late November until early December of 1950. The accounts of this battle proved to be very sobering. American forces were repelling communist North Korean and communist Chinese soldiers. Stories are told of the frigid temperatures. The ground was so cold, so hard to bury the dead. to make box holes or even sandbags that soldiers had to use dead bodies of other soldiers in lieu of the sandbags. Stories are even told of it being so cold, even less than 25 degrees below freezing, that feet were being frozen solid. Most of the frostbitten feet at this temperature needed to be amputated. There is nothing that could have been done. Once infection set in, there is always the risk of sepsis. There is only one option, and it must be done immediately. Pouring cold water over a frozen foot will not help. There is only one choice. The dead limb must be removed. If you would, please open to Titus chapter one, Titus chapter one. We'll be looking at verses 10 through 11, Titus chapter one, verses 10 through 11. You'll notice as well on your outline, I make four main points, four main observation. Point number one, the history of Crete. Point number two, the circumcision party. Point number three, the character and content of false teaching, and four, the commitment of leadership. So let us read our main text this morning from Titus chapter 1 verses 10 through 11. 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. You'll notice the first word, at least most likely in your version in verse 10, is for. For is what is known as a conjunction, or it is a word that joins with the previous text. And in reality, this conjunction for ties verse nine with verses 10 and following. But if you would, please permit me for a minute to address the intentional structure here of Titus. And that is going to be by me comparing Titus chapter 1 verses 6 through 9 with 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 11. The main difference between Paul or between Timothy and Titus is this. Crete is much different than Ephesus. Paul is writing to Titus who is stationed in Crete. And then in 1st and 2nd Timothy, Paul is writing to Timothy who is stationed in Ephesus. We go back in history, we'll keep in mind that Paul spent three years in Ephesus from 54 to 57 AD. It was pretty much Paul who set up the leadership in Ephesus and then left Timothy there. Paul is writing his first letter to Timothy around 64 AD, and so within seven years or so false teachers had infiltrated the church. But the main difference between Titus and Timothy is this. Timothy took over what Paul had already established in Ephesus while Titus is trying to get real leadership started. Titus is assigned to help these small, localized Christian communities establish leadership. And keep in mind, he is not starting new ones. He is visiting these Christian communities and checking their health, informing the qualifications about the qualifications. Paul did not spend three years in Crete like he did in Ephesus. He stopped there for a brief moment prior to his first Roman imprisonment and then made it back to Crete at the conclusion of his first Roman imprisonment, probably 62 to 63 AD. Paul could not finish what he started in Crete which is primarily doing exactly what he did in Ephesus, which is establishing leadership. So he is now assigning Titus to the task. And the main difference between the two is this. Paul did not wait until chapter three in Titus to deal with the qualifications for leadership. He dealt with it immediately. Paul is essentially saying, Titus, before we even get started with false teaching, This is what you're looking for in the congregation. These are the men you're looking for in the congregation in Titus chapter 1 verses 6 through 9. Titus was not a pastor of a particular church like Timothy was probably. Titus is a traveling equipper, evangelist, teacher, edifier, rebuker, you can call him whatever you want, who would have taken this letter, would have read it to these small localized Christian communities, and probably would have circled back around once he was done. Paul is not here just throwing words around. This structure is intentional. Please do not miss it. Because the reality is this, you cannot have a strong congregation if you do not have a strong leadership. And I would even argue you cannot have a strong future leadership unless you have a growing, mature congregation. Why? Because in the future, in a few years, there will be some of you men here will be in leadership at Crossway. That is, God's Spirit is moving and equipping men right now for future leadership. And God is looking for men in whom the Spirit of God dwells in. So, you're going to notice our first observation, and it is this, the history of Crete. Do not bar me out when you see history. This is important. Every student of the Bible, and all of us are, must understand this. And I'm going to make this as exciting as possible. to Acts chapter 2. I'm going to read verses 5 through 11. Acts chapter 2 verses 5 through 11. There were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound a multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Now how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Alamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Frisia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others were mocking and said, they are filled with new wine. I want you to notice which group of people were there during Pentecost. Cretans. Cretans, Jewish Cretans, would have landed in Jerusalem, most likely during Passover, most likely would have stayed during Pentecost. And it was during Pentecost that Peter delivered his first major sermon filled by the Holy Spirit. And what happens is that many of these Cretans are saved at Pentecost. And what do you think they do? They take the gospel back to Crete. But here's an interesting question. What letters did they have with them? What did they have to go with? Did they have a New Testament? No. Did they have any Gospels? No. Did they have any New Testament letter? No. They would have been saved, they would have been baptized, and they would have been equipped by the giants of the faith, like Peter. They would have been equipped. Peter and others who were there would have equipped them, and God would have helped them as they took the message back to Crete. We have to remember that after those were saved in Acts chapter 2, after Peter's sermon, they would have repented, been baptized, and would have went back to Crete with no known missions in Crete until Paul finally arrived after his release from his first Roman imprisonment in 62 or 63 AD. Now we have to keep in mind this incident in Pentecost happened probably somewhere around 30 AD. Paul's not writing his letter to Titus until 64, 63, 64-ish AD. That is 34 years In between, Cretans were first saved during Pentecost, and when Titus finally arrives in Crete to finish what Paul had started. And so there were small Christian communities that were established as these men would have come back. And they're very weak in their faith. Again, keep in mind, they don't have any New Testament book. Crete is an island. No one goes to Crete. You would not go to Crete on a vacation if someone paid you. All they have are the Old Testament and all they have is what they had been exposed to while they were in Jerusalem. So let me make it real simple. The only text Cretans probably would have had would have been the Old Testament. And those who were saved during Pentecost would have taken the gospel and the good news back to Crete. But there's a problem because there are no missionaries going there. How are they going to find out? How are they going to learn about the Jerusalem Council, which we'll look at in a few moments. And so what you have is, you have these truths being passed from generation to generation. And keep in mind, Paul's not writing this letter until 30 years or so after this event in Acts chapter 2 happened. Who's visiting Crete? Nobody is. First missionaries to Crete were the Cretans. So you have 30 years since the first converts brought the good news. Now listen, these men who came to Jerusalem, who were saved and brought the message back, they would have had a tremendous memory. I mean, we have problems remembering our own cell phone numbers, let alone people who we love's address. We have a really, really hard time. We have a hard time remembering our in-laws address. I'm gonna challenge you to ask your spouse or your brother or sister or ask them someone, someone who you know their address, see if they remember. Men these days had a tremendous memory. Do you know why? Because they had to remember. There was no other way. If they don't remember, they lose it. And this is why even in the Old Testament, the early fathers, they would memorize books and books and books of the Bible. They had a tremendous memory. So these men would have also had help from God and being filled by the spirit and they would have been able to capture these teachings and pass it in each community from generation to generation. 30 years except there's a problem. This is it. The false teachers had infiltrated the church and they had a different doctrine which is compromising the exclusivity. Jesus Christ, and that takes us to point number two, the circumcision party. Now Paul, in our text, specifies a particular party of false teachers. It is the circumcision party. Do not confuse Judaizers with the circumcision party, even though there is overlap between the two. Now there are many false teachers in Crete, but there is one in particular that Paul is telling Titus, you need to be aware of them. And it's these people, circumcision party. Now here's the question, and some of you are wondering, and it is a good question. Who is the circumcision party and what exactly do they believe? Their basic claim is this, and you should see this in your outline. Circumcision plus faith in Jesus Christ is necessary in order to be part of the Abrahamic covenant and secure salvation. circumcision plus Christ. They kept the Old Testament economy of circumcision, which is in many ways shadow over substance. There were millions of Jews who were circumcised who were not saved. They were putting weight on these families and these small Christian communities and saying, unless you're circumcised, you have no part in salvation. Now you remember in Genesis chapter 17, God promised Abraham land, seed, and a blessing. And circumcision was a token of covenant membership. From Abraham forward now, on the eighth day, a distinctive mark was given to the nation of Israel as Jews, as being distinct from all the other pagan nations. And it was this, it was circumcision. You fast forward to the Mosaic law, and there was a spiritual interpretation, and that is, and as Brother Ryan had mentioned here this morning during our Lord's Supper, your heart needs to be what? Circumcised. Your heart, my heart, needs to be set aside. And so not only is there a physical mark, there must be a spiritual mark. The problem is that Israel failed to do so. So we fast forward to the prophets, the major and minor, like Jeremiah 4, verse 4. He says, break up the fallow ground and stop sowing among thorns. Circumcise your hearts. That theme and command continued all the way through Israel's history, and we see prophet after prophet saying, your heart must be circumcised. And even as we approach the New Testament, as the Greek philosophy and Roman paganism just flooded Palestine, the Jews want to hold on to their Jewish orthodoxy, and keeping circumcision is the main way. This is why John the Baptist was circumcised, Jesus was circumcised, Saul of Tarsus was circumcised. But to show you how much of a pillar circumcision was, I want us to turn to John chapter seven, please. John chapter seven. I'm gonna read verses 20, 23, the crowd answered, you have a demon who is seeking to kill you. Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision, not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers, referring to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. On the Sabbath, a man receives circumcision so that the law of Moses may not be broken. Are you angry with me because on the Sabbath, I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. So what's going on here? Moses continued what the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob continued in Genesis chapter 17. The question is this, what happens if a son is born eight days prior to the Sabbath? What happens if on the eighth day it's a Sabbath? What do you do? Which one? Which law are you going to break? What order or priority are you going to place? The Sabbath for the Jews was a big pillar, but circumcision was even a larger one. Essentially, Jesus is saying, you Jews who interpret the law about the Sabbath allow a work of necessity to take place, such as circumcision. You push the Sabbath to the side for necessity. And as you do this, you should also rejoice that a man was healed. So what account is Jesus referring to? Back in John chapter five, Jesus healed a man who was born lame and invalid, or he was lame and invalid. Jesus came up, healed him. People were talking. Then Jesus came to the synagogue and was teaching. They say, you have a demon. And then they're going back to the fact that Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. And Jesus is essentially saying, You choose to circumcise on the Sabbath, violate it, and I come along and I heal a man and you say that I have a demon. What takes the precedence? Man's welfare or this Abrahamic covenant? The tension between circumcision and the observation of the Sabbath was nothing new. This is important because Jews hold the covenant circumcision even beyond in the expense of the Sabbath. Fast forward to 49 A.D. Please turn to Acts chapter 15. So this is 49 A.D. I mentioned it earlier. This is known as the Jerusalem Council. Biblicist, if you are a Christian, you need to be familiar that this is at 49 AD. Why is this important? This is important because there were over 600 Old Testament commandments and laws, and here's the question. Which ones now do we follow if we're in Christ? If I'm a Jew, which one do I follow? Better yet, which ones do Gentiles follow if they come on board? Let us read verses Acts chapter 15 verses 1 and following. Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are what? Circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be what? Saved. Now keep in mind, this is happening. This happens probably before Paul writes his letter to Galatia. This happens well before Paul writes to Titus, and so this is setting the scene. So unless you're circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, that is Luke very kindly saying they were arguing. They were fighting, and they wouldn't stop. This is him saying, yeah, my parents got in a, little fight last night and there was things being thrown and screamed, now again, I wasn't there, I'm not saying things were thrown, but this is Luke humbly and gently saying, oh, oh, they went at it. This was a theological discussion. If I could hop in my time machine, I wouldn't mind hearing Paul and Barnabas go at it. I won't say anything, I'll just stay there and listen. But there was no small dissension and debate with them. So what happened? Paul and Barnabas can't come to an agreement. Paul and Barnabas and some others were appointed, going up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, in the early church, as the gospel is expanding, this question of circumcision comes up, and guess what? Paul and Barnabas do not have the answer. Or if they do have the answer, it's a different one, and they can't come to any agreement, and so they go to Jerusalem. What Old Testament laws and traditions do we keep? Question mark. What's really interesting as well is that if you turn and if you look at verse seven, we'll go back to verse six, the apostles and elders were gathered together to consider this matter. Very good. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, et cetera, et cetera, he's still going on. And the reality is that Peter did not even know the answer to it. You know who knew it? It's James. Look at verse 19 and 20. This is what James came to the conclusion with. And if you want to know in verse 13, it says, after they finished speaking, James replied, and he's still speaking down to verse 19. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them, two, three things. Stain from the things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. What has not been mentioned? Circumcision. I would say this is like orders from Washington, but states don't always listen to that. The question and issue was not unique to Titus. And I hope you see that. If you don't see it, we're gonna turn to Galatians. Please turn to Galatians. We're gonna look at Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one, verse six. I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a what? Different gospel. Tuck that away in the back of your mind. A different gospel. We're not talking about the same gospel. We are talking a different gospel. And some of you are asking this question. Well, what different gospel is he talking about? Let's look at chapter five, verse six. For in Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working through love. One degree off is the wrong destination. And one addition to salvation may prove to be no salvation at all. Paul in his letter in Galatians chapter 2 verse 4 calls these men false brothers. False brothers. And in Galatians chapter 5 I want to read verses 2 and following. Galatians chapter 5 verse 2. I want you to look at the conditional statement if. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. Testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ. You who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace. And I love the Sarcasm, Paul puts in verse 12. He says, I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. Without getting into too much details, he basically says, you think circumcision is the way to heaven? Just keep cutting away. They didn't, by the way. So, in Titus chapter 1, verse 10, these are the same people who Paul and Barnabas came across in Acts chapter 15, verses one through two. Not the same people literally, but they had the same philosophy and theology. And they're saying, unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved. They are preaching a different gospel. And I must tell you this, the effect of leaven must not be judged by its quantity. Even a little leaven leavens the what? Whole lump. Exactly. When you are plotting a course, one degree off matters. When you're cooking, adding one simple ingredient may ruin the food. The circumcision party added one thing to the mix. They added one component that would compromise the integrity. They added circumcision to salvation. and they were wrong. It is a different gospel. The party of the circumcision did more than just add, they actually subtracted. They subtracted from the exclusivity of Christ alone through faith alone. Christ plus the Virgin Mary is not salvation and certainly not the gospel. It is heresy. Christ plus the Pope is not salvation and certainly not the gospel. It is heresy. Christ plus works salvation is certainly not the gospel. It is heresy. Christ plus circumcision is not salvation. It is not the gospel. It is heresy. Christ plus anything is not salvation and certainly not the gospel. It is heresy. Brothers and sisters, as we are telling people about the gospel, we must say that the only thing that we bring to the table is our sin. Not our rich heritage or Christian orthodoxy or good works or circumcision. No, we bring our sin in exchange for His righteousness. You cannot have anything plus Christ. It is Christ alone. The circumcision party got their numbers all messed up. They got their measurements all messed up. And remember, a little leaven does leaven the whole lump. This is not some minor thing. It is not a minor thing. If you add to Christ, you will not have Him. They thought that they could just add some hot water to the foot, and it would get better. You can live an upright and blameless life You could be the best moral person and live your best life now. You could be better than your co-workers and friends. But if you don't have Christ, you have nothing. People comment on the integrity of your life. Maybe you bless them. And they comment on your life. Is your reaction, well, thank you. Just trying to be a good person. Do the best that I can be. Do you say, praise the Lord. He is my sufficiency. He is the standard. Reality brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents, as you share your faith with your children and grandchildren, you must tell them that Christ is the only way. You must tell them that if they try to be good and live the best moral life they could and do not have Christ, they will not have Him. And tell them as well, that if they don't want Christ, Christ won't have them. Tell them that you are accepted into the family of God, not because of your goodness, but because of Christ. Tell them that the life that you live right now, is not because of your goodness, but because of His. Tell them that when you stand before the Lord to give an account for your life, Christ will be your only plead. Christ plus what? What is insufficient about Christ's vicarious and atoning sacrifice? What's lacking in His sacrifice that must be compensated for? There are requirements, brothers and sisters, for you. You must place your faith in Him. He has saved you by grace alone. You must repent of your sins. You must take up your cross and follow Him. You must die to yourself. But proof that you have done this is that your life will look more like Jesus Christ. You cannot add anything to Christ because by adding anything to Christ, you are supplementing by what is lacking. Christ does not need to be supplemented. You and I need to be supplemented. Not with vitamins and minerals, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. If you think anything needs to be added to Christ's offering to secure you even more, you will not have him. Anybody who adds any work to Christ's death is not a brother and is not a sister. And Paul proved it here. They are not brothers. They are not sisters. Because they compromise the integrity of Christ's death. How much more things are you going to add to it? Point number three. Character and content of false teachers. I want you to notice that there are not some, but there are many. You'll notice as well in Titus. Chapter 1, verse 10, these are their characters, and this is some of the content. You'll notice that they are insubordinate. The Greek is an interesting word. It's a military term. It's a, which is a negation, and hupotasso. Hupotasso is a military word that has to do with remaining under, or to be in subjection to. It's like a general or a sergeant giving his officers or his soldiers a commanding argument and they say no. These men, these deceivers, these empty talkers, these babblers are insubordinates. They're unruly, they're headstrong, and they are out of control. And you'll remember as well, we can even go back to Titus 1, verse 7, and we'll see this. He must not be arrogant, and he must be a lover of good. He must be disciplined. Paul's arrangement in Titus 1 is not random. Paul is comparing these false teachers in verses 9 and 10 with what the leadership should be from verses 6 through 9. Paul is contrasting these false teachers with the men who God calls to leadership. Now, just as another side note, they refuse to submit themselves to the Word of God. What's really interesting is you would think that the members of the circumcision party, and you would think that the Sadducees and the Pharisees, as Christ came on the scene, you would think, with all of that knowledge, they'd say, the Christ. And they didn't. You know why? Because sin does not want to be dethroned. There are many even here this morning who may know of Christ, but they may not know him. There are some here who have a lot of head knowledge. But when it actually comes to a life of Hupotasso, of submission, it is non-existent. Does Christ reign supreme in your heart this morning? There's room for only one. We look at a circumcision party and we say, they got their math all wrong. I wonder if some of us have our math wrong. Jesus told his disciples, if you love me, you will obey me. If you love me, you will obey me. Who or what occupies the throne of your heart? Who or what do you give full attention to? Who or what Are you always available for? These men of the circumcised party were unwilling to submit themselves to the word of God, and as a result were co-laborers with Satan, the first rebel. But not only were they from the circumcision party, not only were they insubordinate, but they were also empty talkers. Mateos lagas. Mateos, without ground. This is a really interesting word. This Greek word here means without profit, ineffective, failure to attain any real purpose. If they were builders, they would be building on sand. If they were chasing something, they'd be chasing the wind. If they were trying to capture or see something, they'd be trying to capture their shadow. They can't capture or seize anything. There's no truth. They're babblers. This word is even used to describe idols. Idols, nonsense, useless. You know, these uncircumcised false babblers who are insubordinate could talk a lot, but there was no spiritual benefit. One commentator calls it jangling. Not jingling, jangling. just banging on metal. And these aren't members, brothers and sisters. These are people in the pulpit. Maybe some of you have experienced this. I pray to God not here. You're at a local gathering and whoever is speaking is just going on and on about fruitless stuff. They're just idle talking and sharing stories and telling jokes. And you know, people may get a brief laugh, they may laugh and they may feel good, but in reality, they may make you feel good on the inside, but when you leave in the car, the only thing you say is, wow, that was a funny joke. Midweek, you have nothing to chew on, you have nothing to digest, just a funny joke. There's no substance. And then when you come the next week, it's the same thing over and over and over again. And you may have even been able to tell that something was missing, but you couldn't pinpoint it until you heard it. Brothers and sisters. Problem. That false teaching. Will lead a congregation to false thinking. and false thinking will lead to false living. You know, when tough times comes, you don't have a joke to lean back on. You don't need some funny story to lean back on. When a loved one has passed, you don't need jokes. You need an anchor. When the doctor gives you the report and you can't make sense of it, who will you lean on? When you lose your job, whose words will you cling to? Or when you need to make an important decision, who do you turn to? Psalm says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in a time of need. These babblers are mere talkers, they're just They're like the wild west cowboys just shooting from the hip, except their accuracy is totally off because they're chasing the wind. But it's actually worse. They're not just babblers. They're deceptive babblers. Notice as well, they are empty talkers. They are also deceivers. It's one thing to speak of something that you don't know much about, but it's another thing to be intentionally deceptive about it. Some of you have heard the word flattery before. Similar connotation. You compliment somebody because you have a hidden agenda. They don't actually look nice. You just want something from them. Children may do it with their parents as well. They may say, Daddy or Mommy, I love you. Or you look at, hey, can I have your car keys? Maybe they love you. Maybe they don't. But the reality is the only reason why they're saying that is because they want something for themselves. This is exactly what the false teachers wanted. Their babbling and their deception was rooted not in the glory of God, but in their own selfish gain. And you'll see that in verse 11. They must be silenced. They're upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. They did not love their flock. The flock was just the means to their own end. So they're not just a bunch of fools rambling. Every move is calculated. intentional. They're not just a bunch of fools sharing their opinion. That leads us to our last point, our shortest point, point number four, the commitment of leadership. Paul recommends the correct course of action. It's not patient dialogue or peaceful arbitration. It's not sharing opinions over a campfire. It's not a Bible study. It's not a sharing of thoughts, but a silencing. epistomizo, epo, and stoma. Epi is upon and stoma is the mouth. It means to be upon the mouth. It means to muzzle. It means to wrap something around their mouth to keep them from stop talking. The only place in all of scripture where this is used is right here. Qualifications for leadership in verse nine, which we looked at last week, is that he must be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradicted. And here you have these false teachers now are going to be rebuked. And here is the exciting part. Paul is telling Titus, and if you were paying attention to the history, this is the exciting part. If you don't think it's exciting, I don't know what to tell you. This is the exciting part. Paul is telling Titus Titus, as you're traveling all over Crete and dealing with these false brothers, you need to remember what happened prior to the Jerusalem Council because you were with me. You were with me. You were there. You were equipped. You need to enforce that. Titus would have been equipped with the circumcision issue because he was there with Paul. Paul is saying, Titus, you know what to do. You silence them. You put them in their place. But not only that, Titus was not even circumcised. Not only was he uncircumcised, but it gets worse. He is a Gentile and a Greek. I mean, it doesn't get any more awkward than an uncircumcised Greek silencing the Jews. He hung out with Paul and Peter and those beasts and giants of the faith. He heard all the clamor from the circumcision party there, and he's had time to ingest it. And this man, in terms of apologetics, in terms of arguing and reasoning, this is a guy you don't want to go against. He has a rich history of being equipped. Paul's saying there's many men, some of the uncircumcised party who are making people upset, deal with it. And guess what? Titus knew that language. So his opponents had no clue what was coming to them. Their public ministry must be stopped immediately. There is zero tolerance here. And so in closing, what would this have looked like? Titus most likely would have taken this letter to the various Christian communities around. Now there are different interpretations on what the households are. Are the households brothers and sisters, mother and father, or is the households small Christian communities? I would typically lean towards households being where the early church gathered. We have to remember Crete, it's a tiny island, it's known as the city of a hundred, or the island of a hundred cities. There weren't literally a hundred cities, there were at least 30, but within these small cities, there are these small Christian communities that would typically meet at houses. I believe this is what he refers to as houses, but we won't be dogmatic about it. All you need to know is that people are getting upset, and Titus is going to silence them. He's gonna take the letter, probably read it, Guess who wrote it? Paul. These people have known Paul? Yes. And so that would have added some extra credibility to Titus as well. And so he would come, he'd read it, he would appoint, the congregation would then select and vote on it, and then he'd move from town to town, city in city, and probably like typical Pauline fashion, he'd come back around just to check up on them. And that was Titus' ministry. There's a battle going on today, and it is a battle of truth and error, and this is not the Korean peninsula, but instead, this battle has raged not only in Crete, but here today and in our hearts. You cannot add anything to Christ. You cannot. If you add anything to Christ, you will be cut off. If you harden your hearts to him today and he leaves you alone, you will be cut off. May He warm our hearts and draw all of us to Himself. Let us pray. Father, we