Friday, February 10, 2017, 10:07 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Sheep.” Speak, Lord, your words to
my heart. I read Titus 1 (NASB).
Bondservants of Christ (vv. 1-4)
Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is
according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie,
promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in
the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God
our Savior,
To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and
peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
A bondservant is a slave. He
or she is “someone who belongs to another; a bond-slave,
without any ownership rights of their own. Ironically, 1401 /doúlos (‘bond-slave’) is used with
the highest dignity in the NT – namely, of believers who willingly live
under Christ's authority as His devoted followers” (biblehub.com). Yet, this is
not to apply just to the apostles, but to all believers in Jesus Christ. We
read in Romans 6:22: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have
become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end,
eternal life.” When Jesus died for our sins he bought us back for God (redeemed
us) so we are no longer our own. He died that we might no longer live for
ourselves, but for himself. Now we are his bond-slaves and he is our Lord
(owner-master).
As well, we are all called of
God to specific areas of ministry. We are all given spiritual gifts to be used
to minister to the body of Christ for their uplifting, strengthening,
encouragement, instruction, and exhortation. And, we have all been assigned
specific roles within the body of Christ for the mutual benefit of one another
in order that we might all reach maturity in our faith in Christ. So, each one
of us has a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ to help them
or to urge them to walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh,
i.e. to walk in holiness, righteousness and godliness, all in the power and
working of the Spirit of God within them. And, every one of us is necessary to
the proper working of the body of Christ, too. So, don’t think you don’t
matter. We, also, should not write off others within the body simply because
they don’t fit within our preconceived ideas of how God might choose to use
each one of us (See: 1 Co. 12).
Above Reproach
(vv. 5-9)
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,
namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children
who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 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, 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.
Following the same line of
thinking as expressed in the first section of this writing, although what is
described for us here is a list of spiritual qualifications for the selection
of elders within the church, many of these spiritual qualities are also
required or strongly encouraged in all followers of Christ. For example, everyone
who professes the name of Jesus should live a life above reproach, i.e. “their
interactions with others, are to be of such moral quality that they do not
bring shame or in any way disgrace the body of Christ or the name of Jesus”
(gotquestions.org). We should all live in singleness of mind and faithfulness
to our Lord, and if married, also to our spouses. None of us should be alcoholics,
quick-tempered, or addicted to any kind of sinful behavior. And, we should all
be those who practice hospitality, who are lovers of what is good, and who are
sensible, just, devout and self-controlled, holding fast to our faith and to the
Word of Truth.
Empty Talkers
(vv. 10-16)
For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and
deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because
they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for
the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said,
“Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true.
For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,
not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from
the truth. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and
unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are
defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being
detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
Not everyone who says he is a
follower of Christ or a teacher of The Word is truly born of the Spirit and a
bondservant of Jesus Christ. Many are they who are more like temporary
employees, mere contract workers, who are being paid to do a job, but they are
not permanent workers, i.e. they don’t have a genuine commitment to the Lord
Jesus or to the people they supposedly serve. So, they easily desert the Lord
and those they proclaim to serve, whether they do so physically and/or whether
they do so spiritually.
They have no qualms about
twisting the Word of Truth to their own advantage in order to manipulate and
take advantage of others, which they do for their own personal gain, whether it
be financial gain or merely for the thirst of power alone. So, instead of
telling people what they NEED to hear, they tell them what they WANT to hear in
order to please the people (their customer base) so that the people will want
to come back to their meetings, i.e. to their churches, i.e. to their places of
business (their corporations).
So, I believe God has a plan
to rebuke such as these via divine judgment in order that the saints of God may
be delivered out of their hands, and also that many of them may turn to the
Lord and be sound in the faith, ceasing to trick, manipulate and lead the people
of God away to what is false. He loves those who are misguided, and so he
rebukes them in order that they might come to their senses and turn (or return)
to him and to the truth. I believe God has a plan to silence them, to expose
their evil deeds, and to remove them from their positions of rule and authority
over the people. They must go, but God and his Word must remain. God will judge
these false shepherds of the people so that he will be his people’s only
shepherd (See: Rev. 2-3; 14:6-7; Ez. 34; 1 Co. 11:32; Heb. 10:30; 1 Pet. 4:17; Jude
1).
Yet, I believe there needs to
be a warning or a caution here to those who are following after these “empty
talkers” who manipulate and deceive naïve minds. If you claim to believe in Jesus
Christ, and you call him “Lord,” then you have a responsibility before God to
test everything you hear against the Word of Truth and to not buy into
everything which sounds good on the surface. And, this goes beyond just testing
preachers and their sermons to see whether or not they are teaching what is in
accord with scripture.
We should, as well, be
testing what we hear from politicians, especially those claiming to be
Christians, and what we hear from the news media, too, for not everything that
looks real is real. Much is faked, manipulated and made to deceive naïve minds.
We need to pray and ask God to show us what is true and what is false, so we
don’t end up following lies and perhaps even denying what is truth. We need to
run away from “strangers” and follow Jesus Christ and his Word. We do this by
being willing to forsake our human traditions and those things taught by mere
men, which have been passed down from generation to generation, so that we can
hear the voice of the Lord clearly and let him open our eyes and hearts to what
is truth.
My Sheep / An Original Work / June 24,
2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be
saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the
sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
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