy faith.

THAT IS THE DANGER WE FACE IN THIS WORLD.

They are wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing.
And they come to destroy the sheep.

• Wolves have no interest in playing with sheep.
• Wolves don’t enjoy the company of the sheep.
• Wolves are only here for one purpose and that is destruction.

They come to ruin the faith of believers.
They come to turn your confidence upside down and inside out.

THINK OF THE GALATIANS,
Just as happy as could be, having been told of Christ
• Until some Judaizers came in and convinced them that until they were circumcised they really weren’t pleasing at all.

Here were the Colossians,
Happy in Christ,
• Until the Jews came and told them that if they weren’t self-mutilating they would never be holy before God.

Here were the Ephesians,
Trusting in Christ,
• Until Hymenaeus and Alexander told them they’d missed the resurrection.

YOU GET THE POINT.
They were ruining people’s faith by distorting the gospel.

These wolves were:
“teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

We think of Yohan Tetzel

• In the days of Martin Luther showing up at Wittenburg
• Telling those crowds that their parents were burning in Purgatory
• And “every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from Purgatory springs”.

Give Tetzel money and your mom and dad can get out of Purgatory.
What a lie!

Just as disastrous as the prosperity preacher on television
• Who tells the person with cancer to sow a faith seed gift of however much money and God will heal them.
• And then when God doesn’t, the preacher blames it on their faith.
• And before long that person has no use for God or faith.

Wolves are out to destroy the flock.
That’s what they do.
The church must have elders to spot and silence such deception.

Deceptive Message, Destructive Influence
There’s a third aspect we see about these wolves

3) DEPRAVED NATURE (12-13a)

“One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true.”

What was Paul’s point here?

• You can give a wolf a bath, and put a suit on him.
• You can teach a wolf to eat with a fork and a spoon.
• You can house break a wolf and teach him to be civilized.

But deep down you know what he is? A WOLF.

Just because you put him in sheep’s clothing doesn’t change who he is.

Paul said even their own prophets know that.
“Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons”

LET ME ASK YOU.

What motivates a wolf to go after sheep?

HUNGER
• A wolf has no problem deceiving a sheep, trapping a sheep, or eating a sheep,
because that is what a wolf does.

THAT IS ITS INSTINCT.

Church, do you understand that you have such an enemy.
Wolves that will infiltrate the church for exactly the same reason.
They do not care about you. It is their instinct to destroy you.

Peter described them:
2 Peter 2:12-15 “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

Wolves are not ashamed of being wolves.
• They are proud to be wolves.
• They love being wolves.

The church cannot be naïve about this.

There are many of these wolves.
Jesus said it, Paul said, Peter said it.

They come in with a deceptive message
That is meant to destroy your faith
So that they can devour you.

Their only use for you is to satisfy their own belly.
They will tell you whatever they need to tell you so long as it benefits them.
• They don’t care if you end up in sin or judgment or hell.
• They don’t care if your marriage falls apart.
• They don’t care if your children rebel.
• They don’t care if you end up denying the faith.

They just want to satisfy their own flesh at your expense.
IT’S WHO THEY ARE.

Let me give you one more:
Deceptive Message, Destructive Influence, Depraved Nature

4) DEFILED CONSCIENCE (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.”

What does that mean?
“To the pure, all things are pure”

Basically this.
That a man who has morals and integrity,
He will want those morals and integrity to govern his entire life.

There are things that a pure man won’t do because his conscience will bother him.
• He has character, he has integrity, he has morals.
• He will be true and pure to himself if nothing else.

But these wolves are not like that.
They are “defiled and unbelieving”

To them, “nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”

You do realize that a wolf will eat a baby sheep right in front of its mother.

There is no compassion there.
Wolves have no conscience.

That wolf isn’t going to go home, look at its own cubs
And feel remorse for robbing some poor sheep mother of her lamb.

It’s a wolf.
It will be back tomorrow to eat the rest of her lambs and then her.

And that is true of the false teachers that infiltrate the church.
Church we are dealing with a terrible enemy.

• They don’t care.
• They aren’t worried about your soul.
• They aren’t concerned about your relationship with God.

They have no conscience at all.
1 Timothy 4:1-6 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men 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. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.”

Some of the examples Paul gave are things like “forbidding marriage”
Or advocating “abstaining from foods”

The idea is that they are going to try to get you to trust in yourself for salvation instead of the work of Christ.

They try to get you to entrust your soul to your own piety.
How much can you do without? (beneficial when they want you to give)

They tell you that the way to go to heaven is to abstain from certain foods
• (Hello Seventh Day Adventist)

They tell you that the way to go to heaven is to stay celibate and never marry
• (Catholics have done this with priests and nuns)

And the problem is NOT
That you might miss out on some special food or the joy of marriage.

The problem is that you might think God owes you eternal life
Because of the earthly sacrifice you made,
And won’t you be shocked on the day you stand before him.

But on that day, when Jesus Christ says, “I never knew you!”
• And you are saying, “But I never ate pork, and I never got married”
• And He still says “depart from Me!”

ON THAT DAY, that false teacher who convinced you to earn your way to heaven won’t care at all.

• He has no conscience.
• It does not bother him that he lied to you.
• It does not bother him that he misled you.

Like a wolf eating a sheep, he doesn’t care how much it hurts the sheep.

CHURCH THE WARNINGS ARE CLEAR.

THERE ARE SAVAGE WOLVES.
There is an enemy prowling around to destroy you.
• They will come and deceive you with empty words.
• They will come and upset your faith.
• They will come and lead you to believe something false.
• They will come and condemn you and not think twice.

They are crafty and cunning and smooth talking.
They are deceptive to the core and good at what they do.

But God has accounted for this threat.

GOD’S SOLUTION IS THIS.
(5) “appoint elders in every city as I directed you.”

God’s solution is to appoint qualified elders to shepherd his flock.
• They must be men who know the truth and who can teach the truth.
• They must be men who can spot error.
• They must be men who know a wolf when they see one.
• They must be men who are devoted to facing the wolves.
• They must be men who keep watch over your souls.

CHURCH, GOD LOVES HIS FLOCK.
CHRIST LOVES HIS BRIDE.

And in that love He has ordained that elders be ordained to protect them.
• Godly men who manage their families well.
• Godly men who are mature and gentle.
• Godly men who are faithful and consistent.
• Godly men who know the truth and can preach it and use it.

And God’s plan is to appoint them over the church
For her leadership and protection.

And certainly more than one, for if a flock only has one elder and he is a wolf, who is going to deal with him?

THERE IS MORE TO DISCUSS ABOUT THIS TONIGHT,

• But see here God’s desire that His flock be protected from savage wolves,
• See His love for the flock,
• And see God’s plan to protect it.

download here

Leadership Matters – part 8
Titus 1:5-9 (9)
March 16, 2025

Hopefully by now everyone is aware of the study we are currently in.
We are talking about the requirements for leadership in the church.

• Paul has left his protégé and “true child in the faith” on the island of Crete.
• He left him there to “set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city”

I’ll give you the outline again on the screen like we did last Sunday night
Instead of going back through all of it since we are now several sermons into this.

I. The Purpose (5a)
II. The Directive (5b-9)
A. The Title
B. The Job
C. The Plurality
D. The Appointment
E. The Gender
F. The Reputation
1. In His Family
a. With His Wife
b. With His Kids
2. In His Church
a. His Maturity
b. His Ability

After examining that extra criteria from Timothy this morning,
TONIGHT we move back to Titus for the final point and that is
THE ELDER’S ABILITY.

(9) “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

The wording is obvious there in the middle of the verse.
“so that he will be able…”

In 1 Timothy Paul’s point is even more direct.
Paul lists it as a direct prerequisite.

1 Timothy 3:2 “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,”

It is the only ability-based criteria that is given.

That definitely speaks to the SINGULARITY of the job.

You may have in your mind what the job description of an elder is.
You may have in your mind what he should be doing with his time.
Certainly the world has expectations.

When I was a kid it seemed like there was this scale that was often used.

I would hear people talk about a man, perhaps a potential new pastor at the church and they would sort of rate him on a scale.

• To the far left would be PASTOR
• To the far right would be PREACHER

And they would talk about the man
As either more of a pastor or more of a preacher.

But that is NOT how the New Testament looks at the office.

The New Testament requires a man to pastor the flock
And he does that by preaching and teaching.

• He teaches them the word.
• He applies the word to their situations.
• He encourages them with the word.
• He corrects them with the word.
• He guides them with the word.

THAT IS HOW HE PASTORS OR SHEPHERDS

We saw that clearly from the apostles early in the book of Acts
Acts 6:1-4 “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The apostles understood what it meant to shepherd the flock.
It was to pray or them and to minister the word to them.

You cannot be a faithful pastor if you are not a faithful preacher.
• There is no such thing as a faithful pastor who is not a faithful preacher.
• There is no such thing as a faithful elder who is not a faithful preacher.
• There is no such thing as a faithful overseer who is not a faithful preacher.

Those are NOT the opposite two ends of the scale.

When Scripture lays out the one trait
That the elder must be able to do well, that one trait is teaching.

Above all else, the elder, overseer, pastor
Must be one who is gifted and committed to faithfully and accurately
Preaching and teaching God’s word.

1 Timothy 5:17 “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

THIS IS THE CALLING.

SO LET’S EXAMINE
What Paul has to say to Titus about this one ability based requirement.

When you read verse 9 there are three actions that really jump out.

(9) “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

1. We see “holding fast”
2. We see “exhort”
3. We see “refute”

So when Titus goes forth to evaluate potential elders;
After examining their home life and their maturity,

Titus will then inquire about:
1. His Conviction
2. His Confrontation
3. His Correction

Let’s talk about that a little

1) HIS CONVICTION

“holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching”

We certainly see in the end of the verse
• That he’s going to have to preach both to exhort the church and to refute critics.

The PREREQUISITE to being able to do either of these well
Stems from his own personal convictions regarding God’s Word.

What sort of convictions are we talking about?
What are the man’s convictions concerning God’s Word?

Obviously he must be convicted regarding: THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE

That is what is implied in the phrase “holding fast”

• He doesn’t abandon the Scripture
• He doesn’t omit the Scripture
• He doesn’t get discouraged if the Scripture operates slowly
• He holds fast to the Scripture no matter what.

When looking for men to lead the church,
We want men who have the ability to preach and teach
And who will never abandon the Scriptures as the sole curriculum.

We know the propensity of man today,
Especially in a pragmatic and results driven culture.

There have been many church growth books written in the past 20 years
• Most saw preaching as an obstacle to growth.
• Most preferred psychology, humor, cultural relevance, even prosperity

• Many today even prefer politics as the main focus.

That is not the type of men we want in leadership in the church.

THE CHURCH NEEDS TO HEAR FROM GOD.
The place where that happens is in the Bible.

The elder then must be a man who is committed
To rightly dividing the word of God for his people.

• He must be committed even when growth seems slow.
• He must be committed even when enthusiasm lessens.
• He must be committed even when people grow apathetic.

I’m often reminded of Jeremiah.
I’m not sure any prophet had it more difficult than Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 20:7-9 “O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.”

For Jeremiah preaching God’s word did not produce any of the desired results of the modern church growth movement.
• Jeremiah preached and his people grew more wicked.
• Jeremiah preached and his people grew more apathetic.
• Jeremiah preached and the people hated him more for it.

He saw none of those positive results that we all hope for,
And the human temptation, (Jeremiah even expresses it,)
Would be to abandon God’s word in favor of something that works.

Jeremiah did not.
He had a burning conviction in his bones to cling to and hold to the words of God.

THAT IS A SHEPHERD.

To be in a leadership position in the church
You must be a man who will pull out the Bible
And teach it when everyone else was willing to ignore it.

HE MUST HOLD FAST.

Paul told Timothy
1 Timothy 4:13 “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”

Read it, explain it, call men to conform their lives to it.
THEN REPEAT.

THE SHEPHERD ELDER MUST BELIEVE AND BE CONVINCED
That the only thing that can transform a man into the image of Christ
Is the Scripture.

• He would not dare turn to another tool.
• He would not dare neglect it in favor of trendy gimmicks or tactics.
• He believes that God’s word is living and active.
• He believes that God’s word is sharper than any two-edged sword.

He believes what Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

And he sees no need to find another method.

He believes what Paul says to the Thessalonians:
• That it is God’s word “which also performs its work in you who believe.”

He believes what David declared:
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”

He is convicted regarding the sufficiency of Scripture.

He is also convicted regarding THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SCRIPTURE

Paul says that he will be “holding fast the faithful word”

He calls it “the faithful word”

Indicating his believe that God’s word never fails.

Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

THAT IS THE ELDER’S CONVICTION.

While it is true that God’s word may at times appear to be slow in it’s accomplishment, it is also true that it never fails.

I THINK OF THE STORY OF ELIJAH,
When in frustration he ran to the mountain of God to complain to God about the pitiful state of Israel.

As Elijah stood on that mountain
• He first endured a strong wind that broke the mountain apart,
• Then an earthquake that shook the ground,
• Then a fire which blazed brightly,
• But none of those was the LORD.

Following those mighty displays of earth-shaking power
There was a gentle blowing, and that was the LORD.

What an illustration of God at work.

So much of the time, in our impatience,
• We want the mighty wind, or the earthquake, or the fire.
• We want God to do some mighty work that blows the doors off the place,
• But 2,000 years of Church history should teach us that this is now how God typically works.

God is more likely to be a gentle blowing.
Calm, steady, relentless – just like the preaching of His word.

It works, over time, and it works every time.
It never fails.

It is “the faithful word”

The elder must be a man with this conviction so that he will never abandon it even when results seem slow.

A man who will abandon the Scripture in favor of faster remedies
Is a man will heal the flock superficially
And leave them worse off than when they started.

We also find in regard to his conviction that he is convicted regarding THE MESSAGE OF SCRIPTURE

Paul says that when he olds fast to the word he does so
“in accordance with the teaching,”

WHICH IS TO SAY he holds to the accurate message of Scripture.

Not only does he cling to the word,
But he doesn’t manipulate or change the word to fit his longings.

THERE ARE MANY PREACHERS
• Who will stand in the pulpit with their Bibles
• And claim to preach the word of God
• But who malign the Scriptures until they are spewing nothing but heretical thoughts. (Joel Olsteen comes to mind)

THE TRUE ELDER
Is not only committed to the Bible, but the accurate exposition of it.

• He doesn’t stop preaching repentance just because the culture loves their sin.
• He doesn’t stop preaching Christ crucified just because the culture worships human goodness.
• He doesn’t stop preaching Biblical holiness just because the culture seeks to tolerate iniquity.

He is a man who holds fast on the cultural topics of the day.
• Things like feminism or homosexuality or abortion or sexual immorality.

He clings to the message of the apostles.

SO THE ELDER MUST BE A MAN OF CONVICTION.
• He is convicted that God’s word is what the people need.
• He is convicted that God’s word is all they need.
• He is convicted that God’s word will work.
• He is convicted that His job is to accurately declare what God’s word says.

As you examine men for a leadership position EXAMINE THAT.

Listen to him talk.

When he talks what comes out?
• It is out of the overflow the heart that the mouth speaks.
• If he is not filled with the word of God before you ordain him an elder don’t
expect him to be afterward.

It’s like what Charles Spurgeon said of John Bunyan
“Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him.”

Maybe the man won’t be quite a John Bunyan, but you get the idea.
He is a man who is a teacher of the word whether he has a pulpit or not.

That’s how you spot a potential leader.
You see his CONVICTION

2) HIS CONFRONTATION

“so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine…”

Don’t let anyone fool you,
The role of a shepherd is a confrontational role.

I realize that in our day and age
To be considered “confrontational” is a negative thing.

And I would agree to an extent.
After all, we recently learned in verses 7 and 8
• That this man can’t be “self-willed” or “quick-tempered”.
• We saw that he must be “self-controlled”.
• So we obviously aren’t looking for a man who just likes to pick fights.

Even the end of Titus will give a sobering warning:
Titus 3:10 “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,”

When we say that the role of a shepherd is a confrontational role
We are NOT SAYING that he must be a selfish, immature, factious type man.

But the role of a shepherd IS one that confronts.

Even the verse we just read in Titus says,
“Reject a factious man after a first and second warning”

Someone had to warn that factious man,
And then potentially someone must reject him.

In addition, Paul will tell Titus
Titus 1:10-11 “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.”

And again:
Titus 2:15 “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

There is a confrontational job to be done.

To be more specific,
The role of the elder is to confront the old man
That he might be put to death
In order that the new man might become manifest.

IN SHORT,
• He confronts sin in his people.
• He takes the word and confronts the flesh.

Hosea 6:4-5 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.”

God said that His people were disloyal and fickle and hypocritical.

What was God’s plan for confronting that and changing it?
He sent His prophets to confront.
• He says “I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets”.

Has that ever happened to you?
Has God’s word ever carved you up until you were willing to put away your sin?

Jeremaih 23:29 “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

There God presents His word like a hammer.

Has God ever taken His word and crushed your hardened heart with it?
Has He ever broken up the rocky soil of your heart with His mighty sledge?

THAT’S WHAT GOD’S WORD DOES.

The shepherd elder uses that sword; that hammer
To do the same in your life.

• He calls men to leave their sin and to follow Christ.
• He calls men to abandon their laziness and serve Christ.
• He calls men to forsake their comfort and obey Christ.

Listen to Paul as he preached to the Ephesians
Ephesians 4:17-24 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

He is confronting their former life of sin and calling them in sanctification
To put on the new man to the glory of Christ.

Colossians 1:28-29 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

It is a confrontational role.

However, the word “confrontation” is NOT the word typically used.

Scripture prefers the word “exhort”

“so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine…”

“exhort” is PARAKALEHO

It means “to call to one’s side for instruction or comfort or encouragement or confrontation or exhortation”

• When Jesus announced to the disciples that He was leaving He promised to send them “another Helper”. You and I know Him as the Holy Spirit.
• He would come and convict, guide, and glorify Christ.
• The word “Helper” was PARAKLETOS
• He would be the One to come beside you to encourage and help you.

THAT IS THE IDEA HERE.

The shepherd elder is an exhorter.
• He is a helper,
• He comes beside you to challenge you, to comfort you, to encourage you.

Though he strikes you with the sword of God’s word…
Though he smites you with the hammer of God’s word…
The goal is not destruction it is redemption.

He uses the word to destroy your flesh
That your soul might find freedom and sanctification.

And if he is going to accomplish this task,
Then he must have the ability to rightly wield the sword
And swing the hammer.

He has to be able to teach.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

• A man that won’t do that cannot serve as an elder.
• A man who can’t do that cannot serve as an elder.

So we are looking for a man who holds to the word
And who is committed to using it
To drive you toward sanctification and Christ-likeness.

And again, don’t miss the word “able” there.
“so that he will be able…”

We’re looking for men who have the ability to rightly divide the Scriptures
• We are looking for men who have the ability to speak the truth in an understandable way.
• We are looking for men who have the ability to confront in love.

And not to say too much here,
But you should know that this is a TWO-PART ABILITY.

On one hand he must be a SPIRITUALLY GIFTED person.

We know that preaching and teaching are spiritual gifts.

Paul describes the practice of preaching in 1 Corinthians 2
1 Corinthians 2:9-13 “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

THAT IS PREACHING.
It is to take transcendent truth which originates in the mind of God
And to bring it down into comprehension to the human mind.

• It is truth so amazing that no man would ever think of it.
• It is deep and complex and entirely spiritual.

The art of preaching is to take that heavenly reality
And make it clear to the fallen human mind.

That cannot be done except by the gifting of the Holy Spirit.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR GIFTED MEN.

That is why Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:14 “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.”

• The presbytery did not give Timothy his gift of preaching,
• But they did recognize it.

That is what the church must do.
They recognize men who have been gifted to rightly divide God’s truth.

But it is not just about his giftedness, it is also about HIS WORK ETHIC.

In the very next verse, after acknowledging Timothy’s giftedness, Paul goes on to say:
1 Timothy 4:15 “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.”

Later in 2 Timothy
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

You see the balance in Paul:
1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

It was a mixture of giftedness and labor.
• Paul told the Colossians “I labor, striving according to His power” (Col. 1:29)
• Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5)

1 Thessalonians 5:12 “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,”

Preaching IS WORK.
Rightly dividing the truth IS WORK.
And a man must be willing to do the work.

I can show you the work.

Proverbs 2:1-5 “My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.”

“receive” – “treasure” – “make your ear attentive” – “incline your heart” – “cry for discernment” – “lift your voice” – “seek her as silver” – “search for her as for hidden treasures”

THAT IS THE WORK.
Take that text and wrestle with it, and dig for it and beg for it
Until God makes the unclear clear
So that you can present it to the people.

Otherwise how will the congregation benefit?

And you have seen this.
It’s why so many of you love John MacArthur or R.C. Sproul.
• It is because of their ability to take the deep truths and make them simple.
• That is the result of both their giftedness and their labor.

You are looking for the man who has both.

That is the man who can come beside you
And help you overcome sin.

1. We are looking for men with conviction regarding God’s word.
2. We are looking for men with the willingness and ability to confront and exhort.

His Conviction, His Confrontation
3) HIS CORRECTION

“and to refute those who contradict.”

THIS IS THE PROTECTOR ROLE.

The gospel has plenty of enemies.
• Those who fight it
• Those who deny it
• Those who distort it

2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”

Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Galatians 2:4 “But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.”

Somebody has to spot them.
That job falls to the elders.

The elder must know the word enough to spot the dangers
And be competent enough to show them to you.

That is actually what Paul will tell Titus next.

Titus 1:10-11 “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.”

The shepherd elder must know the word
Because there are enemies who are attacking the flock
AND HE MUST SILENCE THEM.

1 Timothy 1:3-4 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”

Consider the church at Ephesus
They were overrun by men teaching strange doctrines.

Timothy had to identify them, expose them, correct them,
And then show the people why they were wrong.

2 Timothy 2:14-19 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”

Timothy was called to study God’s word faithfully
So as to be able to spot heretics like Hymenaeus and Philetus.

Paul exposed their heresy and noted that it spreads like “gangrene”.

SOMEONE HAS TO EXPOSE THAT.

We think even of Paul confronting Peter.

Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

There is another compelling argument for a plurality of elders.
• Sometimes even elders need to confront elders.
• Sometimes even godly men get it wrong.

There must be other men, full of conviction, gifted,
And having labored in the word to protect the flock
Even from unintentional departures from truth.

Peter wasn’t looking to be a heretic.
But on that day the flesh got the better of him
And Paul had to protect the flock even from his co-shepherd.

When Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders he said:
Acts 20:28-31 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”

Someone has to be on the alert.
• Someone has to be able to spot error, expose error, and explain it to the people.

I heard a great quote a few weeks ago.
“He who spares the wolf sacrifices the sheep.”

What a true statement!
The flock of God must be protected.

And the men appointed for the protection of the flock are the elders.

They are men who
• Bear witness to knowing how to love their wife.
• Bear witness to knowing how to raise kids.
• Bear witness to being mature and self-controlled.
• Demonstrate the ability and work ethic to rightly divide the word of God.

NOW AGAIN LET ME ADD THIS.

When we spoke of a man in his home
We acknowledged that a man might not appear immediately qualified.
• Maybe be we need more time,
• Maybe we just need to examine his circumstances more carefully.
• But we acknowledge that he may get there.

The same can be said of the immature man.
He may not be mature today,
• But through repentance and growth and sanctification
• We certainly hope he gets there and he may be qualified one day.

THE SAME can be said for the man lacking ability.

If you have a heart to shepherd God’s people
But you lack the bible knowledge or ability to accurately teach it,
What are you going to do?

STUDY! PRACTICE!

You say, “But what if I’m not gifted?”
Well how are we going to know if you never try to cultivate it or practice?

The ability to preach and teach comes like any other skill comes.
You study, you practice, you improve, you grow,
But you keep working until you do it well.

There was an older man at Crawford named Scott Dozier.
Almost every Sunday after the sermon he would say,
“I believe you’re getting better.”

WELL THAT’S THE GOAL!

People ask me how I learned to build furniture, we had lots of practice.
• People kept buying the junk we were building and eventually we got better.

The same is true for preaching and teaching.
Do the work, cultivate the gift, and be of use to the flock.

THE CHURCH NEEDS FAITHFUL SHEPHERDS.

download here

Leadership Matters – part 7
Titus 1:7-8 (1 Timothy 3:1-7)
March 16, 2025

As you know we are currently examining
The requirements for leadership in the church.

LEADERSHIP CERTAINLY MATTERS.
Throughout the Bible so much credit is given to leadership
For both the judgment and the blessing that falls on God’s people.

THE GOOD LEADERS lead their people to obedience and God’s blessing,
THE BAD LEADERS lead their people to sin and God’s judgment.

SELECTING THE RIGHT LEADERS IS ESSENTIAL.

FORTUNATELY God has given us the criteria to select those men.

He has told us to examine their FAMILY LIFE.
• Are they faithful to their wife?
• Have they raised faithful children?

And He has told us to examine their LIFE IN THE CHURCH;
• Namely their character or maturity

This is what we did last Sunday night
As we began looking at the maturity of a potential elder.

We studied verses 7-8
(7-8) “For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,”

We noted that there were two major distinctions in those verses.
• Verse 7 speaks negatively of what an overseer must not be.
• Verse 8 speaks positively of what he must be.

And while we examined each word individually
It was the overall picture that gave us the greatest indicators.

Verse 7 actually outlines the maturity of a TODDLER.

(7) “For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,”

• Someone who only thinks of themselves and what they want.
• Someone who throws a fit when they don’t get their way.
• Someone who needs a pacifier when they get told “not” (in this case a bottle)
• Someone who is prone to fight, kick, or bite when they get offended.
• Someone who needs a treat or a cookie to calm them down (sordid gain)

THAT IS A BABY.
They don’t belong in the pulpit, they belong in the nursery.

AND IT DOESN’T MATTER
• How successful a man has been financially.
• What positions of influence he has held in the world.
• How long he has been a member of the church.

If he is a baby you do not want him in a position of leadership.
He must first grow up.

And look, we believe that he can.
• We certainly believe in the process of sanctification.
• We certainly believe in repentance and revival.
• We certainly believe in spiritual growth.

But we do not put him in a position of leadership until he learns
To deny himself and take up his cross and follow Jesus.

HE MUST BE MATURE.

Well, what does maturity look like?

(8) “but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,”

• He is a man who loves the people of God
• He loves for them do what is good.
• He is sensible, you can talk to him.
• He is just, he won’t make decisions based on preference or coercion.
• He is a man who has self-control.

That is what you look for.

And as we pointed out last Sunday night,
Churches have found themselves in horrible predicaments when they overlook this requirement.

• Far too many churches have ordained pastors, deacons, or elders simply because they weren’t divorced,
• But failed to pay any real attention to their maturity and those churches paid for it greatly.

How many people can give testimonies or horror stories
Of watching a flock get absolutely run over by a brutal pastor
Or by a selfish deacon body or by a power hungry group of elders?

A man’s maturity must be examined just as thoroughly as you examine his faithfulness to his wife and the behavior of his kids.

We are looking for a man like Christ.
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

We know that LEADERSHIP CAN BE BRUTAL.

We took a little trip through Numbers
We saw all the times that the congregation wanted to overthrow Moses.
• Time after time he was accused, slandered, ignored, blamed, etc.
• If Moses had been a brawler or a selfish fighter, he would have turned on those people quickly.
• But Moses was a mature man and instead of attacking the people he interceded for them.

If you’re going to put a man into a position of leadership
And make him susceptible to the complaints and blame of people
Then he had better be a mature man.

AND WE TALKED ABOUT THAT LAST SUNDAY NIGHT.

What I want to do THIS MORNING is to continue on this theme.

A couple of weeks ago we talked about the gender of an elder and
We looked at 1 Timothy 2 where Paul was more exhaustive in his coverage of the topic.

Well, regarding the maturity of an elder,
• We would not say Paul is more exhaustive in 1 Timothy,
• But we would note that he had more to say there
• And while we are on the subject we want to know what he said.

SO THIS MORNING,
As we continue to discuss the maturity of an elder I want you to…
TURN TO: 1 TIMOTHY 3:1-7

Paul will do two things for us.
1) He will EXPOUND on the elder’s maturity.
2) He will EXPAND the elder’s circle of evaluation.

Well let’s start with the first.

LET’S EXPOUND ON THE ELDER’S MATURITY

First I want to draw you attention to verse 1,
• Here Paul makes a point that is not mentioned in Titus,
• But I think it relates directly to the issue of maturity.

(1) “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.”

You clearly have Paul here speaking of the office of overseer
And he speaks of it as a desired office.

He speaks of a man who “aspires to the office of overseer”.

Incidentally, even though “overseer” is used here in the singular
I think the verse again makes a strong case for the plurality of the office.

It would be strange for a man to aspire to the office
If there is only one person in the office.

• That would be more like what occurred under Moses when men tried to remove
him and take his position.
• Clearly Paul is not talking about a hostile takeover here, but rather a man in the
congregation who has aspirations of joining the work of an overseer.

And not only does Paul mention him aspiring to the job
But Paul also speaks of his desire to do it.

He says, “it is a fine work he desires to do.”

And please don’t miss that last part.

I realize that when working through these qualifications
They can seem daunting and even tiresome.

But for you men out here,
Please do not let the seriousness of the qualifications
Discourage you from the joy of the work.

“it is a fine work”

I can’t imagine a greater work in my life.
I absolutely love what God has allowed me to do.

Let me also just say quickly that it is a rewarded work.

For those who do the job well.

The New Testament calls for them to be honored and obeyed.
1 Timothy 5:17 “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

1 Thessalonians 5:12 “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,”

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

It is a work that comes with honor.
I have certainly felt that.

But it also comes with eternal reward.
1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

So don’t miss the point that this is indeed “a fine work”
• This job is NOT punishment.
• This job is NOT without joy.
• This job is NOT without honor.
• This job is NOT without reward.

And, as we see here, not only is it ok to aspire to this work
Or to desire this work, but it may even be a prerequisite.

And that speaks to maturity.

I think of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

When you read it, one thing that continually jumps off the page to you
Is the lack of spiritual maturity in the church there.

More than once Paul calls them “infants” and rebukes them for their selfishness and petty divisions.

You also see in the letter Paul referencing
THE NECESSITY OF GROWING UP.

1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”

Or even the strong admonition at the end of the letter.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

The idea Paul brings before the Corinthians is that
It’s time for their men to quit being boys. It’s time grow up and be mature.

• Get over yourself
• Grow up
• Take off the boy and put on the man

There comes a time when a young man
Must quit being immature and grow into manhood.
He must STOP needing protective leadership and must START offering it.

And part of that maturity is seen in a love for the flock.
He grows into a spiritually mature man who wants to care for the flock.
• He starts caring about their doctrine.
• He starts caring about the dangers they face.
• He starts caring about how they live.
• He longs to lead them and help them.

It is perfectly natural and a glorious thing for a young man
To grow into spiritual maturity and desire to lead the flock of God.

AND PAUL CALLS THAT OUT HERE.
Don’t miss that.

If you have a desire to be an overseer or shepherd or elder.
If you aspire to the office,
THAT IS A GOOD THING.

THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY MEN who are unwilling to take up the mantel and shoulder the responsibility.

Your desire to sacrifice yourself for the good of the flock
Is an indication of maturity
I want to make sure and point that out.

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL Paul has to say here in 1 Timothy about maturity.

There is another aspect that must be addressed.

Now, when we read verses 2-5
We get much of the same information that we covered in Titus.

(2-5) “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),”

You see a lot of the same stuff.
• “husband of one wife”
• “manages his own household well”

Even character requirements that we saw duplicated in Titus.
• “above reproach”
• “prudent” (that same word is translated “sensible” in Titus 1)
• “hospitable”
• “not addicted to wine”
• “not…pugnacious”
• “free from the love of money”

And the other words we see listed here that are not in Titus really don’t change anything.
• “temperate” – means sober or “one who abstains from alcohol”
• “respectable” –means “well-arranged” or “modest or proper”.
• “gentle” – is a word that means “seeming” or “suitable” or “fair”
• “peaceable” means “not contentious” or “free from fighting”

Though Paul may have used different words in Titus,
These are clearly synonyms of what we studied there.

He is a mature man.
He is not selfish.
He is not a fighter.
He doesn’t need a bottle.
He will be gentle and just and peaceable.

That’s really NOT NEW information, even if it differs slightly.

The expounded information comes in verse 6.
(6) “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devi.”

PAUL DIDN’T MENTION THIS IN TITUS.
Perhaps the usage of the word “elder” in Titus instead of the word “overseer” like he used here sufficed to make Paul’s point there.

Either way, it is an important issue to discuss
As we look at the maturity of a potential elder – overseer – shepherd.
He cannot be “a new convert”

Clearly we are NOT talking necessarily about the MAN’S AGE here.
After all:
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”

• Timothy himself was considered youthful yet he was not disqualified.
• Though even there we point out that as a youth he would have to work twice as hard to demonstrate his maturity.

SPIRITUAL MATURITY IS THE KEY.

LET’S TALK MORE ABOUT SPIRITUAL MATURITY.

Ephesians 4:13-14 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;”

There maturity is spoken of as Christ-like-ness.
• It speaks of no longer being gullible children who believe everything.
• It speaks of those who can discern truth from error.
• It speaks of those who are not prone to trickery and scheming.

We see something similar in Hebrews:
Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the mature
As those who are trained to discern.

And this is the primary reason why a “new convert”
Is prohibited from serving as an elder or overseer.

HE LACKS DISCERNMENT.

Now, it is NOT A SIN to be a new convert.
• Everyone starts there.

It is NOT A SIN for a new convert to lack discernment.
• Everyone starts there as well.

But until he develops that discernment he cannot be an elder,
And it doesn’t matter how old or gifted he may be.

AND THERE IS A REASON

Paul says, “so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”

WHAT IS THE THREAT?
CONCEIT

“conceited” translates TOOF-AH-O
And it literally means “to raise a smoke”

Metaphorically it speaks of one who is puffed up.
Or perhaps we might say he is “full of hot air”

He is more proud of himself than he ought to be.

The office of an elder or overseer is NOT an office that is earned or rewarded to someone who deserves it.

There is no reason to brag or think better of yourself for being in it.

THINK OF IT LIKE FATHERHOOD.
Fatherhood is a great thing.
• It is a noble position and a high calling,
• But being able to conceive a child hardly makes you special.
• The honor comes from fathering well, not being a father.

It is the same with being an elder or overseer.
But a new convert may have trouble discerning that.

Conceit is a real temptation, even for the spiritually mature.

Think of Uzziah.
• He was Isaiah’s hero king.

2 Chronicles 26:16 “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.”

Think of Hezekiah
• Who demonstrated faith during the Assyrian invasion, but still we read:

2 Chronicles 32:25 “But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.”

Pride and conceit are dangerous for any man at any age.
But for a new convert who lacks discernment it is especially dangerous.

It’s not that a new convert is less devout or less in love with Christ.
But it’s less likely that he has been humbled in his walk with Christ.

Think of all the humbling that Moses endured at the hands of a grumbling congregation.

In fact, in that incident where even Aaron and Miriam rose up against Moses we read:
Numbers 12:1-3 “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); and they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)”

When Moses was a young man, a new convert
• We remember him boldly rising up and killing the Egyptian thinking everyone
would recognize him as the deliverer.
• But reproach and years of leadership had sort of taken the starch out of him.
• It humbled him and he quit being a fighter and became an intercessor.

A man must develop the discernment of humility.
• He must lose his dependance on his own strength.
• He must lose his confidence in his own ability.
• He must recognize that he can accomplish nothing.
• He must see he does not deserve the position he is in.

Because conceit leads to condemnation.
“so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”

Paul doesn’t mean that the devil will condemn him.
• Satan doesn’t have that right nor power.

No Paul means he fall into
The same type of condemnation that the devil fell in to.

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 28:11-19

That was Satan.
• Puffed up by his own high position and glory.
• It was more than he could take and he fell into sin and reproach.

Isaiah spoke of the conceit of Satan.
Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

All those “I will” statements from Satan.
It was pride and it led to rebellion.

And this is a real threat for any elder, but especially a new convert.

Listen to Paul warn the Ephesian elders.
Acts 20:29-30 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

THAT IS REAL.
It is men, who in their conceit, think too highly of themselves
And actually pull the church away after themselves.

The threat is too great and so a new convert is not qualified
Until he develops discernment and demonstrates true humility.

There is another thing we gain here in 1 Timothy
LET’S EXPAND HIS CIRCLE OF EVALUATION

Something else Paul doesn’t mention to Titus
That is mentioned here and vitally important.

(7) “And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

1. We’ve discussed his reputation at home.
2. We’ve discussed his reputation at church.
3. Here we discuss his reputation outside the church.

Paul says that the elder “must have a good reputation”

NOW FIRST OF ALL, in just the simplest explanation
Every believer is called to have “a good reputation”

Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,”

Colossians 4:5-6 “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

AND YOU’LL REMEMBER
That is one of the main concerns in the book of Titus.

Remember that older women are supposed to teach the younger women to love their children and husbands:
Titus 2:5 “to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”

Remember that young men are supposed be dignified:
Titus 2:8 “sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

Remember that slaves are supposed to honor their masters:
Titus 2:10 “not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”

All believers are to strive for “a good reputation”,
How much more should that be the case for the overseer?

“reputation” translates MARTURIA
(where we get our word for “martyr”)

And it simply means a witness.

Here we learn that the world must be able to bear witness
To the moral integrity and character of the man.

• Certainly the world cannot bear witness to the accuracy of his doctrine.
• Certainly the world may even hate the gospel he proclaims.
• He may even be hated by those in the world.

That is NOT what “good reputation” means.

For in some ways if the world loves you and you have that kind of reputation that alone may disqualify you.

Perhaps it is better to understand it as RESPECT.

Here are a couple of passages that may aid in our understanding.

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”

• Paul was speaking about the exercise of spiritual gifts in the church.
• And you have nonbeliever enter the church and he witnesses the expression of
the gift of prophecy or preaching.

“he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”

The point being that the world recognizes your devotion and genuineness even if they don’t agree with it.

I’m reminded of the atheist who enjoyed listening to Charles Spurgeon.

Someone asked him, “Do you believe what they guy is saying?”
The atheist replied, “No, but he does.”

Or consider after the church witnessed the death of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit:
Acts 5:13 “But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.”

They didn’t want anything to do with them,
But there was no denying that they were real.

And this is the type of witness that must be provided
For the man who would be an elder in the church.

Even an unregenerate world
That may hate him and the message he preaches
Must be able to testify that he is different.

I think of:
1 Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

It is far better for a non-believer to mock or malign or belittle you for your refusal to join in their sin,

Than for the non-believer to be shocked when someone tells them you are a Christian.

The really key passage on this issue is:
Romans 2:17-24 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.”

There is the real problem.
• If the man doesn’t live consistently…
• If the man is a hypocrite…
• If the man lives a double life…

He will only bring reproach on the church and blasphemy upon God.

You must know who that man is in all of his dealings
And in all of his relationships.

We are not leaving anything up to chance.
The flock of God is too important to risk putting a phony in the ranks.

And Paul says that if you do ordain a phony
He might “fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

What is “the snare of the devil”?

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

There “the snare of the devil” speaks of
One who is “held captive by him to do his will.”

I should think this is easily understandable to us today.

How many of you follow politics at all?
• How many of you think some politicians are corrupt?
• How many think it is because they have either been bribed or compromised?

If you have a man in office
Who is compromised and being blackmailed by someone else
You’ve got a dangerous man in office.

That is a man who will destroy everyone around him
In order to save his own skin.

He may have been a rightly elected official,
But through his compromise he has now become a plant of the enemy.

And you must know that
Satan is constantly recruiting plants to infiltrate the church.

2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”

Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

“snare” in the Greek
Is a word that means “trap” it can even mean “noose”

In other words you’ve got a man in leadership
Who has Satan’s noose around his neck.
Satan has a gun in his back.

WHY?
Because he is leading a double-life and he fears being found out.

• How many people will he destroy to cover his lie?
• How many people will he run off to maintain his façade?
• He’ll blow a hole right through the middle of the church.

Just look at some of the fallout of well-known spiritual leaders
Who were exposed as leading double lives.
THAT DESTRUCTION IS GREAT.

Before you ordain a man into the office
You must make sure that he is not that type of man.

Make sure that the world agrees that
Like him or not, he is a man devoted to Christ.

The church cannot ordain a wolf and hope he’ll be kind to the sheep.

So again, the right leadership matters in the church.
It is greatly needed
We need to identify the men who are qualified to do it.

We need also to encourage the men to GET QUALIFIED to do it.
THEY ARE NEEDED.

• Men who will love the bride of Christ the way they love their wife.
• Men who will shepherd the children of God the way they shepherd their own children.
• Men who are spiritually mature and full of discernment and self-control.
• Men who are proven in true in every walk of life.

And we need those men to rise up and shepherd the flock of God.