Description

Liars, Evil Beasts, Slow Bellies
Sunday, August31st, 2025
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Titus 1:5–16

Prayer

Father, we thank You for your living word, that is a hammer, a fire, a two-edged sword against evil, and also a healing balm to comfort our wounded soul. Give us each now what we most need from Your word, whether conviction or consolation or both, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

For four consecutive weeks we have studied the 16 qualifications to be a pastor/teacher in the church. And this morning we turn now to the purpose for all of those qualifications, which is twofold:

• One reason we need qualified pastors is because Paul says there are many false teachers who need to be silenced.
• And second, because there are entire households listening to false teaching, being seduced and led astray by them (sometimes without knowing it), and they need to be rescued by a sharp rebuke.
• The goal of all of this refutation of errors and instruction in what is true, is so that as Paul says in verse 13, “they may be sound in the faith.” This is the goal and end of a qualified biblical eldership and of good presbyterian government: soundness in the faith once received.
• God wants the body of Christ to be a healthy body. And therefore, as the Head of the church, and the Supreme Bishop of our souls, Christ commands true teachers to silence and refute false teachers, and he commands faithful members to only listen to faithful and trustworthy men.
  • This is how the body of Christ builds itself up in love. For as Paul says in Ephesians 4:15-16, but, speaking the truth in love, [we] may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
  • So just as a small infection in one part of the body can easily spread to the rest, so must the body of Christ seek soundness, wholeness, and vitality in all of its members.
  • This means that every single person in the church, (including you!) has a part to play. Sin in one member can spread to another. And likewise, health in one member can spread to the rest. It says in Proverbs 13:20, He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed. So who are you walking with? What body are you a part of?
  • The nature of body-life is to walk together in love, to uphold one another when we trip or stumble, to encourage one another when we grow weary, and like good soldiers in the Lord’s army, we leave no soul behind.
    • The pastor John Piper likes to say, “sanctification is a community project.” Meaning, our individual growth and health, or lack thereof, impacts the rest of the body. This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.
  • This letter from Paul to Titus is a good test. It is a routine spiritual checkup as to whether you are sound in the faith, or wavering. Whether you are living up to that high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14), or whether you are slacking and forgetting your first love (Rev 2:4).
  • Paul says in Hebrews 3:13, But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. How often does God think you need encouragement, exhortation, help from one another? He says here daily. Every day we desperately need Jesus. His mercies are new every morning, because every night we forget that we need them. We need God, and we need one another, far more than we think we do.
  • And so Paul has written Titus to give us many exhortations, exhortations we can than share with one another, and practice together. This is the body life God intends every Christian to have.
• So this morning our focus will be on verses 10-14, which includes exhortations about false teachers and how to deal with them.

Outline of the Text

• In verses 10-11 we have False Teachers Defined
• In verses 12-13a we have National Sins Exposed
• In verses 13b-14 we have The Christian’s Response to False Teaching

Verses 10-11 – False Teachers Defined

10For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

11Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

• Observe first that false teachers are many. While the truth is one and united like hitting the very center of a target, still there are an infinite number of ways you can miss the bullseye.
  • Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 7:13-14, Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
  • So because of our original sin, our actual sins, and our ongoing ignorance of the truth, falsehood and error comes easily to us. We see in the Old Testament that true prophets like Moses and Elijah, are few and far between, whereas false prophets are like Starbucks and McDonalds, you can find em in every city (serving the same trash).
• Paul says these false teachers are not only many in quantity, they are also evil in quality. And then he goes on to list three common vices (or tells) of false teachers.
  • 1. They are unruly, meaning they are insubordinate. They are accountable to no one and they despise or reject godly authority.
  • 2. They are vain talkers. Their words lack substance. It says in Job 38:2 of such men, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? And Paul says of the same in 1 Timothy 1:6-7, They have swerved from the faith and have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
    • False teachers don’t know what they are talking about. Just like the most confident people are fools without experience, so also it is with these vain talkers and gainsayers.
    • Martin Luther once said of such people, “they want to be theologians when they can’t even sing.” In other words, the goal of theology is doxology. Choir class is the pre-requisite to theology class. And this is because the goal of sound doctrine is that you are moved to sing and praise God from whom all blessings flow. And so if a man does not already have the Word of Christ dwelling in him richly with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in his heart to the Lord, how can that man teach others? How can anyone do justice to the truth, unless they first love and sing to the one who is Truth, the Lord Jesus?
    • The person who learns to sing and praise God in private, in the prayer closet (without anyone else hearing or seeing), is being equipped to proclaim the truth when necessary to others. But this the vain talker, the gainsayer, knows not.
  • 3. The third vice Paul warns about is that these men are deceivers, especially they of the circumcision. That is to say, they corrupt and abuse the Old Testament Scriptures, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Paul says of them in verse 14, they teach Jewish fables/myths, and commandments of men, that turn [people] from the truth.
    • These are primarily Jewish false teachers (Judaizers) like the scribes and Pharisees. And they insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation. And so while they could cite Moses and the prophets and teach the Holy Scriptures, they perverted the true meaning of them because they lacked the Holy Spirit.
      • As it says in 2 Corinthians 3:15, But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
    • Paul warns of such people in Philippians 3:2-3 saying, Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
    • The mark of the true gospel of grace is that it humiliates your flesh. Whereas false gospels and false teachers boast in the flesh, they appeal to the flesh, and they interpret the Bible in all kinds of carnal ways.
  • Elsewhere Paul gives us more examples of the content of their teaching.
    • In 1 Timothy 4:1-5 he says, Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
      • So in this instance, the false teaching was, “don’t get married, and don’t eat certain foods.” Does that sound like any cults you know, or spirits of our age?
    • Paul warns likewise in Colossians 2:16-23 saying, So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to [these manmade] regulations—“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in will worship, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
• So the heresies of the apostolic church revolved primarily around the divinity of Christ, the status of the Old Testament (especially circumcision), and the goodness (or badness) of the material world. And then you have various sects or religions that developed based on how those questions were answered (Gnostics, Manichees, Marcionites, Muslims, Judaism, etc.).
  • So there is only one Lord, one Christ, one God and Father of all, one true gospel, but there are many counterfeits, many false teachers, many false gods, and therefore many errors a Christian must shun and avoid while holding fast to the truth. This is how you become sound in the faith.
• Now occasionally, like a broken clock, a false teacher says something true. And because all truth is God’s truth, in verse 12, Paul uses a true saying from a false teacher to expose and convict the Cretan nation’s sins.

Verses 12-13a – National Sins Exposed

12One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13This witness is true…

• Often, it is the best form of persuasion to convict someone using their own authorities against them. In this instance, we have the saying of either the pagan poet Epimenides, or just some anonymous Cretan-Jewish preacher, but whatever the case, Paul says their witness is true.
  • The Cretans had a public reputation amongst the other nations, as being liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. Yes, this is a stereotype. Yes, this is a generality. And as a stereotype, and as a generality, Paul says (God says!) this is a true description of the Cretan people.
  • And so while it is true that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), some sins are more pronounced or manifest in this nation over that. It’s kind of like, all of us are sinners, but we sin differently, and we have different vices according to our age, education, class, temperament, upbringing, or even the weather that day.
  • So while we need to be careful to not use stereotypes in any unkind or malicious way, Paul is using it to love the Cretans and bring them to repentance. He is holding up a mirror and showing them who they really are.
  • It is the job of the bishop to oversee so that he can know and rebuke the specific sins of the people he is preaching to. And just like not every person struggles with the same thing, or has the same temptations to sin, so it is with groups, towns, cities, states, and entire nations.
  • And so the question we need to ask is what are our sins? What are the uniquely American idols that need to be toppled? What are the uniquely Washington State/Lewis and Thurston County sins we need to repent of? And most importantly, what are my own personal individual sins that I need to repent of? Do you know yourself? Or do you need a comedian to roast you and tell you what everyone else sees but you don’t?
• Jesus says, before you take the speck out of your brother’s eye, you need to remove the plank from your own. This is true, and it is so hard to do, because it means you have to be humble. It means you have to look in the mirror, stand on the scale, tell the doctor what you ate that week.
  • One of my favorite lines in the entire Westminster Confession of Faith, is in Chapter 15 on Repentance Unto Life. It says in paragraph 5, “Men ought not to content themselves with a general repentance, but it is every man’s duty to endeavour to repent of his particular sins particularly.”
  • And so if you want a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, which Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:5 is the goal, end, and purpose of the commandment, then you need to know what your particular sins are and then repent of them particularly. You need to name your sins the way God names them: envy, jealousy, greed, hatred, adultery, murder, lust, evil passions, and so forth.
  • And the reason we need not fear naming our sins this way, is because as it says in the preceding paragraph of the WCF 15.4, “As there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.”
• So Paul is calling the Cretans liars, irrational animals, and lazy gluttons, so that they will truly repent and by God’s grace become known as truth-tellers, honest men, doing honest work for the glory of God.
  • Paul knows firsthand the power of the gospel to transform entire nations. Jesus did not say go disciple a few people here and there, he said, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.
  • The gospel we preach is a universal gospel, a gospel for all people, of every nation, tribe, tongue, and sinful reputation. No culture is beyond the redemption of Christ, but that culture has to first die and be buried and repent of its unique sins if it wants to rise again with Christ and be redeemed.
• John Owen, the great English Puritan once said, “The prevalence of the gospel in any nation may be measured by the success it has against known national sins. If these are not in some good measure subdued by it, if the minds of people are not alienated from those sins and made watchful against them, if their guilt appear not naked, without the varnish or veil put upon it by commonness or custom, whatever profession is made of the gospel, it is vain and useless.”
  • To put it more simply, if America would embrace the gospel, then we should be ashamed of the lawlessness and evil we not only tolerate but celebrate. Abortion needs to be outlawed, pornography needs to be criminalized and banned, no-fault divorce needs to be abolished, a bunch of criminals need to be executed, and we need to blush red with shame for a long list of other national sins.
  • The American Church (of which we are part) has grown accustomed to the idols and false gods of our age. We worship mammon. We worship technology. We worship ourselves. And none of those things can save us.
• And so while Cretans may be liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies (and we can laugh at them) what are we? This is a question we need to ask ourselves with an open Bible in front of us, so that we can repent of our particular sins particularly.
  • Finally, how then should a Christian respond to all this false teaching and evil living around them? In verses 13-14 Paul has an exhortation for Titus, and exhortation to the Cretan Christians. He says to Titus…

Verses 13-14 – The Christian’s Response to False Teaching

Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

14Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

• So the job of Titus and all the Cretan Bishops/Pastors, is to rebuke the church sharply. And the content of that rebuke is to say: stop listening to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn you from the truth.
  • This is our job as elders. To love you enough to hurt your feelings sometimes. To grab you by the ears, look you in the eyes, and say STOP LISTENING TO THAT TRASH! Get off Facebook, get off YouTube, stop scrolling those websites, delete your accounts, turn off the TV and go binge some Bible instead.
• One of the main reason false teachers are many, is because there are many itching ears, many bad consciences, many gullible men and women, who want to be distracted, entertained, outraged, or just titillated. And those kinds of motives do not produce soundness in faith.
  • Paul says in Ephesians 4:20, That was not how you learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
  • Remember we said last week that the way your inward man gets renewed day by day, is by embracing more truth and forsaking more errors. By understanding more of what you already believe about Jesus, and by resolving doubts, questions, or difficulties that trouble you.

Conclusion

It says in 1 John 4:3-6, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them [referring to false teachers], because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

• The Word of God is the only infallible, unchangeable, God-breathed source of truth. And those who have that same breath of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, which is the Spirit of faith, hope, and love towards God, is called a child of God who has overcome the world. This is the hope we have for the gospel’s triumph against the sins of our age, and the particular sins of our own selves: That God loves us, that Christ died for us, and His resurrection power is greater than any falsehood or false teachers that assault His church.
• May He ever keep you in His love. In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.