I just want to read the last
two verses. We've almost finished with this chapter. And then we're
going in to the study of the home. You'll notice this chapter
here has been basically, I guess we could call it, the church is speaking of spiritual
matters and worship, ordaining the pastors and the pastors preaching
the Word, sound doctrine. And then in chapter 2, we'll
be going into the home. Paul gives instructions to the
aged men and the aged women and the young women and what their
responsibility is and the young men and so on. But tonight we
want to finish this chapter. Let me read it to you in verses
15 and verse 16 of Titus chapter 1. Unto the pure all things are
pure. But unto them that are defiled
and unbelieving is nothing pure, that even their mind and their
conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God,
but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient, and
unto every good work reprobate." He says here, unto the pure,
unto the pure. I want to read you just a little
bit. tonight of what we looked at last week just for a thought.
But he says, ìYouíre into the pure.î And the Lord Jesus said,
ìBlessed are the pure in heart.î And that word means happy. A
pure-hearted person is a happy person, isnít he? Blessed are
the pure in heart. And we looked at four or five
or six things last week that make the heart pure. And if you
remember these, weíll look at them just a little bit different,
but we said, and this is where we begin. is in the new birth. The new birth will make the heart
pure. That is where we begin, that
is. We looked at chapter 3 here of
this book where the Apostle said, By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. In regeneration, in the new birth,
there is a cleansing. There is a purifying. The washing
of regeneration. It's not just a new life, it
is that, but it's a pure life that's given. Washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. It's the Holy Ghost work which
He shed on us abundantly. See, we can't make our hearts
pure, can we? We have to have a pure heart
given us and it comes through the new birth. We read that scripture
over in Ezekiel, I will sprinkle clean water upon you. That's
not the water of baptism. Water won't even wash dirt from
my hands, will it? That's the soul. That's the new
birth, the cleansing of the new birth. I will sprinkle clean
water. I'll do it. I'll do it. It's
God's Word. And you shall be clean from all
your filthiness and all your idols will I cleanse you, saith
the Lord. When Nicodemus came to the Lord
Jesus, That night I often like to imagine this in my conscience,
my imagination, that here the Lord Jesus, and we know about
how He dressed. He was a common man. He was a
common dressed man. And here come Nicodemus. And
he was a strict observer of the set of the Pharisees. He had
observed all these dietary laws that the apostles talked about
here, dressed in all of his religious garb, And the Lord Jesus looked
at him and said, Nicodemus, if you are not born again, you cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven. Why is that necessary? Because
that is what makes the heart pure in that new birth. And then
we talked about the blood of Jesus Christ. What can purify
the heart? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
can purify the heart. It reaches deeper than the stain
is gone. The blood of Jesus Christ God's
Son cleanseth us from all sin. Isn't that a wonderful word?
From all sin. When the blood of Christ touches
the conscience, it takes away all sin. It purifies the heart. It gives a pure heart. Come now,
the old prophet said. Let us reason together, saith
the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow." As white as snow. Snow is pretty
pure when it is coming down in our eyes, at least it is. And
that is the way He said the blood of Christ did. It purges, it
cleanses, it makes the heart pure. And then the Word of God. The third thing was the Word
of God. You are clean through the Word
that I have spoken unto you. You know if the Word of God pronounces
you clean, you're clean. You're clean. And the Lord says
you're clean through the Word that I've spoken unto you. If
we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. When the Lord saved me, I had
a falling out with this older lady, and I went to her house
to apologize. And I humbled myself and apologized,
and she said, Well, God may forgive you, but I never will. That's
what she told me. God may forgive you, but I never
will. I'm glad that the Lord testified
to my conscience, I've forgiven you. And the Word of God bore
witness that I've forgiven you. She wouldn't, but He did. If we receive the witness of
man, thank God there's a greater witness, and that's the witness
of God. Something else, and I love this, faith purifies the heart. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Faith will purify the heart. Peter said that at that great
conference that they had, that God purifies their hearts by
faith. Nothing else will purify the
heart but faith. And you notice here in my text,
here in verse 15, notice how he links these two together.
but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure."
Those two go together, don't they? An unbelieving heart is
a defiled heart. None appeared so righteous outwardly
as these Pharisees. But I tell you, none were any
more defiled in their hearts than they were. The Lord Jesus
told them this. He said, You indeed appear righteous
outwardly. But he said, within your heart,
you're like dead men's bones. You stink in your heart. And
they braggingly asked the soldiers that one day, they said this,
has any of us believed on Him? They bragged about that, didn't
they? Has any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed on Him?
No, they haven't. And that's why you're defiled.
That's why your heart's defiled. Because until you believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, your heart is defiled. Your conscience is
defiled. Faith in Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, will do what nothing else will do. Morality can't
do it. Turning over a new leaf can't
do it. Legality won't do it. Nothing else will do what faith
in the Son of God will do. You know what faith in Christ
will do? It will save you. It will save you. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. What must I do to be saved? Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. That lady came to the Lord Jesus
that had the issue of blood, and here's what she said. You
talk about faith. You talk about a strong faith.
She said, If I may but touch the hem of His garment, I shall
be whole." That's faith, isn't it? If I can just touch the hem
of His garment, I know He's so full of grace and virtue and
merit and power. If I can just touch the hem of
His garment, I'll be made whole. And she touched and immediately
she was made whole. Nothing but faith can draw that
merit and worth and saving benefits that purifies the heart out of
Christ but faith. Nothing else can do it but faith.
From that very hour she was made whole of her plague. A touch of faith will make you
whole and look of faith will save you. Faith alone brings
Christ. and His purifying benefits to
the heart. There's no other way you can
have Him. You can't work to get Him. You can't do anything to
get Him and His purifying benefits into your heart but believing
on Him. I guess this is why old Newton
said how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. The hour I first believed. And
we said fifthly last week that godly repentance purifies the
heart. Repentance purifies the heart. What does repentance do? What
does saving repentance do? It opens up the heart, doesn't
it? It opens the heart and it comes
clean. And it's confession to God. And it says something like this,
I'm not going to deceive myself any longer. I'm not going to
try to deceive other people any longer. I'm tired of pretending. I'm tired of acting. I'm tired
of procrastinating. I'm going to step out into the
light and open my heart up to God and I'm going to tell Him
all the truth about myself. That woman that came to the Lord
Jesus with an issue of blood, And he said, Who touched me?
The Scripture says, She came trembling and told him all the
truth. That's repentance, isn't it?
You know what makes people afraid? You know why some people are
so ashamed? They've not come to the Lord and told Him all
the truth. Repentance clears everything
up, doesn't it? It clears everything up. The
Bible says God will have all men to be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth. She told him all the truth. If
preadventure, God will grant them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth. A truth about what? Themselves. What they've done and what they
are and who God is and the way of salvation. They tell him all
the truth. I bet you that woman that told
him all the truth, I bet you she began to name some names.
I bet she did. I bet she began to name some
of them positions. Well, you know she did. She told
him all the truth. And if that would have been me,
I would have had to say something like this, Lord, I went over there
to Mr. Morality, and he made me worse. Then I went over there to Save
Self, and I just got sicker. Then I went over there to Mr.
Do-Better. I got sicker. And Lord Jesus,
never was I made whole, never was I made whole until I came
and touched the hem of your garment. She told him all the truth. That's
what repentance is, isn't it? It's clearing the air. It's coming
out into the light. I was baptized when I was a young
man, probably ten or twelve. It didn't do me a bit of good.
I lived through my teenage years promising God, praying to God,
but my whole problem was this. My heart was defiled. I was black
with sin. I lived in self-deception. I
would not be honest with God. I would not come out into the
light and be honest with God. And that's what's going to happen.
That's what clears the air, you see. That's what removes everything
that's between us and God. This is what we need today in
professing Christianity. We need an awakening in professing
Christianity. We need to be brought to repentance.
Listen to what Paul said. Godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation, not to be repented of. For behold this selfsame
thing that you sorrowed after, a godly sorrow." And notice their
attitude in repentance. What carefulness it brought in
you. What clearing of yourselves. What does repentance do? It clears
the air. It clears yourself. It cleanses
yourself. Yea, what indignation against
yourself and sin, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal,
what revenge, in all things you have proved yourself to be clear
in this matter. As you and I look around us today
at professing Christianity, do we see anybody awakened? Our forefathers used to have
people and they were awakened. They became aware. They got so
serious of the present danger that they were in. They were
awakened to that. I don't see anybody like that
today, do you? That publican standing in the temple, smiting
up on his chest, what was he doing? He's coming clean with
God, wasn't he? He's coming clean with God. He
was awakened to see the seriousness of his present circumstances.
And it was so serious. He wouldn't hide himself any
longer. He wouldn't hide Himself any longer. He came out into
the open. He cleared Himself between Him
and God. When Adam and Eve sinned against
the Lord, remember what they did? They hid out, didn't they?
They hid behind those trees. And they heard the voice of the
Lord calling, and finally He brought them out. I tell you,
it's tough. It's tough. Awakenings is tough.
It's tough. Because it's facing the situation
that we're in. And it's dire. It's dangerous. And to come out and be awakened
clears the air. Lord, have mercy upon me. Lord, only You can save me. Lord,
only You can restore me. Forgive me. Receive me. And it's
a turning from what we are and the sin that we were in to God. And boy, that purifies the heart.
And the reason some people are so ashamed, the reason they get
afraid to face death, they're afraid to face the judgment,
is because they've never repented. Repentance has never begun in
their heart. They've never cleared the air
between them and God. And because they haven't, they're
still defiled. They're still defiled. Their
conscience is defiled. And sixthly, we said something
about this. If your heart has been purified
by these means, the new birth, the blood of Christ, the Word
of God, repentance, faith, if your heart's been purified, then
keep your heart pure. That's what Paul told Timothy,
wouldn't he? Keep your heart pure. Don't be
partakers of other men's sin. Keep thyself pure. You say, well, everybody else
is doing it. Everybody else is living that way. Well, the wise
men said, go not with the multitude to do evil, didn't they? I tell you, a multitude is on
the broad road to destruction, brothers and sisters. We know
that, don't we? Keep yourself pure. Walk in the light as He
is in the light, and then we have fellowship one with another. So we looked at that last week.
But look here, even their very mind and conscience is defiled. And here was the essential problem.
Here's the problem of every lost person. It's his mind. It's his
conscience. Now what is the mind? Somebody
said this about the mind. The mind is that part of us that
conceives thoughts and reasons and understands and judges of
things and has notions and opinions from which all actions spring. That's the mind. And here's the
problem with the mind by nature. It's defiled. It's defiled. Paul said this, In time past
you fulfilled the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
were by nature the children of wrath. The mind is defiled by
nature. He said, when we were enemies
in your mind by wicked works, and the carnal mind is enmity
against God. The problem with unconverted
people is the mind, isn't it? It's the mind. And he said the
conscience, even their mind and conscience is defiled. And someone
described the conscience this way. It's that which draws conclusions
and determines if a thing is right or wrong. if something
is to be accepted or if it's to be rejected. We may not be
able to define the conscience, but we know it, don't we? We
know it. It excuses us or accuses us,
the conscience. If the mind is purified, if the
mind is not purified, if it is still defiled by sin, then how
is it going to reason and understand and have good notions and judgment
about spiritual things. It can't, can it? The corrupt
mind can only reach corrupt conclusions. If the conscience is defiled,
what kind of right conclusion can't it reach? Thank God for
the conscience, but you know, brothers and sisters, it can't
be trusted. We have only one rule that can be trusted, and
that's God's Word. I'm glad for conscience. But
a defiled conscience can't be trusted to reach any right conclusion. It makes no difference what they
do or abstain from doing. It makes no difference what they
taste, touch, handle, or abstain from. They sin in all that they
do. Why? Because the inward part
is defiled. Their mind and conscience is
defiled. Boy, we're in a mess. We're in
absolute mess. We're born in a mess and we live
in a mess until God begins a work of grace in our hearts in the
new birth to purify the heart. We're just in a mess. I remember
well when my mind and my conscience was defiled. And you can too
if the Lord renewed you. You can remember that. The Lord
Jesus said cleanse first. that which is within the platter. Cleanse first the conscience.
Cleanse first the heart. Then the outside will become
clean. Cleanse first. Now here in verse
16 right quickly. They profess that they know God. They profess that they know God.
Isn't that amazing? Remember you were talking about
mainly the Jewish namely the Jews here on this island. He
tells us there in verse 10, they were unruly and vain talkers
and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, especially
the Jews. And in verse 11, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert
whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for selfish
gain. In verse 12, they are always
liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. And verse 15, their conscience
and mind is defiled, defiled and unbelieving, and yet they
profess to know God. Isn't that amazing? Yet they
profess to know God. That's absolutely amazing. That's
astounding. You and I should never be surprised or shocked
at the people, the ungodly, who profess to know God. Look over
here in Romans. Hold Titus just for a second.
Look over in Romans chapter 2. The Jews always boasted themselves
of the knowledge of God and how they knew the will of God and
they knew all about God. Romans chapter 2. The Lord Jesus
confronted the Jews of His day with three things they were void
of. He said there are three things that you guys are void of. One
of them was the love of God in their hearts. They knew nothing
of the love of God in their hearts. I know you, He said, that you
have not the love of God in you. If God were your Father, you
would love Me, because I came out from Him and He sent Me.
But you don't know Him, you don't love Him, and you don't have
His love in your heart. That's over in John chapter 5
verse 42. They were void of faith. Listen
to this, "...except you believe that I am He, you shall die in
your sins." And they did not believe Him. John 5.38, "...you
have not the Father's word abiding in you, for whom He hath sent
Him ye believe not." He made one of the most profound statements
one day. He said, "...because I tell you
the truth, you do not believe Me." Isn't that amazing? If somebody
comes and lies to you, He said, you'll believe them. But I've
told you the truth and you don't believe Me. Which one of you
convinces Me of sin? Have I ever lied to you? Have
I ever deceived you? And yet because I tell you the
truth, you don't believe Me. They were void of faith, void
of saving faith. And they were void of the saving
knowledge of God. They said unto him, Where is
thy father? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, You neither know me nor my father. If you had known me,
you should have known my father also. And yet they bragged about
how much knowledge they had of God and how they knew God's will. And that's what he's telling
us here in Romans 2. Look at this. We know God. We know God. Romans chapter 2 and verse 17.
Behold, thou art called a Jew, and you rest in the law, and
you make your boast of God, you brag about how you know God,
and you know His will, and you approve the things that are more
excellent being instructed out of the law, and art confident
that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them
which set in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, which hath the form of knowledge, and of the truth in
the law." Boy, that's a lot of knowledge, ain't it? We're the
only people that's got any truth, and if anybody's going to know
anything, they've got to learn it from us. I've seen some people
like that, haven't you? "...Thou therefore which teachest
another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest, a man should
not steal. Doest thou steal?" Yes, they
did. Thou that saith a man should not commit adultery, dost thou
commit adultery? Yes, they did. Thou that abhorreth
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law, through breaking the law dishonest thou God? For the
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as
it is written. boasting of how they know God
and the will of God and have the knowledge of God. Listen
to this. It is pretentious and dangerous
to boast that only we and our little clique have the knowledge
of God and only we know His will. And if anyone wants this knowledge,
they must consult us. Isn't that arrogant? The Word
and Spirit is not enough. We have an exclusive handle on
the knowledge of God. This is what the Jews were convinced
of and what they bragged about. They would never admit that any
other people could have this knowledge. They believed that
God would never reveal Himself to anybody else but the Jewish
people. And you know something? Orthodox
Jews still believe that today. They still believe that today.
And what did God do? I tell you, our Lord passed right
on by these Jews. Did He not? He just passed right
on by them, went to the Gentiles, and shined into their hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And He does that today. Henry
Mahan said he has seen congregations settle down in their pride and
thinking they know everything and nobody else knows nothing.
And he says he's seen God just leave them, pass by them, and
go out yonder in people's houses that confess we don't know anything. Lord, teach us! And he goes to
them and he appears to them. I tell you, the Word and the
Spirit, that's all we need. And you and me, we don't have
a handle on anything, do we? We know nothing as we ought to
know. They profess to know God. They
profess to know God. But look at this, but in works
they deny Him. They speak well of God. They
may even speak well of Jesus Christ. But their lives, their
lives, man, their lives, they deny Him in their lives. Talk
is cheap, ain't it? Talk is cheap. They profess to
know God, but in works they deny Him. Their practice is a contradiction
to their profession. Here is what Ezekiel said of
them. They come unto thee as the people
cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy
word. But they won't do them. They won't do them. With their
mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their
covetousness. And boy, look back here in our
text. Here is what the Holy Spirit says of these people. This is
the way He describes them. Well, I tell you, we're living
in a time that people look at God from one direction, and they
talk about His goodness. Boy, God is so good, and He is.
Boy, He is. He's indescribably good, and
He's merciful, and He's kind. But I tell you, He's just too,
isn't He? He's just, and He knows men's hearts. And buddy, he pulls
no punches when he begins to describe an unregenerate heart. And look here how he describes
them back here in verse 16. He says, being abominable. You
know what that word means? Distastable. Distastable. Abominable. I never use that
word, do you? We see it sometime in the Scriptures.
I never use it. Can you imagine calling somebody
abominable? distasteful? And that's the way
the Holy Spirit describes them. Look at this, disobedient. That
word means unpersuadable. They will not be persuaded. Though
one rose from the dead, the Lord said they won't be persuaded.
And look here, boy, this is something, reprobate. That word means unapproved,
rejected, worthless, cast away. The reprobate in every good work. Useless to every good work. They
can't do one thing that pleases God. And this is the kind of people
the church and these pastors were to deal with. Now you talk
about an unpleasant task. You talk about a burdensome task. And you know it hasn't changed
today, has it? While we fellowship with the Lord and fellowship
with one another, we face a hostile world. But it's not just the
open and profane sin, it's the religious world that we face.
And we're to confront them. And He told us up here in these
passages that we're to convict them, convince them of their
attitude, their conduct, their deception. So boy, there's more
to do than just being a Christian, having fun. It's tough, isn't
it? It's tough. And this is what's
wrong with people like Joel Osteen and some of those fellows that
don't want any controversy. I don't either. I hate controversy,
don't you? I hate controversy worse than
anything. But boy, when he said here, holding fast the faithful
word, that he may be able by sound doctrine to exhort and
to convince those who contradict. I don't blame any of you a bit
if you don't get mixed up in some of these fights that's involved
right here. I wish I didn't have to, but
I've got no choice. I've got no choice. I've had
people to meet me out of the pulpit. I've went to jail to
have people to cuss me through the bars. But the most controversial
that I've ever had in my life is from these people right here,
these religious people. And we made the statement just
a few weeks ago, if you can nip it in the bud, that's the best
place to nip it. If you let it grow until it blossoms,
boy, that's when it gets to be trouble, isn't it? If the church
had stood united, and cut some of these cults off, the Mormons,
Jehovah Witness, and some divisions of the Church of Christ, and
some of these other cults, if they had stood together and came
out with one united voice against them, and stood against them,
they'd have nipped it in the bud. But because the church was
too busy building megachurches, too busy doing worldwide programs
and all of this stuff, all of it slipped in, didn't it? It
slipped in. We have got a responsibility
as God's children, not only to hold to the truth, but stand
against that which is false. And that's what this whole first
chapter is about. Next week, the Lord's willing,
we'll go into the home, and we'll look at that next week.