your Bibles this morning and make your way to the book of Titus, the book of Titus chapter number 1, Titus chapter number 1 and we're going to begin reading in verse number 10 and conclude with verse number 14. We will be looking at a number of verses in Titus chapter number 1 this morning. Titus chapter number 1 verse number 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth. The title of the message this morning is Liars, Evil Beasts, and Slow Bellies. Let's pray. Father, we come to you today. We ask you to help us as we gather together. Lord, give us your Holy Spirit to guide us in our study. Lord, forgive us where we've sinned and failed against you. Lord, help us in our spiritual warfare to fight the good fight of faith. And Lord, help us not to be discouraged such that we don't even put up a fight but that we would truly and seriously without hypocrisy desire you and desire your best Lord help us today speak to our hearts it's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Now there are portions of scripture that we just don't study very often and it's not intentional but I do believe that we neglect certain portions of scripture and I believe that in neglecting certain portions of scripture we miss important messages and lessons that the Lord has for us. I believe today's text fits in this category of neglected passages. When is the last time in any religious setting you heard anybody talk about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies? And I would venture to say probably it's been a while if ever. Well today we will. And I hope that your curiosity is peaked just a little to see what God means and intends for us out of this passage that Paul writes to Titus. And I would hope that we would be questioning in our own hearts and in our own minds what is so important about this. What is important about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies that this phrase finds its way into Holy Scripture? Well, we hope to answer that in today's message. And so today as we consider what's before us in the book of Titus, I want us to think about three aspects of Paul's communication to Titus as it relates to liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. Three aspects of Paul's communication. First of all, I want us to note Paul's motive in writing. Think about why it is that he wrote this. And then secondly, we want to move to consider the meaning of the words that Paul wrote. And then thirdly, we want to think on the messages that we are to apply in our own walk and in our work. And so, three aspects of Paul's communication as it relates to liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. So first of all, notice this aspect that we gain and should cause us to be curious about as Paul writes these words to Titus. I want us to note Paul's motive, Paul's motive in writing. It is important to understand uh... what paul is communicating but it's also important to understand why he's communicating what was his motive what is the what it what is paul doing in writing to titus now i want us to think as we attempt to answer that and gain some some salient points that would help us in our Christian walk and work. I want us to think first of all about Paul's purpose in writing. What is Paul's purpose in writing? And of course we understand that, at least I hope we understand, that this is one of Paul's pastoral epistles. This is a letter or an epistle. Epistle is simply a letter. This is another letter that Paul wrote to one of his fellow helpers in the ministry. And much as he wrote two letters to Timothy, 1 and 2 Timothy, he wrote this letter to Titus. Titus was Paul's helper in mission work and Titus had his own ministry and you can look up the word Titus in a concordance and the name Titus and find out that Titus is mentioned a few other times in the New Testament. And so We're talking about Paul's purpose in writing to Titus. Why did he write this letter? Well, I want us to note that, first of all, it was for the preservation, the preservation of the churches in Crete. Now, at this point you might be saying, well, what does all this have to do with liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies? Well, we're going to answer that, and it's important for us to go through this foundation of establishing Paul's motive in writing and his motive, his purpose in writing and it was first of all for the preservation of the churches in Crete. Now there were churches that were in existence in Paul's day on the island of Crete and these were true churches. Now I wish I could explain to you The exact circumstances which caused these churches to be in existence And I don't really see that during Paul's three missionary journeys Paul established the churches in Crete But somehow these churches in Crete Existed and so there were churches that were true churches that were then in existence in Crete now these churches That existed in Crete had major problems there were issues with these churches and Paul had left his ministry partner Titus on the island of Crete to correct the defects that existed in the churches in Crete. Notice Titus chapter 1 and verse number 5. Titus 1 verse number 5, Paul writes, For this cause left I thee in Crete. He's writing to Titus. He says, For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting. There were problems and defects with the churches in Crete. Now, every church sadly here on this earth does have problems and defects because the church is not the brick and mortar, the church is the people and the church is composed of people and here on this earth we are just sinners saved by grace. And so every church has problems and defects but it is also true that there are some churches that have more problems and higher level problems and defects than others. And these churches at Crete had major problems and defects, and Paul is writing, for the preservation of these churches in Crete. He's writing to let Titus know that he left him there to fix these problems. And so Paul's purpose in writing is first of all for the preservation of the churches in Crete, and it is to secondly address the problems with the churches in Crete. What were the problems with these churches in Crete? Well again, I told you we'd look at Titus chapter number 1. verses than what we just read this morning, but we did read these verses in our morning reading of this passage. Notice that there were false prophets that were attempting to influence these churches in Crete and were attempting to lead them astray. We find that in verses 10 and 11 of Titus chapter number 1. Notice Paul says For there are many, there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers." So notice that again, we're comfortable in making the statement and the point that these were major issues. There weren't just a few folks that were targeting these churches, there were many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision. Now what does that mean? That means that these were adopting the Jewish philosophy and the Jewish teaching that somebody had to be circumcised in order, first of all, either to be saved or to be right with God, or secondly, to walk in a right way. And we know that that's a common thread throughout the New Testament. There are churches in the book of Acts, the historical book, that mention time and again how that there were these Jewish believers, or these Jewish false prophets, rather, even in the church at Jerusalem that had crept in and were trying to teach the adherence to the law in order to be right with God. That's who he's talking about in verse 10. He says, For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. And so, literally for money they are coming in and they are teaching these false doctrines and apparently these false doctrines had gained footing in the churches Crete and Paul is left Titus there to try and combat and fix these churches that have these problems So that these churches would continue to be preserved and exist now now notice what the fix was What was the fix? for these problems We'll look at verse number 5 again and now we're going to read verse 5 down through verse number 9 of Titus chapter 1. Paul writes, For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee, if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. So what was Paul's fix for the problem with the churches in Crete. It was that Titus would ordain elders or pastors or bishops that met the criteria and the qualification that God had given in verses 6-9. And I want you to notice how Paul is very careful in how he writes out the qualifications. He literally addresses the fact that the pastors were supposed to be the opposite of these false teachers whom he goes on and describes as liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. Did you get that he said that this person in verse number 7 who is to be ordained is not to be given to filthy lucre? Well that's the same wording that Paul used in verse number 11 where he said that these false prophets were coming in They were having an impact because they were subverting whole houses and their main purpose in doing this was for filthy lucre's sake. And so Paul is noting the problems with these churches. The fix was to ordain qualified elders to lead the churches. Do you know that that's always God's fix for a New Testament church? It is always God's purpose to have qualified, ordained pastors, bishops, elders, call it whatever you want, the office, whatever you want. There are different facets of the same person. And this is how God has ordained things. This is how God has appointed things. And so, what are we doing right now? We are laying the groundwork for understanding What it is that Paul is writing and communicating when he writes about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. He has a motive in writing. We see Paul's purpose in writing, but then secondly, it's important for us to note the perverse waywardness in Crete. So we see, talking about Paul's motive in writing, Paul's purpose in writing, but then we see the perverse waywardness in Crete. It's important for us to know a little bit about Crete to understand why it is that Paul wrote what he did in verse 12 where he talked about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. And so, the island of Crete was to the southwest of Greece. And the island of Crete had a reputation for wickedness. And folks, there are cities today in our world that have reputations for wickedness. In fact, we may not like to say this, and we might be a little embarrassed at saying it, but when I talk about New Orleans, what do you think of? You think about wickedness, do you not? If I were to mention to you Sodom and Gomorrah, what do you think of? You think about, wow, that's a great Bible city. No, you think about the wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah. The island of Crete was Much the same way it was synonymous with wickedness it had a reputation for wickedness in fact the Greek philosopher who is also the father of What is referred to by some as one of the church fathers by the name of origin? and by the way not to get too far off track, but origin was a corrupter of scripture and Don't ever look at Origen as a sound man, he was a corrupter of scripture. But this Greek philosopher, who was the father of Origen, by the name of Leonides, he famously wrote about Crete and wrote, are always brigands, and that word simply means bandits. The Cretans are always bandits. They are paradical, which meant that they were pirates, and we all know what a pirate is, and unjust. Leonidas wrote, the Cretans are always brigands, paradical, and unjust. that was the reputation that the inhabitants of the island of Crete had now it's in this context that Paul writes verse number 12 look at verse 12 again one of themselves who one of one of Themselves who's he talking about themselves the Cretans? He's talking about the Cretans one of themselves even a prophet of their own said The Cretans are always liars evil beasts slow bellies now literally and this is an amazing thing because people talk about the Bible being fables and and and fairy tales and so forth you can historically go look this up and Paul is literally quoting a Cretan philosopher by the name of Epimenides. Epimenides. Epimenides is an interesting individual. He has somewhat of a half-mythological presence to the Cretans. In fact, and I don't say that I believe this, and I don't say that you should either, Epimenides really actually existed, but he is said to have fallen asleep for 57 years in a Cretan cave that was dedicated as sacred to the Greek god Zeus. Now, you know, he might be the Creighton's version of Rumpelstiltskin, okay? You know, I mean, come on. In fact... It's reported that, as well, Epimenides is supposed to have lived to be a ripe old age of 150 years. Now, I don't know. People have lived a long time, right? But regardless, Paul is literally quoting this Cretan philosopher by the name of Epimenides. And Epimenides wrote a famous poem entitled Minos, M-I-N-O-S. It was a poem that addresses the Greek god Zeus. And in that poem, this is what Epimenides wrote. He wrote, they fashioned a tomb for you. He's talking about the Cretans. They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one. Now remember, he's talking about Zeus as the holy and high one. They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one. Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies, but you are not dead. You live and abide forever. For in you we live and move and have our being. Now does that not sound very close to scripture? And there are multiple scriptures that I could reference this morning. It's not the purpose of the message. But the point is to show you that this Cretan philosopher by the name of Epimenides is actually who Paul is quoting in verse number 12. And Epimenides is actually writing about the the reputation and character of the dwellers on the island of Crete that they are what? Always liars, evil beasts, and in Epimenides' words, idle bellies or slow bellies. And so it's important for us to get the context of what Paul is writing here It's important for us to note Paul's motive in writing. He is trying to combat these evil Cretans who are all about money and they're these false prophets that have adopted the teaching of the Jewish circumcision and for money's sake have brought that in and they are making an impact in the churches in Crete and Paul is addressing that in writing to Titus. That's his motive in writing. Now hopefully you and I can understand a little bit now about the context of what Paul meant when he talked about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. Let's move on to the second aspect of Paul's communication in writing liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. Now, having considered the motive in Paul's writing, now we want to move to thinking about the meaning of the words, the meaning of the specific words. What is the specific meaning of verse number 12? Verse number 12, Paul says, one of themselves, even a prophet of their own said, the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. What does that mean when he talks about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies? He's literally saying that the Cretans had this character. The false teachers had this character. Their life was characterized by being a liar, an evil beast and a slow belly. Now, when we think first of all about liars, it's probable that we don't need a lot of understanding as to what a liar is. I mean, would we agree on that? It is also important for us to understand that to be a Cretan, it was synonymous with being a liar. Okay? So, in other words, can you imagine somebody coming up and introducing themselves to you today, and you start a conversation and you say, well, you know, I'm from the I'm from the great state of Ohio. Where are you from? Well, I'm from Crete. And you automatically think, what? That guy's a liar. I mean, literally, that's the reputation that they had. That if you were from Crete, you were a liar. Now, obviously, that wasn't true of everybody, because there were some saved people there that made up the membership of the true churches at Crete. But that was the reputation. To be from Crete, that was synonymous with being a liar. That's how bad the reputation and character of the Cretans was. Do you know that being a liar is a hallmark of a false prophet? What did we just talk about Wednesday night in our study of the book of Ephesians? how that we are not to be deceived with vain words by those that would somehow try to convince us that being a whoremonger or an unclean person or a covetous person who is an idolater, there's nothing wrong with that, that's okay, because we're saved by the grace of God and our sins have been forgiven, we are to reject that deceitful teaching. False prophets are always liars. Paul here in writing about these false teachers, he says in verse 10, for there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers. The Cretans and the false prophets were liars. In fact, it makes perfect sense because they are of their father the devil. And I want to remind you of this rather fundamental verse that we find in John 8 and verse number 44 where the Lord's speaking to Jews who purportedly had believed on him, says in John 8 verse 44, Ye of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. The cretins that Paul is writing about, the liars, the false prophets, they're of their father the devil. And do you know that it is a hallmark of a false prophet that he or she is a liar? Paul wrote to Timothy, another pastoral epistle, and Paul wrote to Timothy about how things would be here on this earth as we prepare for the coming of the Lord. And Paul wrote in 1 Timothy chapter number 4 and verse number 1 and verse number 2. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall watch depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Now watch verse 2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Paul is addressing the same topic. In the book of Titus, he brings it home and makes it very personal. He's talking about these Cretan false prophets that are seducing spirits and causing some to depart from the faith through their lies and deceit. They're liars. Notice, secondly, they're evil beasts. Paul wrote in Titus 1 and verse number 12, the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts. It literally means they are dangerous animals. Now look, I don't know how we got here in our society, but we have a huge segment of our society that somehow thinks that people that are in prison for murder and have committed things like murder, that somehow there are some redeeming qualities in them. In fact, the guy that was just elected to the United States Senate in Pennsylvania. And might I say what a travesty and what a shame for the United States. What a judgment upon our nation that the people of Pennsylvania would elect a guy like that who can't even form sentences to the United States Senate. But you know what? We get what we deserve. Did you know, and look this up and check me out on this, this guy put out a video where he is for letting people that have been convicted of murder out of prison because they're no different than your grandmother or your grandfather. And I say to John Fetterman, my grandmother or grandfather never murdered anybody. The sad reality is that there are people in our society today who are psychopaths and sociopaths who prey on others. They walk about as evil beasts and dangerous animals and they either need to be caged up or they need to suffer the ultimate penalty of capital punishment for their crimes. Now, some people may not like that and frankly I'm at the point in my life where I don't care. It is the reality. These Cretans lived as dangerous animals. They were uncivilized in their culture and brutally fierce in their conduct. Does that not sound like what we see all across the world today and particularly in the United States? Now the Cretans were noted for their hunting prowess. And they hunted not only animals, but they hunted for souls. And the false prophet is as well described in a manner such as these evil beasts that Paul borrowed from Epimenides, the Cretan poet. In fact, turn with me to the book of 2 Peter. Notice what Peter wrote about false prophets and how he described false prophets. In 2 Peter 2, let's read verse number 1. 2 Peter 2, verse number 1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." And so Paul is talking about Peter is talking and writing about these false prophets who are literally going to be hunting for souls to make a gain of them for filthy lucre's sake. That's what he means when he says that they make merchandise out of you. Now watch how Peter describes them all the way down in verse number 12. He says in verse 12, but these, these who? These false prophets. But these as natural, what? Brute beasts. Made to be taken and destroyed. Speak evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. You know that Peter didn't mince words. He didn't say, you know, these false prophets, they need to be treated with kid gloves and we need to love them and show kindness to them because, you know, after all, they're a person. No, Peter said that they're to be taken and destroyed. And by the way, don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about taking the law into our own hands. I'm not talking about us literally functioning as the angel of death. But I want you to know how Paul describes them. the same way that, or excuse me, I keep saying Paul, Peter, I apologize, Peter, how Peter describes them, it's the same way as Paul described the Cretan false prophets in Titus chapter 1 verse 12. And then Jude. Jude also wrote about false prophets, and we won't take the time to read the entire book of Jude, it's only one chapter by the way, but in Jude verse number 10, Jude wrote this about these false prophets. He wrote, but these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. And so these false prophets were liars. They were evil beasts. They were uncivilized and fierce in their conduct. They lived as dangerous animals. And then notice, notice Paul uses the words that Epimenides used. He says, slow bellies. slow bellies in Titus chapter 1 in verse number 12. Now the Greek word for bellies here is literally gaster and of course if you know a little bit about the way that our body is devised and developed and named of the Lord you know we've got gastrology and gastroenterology and so forth and so it's talking about the stomach area. In fact you may get a kick out of this if taken in the right context, and of course this is a very serious matter that Paul is writing about, but do you know that the word here, belly, is translated seven times in the New Testament as with child. With child. Now what do you think when you think about somebody with a child? If I were to say to you, you know, man, I haven't worked out in a while, I look like I'm about eight months pregnant. Would you think that I've got a six-pack or a twelve-pack on my abs? You'd say, man, he's probably out of shape, probably got a big ol' belly on him, right? Literally, this is what it's talking about. It is literally saying that these cretins are liars, they live as dangerous animals, and they live as a gluttonous person who has a huge belly on them. In fact, Thayer's Greek lexicon in defining the words here, evil beasts, excuse me, slow bellies, Thayer's describes and defines it this way, it's a glutton, you'll love this word, Gorman Dizer does anybody raise your hand if you know what a Gorman Dizer is okay? That's part of our natural vocabulary right we use Gorman Dizer all the time, but a Gorman Dizer hold your thought on that In a man who as it were all stomachs all stop. A gourmandizer by the way is somebody who eats gluttonously or ravenously. Now look, I think we've all been to like a state fair, you know, or we've been to some kind of renaissance fair, you know, and you can go and you can get that big old turkey leg, right? You guys know what I'm talking about? Have you ever watched a movie or something about barbarians and you notice how they eat? You know, they don't put their napkin in, tuck it in, you know, and they don't have their little pinky lifted up as they're drinking their tea. You know, they don't take their eating utensils and hold them just appropriately and, you know, cut the meat while they're doing this. Man, they're like barbarians. They take that big old turkey leg and they're gnawing on it, you know, and they got stuff going everywhere. That is literally what the description of slow bellies is. That's the image that Paul wants you to get when he's writing about slow bellies. Literally, they were unrestrained in their passions and had no self-control. Now look, I don't mean to be harsh or mean this morning, okay? But what do you think of when you see somebody who is grossly obese? Folks, I'm going to tell you, you're off your gourd if you look at that person and say, well, there's somebody who's got their whole life together. You don't. You don't get to be on My 600-lb Life if you got your life together. You're not Tammy and Amy or whatever their names are if you got your life together. This is the reputation, in fact, the reality of the cretins. They were literally unrestrained and had no self-control. Now, I've talked about this before, and I'm sorry, I hate to be rude this morning, but if you think about that when you see somebody in society, what do you think about that when you see a preacher or a pastor who literally looks like he's a gourmandiser? That's not the way we're supposed to appear. We don't all have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, okay? Guy's what, 70-something years old and his biceps are still twice the size of my head. Okay? Which isn't hard, because I got a small head. But you get what I'm saying. We don't have to have a 6-pack or a 12-pack, but neither should we weigh 350 pounds and have trouble catching our breath because we can't get around. This is the reputation and this is what the cretins were. They were liars. They were evil beasts and they were slow bellies. That's what they were. Paul wrote about this to the church at Rome. In Romans chapter 16 and verses 17 and 18, Paul again equated the false prophets with people who worshipped their belly. In Romans 16 verses 17 and 18. Now I beseech you, brethren. Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. Notice it didn't say be their buddy. It didn't say don't say anything because you don't want to be offensive. It said mark them and avoid them. People who cause offenses and division, you are to avoid, you are not to be their friend. Mark them and avoid them. Why? Verse 18, For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. their own belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. It's the same message that is consistent with what Paul wrote in the book of Titus and what Peter wrote. False prophets are synonymous. with their lack of restraint and self-control. It ought not to be so with God's people. So we see the meaning of Paul's words and now we move lastly. We move lastly to this third aspect quickly. We'll be done with this. The messages that we are to apply in our walk and work. And when I say work, I'm not talking about our secular work. I'm talking about the work of the Lord. Right? The messages that we are to apply in our walk and our work. What are we to take away from Liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. What are we supposed to take away from that and how do we apply it? Well, there are three lessons that we learned that I want us to get. First of all, the danger of false prophets. We ought to learn the danger of false prophets. They can destroy a church. Paul recognized the problem and the grave danger and he left Titus there to ordain elders and to set in order the things that we're wanting because these false Cretan prophets were going around subverting whole houses and teaching false doctrines and teaching, as we find in verse number 14, Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth. So there is the danger of false prophets. They can destroy a church. And how about this? They can destroy a society. There is an application to be made today that we are to understand that by and large the people that are leading this nation are liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. And again, I frankly don't care at this point whom I offend. It's the reality. So what do we do? Well, what we do is we follow Paul's advice, and I say it's more than an advice, it's an exhortation and an admonition in verse number 13. We haven't read verse 13 yet except in the opening, but notice, this witness is true. Paul is literally saying that yes, the Cretans are liars. They are evil beasts and they are slow bellies. This witness is true. And then he says, Wherefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith. Now, I believe Paul could be talking about two different groups of people. First of all, the false prophets themselves, rebuke them sharply. And secondly, the people that are listening to the false prophets. Both are to be rebuked. Notice, The word rebuke means to convict by telling their fault. Notice the word sharply means abruptly. Oh, you know, now the preacher can't ever say anything that's going to offend the people because, you know, the preacher can't ever be harsh. And I'm going to tell you there's a time for harshness and there's a time not for harshness. Oh, the preacher should never be harsh. Well, then you're going to have a hard time Lining up and balancing the word of God you think John was harsh towards diatrophies When he said when I get there, I remember his prating words, which he said against us is that harsh It's pretty straightforward isn't you think John the Baptist was harsh you bunch of snakes you generation of vipers. There's a time for that. And our problem today in churches and in society, at least by Christians, is that we never see a time when we're supposed to rebuke sharply. Notice he doesn't just say rebuke, he says rebuke sharply. Vincent's word studies describes the meaning of this this way. It signifies abrupt, harsh dealing. Read the book of Proverbs and see how you're supposed to deal with foolish people and back biters. An angry countenance will turn away a back biter. Oh, but you're always supposed to be so loving and so kind. There's a time for that and there's a time not for that. I love what Barnes wrote on this. Barnes writes this, the word is used here in the sense of severity, meaning that the reproof should be such as would be understood and would show them plainly the wickedness of such traits of character. He was not to be mealy-mouthed, but he was to call these things by their right names and not to spare their faults. When men know that they're doing wrong, we should tell them so in few words. If they do not know it, it is necessary to teach them in order to convince them of their error. It is not the time to wrap your arm around them and go buy them lunch and tell them how much you love them and how many redeeming qualities there are in their lives. You're supposed to rebuke them sharply. Why? That they may be sound in the faith. What's the message that we're to apply on our walk and our work? There's a danger of false prophets. Secondly, we see the demand for qualified pastors. How many churches miss this? How many churches do you know that are without a pastor? How many churches do you know that have gone years without a pastor? They don't want a pastor. They don't want somebody to lead. Well, God's fix for the problems with the churches in Crete was to leave Titus there to do what? ordained, qualified pastors to lead the church. I won't go back and look at all of the scriptures in the New Testament that reveal that, but God has always had ordained leadership for His people, and in the church it's the pastor. We see the demand for qualified pastors. God is not desperate that He'll take anybody. The man who leads has to meet the requirements and qualifications that Paul wrote about to Titus and that he also wrote about to Timothy. Read about that in his epistle to Timothy. So there's the danger of false prophets. There's a demand for qualified pastors. And then thirdly, there is the denial of the Christian's basic passions. Let me ask you this. If we were to delve into your life, would you be described as somebody living as a liar, an evil beast, and a slow belly? And you say, of course not. Well, you better think twice about that. You better look seriously into your life. What you do and what you don't do. And what you hide and what you don't hide. And what is open and what is not open. We ought to not have the testimony that we are a liar, an evil beast, or a slow belly. We ought not. That means that if we're a liar, we ought to check up on our life and make sure that we're right with God and that we're saved by the grace of God. If we're living out of control and allowing our passions to rule as though we're just evil beasts, something's wrong there. Listen, if we can't control our appetites and we're disapproving to God in the way that we treat our vessels, there's a problem there. We're not to be liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. We ought to check up and see if we're living as liars, evil beasts and slow bellies. Now the thing about this book, we've only looked at Titus chapter 1, but you look at Titus chapter 2 and Titus chapter 3, there's much advice and counsel there for practical godly living, especially as it relates to a church relationship. Martin Luther, I don't quote Martin Luther very often and there's a reason for that, but Martin Luther did say this about the book of Titus and I agree with it. He said, this is a short epistle but yet such a quintessence of Christian doctrine and composed in such a masterly manner that it contains all that is needful for a Christian knowledge and life. And I agree with him. Even though it's a pastoral epistle, there's much in there for us in our daily living. We ought not to look at this and just say, well, oh, liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. That only applies to false prophets. No, we ought to see that there should be a denial of the Christian's basic passions. Do you know that God hates the lying tongue? Proverbs 6.17. Proverbs 6.19 reads, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. God hates that. Are we living in a way in which God hates? Am I living as an evil beast controlled by my passions? I'm uncivilized in my walk. I do whatever it is that comes across my mind. Am I a slow belly? Do I exercise self-restraint? That's a fruit of the Spirit, temperance. And so we ought to see these valuable lessons and look at the messages that we are to apply in our walk and in our work. Paul wrote to Titus about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. And there's a message in there for us. We looked at Paul's motive in writing. We looked at the meaning of his words. And lastly, considered the messages that we are to apply in our walk and in our work. And I believe if we think about liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies, and the messages that God has for us, we'll be a much better Christian, and our church will be much better for it. Let's pray.