Richmond, Virginia, 1974
Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kaung
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou mightest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge;
if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly.
For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;
but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled;
holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers.
For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision,
whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
Last night we fellowshipped together on the person, that man Titus. Titus was one of the companions of Paul and a fellow worker. Even though he was comparatively a young man, yet he was an attractive young man, because God had done such a work in his life.
Paul was able to send Titus, always, it seems, into the most difficult situations. So we mentioned last night how we need people like Titus today. May God raise up people in whom God has wrought much, that God may send these people to different difficult situations to help.
Now this morning we would like to go into this letter to Titus. I think first of all, we would like to know a little about these churches in Crete.
You know, Crete is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea. But during Paul’s missionary trips, it seemed that he had never touched that island.
Only when he was brought to Rome as a prisoner do you find that his boat touched that island. In Acts 27, we find this account.
And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy; and he put us on board.
And when we had sailed slowly many days, and were come with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not further suffering us, we sailed under the lee of Crete, off Salmone;
and with difficulty sailing along it we came unto a certain place called Fair Havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.
And when much time was spent, and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast was now already gone by, Paul admonished them,
and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.
But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship, than to those things which were spoken by Paul.
And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to put to sea from thence, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there; which is a haven of Crete, looking north-east and south-east.
So we find that during the time when Paul was taken as a prisoner to Rome, to Italy, their boat traveled around the island of Crete and even touched the port of Fair Havens.
But there was no record, simply that Paul’s ship touched that island, that Paul was ever allowed to visit some Christians on that island. You know, even though Paul was a prisoner, he was given quite some liberty.
We have no record whether some Christians heard that Paul was on that island and came to visit him. There was no mention of any church, no mention of any Christian, on that island. Paul passed by that island on his way to Rome.
After Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment, we believe that he visited that island. And when he visited that island, Crete, he found a number of churches on that island.
Now, brothers and sisters, when you read the letter to Titus, it may give you the impression that these churches in Crete were new churches. In other words, they were newly born, because certainly the condition of these churches in Crete seemed to be in their infant state.
But as a matter of fact, these churches were not founded by the ministry of the apostle. The apostle visited the island and found that in a number of cities there were churches already there.
And how did these churches come about? They had a long history. It went back to the Day of Pentecost. Because if you read Acts 2, you will find this.
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilaeans?
And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born?
Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,
in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.
So on the Day of Pentecost, you find there were Cretans there. There were people who came from the island of Crete, Jews and proselytes. They came to Jerusalem to worship God during the feast.
There they lingered, and on the Day of Pentecost they heard the gospel. No doubt some of those Cretans were converted. They repented at that time and received the promise of the Father.
After they had believed in the Lord Jesus, probably they stayed for a longer period there in order to be with the believers. Then, after some time, God sent persecution and scattered them abroad.
The result must have been that some of those Cretan believers went back to their island. It was through their witnessing and testimony that churches were established in various cities on that island, Crete.
So when Paul went to that island, he found that there were churches there. But the strange thing was this: why was it that when Paul’s ship put in at that island on his way to Rome, he did not find any Christian or any believer who visited him?
Probably we would say it was because Paul’s ship came unexpectedly. You know, in those days they had no schedule. You never knew when a ship would come to port. It was not like today, when you can more or less know when ships will arrive. In those days, they were never sure.
When Paul was taken prisoner, the centurion had to find ships going in the direction of Rome, so they changed ships as they went along. It would have been very difficult for the believers on the island of Crete to know that Paul was there and to go and visit him.
Probably that is true. But even though travel was so uncertain at that time, news got around somehow. Even before Paul reached Rome, the believers in Rome heard about it, and they traveled a great distance to meet him. So it was still possible.
However uncertain the communication among believers may have been, there was something the world did not understand. Yet it did not happen. Somehow, those believers who were saved on the Day of Pentecost and went back, whom God used to raise up churches on the island, were isolated from the rest of the Christians at that time.
Geographically, yes, they were isolated because they were on an island. But that should not have isolated them altogether. You know, wherever God’s people may be, there is a strange way of communication.
Wherever God’s people may be spread all over the earth, it is the will of God that they should have fellowship one with another. Through this strange way of communication and fellowship, you find that they help each other in spiritual growth.
This is not only true with individuals; this is true between churches. It is true that every local assembly is independent—that is to say, dependent upon the Lord—and is not to be governed by any other local assembly. That is true.
And yet, in the Bible, you find these local churches spread through Judea, Macedonia, and Asia. There is a strange way in which God brings them together, and they have fellowship even among the churches—not in a governmental or administrative way, but in a spiritual fellowship.
There is fellowship in Christ Jesus, not only individually but among churches. And that is the way the churches grow—grow properly and healthily.
But these churches on the island of Crete seemed to be completely isolated. They had been there for over thirty years already, from the Day of Pentecost to that time.
Yet because they had no fellowship with churches in other places, you find that after thirty years they were still in their infancy—old churches, old babies. That is what you find there.
Usually, after a few years, you find the Scripture says that now a few years have passed, you should not be babes anymore. And after thirty-some years, certainly these churches should have been well established. But no, that was not the case.
When Paul found them, he found that they were just a mess. After over thirty years, they were still in their infancy. Probably that was the reason why they did not look for Paul and Paul could not find them, because there was no vitality. They lived in isolation.
Dear brothers and sisters, I think there is a lesson for us. We Christians cannot stand alone. If we isolate ourselves from other believers, no matter how we seek the Lord, our growth will be stunted. It is very easy for us to go off on a tangent.
If this is true with individual believers, it is also true with the growth of a local church. There needs to be a spiritual flowing together, a spiritual interchange, a spiritual fellowship, and communication.
Not that one rules over another, but as we flow together, we learn much and we grow. That probably was the reason for the retarded growth of these churches.
So Paul came to Crete and found these churches in Crete were a mess. God put it upon his heart, not to rule over them, but to help them. But Paul’s time was so limited. He had many other places to go.
He started to help them. He started to put things in order, but he could not finish the job. There were too many things that needed to be set in order. So he had to move on, leaving his trusted companion Titus behind to finish the unfinished business.
What was the situation with the churches in Crete? Now remember, in Crete you had many churches, not just one. Why? Because Crete is an island, a big island, and on that big island there are many cities. That is the reason Paul told Titus to appoint elders in each city.
There were several churches on the island of Crete. The situation of the churches in Crete can be summed up under two headings.
The first is disorder, or no order. The second is no good works—or, if I may borrow that word, “dis-grace”: a lack of grace. And when there is a lack of grace, there is a lack of good works. We will explain that, probably, tonight.
Now this morning we would like to see how Paul helped such a situation. In the churches on the island of Crete there was absolutely no order—disorder everywhere.
The first thing Paul felt he had to do was to set the house in order. If the house is not in order, if there is no order, the house cannot be established. Whatever you may do to that house, it will just leak out. There will never be any establishment.
So the first thing Paul had to do was to set the house in order. How important that is.
You know, in the book of Kings, Isaiah was sent by God to Hezekiah and said, “Set thine house in order.” Even in Revelation 2 and 3, the Lord was really trying to set His house in order with the seven churches.
When you go to these churches on the island of Crete, there was absolutely no order. Everything was just in disorder.
In other words, it was almost like the situation at the end of the book of Judges. The comment of the Holy Spirit is, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes,” because there was no king in Israel.
You find the churches there were just a mess. The people were not united; they were scattered. Each one was on his own. There was full liberty, yes, but they were open to anything and everything.
That is the reason they had so many disorderly teachers, because they were open to anything. In one sense, they were more democratic, but there was no order and no unity. How could a church grow in that fashion?
Brothers and sisters, a church is not an organization; it is an organism. If we try to organize in order to make a church, what comes out of the organization is not an ecclesia; it is an institution.
It is not a body, a living body. It is something dead. If the church is a body, within the body there is an order.
If there is no order in the body, the body can never function. If there is any disorder in the body, you are sick. What is sickness? Sickness is when some member in the body is out of order.
When there is disorder in the body, when, say, sodium and potassium are unbalanced, somehow you find there is disorder in the body and you get sick. But when the body really lives by the order of its life, then the body can function, the body is healthy, and it grows.
It is so with the church. The church is an organism, not an organization. We should not just go out and try to organize to make it go. No.
Yet when God’s people come together and begin to serve the Lord together, a divine order will naturally come forth. First, we have to hold fast the Head.
Here we do not hold fast the Head. How can we be joined together and grow? In other words, everyone must put himself or herself under the Headship of Christ.
When we put ourselves under the authority of Christ, there is order. Christ is the Head, and we are the body. That is the order. If this order is not kept, it is just a mess.
After we have held fast the Head, then you find all the members will be fitly framed and rightly joined. This is what the Scripture says: “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.”
If we fear Christ, if we reverence Christ, if we hold fast the Head, then we begin to see Christ in the other members of the body of Christ. Because we see Christ, we submit ourselves one to another.
That is order. That is authority. That is submission. Not that I submit to you, or you submit to me. I submit to you in the fear of Christ, because I can see Christ.
If I do not submit to you, I am disobeying Christ. Christ in each member of the body of Christ is the authority, and to that authority I must submit—not only to Christ directly, but to Christ indirectly. In this way, we need to submit to one another.
You know, brothers and sisters, when God’s people come together, the first thing is to hold fast the Head. That is the first thing. If we do not hold fast the Head, we can never be in order—never.
When two or three are gathered together unto My name, that is what the Lord says, “There am I in the midst of them.” What does it mean to come together unto My name? It means that two or three put themselves into the name of Christ.
It is just like a marriage. Before the man and the woman are married, the man has his family name and the woman has her family name. But when they are joined into one, the woman takes upon herself the name of her husband, taking her husband as her head so that she may be the body of that home.
When two or three are gathered together unto My name, when two or three put themselves under the name of Christ—that is to say, under His authority, submitting to Him and letting Him be the Head—then you find the Lord says, “There am I in the midst of them.” That is the meaning of the church.
If this can happen, then naturally the second step follows: we begin to see Christ in each other, and we submit to each other in the fear of Christ.
If we do not hold fast the Head, our eyes are closed. We cannot see. But if we hold fast the Head, our eyes are opened. We begin to see Christ in different members of the body of Christ, and we learn to submit.
Sometimes even a bigger member has to submit to a smaller member. Why? Because there is Christ. So the second thing is that we begin to submit to one another.
Brothers and sisters, when we come together, what should be our first and second considerations? The first consideration, no doubt, is Christ. Consider Him. That is the first thing.
What should be the second consideration? The second consideration is not, “Who is the greatest among us?” You know, the disciples who were with the Lord Jesus all respected the Lord. Of course, they did. “You are the Master.” There was no competition there.
But under the Master, who would be the greatest? In other words, everybody wanted to set himself up as the greatest, as the authority. Maybe under Christ, yes, but still that seemed to be the first consideration among the disciples. How foolish that was.
The second consideration, after we have held fast the Head, is this: How should I submit myself to my brother? To whom shall I submit? That is such a contrast. And you will find that you have to submit to all.
You know, it has become quite popular today, and I believe it is a reaction. In the past, Christians, especially in this democratic land, went the democratic way. We are all equal; no one is above another.
But now there seems to be a reaction among Christians. People really want to follow the Lord, and it seems to be spreading across this country. That is to say, you try to find a person to whom you would submit yourself, and even call that person your master. Whatever the master says, you do.
But, brothers and sisters, you find not only is the Lord your Master; in a sense, every believer represents the Master. Now, are you able to do that—submit to one another in the fear of Christ?
It is not just finding one person whom you think is spiritual and then following that person blindly. I am afraid of people like that. What a distortion of the precious truth of submission and authority.
We need to submit to one another in the fear of the Lord. Whenever Christ appears in one brother or one sister, we do not merely see the brother or sister; we see Christ, and we have to submit. That is the second thing.
When everybody wants to submit and nobody wants to rule, do you know what happens? God will raise some among the brothers and sisters to be elders, or to be in a position representing the authority of Christ. That is the way elders come forth.
The elders in the church come out of submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. The elders in the church do not come out by someone climbing over the heads of others. No, it does not come that way.
It comes when every head is bowed. It is strange enough: when every head is bowed, God begins to raise some. They do not want it, but God begins to raise some.
Those who have a greater measure of Christ, those upon whom a spiritual burden of responsibility has come, those who give themselves more to serve and to give, those who are willing to go deeper and lower—God raises them as elders.
How do they come about? That is order. That is the order of life. Unless such order is found, brothers and sisters, the church does not grow at all. It is difficult for the members of the body to function and function in coordination, because there is no order.
In the beginning, when God’s people come together, you see that the Lord does not put upon them just natural order. It seems that when God’s people come together, God attracts them, stirs them, and constrains them with love.
Love is the order of the day—just love. God’s people come together to love the Lord and to love one another. As we love the Lord and love one another, then our spiritual life begins to grow.
But as our spiritual life begins to grow and grow to a certain stage, you find this need for order begins to come very naturally—very naturally.
In the beginning of a church, you do not find elders set up first. No, they come later. It is through the spiritual process of submission that you find the elders emerge.
The principle is demonstrated in our Lord. In Philippians 2, He Who was in the form of God emptied Himself. He took the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. How He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the Father, even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
In other words, the way is submission, submission, obedience. Then God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The way to authority is through obedience, by submission—not by going up, but by going down. Whoever goes lower than anybody else will be set up by God as an overseer.
Because it comes in this way, it is not technical; it is living.
When God’s people come together, in the beginning they come together full of love. We talk about nothing but love: “Oh, we love the Lord. We love one another.” Often we think that because we love, therefore we are equal. We are all equal.
In the beginning that is quite all right. But as our lives begin to grow, the Lord begins to put us together, to knit us together. In the living together and the building together, there must be order. There must be submission and authority.
If there is no order, no submission, and no authority, members simply cannot be knit together. Members cannot be related properly. There is no way.
If we want to continue as a loose gathering, that is all right. But if we really want to be knit together, you will find life leading us into a divine order.
We have to be built one upon another, built by life. When this thing comes in, there is a test. When we talk about love, it is all love. Whether it is merely natural or whether it is spiritual, well, it is love. We do not know what love really is.
We have a good time. But then, when love begins to bind us together, when the order begins to come forth, that shows whether our love is of the flesh or of the Spirit. That reveals more than anything else.
But unless that order comes, unless there is such an order, the church cannot be built up.
There is one extreme among God’s people: “We are all equal before God.” Thank God, we are all equal before God, and we want to remain that way. It is just a flat plane; there is no building up.
Then you find among God’s people some go to the other extreme, and it happens everywhere. They say, “We want a church. How can we have a church? We must have elders and deacons. We must have order.”
“If you do not have elders and deacons, you have no church.” Have you heard of that? The church in Jerusalem had existed a long time before they had elders. Some people even say that if there is no apostle, there is no church. The church existed before every apostle arrived.
So here you find Christians who say, “Well, we want more. We do not want just to be better than a congregation. We want to live together. We want to be built up together. We know order is necessary.”
“Therefore, how do we start to organize that church? First, we appoint the elders. Then we appoint the deacons. After we have that perfect order, we will have that perfect church.”
The result is that you have a perfect order, but you have no church. You have an institution. If you really want to have a church, one day you have to cut away all this perfect order. Have you got that?
When Paul went to the island of Crete, what did he see? They had run to one end: no order, complete freedom. The result was that these churches remained in their infant state after over three decades.
They were babes. As Paul said, they were tossed to and fro. They were open to all kinds of false teachings. They were being misled into many things. People took advantage of them because they were babes. There was no unity and there was no surprise.
That was what Paul found in the churches on the island of Crete.
Therefore, when Paul came to that island and saw the situation, he did not just go in and establish elders. He did not say, “Well, you have no elders; therefore you are no church. I am an apostle, so I come here and I am going to appoint elders.” He could have done it in one day. It does not take long.
But after his short stay there, he did not finish that thing. Why? Because elders were not appointed at random, by the will of the apostle. No. The Holy Spirit had to work something into these people, and Paul did not know these people. How could he appoint elders?
You have to stay with them for a while before you can really know them. Paul could see that many things needed to be set in order, and he began to set many things in order for them. But in the matter of elders, he could not rush into it.
He left Titus behind, but instructed Titus as to the qualifications of elders. He wanted Titus to watch, to observe, and to see whether among the believers there were some who seemed to have gone a little ahead of the others spiritually.
Paul left Titus behind to watch, to observe, and to pray, until he found some who had the qualifications of elders, and then to recognize them. It was a serious thing. It was not something you just did casually.
One thing we should mention in this matter of eldership is that the Bible does set forth the qualifications of elders. Of course, we know that elders and bishops are actually the same.
In Titus 1:5, Paul told Titus to appoint elders in each city as he had ordered him. The word there is presbuteros—elders. But then in Titus 1:7, we read, “For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward.” The word “bishop” there is episkopos, or overseer.
So elders and bishops are one. “Elders” refers to the persons; “bishops,” or overseers, refers to the office. The elders have the office of overseers. Gradually in Christianity, elders and bishops came to mean different persons and two different offices. But in the early church, in the Bible, elders were the bishops because they oversaw the flock of God.
One thing I think we should mention is that in each local assembly, elders are to be appointed out of the brothers in the local assembly. You do not bring elders from outside.
Elders are to be raised up from within. Because they are raised up from within, you do not have a fixed, absolute standard in that sense.
In the churches in Crete, probably these elders, if they went to the church at Ephesus, would not even be fit to be deacons. Why? Because the general spiritual condition of the church at Ephesus was on a higher level. But the condition of the churches in Crete was at a lower level.
It is relative, not absolute. Some people say, “Now we just cannot find any elders. Let us transport some elders to us.” Why? Because you have set up an absolute standard.
It is very good if among the brothers there are a few who are one step ahead of the others. However immature they may be, they are a little more mature than the rest. So you find there is no absolute thing. It is very living, very flexible.
But anyway, what are the qualifications of an elder? We met them before in 1 Timothy. The qualifications found in 1 Timothy are almost similar to what you find in Titus.
You would think that, since an elder is an overseer, certainly to be an elder you must choose someone who is very capable, because he is to govern the church. But not so.
You find that all the qualifications, either in 1 Timothy or Titus, depend upon moral character and spiritual character. Why? Because you are not running an institution; you are taking care of the house of God.
So all the qualifications are mainly moral character, not ability or talent. Here you find in the book of Titus these qualifications.
The first is that he must be blameless. In other words, he must be a man against whom nobody can bring a charge. He is above reproach. He lives such a straightforward life that there is nothing shady and nothing hidden. He pays his debts, and there is no charge against him. He is a respectable person.
Second, he must be the husband of one wife. Not only must his personal life be above reproach, but what about his family life? Is it healthy?
He must have believing children who are not accused of riot or unruly behavior. Not only must his family life with his wife be right, but he must have a good testimony in his home. His children are orderly and behave well.
First Timothy says that he must rule his own house well. He must be able to rule his own household.
“For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward.” Not only his personal life, not only his family life, but also his church life must be right. There must be no charge against him as God’s steward in the house of God. His church life must be pure and above reproach.
Here you find the emphasis is on the different areas of life. Then Paul turns to his character.
First, negatively: not self-willed. It means not a person who speaks according to his own character, not a person who is self-willed. He must be a person whose will is surrendered to the will of God.
Not, “Because I want it that way, therefore everybody must follow.” You cannot be an elder that way. An elder must have a yielded will before God: “Not my will, but Thy will.”
Not soon angry. His emotions must be under restraint, under control—not bursting into anger or flying into temper. He must be a person who knows how to control his emotions.
Not given to wine. Not a person who tries to find his escape in wine, and then after he has wine, forgets himself and gets into disorder. You cannot be such a person.
Not a striker—not one who strikes people, you know, but one who is kind, forgiving, and considerate.
Not greedy of filthy lucre: a person who does not seek anything for himself, who does not use the office to gain something for himself.
Negatively, these things speak of a person who is under the control of the Spirit, a disciplined person.
Then there is the positive side: hospitable. It is not only a matter of doing it, but more a matter of heart, desire, and willingness to receive—to be hospitable.
A lover of good: loving things that are good; sober-minded, just, holy, temperate, self-controlled. These are the positive characteristics.
Now again we ask, how do these characteristics come into a person? Not naturally. Some people may be naturally hospitable, you know, but that is not what I mean here.
Whether negative or positive, these characteristics are built up by the Holy Spirit. These are the fruit of a person who lives a life with the Lord and allows the Lord to transform him, so that the character of Christ may be manifested in him.
Such a person, with such character, can be recognized as an elder. Why? Because he sets a good example to God’s people.
Finally, he must hold fast the faithful word according to the teaching. Again, in the matter of church life, you find that he is blameless and he holds fast the faithful word, so that he can help those who are in need.
He has a good understanding of the truth, and he is able to communicate, to correct, and to help those who are erring. So these are the qualifications of the elder.
Titus was to observe and see how the Spirit of God would manifest among the Cretans those who had such a nature and such character, and then recognize them as elders in the church.
The elders were to set up the whole, not to lord it over the people, but to be examples. When that order is set up, then you find everything begins to fall into its rightful place. All the members of the body begin to fall into their proper related places, and the whole body can function together.
That is for the growth of the church.
Brothers and sisters, oftentimes our understanding is different. We often think that if there is order, it will hinder the liberty and the function of the body of Christ, of the members of the body.
We think that in order that there might be liberty and freedom, there should not be any order. But if we read the Word of God, we find that it is not so.
If the order comes from life, nothing helps the function and the growth more than divine order. Whenever God begins to build up His people, invariably you find that a time will come when a right order must be set up—not by man, but by the Spirit of God.
Then the house, the church, will grow. So out of disorder, Paul was used of God to bring in order. Out of no order, he brought divine order. That is the way to help establish the church.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou dost know everything. Thou dost put in Thy Word our needs and the supply for all.
We do pray that we may learn much from Thy Word in the most practical way. Deliver us from handling Thy Word with the hand of flesh.
But Lord, may Thy Holy Spirit bring about Thy Word in the lives of Thy people, that Thy name may be glorified.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.