CRETANS

CRETANS

Titus 1:12-14 (KJV)

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

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

• Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, specifically “left” Titus in Crete.
• ·He wasn’t there by accident or happenstance
• ·   It wasn’t just a good place to get his feet wet in the ministry

God had placed Titus in Crete on purpose, with a specific work he was to accomplish.

·   He was to set in order the things that were wanting and

·   He was to ordain elders in every city 

The Word of God proceeds then to detail the sort of men he was to look for as candidates.

It wasn’t enough that a man was 

·   Willing to do it or even 

·   Wanted to do it

He had to be

·   Qualified to do it

And this qualification was not an issue of talent but of character.

By the time we get to verses 9-11 we find out why the character of these preachers is so important;

Titus 1:10-11 (KJV)

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

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

We will never win souls from unruly, vain talkers and deceivers with the same.

We will never stop the mouths of unruly vain talkers and deceivers through the redirection of unruly vain talkers and deceivers.

Doesn’t this make sense?

·   You can’t use unruliness, even if it is directed toward Christianity, to stop unruliness.

·   You can’t use vain talking, even when it is Christian in content, to stop vain talking.

·   You can’t use deceit, even if it has good Christian intentions, to stop deceivers.

And you know that we have them, don’t we?

We have preachers, so-called, who are brazen, fleshly, willful, arrogant, vain and downright dishonest– but because they have “people skills” they fill pulpits all over the world.

The Word of God says that there are these unruly vain talkers and deceivers.

Notice in our text for tonight that, even the people of the world can recognize them.

Titus 1:12 (KJV)

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

The scholars think they know who this “prophet of their own” was. 

They say he was a man by the name of Epimenides.

·   He was a poet[1]of that period

·   He was from Crete and

·   He was considered one of the seven wisest Greek men of the time

However, those same scholars say that he lived to be 157 years old. 

I don’t know if it was Epimenides or not. I don’t think that matters.

What I do know is that even their own people recognized how evil the Cretans[2]were.

·   Always liars

·   Evil beasts

·   Slow bellies

As I meditated upon that this week, three thoughts came to my mind.

I. WHAT A PLACE TO SERVE

Titus 1:5 (KJV)

For this cause left I thee in Crete, …

There is a passage in the book of the Revelation[3]where seven churches in Asia are mentioned.

Many Bible students believe that these seven churches are used to describe the kinds of churches that we’ll find throughout church history.

·   One of them is doctrinally right, but has no love

·   One of them suffers terribly at the hand of Satan

·   One of them exists where Satan’s seat is

·   One of them puts up with Jezebel

·   One of them looks like it’s alive, but it’s dead

·   One of them has revival and God’s blessings upon it

·   One of them is miserable and poor and blind and naked

If, as Titus was, we are assigned by God to the places we serve, I want to be assigned to Philadelphia where revival is and where God protects his people from temptation.

The plain fact is, not everyone can be there.

·   God needs Christians where liars abound

·   God needs Christians where wickedness rules

·   God needs Christians where Satan’s seat is and

·   God needs Christians where enemies will kill them

One of the most interesting things about Jesus’ letters to these seven churches is that they all end the same way, 

Revelation 3:22 (KJV)

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Be faithful where God puts you.

·   He may move you someday

·   He may not

Be faithful where you are.

Secondly, I thought

II. WHAT A PEOPLE TO LEAD

Titus 1:12 (KJV)

… The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

A. Alway liars

·   All people have a predilection to “bend the truth” in their favor.

·   For some people, the “sin which doth so easily beset” them is lying but then

·   There is a grade of people who just can’t tell the truth

Can you imagine having to work with them?

·   To try to build a godly church with them?

·   To have to find in them some who are qualified to be ordained into the Gospel ministry?

B. Evil beasts

This a double negative.

A Cretan called the Cretans:

Beasts– animals a life form created by God but having no soul.[4]

Worse yet

Evil– animals bent on doing wrong. (especially to others).

This is obviously not literally true of the Cretans. 

·   They do in fact have a soul

·   They will spend eternity forever somewhere 

·   They ought to be reached with the Gospel when possible

Somebody needs to stay there and try to reach them.

C. Slow bellies

The first interpretation of this phrase implies two things:

·   Gluttony and

·   Slothfulness

That is a bad combination for sure.

But in the days when the Bible was written, the belly, or the bowels, was used to describe the seat of emotions.

Philippians 2:1-2 (KJV)

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Men, do you remember how, when you first met the love of your life, your guts hurt for her?

I think this could also be a reference to a stunted or inappropriate sense of love. In other words

A love or and worship of self.[5]

And Titus has been left in Crete to try to serve the Lord there!

I saw a phrase this week I think applies.

“When you can sit at the table with your Judas, then you will understand the love of God.”

Alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies– love them as Jesus does and try to reach them for His sake.

Thirdly consider,

III. WHAT A MESSAGE TO PREACH

Titus 1:13 (KJV)

This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

Considering the congregation he’s been given and the task he has been assigned, Titus is instructed, “rebuke them sharply.”

Rebuke is an appropriate and necessary style of preaching,

2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Rebuke,

It means to tell a fault.

It means to refute a belief or a practice

It means to bring under conviction

Sharply

It means curtly

It means abruptly

Probably most importantly it carries the meaning of preemptively.

This style of preaching is intended to stop the fault before it happens.

This kind of preaching drives at changing ideas and the practice of those ideas before they can do harm.

Notice the goal of this preaching,

Vs 13c

“that they may be sound in faith.”

Sound faith comes only from corrected beliefs,

Conclusion

I know some preachers who serve in some pretty tough places.

I know some Christians who work in some pretty dark places.

My job tonight is to tell you to stick with it.

God has you right where you need to be.

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[1]Poets were considered prophets because, in those days, the gift of poetry or of rhythmic speech, was considered as coming from a muse (a demon).

[2]Cretan is the modern term for the biblical Cretian.

[3]Revelation chapters 2-3

[5]Both laziness and gluttony are arguably forms of self-love.