Jefferson Vann

How to welcome revival

Luke 1:1-25

Luk 1:1 Considering the fact that so many have tried to put together a record of the prophecies that have been fulfilled among us,
Luk 1:2 attempting to be just as accurate as the original eyewitnesses and officers of the word were who told us about them,
Luk 1:3 I also thought, after carefully reviewing all these works, to write a historical account for you, Dr. Theophilus,
Luk 1:4 so that you may know well about the reliability of the things you were taught.
Luk 1:5 In the days when King Herod was ruling Judea, someone named Zechariah became a priest of Abijah’s division, and his wife was also among the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Luk 1:6 And they were both in right standing before God, because they were walking blamelessly according to all the Lord commanded and required.
Luk 1:7 And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well matured in their days.
Luk 1:8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
Luk 1:9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priestly office, to enter the temple of the Lord and offer incense.
Luk 1:10 And the whole crowd of people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering.
Luk 1:11 But an angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the incense altar.
Luk 1:12 And Zechariah was deeply disturbed when he saw him, and fear landed on him.
Luk 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not fear, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth is going to give birth to your son, and you will name him John.
Luk 1:14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
Luk 1:15 Because he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or beer; and he will be filled from the Holy Spirit, while still in his mother’s uterus.
Luk 1:16 And he will restore many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 And he will precede before him, in the same Spirit and power as Elijah to restore hearts of fathers to children, disobedient ones to right standing wisdom, to prepare a people who have been built for the Lord.
Luk 1:18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I actually know this? Because I am elderly, and my wife is well matured in her days.”
Luk 1:19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and announce these good things to you.
Luk 1:20 But, notice! you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their appointed time.”
Luk 1:21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering why he was delaying in the temple.
Luk 1:22 And after he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realised that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.
Luk 1:23 And when his days of service were completed, he went to his house.
Luk 1:24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she kept herself hidden for five months, and this is what she said:
Luk 1:25 “this is what the Lord has made, in the days during which he looked on, so he could take away my shame among men.”

How to welcome revival

Dr. Luke was a scientist. He believed in what worked, and what could be proven. He was a man of faith, and that faith did not resist scientific knowledge, it welcomed it. That is why I think Luke’s Gospel and his companion history (the book of Acts) are very important for this modern generation. Generally, our generation has swallowed the lie that any kind of religious talk is empty talk, and really insignificant. As a result, we are paying less and less attention to the Bible, and more and more attention to what the “experts” are telling us, and assuming that these experts are telling us the truth because they also ignore everything religious. That is stupidity. So, I have decided to do what Luke did. I decided to go back and carefully investigate the events and teachings of and about Jesus, and use Luke’s Gospel to do so. My reason is the same as Luke’s reason. He wanted his friend, Dr. Theophilus, to know well about the reliability of the things he had been taught (4). As Christians, we owe it to ourselves to know the same thing.

The first thing Luke investigated was the story of the birth of John the Baptist. Until John was born, most Jews in the first century had become convinced that the Holy Spirit had totally abandoned them. They believed that God existed, but they did not believe he would ever interfere with their lives again. They had no hope. They believed that God’s Holy Spirit had departed the temple, flew up into the sky, and essentially disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.

That sounds a lot like the church of this generation, doesn’t it? I think this passage of scripture gives us some good advice if we want to stop living like that. I think we all want to welcome the Holy Spirit’s active intervention in our lives, and be involvement in our circumstances. Follow with me in the text as I explain how to welcome revival in this generation.

I. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED BY THE CURRENT POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT.

The Jews in Zechariah’s day had some good reasons for being pessimistic about life. The whole nation was back in bondage. They had been rescued from slavery in Egypt so many centuries before, but now they were in bondage again — this time to Caesar in Rome. They didn’t even have their own king. Luke identifies the date on the calendar by saying that Zechariah lived in the “days when king Herod was ruling” (5). Herod was not a Jew; he was an Idumean, a descendant of Esau, not Jacob. Herod’s entire rule was a total embarrassment to the Jews. His name meant “hero” but he was no hero. He was a corrupt, conniving, brutal puppet of an even more corrupt, conniving and brutal dictator in Rome.

Nothing saps the strength and life of a nation like disappointment and lack of trust in its political leaders. These days, I have to admit, I understand more and more how those Jews in Zechariah’s time felt. I feel like that — a lot. But the word I get from reading today’s text is that the Holy Spirit can still intervene — even in days like this. He is not hindered by a less than favourable political environment.

I have determined to start really praying for revival, and expecting the Holy Spirit to make a difference — even a political difference.

II. MAKE PRAYER A REGULAR PART OF YOUR LIFE, EVEN IF IT SEEMS A RITUAL AT TIMES.

The Jews in Zechariah’s time had not forgotten how to pray. They prayed regularly, ritualistically. We can see this in Luke’s description of the temple worship. While Zechariah enters the sanctuary to offer incense, “the whole crowd of people were praying” (10) just on the other side of the curtain. We could learn a thing or two about prayer from that generation.

But, you say, didn’t Jesus condemn ritualised praying? He condemned a certain type of ritualistic praying, yes. He said “And when you pray, do not pile up repetitions like the Gentiles do, because they think that they will be heard because of the volume of their many words. Do not be like them, because your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt. 6:7-8 JDV).” Prayer that just says a lot of stuff because it is trying to get God’s attention and force him to respond is pagan prayer, and that is always wrong. But prayer that regularly, even ritualistically asks for the same things because we choose to declare our trust in God to supply those things, that is faithful prayer. That’s why Jesus taught us what we call the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

One of the things Zechariah had been regularly and ritualistically praying for was a son. That wasn’t an empty request from him and Elizabeth. They really wanted a child. And the older they got, the more they wanted it. The less possible it seemed, the more fervently they prayed. All the couples around them had kids, and raised those kids. They kept praying. No kids. Their hair started getting a bit grey on the edges. They kept praying. No kids. Elizabeth went through menopause. They kept praying. No kids. Their neighbours’ kids started giving them grand-kids. Zechariah and Elizabeth kept praying. No kids. So, I am not surprised to read that Zechariah was a bit sceptical when he heard the angel say “your prayer has been heard” (13). But, sceptical or not, I want to remind you that John came to Zechariah and Elizabeth because they had kept praying.

III. RAISE CHILDREN AND DISCIPLE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

One of the true tests of our faithfulness to the Lord comes after we get what we initially ask for. That was the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth. Our Lord chooses to bless us, but he holds us responsible for properly utilising those blessings for his kingdom. That is why some people pray to God for healing, get their healing, but then they disappear and you never see those people in church. That is why some people go through the twelve steps, pray to God for their deliverance from alcohol, sober up, and then go on to either relapse or find some other substance to abuse. The really big test of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s faith was not how long they waited for John, but how they parented this gift.

They recognised John as a gift from God’s grace. The angel told Zechariah “you will name him John” (13), which is derived from a Hebrew name that appears a few times in the Old Testament. Yohanan means either the LORD’s grace, or the LORD’s gift of grace. This little gift would brighten the lives of a lot of people in the village where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. The angel said “he will be a joy” (14) to them.

But this little bundle of joy also came with huge responsibilities to this elderly couple. They had to parent him in such a way as to make sure this little guy became “great in the sight of the Lord” (15a). They had to make sure that he would “drink no wine or beer” (15b) no matter what kind of peer pressure he experienced from others.

They had to trust the angel’s promise that John would be “filled from the Holy Spirit” (15c), but they had to parent him just the same. Anyone who wants to be a godly parent has got to keep that balance. We have to pray for the child, and trust God to answer those prayers, but we also have to do our part. The same is true of our children in the faith. To properly disciple people, you have to pray for them, keep them from making wrong choices, and keep feeding them wise counsel from scripture. Those are the kind of people who are going to make a difference.

IV. FOCUS YOUR MINISTRY ON PREPARING PEOPLE FOR THEIR FUTURE, NOT PROTECTING THE PAST.

John was going to have a ministry of revival and restoration. The angel said that “he will restore the sons back to the Lord” (16), that “he will restore hearts of fathers to children” (17a)and that “he will restore disobedient ones to right standing wisdom” (17b). But the interesting thing was that John did not try to bring revival the way his parents did. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both descendants of Aaron, and their lives and ministries were all centred on the priesthood and the temple worship.
But the angel predicted that John was going “to prepare a people built for the Lord” (17c). He broke all the rules. He didn’t go to the temple, he went out into the desert. He called people to go out to the desert and meet him there. He challenged them not to conform to their past, but to repent, because the kingdom from the sky was coming, and he had to get a people ready to live in that kingdom.

If we are going to see revival in this generation, we have got to stop asking people to conform to us. We all have a great church heritage, but what if God wants to do something even better in this generation? In every generation, the church has to keep reforming and transforming so that the eternal gospel can take root.

How do we welcome the revival in this generation? Don’t allow the dismal secular and humanistic political environment to discourage you. Pray regularly for God to intervene. Trust that God is going to answer your prayers, and some of those answers are going to come in the form of children and others that you can disciple. Disciple them by getting them ready for God’s eternal kingdom instead of insisting that they conform to your memory of the good old days. The coming kingdom is going to be much better that those good old days ever were.

LORD, thank you for being real and for giving us a real hope for revival. Challenge us to stop complaining about our present, and start preparing for the future we can have once your Holy Spirit begins to revive this generation.

destroy this!

John 2:13-22

Joh 2:13 And the Passover that the Jews celebrate was coming, so Jesus travelled to Jerusalem.
Joh 2:14 And He found in the temple the sellers of oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers sitting.
Joh 2:15 And after he made a whip out of cords, he threw them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and flipped their tables;
Joh 2:16 and he said to the dove sellers, “Take these away; stop making my Father’s house a market house.”
Joh 2:17 His disciples remembered that scripture says, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Joh 2:18 The Jews responding asked him, “What sign will you show to us, proving that you have the right to do these things?”
Joh 2:19 Jesus responded by telling them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it back up.”
Joh 2:20 To that the Jews responded, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it back up in three days?”
Joh 2:21 But he had been referring to the temple which is his body.
Joh 2:22 So, after he had been raised from the dead, his disciples had remembered that He promised this; and they believed both the scripture, and the prediction which Jesus had made. (Joh 2:13-22 JDV)

What does the resurrection really prove? I mean, we Christians make some bold claims about our Jesus, being raised from the dead, and the eternal difference that his resurrection makes. Do we really have any basis for such claims? I want to examine that question this Easter morning, and I have brought along a text of scripture which I think is relevant to the question.

Let me set the stage for the drama we read about in today’s text. The events described in John 2:13-22 take place early in Jesus ministry. It can be a bit confusing, because there was a similar event where Jesus chased out the moneychangers just prior to his crucifixion. But today’s text records Jesus doing this years earlier, when he was still relatively unknown except to his disciples.

Behind the worship in the Jewish temple in Jesus’ day, there had been a long history of a kind of symbiotic relationship between the ministers who worked in the temple and the merchants who kept the system going by providing a means for people to purchase animals for sacrificing — at a tidy profit. The system had worked for a long time, and nobody wanted to change it — except Jesus.

An insult (2:16)

Jesus saw the temple market system as an insult to his heavenly Father. The temple was supposed to be a place where people could go and find the glory of God, not the greed of humanity. It was supposed to be a place where God’s covenant loyalty could be seen clearly in spite of the sinfulness and and coveting of the people that he had chosen to save by his grace. Putting a market in the temple was an insult to the character of the God who had chosen to reside there.

Jesus felt that insult more than anyone else because he was the only begotten Son of the Father. He was offended by the audacity of these people and their blasphemous approach to worship. He could not stand there and just take it in. He had to respond, and his violent response was absolutely appropriate. It was appropriate not because violence is always appropriate. No, it was appropriate because of who God is, who Christ is, and what worship is supposed to be.

An insight (2:17)

It was also appropriate because of the response it triggered in his disciples. It was a visual demonstration of Christ’s devotion to his Father’s house, and his Father’s plan. When the disciples saw their teacher flipping tables and chasing away the businessmen from the place they should not have been, they remembered scripture.

Particularly, they remembered this scripture: “Because for your sake I have been disgraced; Dishonour has covered my face. I have become estranged from my brothers, And I am like a foreigner to my mother’s sons. Because zeal for your house has consumed me, And the disgraceful acts of those who embarrass you have fallen on me. (Ps. 69:7-9 JDV)” These words were originally part of a psalm in which David admitted that he had sinned, and that his sin had embarrassed God. David repented, and his prayer in Psalm 69 was that his act of stupidity would not cause true believers to lose their faith in God. Notice the prayer in Psalm 69:6 “Do not let those who put their hope in You be disgraced because of me, Lord Yahweh of armies; do not let those who seek You be embarrassed because of me, God of Israel (Ps. 69:6 JDV). After repenting, David’s only purpose in life was to restore the reputation of his heavenly Father. Now, Jesus’ disciples see him as the coming Messiah David predicted, who would never sin, and whose only purpose in life is to ultimately restore the reputation of his heavenly Father.

Another insult (2:18)

The self-proclaimed experts in scripture miss that insight entirely. Instead of seeing what Jesus had done as a fulfilment of scripture, they saw it as a challenge to their own authority. How dare this upstart young prophet come in here on our area of expertise and pretend to tell us what to do! They demand a miraculous sign to prove that Jesus is the Son of the Father he claims to be.

Before we criticise these Jews too much, I want us to be fully aware of what is happening here, because I think we are often guilty of the same thing. The difference is that except for the disciples, these Jews did not know who Jesus really was. They demanded a sign because only the Messiah would have had the authority to come into the temple and change the system.

What is our excuse? I am talking about those times in our lives when things are not going right with us, and we are tempted to just stop believing what we know is true about Jesus. We say he is the saviour of the world, but we often find ourselves coming to him in prayer and saying “just one more sign, Lord.”

Remember what Jesus said about his generation?

“An evil and adulterous generation is asking for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Because just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the ground. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached, and see, something much more than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the land to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something much more than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:39-42 JDV).

I know how hard it is when you keep praying for something and you do not get your answer. But I also know that it is an insult to God to effectively say to Jesus “You died on the cross for me, but I will refuse to believe you until you fix my present problem.” It is better to pray,”Lord, since you died on the cross for me, I know you love me, and I will trust you to bring me through this problem too.”

Another insight (2:22)

Jesus knew that the temple officials did not have that kind of trust in him. So he challenged them to “destroy this temple” — something he knew they had no intention to do. He said he could raise it back up in three days. They knew he could do no such thing. It was only years later that the disciples, reflecting on Jesus being raised back to life after three days dead –they finally got it. I can imagine them sitting around talking about the amazing revelations they had seen, and somebody said “Oh, and remember when he challenged the temple officials? He said destroy this temple. He was talking about his body then!

Today we celebrate Easter — the season when we remember that Jesus died on the cross, and then was miraculously raised to eternal life.

Destroy this!

What does the resurrection really prove? I am asking again that question I started with. We make some bold claims about our Jesus, being raised from the dead, and the eternal difference that his resurrection makes. Do we really have any basis for such claims? Yes, we do. We have the scriptures. They testified for thousands of years that Jesus would appear, that he would die, and that he would be raised again. When people saw what Jesus did, they recognised him as the fulfilment of those scriptures.

But those scriptures go on to say that the one who was raised from the dead would return to this earth as its rightful king. We have every reason to believe and expect that this same Jesus whom the disciples saw ascend to heaven will return in the same way. After reflecting on the resurrection of Christ, the world is left with only two choices. We can either saw “Now we get it, come Lord Jesus” or we can stubbornly say “prove it again.” May God give us the wisdom to make the right choice.

how faith devotes us

I am concluding my series based on the book of Titus today. Titus is an epistle, and we have seen that its words were first written by Paul to Titus as a sort-of instruction manual for the missions assignment in Crete. Titus was a younger missionary, and Crete was a hard place to plant the church, so Titus needed all the help and encouragement he could get.

In his epistle, Paul described what the church should be in that hostile environment. He described church members who were disciplined so that they set the standard for the community around them, and devoted to Christ and the gospel, so that the Cretens would know where the difference came from.

Here is my translation of Titus 3:

¹ Keep reminding them to be submissive to their rulers and authorities, to obey them, to be ready to do every good work, ² to insult no one, to be a non-combatant, to be gentle, and to demonstrate consideration of all people. ³ Because we ourselves were once stupid, disobedient, led astray, slaves to our lusts and various pleasures, spending our lives by being mean and envious, hateful, hating one another. ⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness appeared from our Saviour God, ⁵ it appeared, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷ so that having been declared not guilty by his grace we might become heirs, confident of inheriting eternal life. ⁸ The word is trustworthy, and I intend for you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are good and profitable for people. ⁹ But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, arguments, and fights about the law, because they are unprofitable and useless. ¹⁰ As for a person who causes division, after warning him once and twice, refuse to participate with him, ¹¹ since we know that such a person has been warped and is being sinful; he is self-condemned. ¹² When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, put forth your best effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. ¹³ Put forth your best effort to support and send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos; so that neither of them lacks the resources to join me. ¹⁴ And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so they can bring relief in these urgent cases, and not be unproductive. ¹⁵ The ones who are with me send greetings to you. Greet our friends in the faith. Grace be with you all. (Tit. 3:1-15 JDV)

Just as he did in chapter two, Paul sets the foundation for Titus’ ministry assignment in the gospel message itself. Nothing that Paul instructs Titus to do is arbitrary. Everything is based on what God had already done for us in Christ. Notice the elements of the gospel message here. In theological terms, incarnation, justification, regeneration and sanctification are all works of grace and they are the foundation of the church’s ministry.

Now, notice what Paul says the church in Crete should be doing because of what God in his grace had done for them. The faith that was given by God’s grace should produce a change in inner character and outer relationships.

Even in an environment known for its abuse of authority, Titus was to teach the Cretan believers to submit to those very authorities and obey them. The reason had nothing to do with the worthiness of the authorities. It had to do with the task of the church: to demonstrate God’s grace among the unbelievers. This was the reason that Christ submitted to the earthly authorities.

Also, in a world where you have to look out for number one or you will be stomped on, Titus was to teach the Cretan believers to be considerate and kind to others. Just like Jesus, who went out of his way to minister to the poor and marginalized, the church was to demonstrate God’s grace by being considerate of and kind to the unbelievers.

When it came top their relationships with each other, the church in Crete was to avoid division and promote unity. This was another way that they were to stand out among the various brawling groups in Crete.

We could all use a character makeover in the direction of mutual submission, consideration and unity. But this is especially true for members of Christ’s church, because that is how we demonstrate God’s grace within our context.

But let’s not forget the final words of Paul here in Titus. I know we need to be careful not to read too much doctrine into the travel arrangements that Paul is making for his fellow missionaries. But I see it as especially significant that Paul slipped so naturally into this subject while he was talking about demonstrating God’s grace as a church.

The missions mandate is present in every gospel presentation. It is part of every believer’s job description. The church is made up of those who serve as missionaries, those who send missionaries, and those who support the missionaries and missions work.

The servers particularly implied or listed in this chapter are Paul, Titus, Artemas, Tychicus, Zenas and Apollos.
The senders particularly implied or listed in this chapter are Paul and Titus.
The supporters are Titus and the Cretan believers, whom Paul calls “our people” (14) and “our friends in the faith” (15).

Our church has a long history of missions involvement. We have those who have served, senders, and supporters. Jesus commissioned his apostles to make disciples of all nations, and we understand that commission as extending down to each disciple and each church. Our faith directs us into a relationship with God, and also devotes us to reaching others with the gospel.

So, there you have it. The little book of Titus in the New Testament. It turns out to be more significant that we might have thought. It challenges us to confirm what we believe by living up to the gospel, and by sharing it with others.

how faith dignifies us

In this series, we have been looking at Paul’s letter to Titus. We have seen that Paul is writing from the standpoint of a veteran missionary, giving some instruction to Titus, who is now on the field in Crete, managing the new church plants there.

In what we know as chapter 2, Paul gave specific instructions to Titus relating to what kinds of things he should be teaching, what his chief activity should be as a missionary, and the focus of his ministry toward others. Here is my translation of that chapter:

“¹ But you should say what fits in with healthy teaching. ² Teach older men to be balanced, dignified, self-controlled, healthy in the faith, in the love, and in the perseverance. ³ In the same way, teach older women to be reverent in how they act, not slanderers or slaves to a lot of wine. They should be good teachers, ⁴ so that they can train the young women to show love to their husbands and show love to their children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, devout, hard workers for their families, good, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God may not be accused of being useless. ⁶ In the same way, encourage the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷ Offer yourself to be a model of these good works in every way, demonstrating in your teaching integrity, dignity, ⁸ and a healthy message which is beyond criticism, so that anyone wanting to oppose you may be put to shame, finding nothing worthless to say about us. ⁹ Teach bondservants to be submissive to their own employers in all matters; they should be satisfactory, not argumentative, ¹⁰ not embezzling, but demonstrating that they can be trusted to do all kinds of good, so that in everything they make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive. ¹¹ Because the grace of God has appeared, announcing salvation for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly lusting, and to live self-controlled, fair, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the glorious appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a remnant people who are enthusiastic about doing good works. ¹⁵ You should say these kinds of things; encourage and reprimand because you have every right to do so. Do not let anyone wonder about your right to teach them.” Tit 2:1-15, JDV

It is very important to see that there has been no change to the core gospel message. The basic teaching about who Jesus is, what he did, and what our hope is has not been altered. The gospel in summary is that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to die in our place on the cross, and because he has done that, we who believe in him are now redeemed from sin’s penalty, and look for the day when we can live eternally with him when he returns. That was Titus’ faith.

The beautiful thing about Titus chapter 2 is that Paul uses that gospel truth as an overlay, and proceeds to give Titus his job description as it relates to all the various people in the church he will teach.

Teach older men to be balanced, dignified, self-controlled, healthy in the faith, in the love, and in the perseverance (2).
Teach older women to be reverent in how they act, not slanderers or slaves to a lot of wine. (3a) These older women should be good teachers, (3b) so that they (not Titus) can train the young women to show love to their husbands and show love to their children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, devout, hard workers for their families, good, and submissive to their own husbands (4-5).
Teach younger men to be self-controlled (6).
Teach bondservants to be submissive to their own employers in all matters; they should be satisfactory, not argumentative, not embezzling, but demonstrating that they can be trusted to do all kinds of good (9-10).

Showing integrity and dignity in all our relationships is how Christians back up what we believe about Christ.

Titus himself had to be the model of that lifestyle, as well as its proponent.

“Offer yourself to be a model of these good works in every way, demonstrating in your teaching integrity, dignity, and a healthy message which is beyond criticism, so that anyone wanting to oppose you may be put to shame, finding nothing worthless to say about us” (7-8).
“You should say these kinds of things; encourage and reprimand because you have every right to do so. Do not let anyone wonder about your right to teach them” (15).

He had to encourage those who were getting it right, and reprimand those who were getting it wrong. Otherwise, nobody would want to believe the gospel.

Here is the point I am trying to make: The gospel is not about being good; it is the story of God’s grace given to us who dare to believe it. But Christians are encouraged to live good lives of integrity and dignity because otherwise those who are looking at us are going to miss the gospel. Our goodness cannot save us. But our goodness can attract others to Christ – who is the world’s only Saviour.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ today, and there is anything wrong with your relationship with someone else, I urge you to make it right, because the devil is using that problem to keep others out of the kingdom.

But, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ today, I have only one message for you. Believe the gospel. Don’t wait around until you find a group of perfect Christians, because you are not going to find them. We came to Christ because we knew we were not perfect, so we are trusting in him. And that’s the only way into the coming kingdom. Believe the gospel. Then, the Holy Spirit can make you into a better person. Your faith in Christ can give you a life of integrity and dignity.

how faith disciplines us

This sermon series is based on Paul’s letter to Titus. Paul was writing as a missionary who was overseeing the churches in Crete. He wrote to Titus, because Titus was the missionary Paul had left in Crete to finish the work of establishing the church groups there. The whole idea of establishing and perfecting a church work suggests that our faith is supposed to change us. I wanted to use the letter to Titus as a model to talk about how being people of faith should change us.

Today we are going to look at a section of the letter which describes what Titus was responsible to do.

Titus 1:5-16

⁵ This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you- ⁶ if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. ⁷ For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. ⁹ He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. ¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. ¹¹ They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ¹² One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

TITUS’ JOB DESCRIPTION

Titus was not a local pastor hired by the believers in Crete to preach sermons and manage their church’s ministries. He was a missionary, appointed by Paul, and under Paul’s direction. In verse five, we see what Paul had left Titus in Crete for.

…so that you might put what remained into order,

and appoint elders in every town …(5).

Titus had two basic functions as a missionary. He was responsible to straighten out the things in the churches which were disorderly, and dysfunctional. He was also responsible to develop leaders who would lead the church groups which were being formed in every town. As the gospel spread throughout the island, more and more groups were being formed, and these groups were going to need local leadership. Titus was not responsible to preach every message, and lead every group. If Titus did his job well, he would make himself redundant.

THE ELDERS’ JOB DESCRIPTION

There are a lot of good studies of the qualification lists for elders like we see here in Titus and also in Paul’s letters to Timothy. I wrote one myself and used it to train pastors in the Philippines. There is another recent one written by my friend Geoff Paynter who lives on the South Island. He wrote his to train church elders in Africa. Usually these studies focus on the moral qualities and leadership skills needed to lead churches and serve in church ministries. The lists do focus on those moral qualities and leader skills. But notice what Paul said was the function of these elders once appointed to lead church groups:

… so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine,

and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (9).

Paul’s primary concern was not that Titus pick out some good moral people with good leadership skills, and just turn the church over to them. No, Paul had planted the church in Crete by bringing people the gospel message. Paul wanted to protect the gospel from being replaced by some other teaching. Paul was confident that if a church keeps preaching the gospel of Christ crucified, then it would stay strong and keep leading people to Christ. But Paul was also aware that something else could happen at Crete. The wrong doctrine preached could lead to the wrong kind of elders being appointed.

FALSE AND TRUE ELDERS CONTRASTED

Notice the way Paul contrasts those who are false elders with those who are true elders.

False elders

True elders

upsetting whole families (11)
devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth (14)
They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works (16).

… hospitable,
a lover of good,
self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. (8).

False elders destroy families by inciting people to divide over doctrinal differences. But true elders are peacemakers. They help to stabilize families.
False elders focus on insignificant trivial differences. True elders devote themselves to what is good for everyone.
False elders tell one thing and show another. True elders live self-controlled lives. They have been disciplined by their faith.

That brings me back to the title of today’s message: “how faith disciplines us.” Paul expected Titus to find and train and appoint elders to take over the leadership of all the new groups being formed on Crete. Where did he expect to get those true elders from? There was no bible college or seminary on Crete. He had no denominational recruiter with a list of vetted ministry professionals from which he could pick his choices. No, Paul expected the church itself to produce its own leaders. By focusing on preaching the gospel of God’s grace demonstrated by Christ crucified, a church should automatically produce next generation’s leaders. I’m not saying that there is no need for intensive training. But I am saying we should stop using these qualification lists as disqualification lists. Look in your heart. Is your faith genuine? If your faith is genuine, you have what you need to lead someone else to genuine faith. Let that genuine faith discipline you into the kind of person you should be, then dare to lead others into that same kind of genuine faith!