Titus 1 and 2

Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to the biweekly Bible study we have here in the Cincinnati East area. We're from the Ambassador Lecture Hall of Cincinnati, Ohio. We know that there are a number of people listening in from various parts of the country, and we certainly appreciate you. We have our own home audience here who come and give us support regularly. We appreciate them very much, and we're excited to be able to bring you the continuing series on the pastoral epistles. We'll be going through Titus today and probably not finishing it, but at least we'll make some good headway. So we're glad you're with us this evening. We say thank you for being there, and we hope that you'll feel edification and be edified and be uplifted by the Bible study this evening. Mr. Eddington will ask Peter Eddington, who will be joining me, he'll be asking the blessing on the Bible study this evening.

Okay, please bow your heads. Our Father and great God in heaven, Father, we pause before your throne here at the beginning of this Bible study, this Wednesday night Bible study. Thank you very much, God, that we have your living Word before us. We thank you that you've preserved your truth for us to learn and understand from.

We pray, Father, that you'll inspire and guide the study tonight, that as each of us read through the words, go through the passages, go through the verses, that it will make sense to us, that we'll understand it, that you'll guide and lead us with your Holy Spirit. We'll look on it not just as an historical document, but your living Word, your living truth, from which we can learn, from which we can grow in understanding from and put into practice in our own lives.

So thank you, Father, we pray for your blessing, your inspiration, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Amen. I might mention for those of you that are listening in on the webcast, first I say hello to you. There's one particular family that we found out watches every time up in Canada.

That's the Delfino family. So we'll say hi to them. And down in Florida, Jacksonville, they're watching in as well. Mr. Shabe said he was watching tonight. So we have quite a few connections each time, so we appreciate that. But if you have any questions, sometimes we have a little bit of time left at the end to take some questions from you.

And if you're online, you can send your question to ucgbiblesudy at gmail.com. The link's right there on the web page as well where you're watching the webcast. And we'll do our best to answer them if we can tonight. We'll see how we do on time. I might mention that the Kingdom of God Bible Seminars got off to a good start last Sabbath for this second round.

About half of the congregations had their seminars last Sabbath. And over the next two weeks, the remaining hundred or so congregations will be holding theirs. The results have been very encouraging so far. Some congregations got a lot more attendees than they had planned. Some got less. So, you know, just depending on what God has in mind for each area. But it looks like we're on track to have a similar attendance to what we had for the first round. We had about 1,600 guests, I think it was, the first round. We have one third of the congregations reporting in so far with over 500 guests.

So it looks like we'll be about the same as last time if the trend and the indicator is as we think. So that's encouraging. And so now let's look into the epistle of Paul to Titus. Mr. Antion's going to begin with verse 6 of chapter 1, which is where our other Bible study is left off last time. Mr. Antion? Thank you. Mr. Eddington, I wanted to say to you to please remember Ed Smith in your prayers as we talk about elders tonight.

He certainly is a wonderful example of a faithful elder, that he's had a lot of water build up in his system. And he's in the hospital right now, but he's resting. It seemed to be they're trying to draw that off, trying to get his medications better so that he can better, let's say, adapt it to his system so that it would drain the water off from his system.

He feels tired and weak, but he's apparently doing all right there in the hospital. So I just wanted to ask you to please remember Mr. Ed Smith in your prayers and his wife, Angie, as well. I want to talk about elders briefly because Paul wrote to Titus, and he said to him, I want you to ordain elders and leave these elders behind, ordain elders in every city as I had appointed you. So I authorized you to ordain elders to leave behind. And when you think about elders, you say, well, what is this? But in the ancient church, there were three categories or three classes of ministers.

There were the apostles. The apostles were those who had seen Jesus Christ, who had been with Jesus Christ. Many of them had been taught personally by Jesus Christ. Others of them had been around when he was there. And so they had enormous credibility. Then you had what you called the prophets. These were men that some were good prophets and some were false prophets. But there was no way to really know unless somebody endorsed them. So you had prophets wandering around trying to bring a message of inspiration from God. And some were good and some were not so good. And then you had elders. Elders who were the backbone of the congregation.

These were men who had been with that church, who had been there, who had been tried and true, who had been seen by the brethren for years. Their families had grown up in that area. They had seen how they were handled, how they were returned out. And they were able to give that backbone of support to the ministry, the pastors who came in and out. And the same thing is true today. We don't have the prophets going through, although when you speak under inspiration you could be called a prophet. But we have pastors and we have elders.

And in our system we have pastors that are transferred in and sometimes they're transferred out. But the one who maintains the continuity with the brethren are the elders in the area. I want to read to you just briefly before we get into the book from Barkley's daily Bible study series on James and Peter. He's got a section on page 262 that talks about elders. And I just want to give them some credit because the elders are there.

They're the ones who are tried and true and they hang in there and they stay in. And certainly every pastor is an elder, too. But he may have a designated responsibility to oversee the church, a pastor. A couple of churches, his responsibilities are different from that of the elder who's there as a solid member of the congregation with responsibilities in the ministry. Let me read to you what Barkley says. He says, few passages show more clearly the importance of the eldership in the early church.

He's talking about 1 Peter 5. He said, it is to the elders that Peter specially writes and he who was the chief of the apostles does not hesitate to call himself a fellow elder. It would be worth our while to look at something of the background and history of the eldership, the most ancient and the most important office in the church. Why was it so important? Because these men maintained the continuity. Apostle Paul came through. Titus could go through Crete, but when he left, what were the brethren to do? They had elders there. And recently in our church history, we've had many elders stand up and be counted and be able to be used, in some cases even step up to pastors because of their faithfulness and because of their knowledge and understanding and care for the brethren.

So he goes on to say it has a Jewish background. He says, the Jews traced the beginning of the eldership to the days when the children of Israel were journeying through the wilderness to the Promised Land. There came a time when Moses felt the burdens of leadership too heavy for him to bear alone and to help him, 70 elders were set apart and granted a share of the Spirit of God, Numbers 11. Thereafter, elders became a permanent feature of Jewish life. We find them as friends of the prophets, 2 Kings 6, as advisors to the kings, 1 Kings 20, as colleagues of the princes in the administration of the affairs of the nation, Ezra 10.8.

Every village and city had its elders. They met at the gate and they dispensed justice to the people. Deuteronomy 25. The elders were the administrators of the synagogue. They did not preach. There was an elders in Jewish day in the Jewish culture. They did not preach, he said, but they sought to good government an order in the synagogue. They exercised discipline over its members.

The elders formed a large section of the Sanhedrin and the Supreme Court of the Jews. And they are regularly mentioned along with chief priests and rulers and scribes and Pharisees.

So they're mentioned by Jesus Christ and they give numerous scriptures in Matthew 16 and Matthew 21 and Matthew 23 and so on. In the vision of revelation, and it's interesting, in heavenly places there are 24 elders around the throne.

Spirit beings, not humans, not people who used to be humans, but spirit beings, called elders.

The elders were woven into the structure of Judaism both in its civil and its religious affairs. And he goes on to say about the Greeks had elders who were basically town counselors. He said, so we can see that before in Asia Minor had them too, he said, we can see that long before Christianity took it over, elder was a title of honor both in the Jewish and in the Greco-Roman world. So he talks about how elders had a place of honor in the church. So Titus was told in verse 5 to ordain elders in every city. And we're so grateful to the Apostle Paul for Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3, because in these two chapters we know what God is looking for in an elder, because they give us the qualifications and qualities and characteristics that must be present in elders before they can be used by God. And Titus, the instruction to Titus, Paul amplifies this so we can understand. It is also interesting that some of the same qualities that are brought out here, not all of the same, but some of them, are found in Leviticus 21 when you talk about Levitical priests and Deuteronomy 17 when you talk about kings. Some of the qualities and characteristics are also required in those particular books. So I think Paul got some of his information from there, but he amplified it more. These are qualities that should be borne by the individual who has to be proven, has to be observed, has to be seen. So notice verse 6. He said, if any be blameless, blameless having to do with not reproachable. He cannot be one who is, the people are accusing all the time, well he's a no good, he's no good, he's no good, he cannot be that way. He must be blameless. The husband of one wife. So right here in this chapter we talked about elders and over in 1 Timothy 3 it talks about bishops. Same word, the word for bishop there being different from here, but he said a bishop must be a husband of one wife. So he must, if he's going to get married, he must be one wife. Can't be three, can't be four. But of course certain churches say their bishops cannot be married. They must remain celibate.

God says husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

Faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. A profligacy it's talked about or undisciplined, Barkley says. If a minister, here's what Barkley says, I'm sorry, James and Fawcett and Braun, if a minister cannot bring his children to the faith, how can he bring others?

Now we know that that's true when a minister is bringing up his children, but he can't force them to be converted. They have to make choices of their own, but he must be teaching them in the way, bringing them up in the faith, and then it's up to them that after that time they have to make those decisions what they will do. But James and Fawcett and Braun felt, hey, if they can't bring their children up in the faith, how can they expect others to come along?

Children not well governed show deficiencies in the family. So says Barnes notes on this particular section. Children that are not well governed, they're unruly, show deficiencies in the family.

So family is very important. I remember watching the ministers before we ever had any children, and seeing how one minister totally neglected his family, that at times when he should have been with him he was not, because he was doing the work. And that was changed. You know, before it was like, if you put anything before doing the work, you're somehow not so good as a minister. But what I saw is I saw people look at that minister and disrespect what he was doing, because they saw what was happening to his family. And so it's really important. The example of the minister and his family is very important to his eldership, not accused of riot or unruly.

Verse 7, he says, for a bishop must be blameless. There's that word again, not reproachable. And I think it's Barkley divides this section, 7, 8, and 9, into, or 7 and 8, let's see if it's 9 as well, but 7 and 8 certainly, into, yes, and 9, into several categories. First of all, he says, he divides it into what a minister must not be.

So a minister must not be reproachable. He must not be held up to blame, or held up to blame.

Secondly, he must not be self-willed. That is set up defined by Barkley as self-pleasing, not for his own agenda, without regard for others. So self-willed. He just wants to do his own thing. And it's interesting that Barnes notes, puts it this way, he says the word, ATHEDES, A-U-T-H-A-D-E-E-S, does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament, not self-willed. It means properly self-complacent. He's just satisfied with himself.

And then it means assuming arrogant, imperious. He said, The gist of the offense is the very head and front, is that of being self-complacent, a trait of character which of necessity makes a man imperious, dogmatical, impatient of contradiction, and unyielding. Such a man evidently is not fit for the office of the ministry of the gospel. Because as you know, we are called to change when we're baptized. We're supposed to be willing to change, which means you have to be open for seeing change, don't you? Or seeing the need to change. So he says that he cannot be self-willed. He must be blameless. Again, he must not be self-willed. He must not be angry, or soon angry, as it puts out in the Old King James. Barkley calls this quick-tempered. It's quick-tempered. He's one that shoots from the hip and can get riled real easily. And that's not a mean-tempered man, is not a good candidate for being an elder. Because as you know, you have to be patient with the brethren. It also goes on to say, what he must not be is given to wine.

This is further expounded by Barkley to say, not given to drunkenness and outrageous conduct.

Because what happens to a person when he loses control through having an addicted substance in his being, he can become outrageous in his conduct. There's my minister over there. He's falling down. He can't put one foot in front of the other. That's my minister. No, he said, you cannot be if you're given. So, minister must not be reproachable, self-willed, angry, given to wine. Another one, violent. It says, no striker. The word there means he's ready to fight at the drop of a hat, flies off the handle, and he's ready to fight. No striker. And again, this kind of a person would not be good as a pastor, because he'd be ready to come to blows with somebody, come to fisticuffs with somebody, ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Another one, that he must not be. He must not be a seeker of gain, as Barkley puts it, in disrespectful ways, in disgraceful ways. He cannot be greedy for money, New King James Version puts it, or making the gospel a means of personal gain. That he's in the ministry for what he can get instead of what he can give. So, he must not be reproachable, self-willed, angry, given to wine, violent, or a seeker of gain. So, Barkley, what's it? This is what he must not be. Now, what must the minister be? The qualities that he displays to others are what he must be hospitable. Verse 8, lover of hospitality. Hospitable. The Greek word is philoxenia, which means a love of strangers. It means he looks to help anybody, not just the ones or his buddies and friends. Hospitable. A love of strangers. He's willing to extend a giving hand and a helping hand to all. He must be a lover of good people. That's qualities he displays to others. As was brought out, he must be a lover of good people and, by extension, good things.

The Greek word is philagathos, which has to do with a lover of good. And good men and good things. You say, you know, God says, nobody's good. How can I ever be a lover of good men? Nobody could qualify to be an elder because there's no good men around. People can be good, but not good as God.

People can be good, but not as good as God. So these are qualities that he would display to others.

And then you come to sober-minded. So he says here, sober, verse 8, sober, just, holy, temperate.

These are, some of these are inward qualities. For instance, a person who's sober-minded is one who's discreet, who keeps himself in check. A person who is sober-minded is prudent.

He's wise. He's aware. He's cautious, but not so cautious that he becomes stodgy.

So he's cautious. Other inward qualities that he has. Again, these are what a minister must be.

Just. He must be just. It just says that simple word, just. He must be perceived as fair towards men. It's interesting that when I taught at Imperial schools in Pasadena, California, those students were so quick to pick up on anybody who tried to act phony.

And they would tell me about, sometimes, about people, instructors that they saw. Probably talked about me, too. I hope I wasn't phoned. But they could pick up. They pick up when somebody's giving them blather. They pick up when somebody's giving them that which is not sincere. They just have a really good detector that way. So you have to be just. You have to be fair. One thing I read about teachers. A good teacher is two things. One, fun and two, fair. He cannot be perceived as taking sides. He must be perceived as fair. And that's what he says. He has to be just.

And that's an inward quality. Also, he must be holy. Just, holy. That's also an inward quality.

That he is pious or holy toward God. He is one who is willing to. And I have Barkley here. See Barkley, page 239. So I will go there just for a moment and read that. I'm not reading too much out of here. I'm just giving you the short of it. Barkley has an excellent section if you care to get the book on letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon. Wonderful section on this. And remember, these qualities are, yes, they're about elders. But as I recall, all of us are supposed to eventually become either a king and priest. And a priest is a teacher. And a priest is a gift of the ministry. And in the realm of the world tomorrow, in the spirit world, when we become children of God, you will have to have these qualities and characteristics. A lot of these qualities and characteristics, I think you'll find in chapter 2, apply to brethren too. Many of them.

So he goes on to say, page 239, about holy, says, he must be Pius or Housios, H-O-S-I-O-S. The Greek word is hard to translate, for it describes a man who references the fundamental decencies of life, the things which go back beyond any man-made law. He values God. He values God's teaching. He values the way God is and the way God wants him to be. Then it goes on. The next one is the final one in this section on inward qualities. It says temperate in old King James, but in new King James it's self-controlled. He needs to be self-controlled, keeping his passions, his tongue, his head, and his eyes all under his command.

Self-controlled. Engrateia means to take a grip of yourself. Sometimes I say to myself, Gar, Christians don't do that. Christians don't know when I start to get upset at somebody on the highway, and I see some pretty bad moves on the highway and a million miles that I've driven. Sometimes you see somebody driving, you say, why did he do that? What's wrong? Then I try to, Gar, get a grip of yourself. Maybe that man is like your dad. Maybe he's 90 years old.

Maybe he has a hard time negotiating the road. Back off. Take a grip of yourself.

Say no to the things that are wrong. Say yes to the things that are right. Self-controlled, really important. Engrateia, which means keeping your passions, your tongue, your head, and your eyes under control. Verse 9 talks about within the church, within the church, that a minister must be, first of all, it says, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught.

This doesn't mean individually taught, but this means the body of beliefs, the basic doctrines of the church that are there. Now, if there's something wrong with the basic doctrine that you think, you're welcome to submit your view, your thought, and with support. And then it'll be discussed.

And if three-quarters of all the elders in the church agree with you, it can be changed.

How many have we changed since United has begun with that policy? Is it zero? They could zero.

Something as simple as even changing some wording, not changing the doctrine, would not pass.

You need three-hundred at that time, and now too, about three-hundred out of four-hundred elders to agree with the change. Some of us said, I don't think we need to change it. It looks good to me.

But if a person did see something, they could bring it to the attention. So if there's something that is amiss, it could be better stated, it could be brought up. But the chances of it being changed, if its true doctrine is almost nil, with three-hundred out of four-hundred ministers having to agree, sorry, it's not going to happen, unless it is something that is obviously anti-Bible.

And when these doctrines were formulated and laid down in our booklets, they were checked out and thoroughly checked out and expounded back and forth.

So this man must hold fast the faithful word, not as somebody has taught him just individually, but as the body of beliefs that are there. Holding the true doctrine because it is the apostolic teaching, not just that, but because it is true. Because it is true, it matches up.

Then he goes on to say another within the church. Within the church, this is important, to give exhortation. That he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort.

That is interesting, Barkley points on on page 239, that exhortation, by exhortation, he means to encourage. He said he must be able to encourage the members of the church.

Any time you leave a Sabbath service, you should say, did I leave here encouraged?

Now, even when you're corrected, you can leave encouraged, because, wow, I saw I was doing that wrong. I can change that, and I'll be better for that.

When I finished services, did I feel encouraged? Or do I feel just kind of blah, let down, or maybe I didn't get what God wanted me to get out of that service? He said, he must be able to encourage the members of the church. The Navy has a rule which says no officer shall speak discouragingly to any other officer the performance of his duties. There's always something wrong with preaching and teaching whose effect is to discourage others, the function of true Christianity, a true Christian preacher and teachers, not to drive man to despair, but to lift him up with hope. Does that mean we never correct? Does that mean we never rebuke?

Certainly, Timothy talks about rebuke. But again, how you rebuke, it's how you do it.

And again, it's encouraging the aspect of encouragement. So he should be able to encourage, then he says, and to convince or convict the gainsayers. Who are the gainsayers? Those opposed to the faith, those opposed to the truth. So he says, if you're going to pick somebody, he should be able to convict. He should know the Scriptures well enough to be able to find them. One of the students came, was talking to me today about a test I gave, and some of them didn't do as well on the test. And he was explaining to me, and didn't have time to study, and all that. I was saying, you know, you really do need to know the Scriptures. You really should be drilling yourself on where to find this and where to find that. Because, if you don't know where the Scripture is, how can you explain it? And people are going to ask you about something you need to know where it is. You need to know where to go in your Bible to be able to explain it to them when they ask you questions. So he says, really good to study so you can convict. So he says here, convict the gainsayers. Not to denounce or dictate to, but to show the truth. And to show them where they are wrong by the truth. That's what's important. And again, to convict the gainsayers. So these are issues that a minister must be and must have qualities and characteristics within the church. Peter? I've got a question come in that actually applies to verse 6. Okay. You just covered. Does this apply also to divorce being the husband of one wife? Or is it the number of wives? I heard this explained several ways, says this person. So in other words, does this preclude an elder from having another wife if his wife dies or if he gets a divorce? Oh, no. If they were divorced, that would be a different matter. And if that were, if they were a, well, if a wife died, that would be a different matter. It's talking about one wife. And whether in those days they still continue to do the multiple wives and instead of an elder, he should only have one or be married to just one. That he cannot have six or five. He certainly, and again, if he's putting his wife away for not a good reason, you know, scriptural reason of sexual immorality, if he's not putting her away for the right reason, he's an adulterer and he's causing her to commit adultery. So there's, it's not just to shoot around, you know, I'm going to have one wife at a time, but if there are reasons why, and there are some cases where wife has gone off and departed from the faith and fought the faith and rejected her husband, in some of those cases, there has been divorce. But it's not having more than one wife. Thank you for the question.

Do you have a comment on it, Peter? No, I was just going to say that the same rules apply to anybody, whether they're an elder or a lay member. There are only certain reasons to get remarried or to get divorced and be able to remarry, and it's the same for an elder. And you remember in the scriptures, Jesus Christ said, you've heard it said in the beginning, you should love your, you know, you can divorce your wife for any reason. Well, it really wasn't the case, but Deuteronomy 24 did allow divorce. And he said, okay, to put away your wife for any reason. He said, now, you know, let's go back to the beginning. Did God make two wives for Adam? Was it Adam, Eve, and Jane?

Or was it Adam and Eve? It wasn't Eve and John and Adam. It was Adam and Eve. He made one wife, one woman, for one man. And he brought the woman, not the women, to the man and said, here, take care of it. Now, apparently in the Old Testament, there were multiple marriages. And time went on. God changed that. And he said, that's not the way it should have been.

That's not the way it should be. And he certainly brought it back to us to and under Jesus Christ in Matthew 19. Let's go to verse 10. So why should he be able to convict? Because verse 10, he says, there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision. So now he pins it down. These people were being bothered on the island of Crete by Jews. Those who had converted to Judaism or those who were Jews, who were there. And he said that the person needed to hold fast the faithful word. That means he could preach it and teach it and hang on to it and use it as the means. Certainly, the Bible talks about it being our only offensive weapon in Ephesians, chapter 6, part of the armor of God. But he also says that we should be able to stop these individuals. He says, for there are many unruly and vain talkers. Interesting, over in 2 Peter 2, 18, he talks about how sometimes people will come in and try to deceive. They'll try to go into households. Timothy talks about that too and try to lead people astray. But verse 18 of 2 Peter 2 seems to hit on this. For when they speak, again talking about those who were causing trouble to the church, the false teachers and false apostate ministers, he said, for when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantedness, those who were clean escaped from them who live in error. People who had come out of that error, these men were so clever talking, they talked them to go back into it. As one lady told me, she said to the minister who stood up and said, oh, we're going back to Protestantism like this. She said, Mr. so-and-so, that's what I came out of. 25 years ago, I saw the fault of that. What you preached was pure evangelicalism. I gave that up. Are you saying to me that after 25 years, God is taking me back into it again? You say, well, yes. And that's what she called me. I was her minister, the first one to ever visit her. And she asked me, what's going on?

I said, stick to the truth. Stick to the truth of God's word, you can't go wrong.

You stick with God's word. So there are many unruly people who are unwilling to be led, unwilling to be disciplined. And he says, they're empty talking and they're deceivers.

Many unruly individuals who are especially of the circumcision, that's Jews, whose mouths must be stopped. This is so strong. Let me read to you what Barnes says about this.

The word here, rendered stopped, epistonezane, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.

And it means properly to check, to curb, as with a bridle, to restrain or bridle in, and then put to silence, their mouths must be stopped. And that's the job of a minister to be able to know the Scriptures well enough that somebody's bringing in false doctrine, confusing the brethren. He can sit down with them and they can clearly see if they understand the voice of Jesus Christ, which is the written word of God that we have in our hands, that they can understand that. They would hear it clearly and be able to grasp who's saying what's right and who's teaching what's wrong. And notice what else they do.

He says they must be stopped. Why? Because they subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not. For filthy Luke's sake.

They're coming in trying to get people. They see dollar signs on people.

They don't see God's Spirit. They see dollar signs. And that's a shame. That's a shame.

When I worked in Canada, I had to sign every donation, every year-end donation. It was a requirement. I sat there signing. And I tried just to not even look at them. I did not want to put it in my mind. Who played what? Who did what? I just signed and passed them on, signed and passed them on. I did not try to keep in my mind. Let's say, well, this person, I better be really nice to them. They give good offerings. That's so wrong. God's people are God's people.

They don't deserve to be merchandised. He said, teaching things which they ought not. Why? For filthy Luke's sake. The Bible says they'll say, peace, peace, when there is no peace. The people say, play us a nice song. Tell us good things. Don't teach us truth. Tell us smooth things.

Now, you don't want to be bashing people every week. All they get is a corrective sermon.

But there are times when correction needs to be dealt out, and there ought to be dealt out as long as it's true and right, and done out of a right heart and attitude for the betterment of the brethren. But it's not there doing it for filthy Luke's sake. It's doing it because it's the truth.

He says, their mouths must be muzzled. These empty-talking, vain-speaking, deception-toting individuals must be stopped because they upset whole families. Barkley comments on this on page 241.

He said, their teaching was designed for gain. They were more concerned with what they could get out of the people they were teaching than what they could put into them.

Perry has said that this is indeed the besetting temptation of the professional teacher. When he looks on his teaching simply as a career designed for personal advancement and profit, he is in a perilous condition. If the only reason he's teaching is for gain, what he can get out of it instead of what he can put into it, then he's going barking up the wrong tree. He goes on to call them. He says, one of themselves, even a prophet of their own, Epimone ides, he said a prophet of their own. They usually called poets prophets because they believe that poets were somehow or another gifted by the gods to be able to write this verse. And so they called them prophets too, but he was really a poet. Epimoneides said of these individuals, even one of themselves, prophet of their own, said the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. That's old King James. Epimoneides, sorry, he was a poet, and he called the Cretans liars. Do you know that Cretans were known throughout the world back then as liars?

Much like to say when you Corinthianize somebody, you are a loose, you're calling them loose, sexually loose, fornicators. When you called somebody a Cretan, you said he's a liar. He just was known throughout the world that Cretans were liars. That's what they said about them. So he calls them liars. He calls them evil beasts. Now the type of beasts that he calls them were so ferocious that all they were was out to devour others, much like 1 Peter 5.8 says, Satan goes around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. These individuals he calls evil beasts. This is one of their own. So what is Paul writing to Timothy about? He's warning Timothy what to look for and what not to look for in the men he's going to ordain as elders to leave in this area. He also calls them slow bellies, which really means they're gluttonous and slothful. They're indolent and worthless. Barnes notes, brings out. Philippians 3.19 calls it, whose God is their belly. All they're interested in is filling their tummies and lazing around.

Verse 13, he says, this witness is true. You know, I agree with Epimonades who said this of his own people. I agree with this. Wherefore, he says, rebuke them sharply. Those who try to bring these false ideas into the church that they may be sound in the faith. And the word rebuke them sharply. Barnes notes has a climate on that. Let's see if I can pick that out for you real quickly. Yes, sharply. It means cuttingly and severely to cut somebody off. The word is used here in the sense of severity, meaning that the reproof should be such as it would be understood and would show them plainly the wickedness of this trait of character. So then he said in verse 14, he said, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables. Once again, the Bible talks about commandments of men. Mark 7, verses 7 and 8. In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. He told the Jews at his day, you add all these things to the commandments, you make them hard to keep.

He says, they give heed to fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth.

They cause people to depart. Then he ends with, to the pure all things are pure. Now, Barkley goes off on this and says, see, he's saying everything. They're trying to enforce clean and unclean meat loss. It has nothing to do with that.

Purity of mind and purity of heart has nothing to do with what you eat.

But if God gives you a command to do something, gives you two whole chapters Deuteronomy 14, Leviticus 11, don't you think he put those in there for a good reason?

It's not even about health for us, what others are finding out. To the pure, all things are pure. But to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure. This has to do with an attitude. How do you look on things? Do you only see the negative? Do you only see the things that are bad? Do you never see a silver lining? Do you only see the rain clouds? It's important for us to make sure that we keep our hearts and minds pure. But to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure.

But even their mind and conscience is defiled.

Verse 16, they profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him.

2 Timothy 3.5 says, ever learning, says denying, they have a power of God, but they deny the power thereof. Let me be having a form of godliness. That's the one. 2 Timothy 3.5, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. They say they believe in God, but they don't do anything.

Luke 6.46, Christ said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say.

So He says, by works they deny, I am being abominable and disobedient, and to every good work, useless or reprobate. So God wants us to be true, and He's saying, if you're going to ordain elders, they better have these characteristics and you better watch out for these other ones, because some are trying to inject these type of teachings into the church, and don't you let them.

Mr. Annington? I might mention that we had another question come in, and the second part of it is related to what you were just talking about. It sounds like a minister, bishop, and elder are the one in the same. Is this correct? And I guess I'd begin by answering that these are all people that are ordained into Christ's ministry, but there are different roles and jobs that different elders and ministers have. Because this says bishop here in Titus, in Timothy it says elder, so what's the difference? Right, they're names for the same role of ordination, but however, once they've been ordained the office of an elder, many of their jobs change. So sometimes a minister and elder may end up doing a lot of writing. He may be a writer. For instance, in worldwide days, we had Dr. C. Paul Meredith, who hardly ever, I think I heard him speak once in all the years, he was an evangelist, quote unquote, and as an evangelist, he wrote. He wrote a correspondence course. That's what he did. Different ones worked, Mr. Norman Smith worked in the TV studio. He was over the TV studio. He spoke once in a while and pastored, you know, went over it and went out and spoke on the weekends. But basically his main job was more administrative. So it really depends on the job they do. An elder is not necessarily the pastor, but an elder could be a pastor and an elder. So it really depends on the job they do. The first part of this question actually relates to what we're about to cover now in Titus chapter 2. This person says, are these attributes, these attributes of the ministry, are these attributes that we all should have, regardless of being a layman, elder, pastor or minister? And I actually have written right here in my notes a chapter 2 and now a chapter for the rest of us, because chapter 2 is a chapter for the rest of us, whether you're an elder or not. And you'll see that there's some similarities here for the rest of the church. If you look at chapter 2 verse 1, but as for you, speak to things which are proper for sound doctrine. So here now Paul is contrasting those that need to have their mouths stopped. He says, but Titus, as for you, speak. We don't want your mouth stopped. Titus, you need to speak. Speak to things which are proper for sound doctrine.

Because remember back in Titus chapter 1 verses 11 and 15 and 16, Paul was giving examples of all those people that need to have their mouths stopped that were ungodly, that were unbelieving, that were reprobate. He says, but Titus has view now. You speak. And it means to speak without restraint. Your mouth is not to be stopped. You're going to speak without restraint, Titus. And of course, doctrine here is an instruction or teaching. The philosopher or the poet was quoted back in chapter 1 verse 12 that Cretans are always liars. Keep in mind that Titus was on Crete when Paul wrote to him. So Paul was using a local story, a local example, that Titus would have appreciated, hearing that that was the understanding that most people had about those who lived on Crete. And Titus would have understood what Paul was saying. Verse 2 now, speak, Titus, that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience. Now what we're about to see here is verses 2 through 5 show that the qualifications of the elderly in the church are similar to those of a bishop. And so there is quite a responsibility on the shoulders of our senior members. You might ask, how long have you been in God's church? 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? Are we measuring up to the qualifications of that of a mature member?

And the qualifications of a mature member in the body of Christ is very similar to that of a bishop or an elder. And so as we start to approach the past overseas and now in just a couple of months, each of us will be examining ourselves. How do I measure up to these standards of an elder, of a bishop? So he says the older men need to be sober. And that can be translated in some passages as vigilant or sober-minded. But here in this case, sober means not given to wine, is what most commentaries will agree upon. It's paralleling Titus 2.3 and Titus 1.7 that not being given to wine. It's a parallel explanation when it says to be sober. It really does mean be sober in this case. Because further on in the verse it says to be temperate. And that word temperate there in verse 2 is what's meant to be sober. To be vigilant and to be sober-minded. Temperate means to be sober-minded. So the first part there, older men to be sober, is talking about not given to wine, just like we read Titus 1 verse 7. And then Paul says that the older men should be reverent. And that means to be dignified. The senior members in our congregation should carry themselves properly. And should be reverent and dignified in how they go about their duties and their life. And then temperate means to be self-restrained, to be discreet, to be self-controlled. Titus 1 verse 8 talks about being temperate. A bishop should be temperate and the older men in the congregation should be temperate also. To have self-control, not just to be living life willy-nilly, but to have things under control in what they say and do and how they live. And doing this in patience or with enduring perseverance. It's not easy sometimes. You have to be patient, you have to endure, you have to persevere, you have to work at it in order to measure up to some of these standards. Then verse 3, the older women likewise.

So it's not just the fellas, it's the older women too, that they may be reverent in behavior, not slanderous, not given to much wine, and teachers of good things.

I'm reading from the New King James, but the authorized version, the King James version, for reverent says, as becomes holiness, that they may be as becomes holiness.

And holiness is a reference to sacredness.

Women should live their lives with conduct that honors God, with conduct that honors God, in holiness, with reverence, as becomes women who have been consecrated to God or living their lives, have been called, and are living their lives to God.

Kind of with a sacred decorum, and just how, once again, women would carry themselves, with a reverence, and as it becomes a holy woman, someone filled with the Spirit.

There's a similar idea in 1 Peter 3, verses 1 through 4. I'll read them to you, because here, Peter is talking to wives, in this case, about how they conduct themselves and their conduct, their behavior, and how a woman of God should act. 1 Peter 3, verse 1, wives likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. When they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear, do not let your adornment be merely outward, rather let it be the hidden person of the heart. So it's what comes from the woman's heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. And so that's how women, godly women, are to behave, reverent in behavior, not given to much wine. Our teachers, it says here, a major job, a major role, for the women in our church, especially our mature women, is to teach and instruct the other women in what is called here the good things, the things of God.

Now we understand that the women don't preach in services, 1 Corinthians 14, verse 34, but they still have a major role to play in influencing the younger women for the good.

And a lot of it is done by their precept and their example.

And so their behavior is very important. The Greek can also mean deportment.

Once again, deportment is how you walk into a room, how you behave. There's a certain gracefulness that comes with a woman of God, a certain gracefulness in how they live.

And then one who's not given to much wine. And history also records that gluttony was a problem with the Cretans. Titus 1.12 was what Mr. Antion mentioned about slow valleys or lazy gluttons, the New King James says. And the Cretans were known for drinking too much and being lazy. So literally being enslaved to too much wine. And if you have an addiction problem, you're a slave to that. I might quote from 2 Peter 2.19 for you in this regard.

While they promised them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption.

For by whom a person is overcome, by him also is brought into bondage. So whatever you're a slave to, whatever you're addicted to, that's who you serve, that's what you serve.

That's 2 Peter 2 verse 19. So don't be enslaved to much wine, the old women says here.

And then verse 4, that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children. The King James version here says that they may teach the young women to be sober. And in this case it means to be wise, to be sober-minded, okay? As you go back and look at the Greek. To be sober-minded, and to be self-restrained, and to be discreet.

There's something to be said about a mature woman in the congregation who's discreet in what she says, who's discreet in how she talks.

Jamison Forsett and Brown says it was judicious that Titus, a young man, should admonish the young women not directly but through the older women.

And there is something to be said for the older women in the congregation carrying out this type of instruction, and even correction if necessary, to the younger women, and helping them to also be reverent in behavior as young women in the faith. Verse 5, to be discreet. This is to the women again, chased, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. In the New King James it says that they are to be not just discreet, but it says homemakers. And in the Greek it means to be guardians of the house. And in many respects, the wife does so much for her husband when it comes to being a guardian of the house, and making sure that the family has what it needs, but also that the children are protected and looked after. Some of the oldest manuscripts read workers at home, someone who's active in household duties. And I think that Paul mentions this to Titus to help counteract the opposite lifestyle that some women in Crete were known for. Recall Proverbs 7, verses 10 through 12.

Here's the opposite of a woman who's guardian of her house, Proverbs 7, verses 10 through 12.

And there was a woman who met him with a crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious. Her feet would not stay at home. At times she was outside, at times in the open square, lurking at every corner. So here's a woman who's looking for action. Here's a woman who's looking for trouble.

And Paul is saying that a discreet woman of the faith, if she's married and has a family, will be a guardian of the house. And that is a very important role for a mother and for a wife.

She'll be kind, is what it means when it says she'll be good. She'll be kind. And obedient to their own husbands means, in some passages, to be submissive in the Greek. And this is so that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. So that the Word of God will not have evil spoken of it.

This kind of behavior by our women, especially by our older women, helps preserve the Word of God.

That God's way of life will not be spoken evil of, that no reproach will be cast on the gospel message through the behavior of church members. Notice Titus 2, verse 8, which we'll cover in a moment, that nobody will say evil of you. That the Word of God will not be blasphemed.

Now, likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded. Like I said, this is the chapter for the rest of us, right? Everybody's getting covered here. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded.

And to be sober-minded here means to be self-restrained. And young men need to learn to be self-restrained. Those hormones are raging, and you have to be self-restrained. In all things, verse 7, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works. In doctrine, showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility. So we notice a pattern of good works here in verses 7 and verse 14.

It does matter how we live and how we show love towards God by keeping His commandments.

Works are important. We are rewarded according to our works. Even in chapter 1, we read about those who had bad works, had no good works. So the issue of works is spattered throughout this epistle to tide us here.

But you notice that even young men are to be setting a sterling example. It says, in all things, so with respect to all things, with respect to everything you do, show yourself to be a pattern of good works of integrity, reverence, being incorruptible, an untainted motive on every young man's part. And it says in the New King James, showing integrity. Integrity is a dignified seriousness in setting forth the truth, a dignified seriousness of life. There are eight sound speeches that cannot be condemned.

The one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing able to say of you.

So even those who don't like you, even those who are outside the faith, even those who are looking for something to criticize you for, will not be able to. They'll have nothing evil to say of you. That's how a young man should live in the church. That everywhere he goes, everything he does, every part he attends, no one can say anything evil of how he behaved. It's a pretty high standard, and it's once again similar to what's expected of the ministry, too. It's expected of all of us.

But somebody's not ordained until he can show it, but it is expected of all of us.

So we must be blameless. Our speech, our words, must be sound. We have to watch out for those idle words we may speak, those euphemisms, for cuss words, even. Oh, I didn't swear.

This kind of sounded like it did. Those euphemisms that people like to use to get away with it. So as young men at university, at college, at work, it's tough, and it's easy to succumb to lower standards in society when we should be different. It says, so that one who's an opponent may be ashamed. One who is an opponent is someone who's an adversary. In Titus 1, back in verse 9, it says, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

Very, very similar to what we're reading here. To exhort and convict those who contradict. That's what our behavior should do. 2 Timothy 2.25 is a parallel idea as well. 2 Timothy 2.25, in meekness instructing those who oppose. So in meekness and humility, people who are against us learn something by the way we act.

And then they become ashamed. Our opponent becomes ashamed. We read in verse 8.

And it means that the truth puts them to confusion. The truth puts them to confusion.

And they have nothing to say any longer about your behavior. And when it says, no evil thing to say of you, it means nothing in our acts, nothing in our demeanor, nothing in our attitude.

No evil thing can they say against you. And then at the very end, it says, have nothing able to say of you. Some of the older manuscripts say of us. That they'll have nothing able to say of us. So in many ways, we represent the whole body of Christ in what we do.

We're representing the whole family name. So we're not just besmirching our own name by bad behavior. We may be allowing evil to be said of us, of the church, reflecting a bad light on the whole body. So it's about representing the family of God properly. Verse 9 gets into a different idea now, getting away a little bit from the qualifications of bishops and elders and even lay members and older men, older women, young men, young women. And now we're going to talk about those who are slaves. Exhort bond servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back. And New King James says bond servants. The authorized version says servants. It's literally slaves, those who are working for someone else and are indebted to that. Half of the population in Rome were slaves.

Many of the Christians then too were slaves. And Paul says be obedient to your masters if you're a bond servant, if you're a slave. To be well pleasing in all things, not answering back. So to please them well, or to be well pleasing, means to give satisfaction. Do a good job. Serve well. Jameson Fawcett in Brown says in verse 9, it means to be obedient to your master's good will, which will anticipate the master's wish and do even more than is required.

How many slaves will do more than is required? The reason for the frequent recurrence of injunctions to slaves to subjection was that in no rank, says Jameson Fawcett in Brown, that in no rank was there more danger of the doctrine of the spirit. So the question is, how many slaves will do more than is of the spiritual equality and freedom of Christians being misunderstood than in that of slaves?

It was natural for the slave who had become a Christian to forget his place and put himself on a social level with his master. Hence the charge for each to abide in the sphere in which he was when converted. So even if you come into the church and realize the freedom we have through Christ, in your secular life, remember that you still have a master who may not even be in the church and that you ought to serve him well. Just because you found freedom in Christ doesn't mean that you're free of those chains, so to speak. 1 Corinthians 7 is a parallel thought. 1 Corinthians 7 verses 20 through 22, Paul told the Corinthians that each one remain in the calling in which he was called. Were you called as a slave? It does not matter to you, but if you are able to become free, use it rather. If you can't become free, good. For he was called a slave and the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, and likewise he was called a free man, is a slave of Christ.

We're slaves to Christ, but we're free in the Lord. Paul's reminding the Corinthians to just be content with the position you're in if you cannot be free. Ephesians 6 verses 5 through 8, says, So this is not talking about Christ as our being masters to Christ, Christ being our master, masters according to the flesh. If you're a slave, with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ, not with eye service as men pleases, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord and not to men. Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. So even if you lived in that time in the Roman Empire and you happen to be a slave, yes you're free in Christ, but still make sure that you're obedient to your master, that you please him, that you serve well, and that you don't answer back. Not answering back means not contradicting. Don't contradict your master. And this, of course, can apply to all of us in our relationships. This transcends that of just someone who may literally be a slave to a master.

It can apply to all of us in our relationships with our supervisors at work, the leaders in our church, the leaders in our community. We serve well in whatever we do. As long as we are subservient to someone, we serve well. It's a Christian principle. And a slave would set a very good example of his conduct if that's how he behaved himself. And continuing the sentence, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Not pilfering in the Greek means not appropriating what does not belong to you.

You know, don't take what's not yours from an emotional or intellectual sense, even.

Not necessarily just... this doesn't mean stealing necessarily. It means in your behavior, don't appropriate what's not yours. Be subservient. And don't keep back dishonestly or deceitfully your service. Don't keep back dishonestly or deceitfully.

Jameson, Phyllis, and Brown one more time says in verse 10, Even slaves, low as is their status, should not think the influence of their example a matter of no consequence. Even slaves in the church can set a good example in the faith.

And he says, Even more so those in high position. And then God's love in being our Savior is the strongest ground for our adorning His doctrine by our lives. So, because verse 10 says that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. So how we live represents God with you all to the honor and glory of God. So even if you're a bondservant, make sure that you're adorning the doctrine of God our Savior in everything you do. No matter which status you find yourself in life, no matter what job you have, no matter which company you work for, no matter your position in the church, whatever, show all good fidelity. Verse 11, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. And so it's not just for the free, it's also for the slave.

It's also for the Gentile. It's also for the Jew. It's for the Greek. It's for the Roman.

The grace of God has appeared to all men, has been made to shine forth or made to appear, has been manifested to all men. And the indication is after it has long been hidden before, but now it has appeared or been manifested to all men.

1 Timothy 4.10, which we read in a previous Bible study, 1 Timothy 4.10, For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe. So it's all men.

So when he says to all, it's to all of those listed above. It's the elderly, it's the young, it's the servants, it's the slaves, it's the Gentiles, it's those who never knew God before, to all. It's all encompassing here. And then teaching us, verse 12, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So now it's going to wrap it all together. You've got the young, the old, the bishops, the elders, the young men, the young women, the servants, the slaves, everybody, is to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live righteously, soberly, justly, and godly in this present life. So there is a lot to be said for living soberly. It's been a theme throughout here. To live discreetly, to be self-restrained. Everything is not a game, is what Titus is being told here. Life is a serious undertaking.

Yes, we have fun and we enjoy life, but we must realize we're on this planet to serve a greater purpose, to learn how to live for eternity. And these are the guidelines of how to live now and how to live on for eternity. So what do we do? We stay away from worldly lusts. We live righteously.

Verse 12 begins with teaching us that.

And the Greek has the meaning of disciplining us, that. It's more than just teaching. We have to be disciplined so that, and that in the Greek means in order that. So we have to live a disciplined life in order that, and then you read the rest of the verse. And some of the commentaries say that this point is lost by our English translation, when it just says teaching us to deny worldly lusts.

It means we have to be disciplined in order that we can do this, so that we can avoid the lust of the worldly lusts.

To live soberly, righteously, and godly, that's the positive side of the Christian character.

We live with self-restraint, soberly. And then verse 13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So here's why we're doing it. It's for our eternal life. That's why life is serious. Yes, we have fun, but life is serious. We live soberly, we're discreet, we carry ourselves properly, we represent God honorably. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Philippians 3, if you want to make a note of it, verses 20 through 21, Philippians 3, 20 through 21, our citizenship is in heaven. Ultimately, it's not here. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body. So there will be a glorious appearing of our great God, we read here in verse 13. And we will be conformed, Paul says, to Philippians, to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. That's what we look forward to. That's why we live a chaste life, because of the ultimate goal of our citizenship being in heaven and being conformed to His glorious body, and to eventually be like when Jesus Christ returns to be like He is.

Verse 13 begins with looking for. The Greek means with constant expectation.

It's not just a quick glance over your shoulders as if Christ returned yet in glory. It's a constant expectation. It's something we wait for. And when we wait like this, when we expect this constantly, it's an antidote to the worldly lusts. And it gives us a stimulus to live in this world in a godly way. When you have that kind of expectation, that kind of looking for the return of Christ, then you have like an antidote to the world, a stimulus to live properly.

And then it ends in verse 13 with the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

This might point out that this is one and the same being.

It's not talking about the Father and Jesus Christ when it says our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. It's talking about Jesus Christ, our Savior, who is God. Jamison Forsen Brown says, there is but one Greek article to God and Savior. So when you read, if you read Greek, you find there's just one Greek article there that is translated God and Savior, which shows that both are predicated of one and the same being. Of him who is at once the great God and our Savior, Jamison Forsen Brown says, also appearing is never by Paul predicated of God the Father or even of His glory. It is invariably applied to Christ's coming. Also, in the context, there is no reference to the Father but to Christ alone. And here there is no occasion for reference to the Father in the context. And so when you look at the Greek and when you look at the context, it's talking about the same being here, our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, verse 14. So now we see who we're talking about. That He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. A peculiar people, a special people, a called out people.

It's the church, those who are called out and receive the Holy Spirit.

Zealous for good works means promoting good works. Once again, the Cretans tended to be lazy. And Paul was reminding Titus of their local folk, yeah, they tended to be lazy.

You've got to be zealous for good works, promote good works.

And then, of course, redeem us means to deliver us from bondage.

Christ came to redeem us from bondage by paying the price of His own precious blood.

And that's an appropriate image in addressing bond servants in verses 9 and 10.

He came to redeem us from bondage. In that respect, we're all under bondage.

And we need the freedom that comes through the truth and through Christ.

Verse 15, speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one despise you.

And so with all authority here is with authoritativeness.

And it's kind of similar to where we read about speak sharply in Titus 1 verse 13. I mean, Titus 1 verse 13.

Rebuke them sharply that are not sound in the faith.

It's kind of similar here. Speak these things with all authority.

Let no man despise you.

And remember what Paul said to the young Timothy.

1 Timothy 4 verse 12, let no one despise your youth. Have been example to the believers in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith and purity.

So speak in such a way as to command respect with authority. And the authority you're speaking with is the Word of God, the truth of God, being led by the Holy Spirit. That's the authority behind what you're saying. Doesn't mean you have to shout and yell and stand on a high platform to speak with authority. It's what you're saying. And you can say it with a still small voice to be speaking with authority if it comes from the Word of God.

And so warn them, says Paul to Titus, with such authority that no one may think himself above this need of admonition.

It applies to all of us.

And so that's where we end chapter 2, Mr. Antion. Thank you very much for that expounding of those wonderful scriptures and showing that the connection that he was actually talking to everybody. So many of the characteristics were similar, that he was requiring of both the ministry of the elders and of the brethren.

I want to end with one of the questions that came in. It said Romans 5, 12.

And by the way, I think in two weeks we'll have another Bible study. I believe it's scheduled in two weeks.

You have to check. Yeah, I think it's in two weeks. And that is, we'll continue to finish up Titus. And I don't know where Mr. Myers, the pastor, will want to go from there. But I'll leave it up to him to decide that. And we certainly appreciate all of you being online. Appreciate those who are here today. It's been a rainy evening, and it's just getting about freezing out there. So we want to be careful when we go home on the roads, because it's been rainy. And it'll be supposed to be about an inch and a half of rain in the area over the next day, over the next day beyond tonight.

Our question here is, please explain the section of Scripture, Romans 5, 12.

But by one man sin entered the world, but what about Lucifer's sin? Did not sin enter the world through him first?

Here would be my answer. What world?

So Romans 5, 12 says, therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin.

So his question is, well, didn't Satan sin before that? Yes, he did.

But what world was present when Satan sinned?

It was the world before God recreated it for humankind.

Genesis 1 and 2 says, God created the heavens and the earth, and all of a sudden there was chaos.

Verse 2.

The understanding is that between verses 1 and verse 2, something happened to take a beautiful world, which Job 38, 7 says the angels sang at how beautiful it was.

And now all of a sudden you have a world chaotic.

What happened to that world?

On Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14, you find that Satan the devil, the one that the picture of the King of Tyre, the Prince of Tyre, is blended in to Satan, the one who was at the Garden of Eden, who walked up and down, who was anointed carob that covered, who was perfect until iniquity was found in him, till he went against God.

And then you find in Isaiah 14 what he actually did, that he tried to take over the throne of God. He tried to go up and be like the Most High. And we find in Revelation 12, verse 4 and 5, he took one-third of the angels with him to try to rebel against God and had to be thrust down and to the earth again.

And so that world, yes, Lucifer did introduce sin into, but who introduced sin into this world?

Through the stirring and through the prompting and through the urging of Satan was none other than Adam and Eve.

They brought sin into this world. So that's Romans 5, 12. Wherefore, biased by one man, sin entered the world.

That's why. It was the world for humankind.

And Scofield brings out quite clearly that the world that was created, after verse 2, when you have the seven days of creation, he was recreating it.

He was setting the sun. He was removing the vapor from it so it could be seen. Let there be light. He was dividing the waters that had flowed and flooded the entire earth, putting the earth back in a dry land coming in, and then creating the trees and the animals, animals that were befitting for humankind.

Not animals that would roam this earth like dinosaurs and Ronisaurus, Rex, and some of the others that would be...

The humankind who initially started out would have had to be created with bazookas, cannon, hydrogen bombs, to get rid of some of them. And they would have had drones to zap them.

We didn't have that right at the beginning.

So a lot of those animals that were created for humankind had to be created in a way that man could control them.

And if he had had all these prehistoric, quote-unquote, animals, humankind would have not been able to control them. Couldn't have gone camping. He couldn't have gone camping. They would have eaten them. They would have been food for the...

For the some of them that were carnivorous, others were herbiferous, I know.

But they would have had fun trying to cope in that kind of a world. So the answer is pretty simple. And I know Mr. Eddington wrote a note down. He said, yes, but the passage is about human history and human salvation. And it's also about the world that was made for humans. Not the world that was there, not the earth and the heavens that had been created initially.

Where in Satan the devil was roaming this earth.

I hope that gives you some answers to your questions. Thank you very much for your attention tonight. We appreciate you being here. We'll wish you a wonderful evening and keep that global warming coming because it's been nice not to have to shovel too much snow.

Anyway, Godspeed, and we'll see you the next time. All right. Good night.