Titus 1:9-11 (KJV)
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
I want to explore a concept that might challenge the sensibilities of some.
As irreverent as our culture is these days, this culture is also:
· Weak
· Soft
· Spineless and
· Fragile
We haven’t the stomach to defend ourselves.
Like ostriches, we would rather bury our heads in the sand than to face up to the difficulty, hardships, and obstacles.
It would not be the only indicator, but suicide would be one indicator of the soft nature of the current culture.
A statistic I read this week reported that the national rate of suicides increased by 33% between 1999-2017.
Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 35.
I often think of the hardiness of the men who went on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
A hand full of men followed Lewis and Clark for 2 years, 4 months and 10 days.
They had some supplies with them when they left, but they would not have lasted long.
· They explored a land that no white person had ever seen.
· They encountered Indian tribes they did not know would be hostile or not
· They experienced ferocious animals[1]not previously known to them
· They had to climb mountains carrying everything they had
· They had to live off what they could hunt down[2]
They stayed on the mouth of the Columbia during one winter, wrapped in elk hides and being eaten with fleas.
Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals of this experience that they had passed that winter more comfortably than they could have expected.
To me, one of the most significant signs of how tough they were is that they sat kneeling in those dugout canoes for hours at a time day after day.
We don’t even like sitting in a car that long.
During the Great Depression and Oklahoma dust bowl, people lost everything, many of them ended up living in cardboard boxes and selling their children[3]because they just could not feed them.
Or what about during WWII when so many men went to war that women had to take up their jobs, as:
· Welders
· Carpenters
· Shipbuilders
Anita’s mom worked in an ammunition factory supplying bullets for the soldiers overseas.
That’s not counting the sacrifices they made doing without food, gasoline, and etc. so there would be enough for the fighting men “over there.”
I dare you to suggest that an American family today should do without sugar for even one day, for the sake of a national emergency.
We are:
· Weak
· Soft
· Spineless and
· Fragile
That culture has wormed its way into the average American’s view of what Christianity should be like.
Christians are expected to be milquetoasts, who allow every wood-headed idea the world proposes to be promoted while the views of the Bible are buried in the sands of “meekness.”
Amid this culture souls are offended:
· That there is violence in the Old Testament
· That Jesus called anyone “whited sepulchers”
· That Paul would urge believers, Hebrews 12:4 (KJV)
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
And in this passage, he would say of people he disagrees with, “Whose mouths must be stopped.”
I understand that there are inappropriate ways to stop another person’s mouth.
· Intimidation tactics,
· Legislative measures[4]or
· Brutality
The Inquisition, I suppose, was a Catholic attempt to silence those whose mouths they believed must be stopped.
They attempted to stop the wrong mouths. Instead of silencing the Baptists who would not yoke up with them or even men like Luther and Calvin, who were their own priests but interested in truth, they would have done better to silence their popes.
They were unsuccessful in their attempts to silence those with whom they disagreed, weren’t they? The blood of the martyrs became the seed of revival. As one believer after the other was killed for his or her faith, others embraced the faith for which they had died.[5]
The Word of God warnsthat these unruly and vain talkers are deceivers. They will Subvert whole houses and teach things they should, for the sake of money.
The Bible goes even further and demandsthey their mouths must be stopped.
I. Really? Should we do this?
Yes. And you would be following some great examples:
A. Jesus stopped the mouths of the Scribes
Mark 12:28-34 (KJV)
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Today we would call this “a long day.”
One after the other had come to challenge Jesus that day.
· They had tried first to lay hold of Jesus but did not for fear of the people
· They sent certain Pharisees and Herodians to try to catch Him in His Words
· The Sadducees tried to twist His words about the Resurrection
Finally came this Scribe to goad Him into picking one of the Commandments over the others.
Jesus answered all their questions with wisdom and left them without anything else to say.
B. Stephen cut the Libertines[6]to the heart
Acts 6:9-10 (KJV)
Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Stephen wasn’t even a preacher. He was a deacon in that early church in Jerusalem.
But the Bible does say he was full of faith and the Holy Ghost.
So when leaders of the synagogue began to dispute with him, he answered with such wisdom that they could not resist.
Stephen then answered the questions of the High Priest after which the Bible says, Acts 7:54-57 (KJV)
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
C. Paul confounded the Jews at Damascus
Acts 9:20-22 (KJV)
And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
Paul was a brand new Christian, but he was well educated in the Old Testament Scriptures and, I suspect, had been thinking about Scriptures relating to the Messiah and how they applied to Jesus for some time.
Once he came to know Christ as Saviour, he knew which Scriptures would confound any Jewish argument.
I tell you, you will be in good company when you strive to stop the mouths of those vain talkers and deceivers.
II. But how?
John Gill wrote, “…by reasons and arguments fetched out of the word of God…”[7]
Paul clearly expressed how they are to be stopped:
· Through faithful allegiance to God's Word
· Through caring but sharp rebuke
· Through steadfastly refusing to pay attention or give heed to their message[8]
Let me restate that just a little bit.
A. Don’t bend on the Bible
· You won’t ever be able to answer them like Jesus did.
· You might not ever feel cool in the heat of the moment like Stephen did.
· You might not have the education in the Scriptures like Paul did
But you must never let someone plant a seed of doubt in the Scriptures like the serpent did Eve.
B. Don’t be afraid to issue a rebuke
Sissies believe that sharpness is unkindness.
If you have a genuine love for God and man in your heart, you are on good ground to sharply rebuke someone who is a vain talker and deceiver.
Most importantly,
C. Don’t listen to them
The easiest way to stop them is to not listen to them.
· Walk away
· Close the door
· Hang up the phone
· Disconnect the connection
· Turn off the channel
If you give them no audience, you have effectively stopped their mouths.
III. A Final Thought
I am reminded of1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
The Bible says, “There must be heresies among us.”[9]
There will be vain talkers and deceivers among us until Jesus comes.
In light of that 1 Peter 3:15 is that much more important.
Conclusion
We are not all going to be:
· Preachers,
· Missionaries,
· Theologians or
· Christian apologists
But every one of us can be a Stephen; full of faith and the Holy Ghost.
[1]Such as the Grizzly bear.
[2]And some days they had nothing to eat.
[3]I know this must have been abusive in many cases, but in most cases, I imagine that those who took the children gave them a much better chance at life then they would have had with their birth family.
[4]The right to freedom of speech.
[5]https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com/2018/10/titus-110-11-kjv-but-how.html
[6]And others.
[7]Commentary on Titus 1:11, E-Sword X
[8]https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com/2017/02/titus-19-14-kjv-how-to-silence-unruly.html
[9]1 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV)
For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.