God Is Faithful (Ezra 1:5-11)

Source Scripture Doodle

Ezra 1:5-11
Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbours assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. This was the inventory: gold dishes 30 silver dishes 1000 silver pans 2910 gold bowls 30 matching silver bowls 410 other articles 1,000. In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Last time, in God is in Control, we looked at how Cyrus, king of Persia announced an edict to set the people of Israel free from their 70-year exile. We saw how God is always in control and how the whole situation of the Israelite second exile reflects our current lives. Now, we see the next step in this process, the introduction and re-in statement of the rightful prince of Judah, Sheshbazzar.

Once more, we are reminded of who is in control of the whole situation: whose heart God had moved. 150 years before, God had spoken through the prophet, Jeremiah telling the people of Judah they will enter into exile under the rule of Babylon. Following their 70-year exile, God once again shows his chosen people who really is in control by working through the king of Persia, Cyrus to bring about their return to the land God had promised them, Canaan.

As we read today, only the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved were stirred by God to answer the call from Cyrus.

This doesn’t tell us how many people went up to Jerusalem from the original tribes of the Southern Kingdom.

What it does tell us is that a representative from each tribe who were originally exiled to Babylon from the Southern Kingdom went to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God. There was a group from every exiled tribe moved by God (see how God is in control here?).

It also tells us that some people chose to stay behind in the comfortable lives they had become accustomed to in the foreign land. God knew this and so only moved a fragment of his people to re-enter the promised land.

We also see God’s hand in the natives of Babylon and all their neighbours, as they assisted those who returned with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. This, as we saw last time was a way that God provided for his people, those he chose to return to the promised land. God stirred the natives to provide specific artefacts that serve to raise the status of the Israelites as a nation. Not only that, he moved them to give them freewill offerings, gifts of choice.

To show he was 100% behind this, Cyrus goes one step further. God stirs him to give the Israelites back all the artefacts that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen when he originally conquered them. Not only does this act undo all that Nebuchadnezzar did 70 years before, but categorically places Jerusalem (the city where the new house of the Lord was to be built) as the city of Yahweh.

And if that was not enough…Cyrus, in turn reinstates the true, rightful heir to the Southern Kingdom, Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. God was making a clear statement to the world that he was in complete control.

We, as Christians should draw immense strength and encouragement from these few verses then. Not only are we assured that God is in control, but God, through a king will bring about our homecoming just as he did with the Israelites through a king.

There are no promises of a peaceful, easy-going life during our exile, it may very well be difficult. Some of us will chose to stay here because we are drawn to the pleasures and comforts of this world. However, when the time is right (his time!), God will move those who love him and who are faithful.

Christ Jesus, the King of kings will return to bring us home to the promised land. Although there will be no need to build the house of the Lord because Christ has already prepared our place (John 14:2-3 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am), we will be with God in the land he has promised us (Revelations 21:1 a new heaven and a new earth).

What more do we need? God has proven that he is faithful, ultimately protecting the people he dearly loves by leading them home. Isn’t it only right that we remain faithful to him?

God is in Control (Ezra 1:1-4)

Source: Churchdirectory111.com

Ezra 1:1-4
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel - he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he lives, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

As we start a new series on the book of Ezra, the setting we are given, in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, places this toward the end of the Babylonian exile and by the mouth of Jeremiah refers to the completion of the prophecy mouthed by Jeremiah 150 years before that the exile would last 70 years (Jeremiah 25:12 and 29:10).

And so, in order to bring about his plan, God caused the king of Persia (and now of Babylon) to announce an edict, a command that all his kingdom would hear and obey. He also put it in writing to ensure all his subjects would receive this proclamation.

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 

God is the one who initiates this proclamation to bring about the deliverance of his chosen people. God had control of the whole situation from the prophecy in Jeremiah right through to the edict announced by King Cyrus. God was in complete control. Notice that Cyrus knows and accepts this as well. The Lord the God of heaven distinguishes this from any other god, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledges God is the one who has the power. He establishes and destroys kingdoms. Despite his predecessors, Nebuchadnezzar who, in the book of Daniel took the Israelites into captivity, his son, Amel-Marduk and his son, Belshazzar being evil in God’s eyes even though they received warnings, Cyrus knew who the God of heaven was. The truth be told, if you read the accounts of Nebuchadnezzar, Amel-Marduk and Belshazzar, you will also see that God had complete control during their reigns. And why wouldn’t he?

God had a chosen people, whom he dearly loved (Colossians 3:12) and he was not going to abandon them despite their continual and consistent sinning. Therefore, he ensured their survival by exiling them from the promised land and having complete control over their captors. Not only would the people be punished for their wrongdoing, but God factored in a way for them to glorify his name once more with his plan of deliverance.

This deliverance comes in the form of Cyrus.

Cyrus announces that he is to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem and then encourage’s any remnants of the Israelite people to go up to Jerusalem to help build the temple. Not only that, he is announcing that all natives are to support the surviving Israelites with gold, silver, goods and beasts. Does this not reflect the exodus? (Exodus 12:35 - The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewellery and for clothing and v38 talks about the beasts). God provides for his chosen people.

You know sometimes, we feel that God has not provided for us. We struggle on in our mundane lives, some of us struggling between each pay cheque, stuck in a going-nowhere job to earn much-needed coins. Whatever our circumstance the feeling that we are not being given what we rightfully deserve, or those things we believe we are due just because who we are is common to all of us. Perhaps we cry out or shout out to God, demanding that he intervenes or gives us what we want, when we want it!

We are just like those Israelites. They were exiled for a second time for 70 years, most of them were being forced to conform to the Babylonian way of living by the natives and fully integrated into their alien society. They needed a deliverer to bring them out of their predicament into the true home that was promised to them by God.

We too, as Christians are exiles. Exiles from heaven. We have been exiled to earth, we are being forced by the natives of this world to conform to its way of living and we need a deliverer from this exile. We are still awaiting our deliverer Christ Jesus to return again and bring us home to the promised land that God has promised to all who believe.

That is why it sometimes feels like a struggle, why it feels everything is against us sometimes or why we never seem to get a break in life - we are aliens in this world - our citizenship is in heaven.

But take heart, not only did God work through Cyrus to bring his people home, he will work through Christ Jesus to bring us home when he returns in glory. With this in mind, there are two things to consider:

1. God is always in control, no matter what it feels like now, God is still on the throne and is in complete control!

2. Just as the Israelites received riches from the natives, we too, will receive riches in heaven.

Hold Onto God's Promises (Titus 3)

Titus 3 (NIV)
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to being obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no-one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all men. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
As soon as I send Artemas and Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need.
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.
Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

Living in a world where there is so much negativity is hard for us all. We are continually facing others who argue about pointless things, things that serve only to make one better than the other. People are happy putting other people down with words we chose to use, actions we do and we find we become envious and jealous because someone has something we don't. Paul recognises the societal norm of living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another (v3). This is something that has become acceptable living in today's society, in fact, in some cities of the world, it is seen as 'God's given right to treat others with utter contempt'. It has got to the point of living where people who try not to live like this are considered abnormal or are themselves ridiculed and hated. It begs the question, can anyone win in today's society?

Well, the answer is, "Yes, we can!" Paul lays out his instructions to Titus in chapter 3 before closing his letter.

Verses 4-6 reminds us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The grace God gave us and through his mercy, we are saved. We are told that God chose to do this when we were still living in malice and envy. There was nothing that we had done to deserve God's grace as Jesus Christ. We are told that when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy (v5). This is Grace Alone. The concept the Reformers, like Martin Luther argued 500 years ago this month. God, through his grace, sent Jesus, his only begotten son, to take the sins of the world upon his shoulders to pay the ransom for our sin by dying on the cross. As a result, we who believe and call upon the name of the Lord are dead to sin and reborn in Christ through the Holy Spirit (v5). We who believe are heirs to the hope of eternal life (v7) because we are justified before God because of Christ's atoning sacrifice.

Therefore, we are to remind ourselves every day not to conform to the world's acceptable way of living, but be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no-one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all men. This is the only way we are going to stand out from those who belong to the world and to Satan.

Living a life for God is not easy, particularly in today's climate. With so many pressures up against us, deadlines imposed upon us, everyone working towards their own agenda forsaking all other agendas, it is easy for us all to just let one thing slide and conform. But Paul tells us we must not. We must devote ourselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone (v8). We have the Holy Spirit that God poured out on us (v5&6) to help us on a daily basis, to strengthen us, to guide us and as we found in my last message Hold Onto God’s Grace, to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

We are to avoid all things that prevent us from doing just that (v9) avoid foolish genealogies and controversies and arguments and quarrels about the law. Why waste time on things that mean nothing? Why get bogged down with the nitty gritty? Why allow anyone to continually put us down, get us confused with pointless genealogies and distract us from a godly life?

Hold Onto Our Hope of eternal life, Hold Onto Jesus who gave his life for us, Hold Onto The Truth of the Gospel, Hold Onto Sound Doctrine from Scripture, Hold Onto God’s Grace given freely for the forgiveness of our sins and only then can we provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives (v14).

Grace be with you all.

Hold onto God's Grace (Titus 2:11-15)

Titus 2:11-15 (NIV)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Isn't it amazing? My last entry was a year ago (almost!), but the message is still true and as important today, as it was then. In fact, this powerful few verses stands the test of time. It is fact! It is the basis of Christian belief. But, it is so widely forgotten by too many people or has been embellished too many times. This, of course, led Paul to urge Titus to hold onto the truth and to hold on to sound doctrine.

Here, Paul urges Titus to hold onto hope. Hope that is for the future. Hope that serves to empower and strengthen him and all who believe. This hope is in the glorious appearing of out great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Without hope, our faith is pointless. Why have faith in Christ if he was not going to return again to destroy all wickedness?

We are told that Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness. We are reminded that we are a bought people, purchased with the very blood that Christ shed at Calvary. That very blood serves to purify those who choose to believe, label them as his own people, adopted into the family of God. Imagine that - we can be part of the family of the creator of the universe!

There is a sense of eagerness on the part of the Almighty. He is eager to do what is good. He wants to save us. He wants to return to complete the story. He wants to bring us into his presence, into safety and his protection. He is dying (quite literally!) to save us. Why else would he send Jesus, his only begotten son, into our world to take the punishment rightfully ours? Why would the Son of God be willingly nailed to the cross in Roman time? What would be the purpose of this man, 2000 years ago walking around for 3 years preaching, healing the infirm and then dying if God had not had a plan to redeem his people, those that love him?

God, our Father certainly has a plan to redeem us all and that gift of freedom from sin is available to anyone; if we are willing to live for him; if we are willing to renounce wickedness, ungodliness and worldly passions. If we are willing to stand apart from this world, then he will return to collect us at the right time. This is our hope. That despite the atrocities happening across the globe, despite the evil that appears to reign our lives, the terror that frightens us, the deaths caused by terrorist extremes - despite all this, if we hold onto our hope, then Christ will return for his very own. Us.

But he has not just left us to fend for ourselves whilst we wait for his return, he has sent us a pre-event gift. A gift of grace that brings salvation ... to all men [and women]. This grace, that God has given us through his Holy Spirit works with us and empowers us to say, "No!".

If you hold onto your hope in Christ, the Father's grace will sustain you, uplift you and empower you to resist Satan's last cries for attention. God's grace will help us live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

See, even Paul knew what kind of world we were going to be living in today - well, not really. However, he did know that Titus was going to come under attack from others because he had hope for the future despite the evil world he lived in. The present age refers to those who do not believe, those who do not have a secure hope for the future. We have them now. There are many out there who do not believe, perhaps you are one of them, perhaps you don't have a secure hope for the future? Perhaps you are living your life one day at a time.

If you are, I urge you to ask yourself this question, "What is the point of our lives if there is no hope for our future?"

I know, I am going to hold onto God's grace until he returns. Are you?

Hold Onto Sound Doctrine (Titus 2:1-10)

Source: Pinterest

Titus 2:1-10
'But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.'

The Apostle Paul has just finished telling Titus that he must look out for those who do not practice what they preach and encourages him to Hold Onto The Truth. In so doing, Titus and those he speaks to must also Hold Onto Jesus.

Now Paul implores Titus to stand apart from these false teachers and teach what is sound doctrine 'But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.'. Titus must use what he knows about Christ, about how he should live, to live. Everything he does must be based on Scripture, everything must be tested to what Scripture says and he must not deviate from it - otherwise he will become like the false teachers - those very people he has just been advised about.

There is an element of that truth for us as well - we, as today's Christians must live according to what the Bible tells us, we must ensure that our lives are in accordance with sound doctrine - based on scripture, tested against scripture, so if we are compared, people would see that what we say is true and Christ is the Saviour.

To emphasise this, Paul goes on to give instructions to all groups of people within the church that Titus is working with. There are five groups of people mentioned who cover just about everyone: Older men; older women; young women; young men; and bondservants. Each group of people are to be taught how they should be living again with sound doctrine in mind in each case.

OLDER MEN

Older men are considered the senior part of the church, they should, by the very virtue of being older and more experienced with life, be wiser and more mature. These men should be taught to be 'sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness'. These men should not be influenced by alcohol (or in terms of today, perhaps this could refer to anything that could lead the man to becoming an addict of something!) and live a life that others respect. Those in the church should live a life where people look up to them, not because of position or power, but because of how they live their life, they should be wise in life. These men should also show restraint, self-control in everything they encounter. They must think carefully before jumping in, look at every possible angle before getting involved, etc. As older men, they would be expected to be sound in everything they put their mind to, not least the three cardinal Christian virtues of faith (trusting God), love (serving others) and in steadfastness (waiting patiently for the fulfillment of their Christian hope).

OLDER WOMEN

Older women are, likewise are to be taught three virtues, given them a specific position in the church and in the Christian Family. First they must be 'reverent in behaviour' - they should live a life that is openly sound, almost priestess-like. They should have a character that no-one can judge as being bad or wrong. As if to emphasise this, Paul mentions two negative behaviours, older women should stay clear of: being slanderers and slaves to much wine. If the older women are living a Godly life, then they should not be slanderers, for if they were to be slanderers, this would negate their Godly behaviour. In a similar way to the older men, they should not be influenced by to much wine. Today, this could be translated, I guess, to any addictions. This should be so as to be able to teach the younger women.

YOUNG WOMEN

This is the only group Titus does not need teach, as this job falls to the older women who will teach them how to love their husbands and children, be self-controlled, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands. This is a tall order in today's world, particularly with more and more women needing to get a job. Although this was not the case at the time the letter was written, I believe the Bible and the words within it are appropriate for any age. Young women should be just like their mothers - caring for the family, in which ever capacity that may be, whether at home working, or in a job working. Young women who work for a living should do so for the love of their family, irrespective of whether their husbands work or not. They should be open to the teachings of the older women.

YOUNG MEN

Young men should follow suit as the young women in that they must be self-controlled. This would be in every aspect of their lives. Although not as wise and experienced as the older men, young men should be self-controlled in things that could cause them to become addicts, being influenced by other people, specifically those of a non-Christian ethos and in the same way should be influenced by Christian brothers. They should be encouraged to continue in this way of life because the world's pleasures are strong, particularly pleasures like sex, alcohol, and young women - but young men must stay in control of their minds. To this end, they must have a suitable example and Paul states here that Titus must be that example.

Titus must live his life respectfully, he must live to do good works and his teaching must be truth and consistent and he must live what he preaches. All his speech, not just his sermons and teachings, must be sound, he must give nothing that could allow anyone who is not a Christian to slander or condemn him and have nothing evil to say about us.

BOND SERVANTS

Although not many of these around today, they could be linked with those who work under us in our work place (since most of us do not have servants in our homes!), however, whatever the identity, they should be submissive to their masters. That means do what their bosses want them to do without complaint or derision. This is probably a group that most of us fall into, particularly if we work for a manager. We should not fall into the trap of grumbling when decisions are made, we should not find ourselves talking behind the management's back and we must not steal from the workplace, however small it may seem, but in everything we do, we must do in good faith. We must live like we are supposed to do, like Christians, 'so that in everything they [anyone] may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour'.

Christ died so that we may be saved. This is folly to the unbeliever. They think 'What is the point?', if there is any possibility of truth. They (non-believers) are always looking out for when we (believers) do or say things wrong. They want to put us in our places, want to point out our failures, want to prove that we are deluded to believe in a man who died 2000 years ago (if that story is true!).

Today, the false teaching is just as apparent as it was in Paul and Titus' time. People have slipped back into their natural ways, because it is easier rather than doing what Christ wants us to do. Living a life according to our own wills and wants is more pleasurable in the immediate term than to sacrifice the worldly pleasures for the sake of the Gospel and of Christ.

This is why it is extremely important to ensure that we encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ every day. We must meet regularly, pray together, read God's word to hear what he is saying to us regularly, we must encourage each other to talk, to share our weaknesses, our temptations and, yes, we must talk about our sin. Satan does not want us to talk about our sin because he wants us to ignore it, to allow it to slip through our lives until it is an integral part of it. However, as a Christian, we already know that sin is ALREADY an integral part of our lives. We are born to it. We cannot escape it. But we must not, according to Paul allow it govern our lives.

Christ died to pay the penalty of our sin. Once and for all to bring us back to God.

If he did that for us, why wouldn't we want to live that is sober-minded dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness?

Hold Onto The Truth (Titus 1:10-16)

Source: BocaWatch

Titus 1:10-16
For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 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. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Today's media is constantly telling us we must do something, or we must take up a deal before it is too late or that we desperately need the next device to make our lives easier. Using a series of key action words, producers of adverts have got the spoken and written language down to a perfect tee, in order for consumers to buy into their product (whatever it happens to be!). Likewise, people who tell you that it is OK to do things that are clearly wrong know how to encourage us to do these detestable things, whether by general 'egging-on' or through a series of perfectly timed phrases (akin to what the serpent did in Eden).

Many of our young people feel the pressure of their peers to smoke, consume alcohol or drugs or worse, to have sex. Our young people (and in some cases our adults) are strongly influenced by what they read in magazines or watch on T.V./Internet. There are lots of people out there in the world that know exactly what to say or do to get you to follow them.

Many people are lost to the wills of those who say there is no God; you can do whatever you want; life is what you make of it; its OK to explore yourself; its OK to try just one; its OK not to honour God. The list could go on - this is what people are being bombarded with constantly every day. A seemingly harmless cartoon that teaches our children it is OK to fight or a film that paints a picture of adultery being normal behaviour.

I guess we can take some encouragement, therefore, when Paul writes about this very thing here. He has just finished advising Titus on the characteristics of those he should appoint as church leaders. He tells them to be faithful by holding onto Jesus. Now, he identifies the urgency of why Titus must chose these leaders with such characteristics. This is a stark warning to Titus that he will have to deal with people who are dead against him and his teaching. In fact, people who teach other things to people, messages that are not of God, but of worldly gains and pleasures.

These people are 'insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers', they refuse to submit to the authority of God and his trustworthy message. They work to 'turn away [people] from the truth' in what they say and how they live. They 'deny him by their works'. They go out of their way to persuade you that their way of thinking is correct, and in turn, the Scripture's way of thinking is wrong.

Why?

They want you to be the centre of the universe. You are the human being, the pinnacle of the animal kingdom, the most advanced species of animal on the face of the planet and, indeed, the known universe. You are the only animal that alters the surrounding environment to suit yourself, you are the centre of all that is. God is just a figment we have created, a deity to explain something Science cannot. Even then, it is only a matter of time before Science will have the answer to everything important. They are causing problems with not just our young people, but everyone. 'they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.'. You only live once, so why bother worrying about how you live - have fun, as the Bible says, "Eat, Drink and Be Merry!"

Paul says, this is wrong. So called, 'empty talking'. We must hold onto Jesus, he says in order to silence them and 'rebuke them sharply'. He says these people are 'defiled and unbelieving'.

Society would have you believe that morality is what we, the people make of it. We are in control of our lives, we decide what is right and wrong, we decide what is acceptable and what is not. But Paul, declares that morality is not a matter of rules about things that are pure and impure by nature or decree, but a matter of the disposition of the heart.

We have forgotten the true Emperor of the Universe. We have forgotten who the creator is. We have all turned away and fallen short of the Kingdom of God and time is running out! Christ will return again, we must be ready, we must hold onto the truth, the real truth and nothing but the truth - God's truth not our perceptive truth.

There is a sense of urgency here - we must hold firmly to our faith in Christ Jesus, stand firm against the Devil's lies and love our neighbour in order to lead them to 'be sound in the faith'.

Hold Onto Jesus - (Titus 1:5-9)

Titus 1:5-9

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God's household, 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.

Over the past several years I have held various positions of responsibilities, both in my church life and in my job. I have thrived in those positions, instigating new ideas and seeing them through to completion. But in some cases, I have had to move on before the fruits of my labour has been obvious and I had to go through the pain staking action of handing over to someone else who will fill my role.

Paul is doing that here. This letter to Titus begins with instruction to Titus, an early church leader. He had worked closely with Paul in the early days of his conversion, no doubt following one of the numerous sermons that Paul delivered to the Greeks. Paul is handing over the responsibility to Titus to ensure the church in Crete continued to thrive in the right direction, 'that you might put in order what was left unfinished...'

Paul wanted to ensure the work he begun in Crete was completed correctly. He goes on to explain that Titus could not do this himself and so must appoint elders in every church. Although we do not know how many were to be chosen, we know they should be of high calibre, upright citizens who know the Lord and have their own house in order.

But, why so perfect? Can we get that level of perfection?

Paul is quite clear here, those chosen for this high position in church communities must be 'blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.' Isn't that a tall order? Even the children of the elder's must be perfect? Who are these people that the entire family must be perfect to lead God's people?

Lets think about this a little more, these elders were to be in charge of God's household here on Earth. They were to be examples of holy living. Reproachable in the eyes of the law and approachable in the eyes of the church goers. These men (as it is written in Paul's letter) were to be good citizens in order to provide counsel to the church goers, they were to be a living example to all.

How could they be trusted to lead the church, if they themselves were imperfect? They couldn't and Paul knows this. He is not saying people must be perfect. He knows that we are all sinners. We are dishonest. We do give way to wild and disobedient lives. We are not self-controlled. He knows we are incapable of living such a perfect life, but we are called to be holy. 'holy and disciplined' You see, Paul is not just talking about the elders here, he is talking about every Christian. He wants every Christian to follow suit, with the elders as examples.

But, how can we live a holy life if we, ourselves, are incapable of living a holy life? Is Paul setting us up for a mighty fall? Is he setting the bar incredibly high so that everyone falls short and fails?

Of course, the answer is no. He is pointing us to the ultimate example of perfection. The only person who is 'self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined', Jesus Christ.

Christ lives the life he asks of us. He is holy and he wants us to be but he knows we can't on our own. We are inherent sinners who constantly do things wrong. Christ knows this yet he still gave his life for us. It is through this love that we can have that holy life. 

Christ died so we can live. Christ clothes us in his perfection and takes on our imperfect himself. The Son died so we can stand in the presence of the father, perfect. He rose again so we can be reborn in him. Therefore, he calls us to live a holy life in him. 

But we must 'hold firmly to the trustworthy message', that is in Christ Jesus and rely completely on him.