The Obedient Church
Pm September 20th 2009
Titus 1:5-16
Introduction
Last week we began a six part series through the book of Titus, the title of this series is “Will the true church arise”. The purpose for this series is to compare our church to the biblical model for church and see how we stack up, how we measure up to the bible, and the way God ordained for the church to operate.
Last week we learned what the five calls of the Church are, and they were to serve, to live godly lives, to live hopeful lives, to uphold the bible, and to make disciples.
Tonight we will learn about being an Obedient church, and what an obedient church looks like, again it is my desire that compare our church to this biblical model and see how we measure up, and again the challenge will be, if there is any area where we don’t measure, then we should take steps to measure up.
Read Scriptures: Titus 1:5-16
I. The Obedient Church fulfills its God given Purpose.
Vs. 5 “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.”
What is the purpose of the Church? The purpose of the church is to see to it that the gospel is spread throughout the entire world.
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”
I will submit to you First Baptist Church if we are not seeing to it that the gospel is advancing in our community, in our parish, in our state, in our country, and in our world, then we are not an obedient Church.
Paul gave Titus a purpose for being on the island of Crete, and that was to appoint elders in every town where there was a church, and organize the Church, and that reminds us tonight that we have a God given purpose for being here in this community, and that is to spread the gospel.
II. The Obedient Church calls and appoints obedient leaders
Vs. 6-9 “An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”
The churches standing in the community, will only be as good as the standing its leaders have in the community.
If the churches leadership is bad, then the standing in the community will be bad, and listen I am not just talking about the preacher. I believe that is why God puts passages like this in the bible, it is not only found here in this book, but also in other books in the New Testament.
An obedient church is one who appoints obedient leaders. Well preacher what qualities should a leader have to be a leader in the church.
1. Blameless. Now blameless doesn’t mean perfect, because if that were the case then we would have no leaders, but it does mean in the community no one can stand up and make an accusation against the leader. Whether that is dishonesty or gossiping, or what have you, a leader should be blameless.
2. Husband of one wife. Here we go, there is a debate that has been going on for years as to what this means. Does it mean that if a leader’s spouse dies and then remarries then they are not fit to be a leader, I will submit to you no that is not what it means. We know that we have the mandate from scripture that if you are married, and your spouse dies then you have the freedom to remarry or as the apostle Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 7:39 “The must belong to the Lord”.
Does it mean that if a leader has never been married then he is not fit to be a leader, and again I will submit to you know, in fact this same apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:32 “I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how can he please the Lord.”
What if the Leader is divorced, should they continue in leadership, now we are getting down to the brass tax of the issue, you have to ask the question, for what reason is the person divorced, are they divorced because the leader either committed adultery or just walked out of the marriage for no good reason, or are they divorced because the spouse committed adultery or just walked out for no good reason?
How we answer that question determines whether or not the person is right for leadership or not, I did not say right for service, I believe no matter what happens in your life or marriage, if you repent then you are still useful to God in service, maybe not in leadership, but useful in some area.
If a person is divorced because of there own doing, then they are not right for leadership, if it is not from there own doing, and it is not there fault, then there is no biblical reason whey they should not be allowed to lead in the church.
We as a church must be careful how and who we choose as leaders, because they will be a reflection on the church as a whole.
3. Whose children are not open to charge of being wild and disobedient. If a leader or proposed leader has children who are wild and disobedient, while they are living in the home of that person, then they should do as the apostle Paul states “they must get there house in order” before they take on the responsibility of leadership in the church.
4. “Not overbearing, not quick tempered, not given to drunkenss, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.” Those qualities speak for themselves, not overbearing means arrogant, or prideful. Quick tempered means hot-headed, not be a drunkard or greedy for money.
These would disqualify a person from being in a position of leadership in the church. Well what qualifies a person for leadership in the church?
1. Hospitable. Having a genuine concern for the people that you lead.
2. “One who loves what is good.” Should be people who are know for doing good, and I would add, that they should already be serving in some way even without the title, before we choose them for leadership.
3. “Self-controlled, upright, Holy, and disciplined.” Leaders that we choose should be living it, and not just talking it.
4. “He must hold firmly to the gospel.” If they are not believers or maybe believers who waver in the faith, then we should not choose those as leaders.
5. “Encourage others by sound doctrine, and refute those who oppose it.” A leader should be someone who can encourage others in the scriptures, and know enough to oppose false doctrine.
The obedient Church is one who chooses wisely its leaders.
III. The Obedient Church teaches sound biblical Doctrine
Vs. 10-14 “For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.”
Whether it’s Peter, Paul or Jeremiah. If it’s in the pages of Scripture an obedient church will put its faith in those words as having no errors and no mistakes.
If we will be an obedient church, then we must teach the scriptures, not what is handed down for men, not what comes out of the Baptist building, but the scripture should be the final authority on any matter.
Sometimes sound biblical doctrine steps on our toes. Verse 13 “This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith.”
IV. The Obedient Church has members who are Obedient.
Vs. 15-16 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”
Verse 16 just jumps out of the pages of scripture to me. “They claim to know God, but by there actions they deny Him.”
This should not be the testimony of the First Baptist Church of Krotz Springs. We talk the talk in our claiming, but we don’t walk the walk by our actions, what a serious indictment on the church.
The obedient church has member who are obedient.
Conclusion
Where do we stand as a church, are we fulfilling our God given purpose, are we careful of the leaders that we choose, are we teaching sound biblical doctrine, not just from the pulpit, but in our bible study classes, and out in the streets by the things that we say, or the things that we do.
