Word of Salvation – Vol.44 No5 – February 1999

 

Encouragement and Rebuke

 

Sermon by Rev D Baird on Titus 2:14-15

Scripture Readings: Matthew 12:15-21; Titus 2:1-15

Suggested Hymns:

BoW 357; BOW 217; BOW 205; BOW 133a; R 342; R 57

 

Congregation,

important in any congregation – in any church – is the way we talk to one another. Some of us talk more than others, but all of us talk. We’ll go outside after this and talk about all sorts of things. Things that have happened since we saw each other last. Things other people have toid us. Things we plan to do this week, or later this year. When any group of people get together, we talk. But in the church that talk sometimes gets serious. We talk about the Bible – or what the sermon was about. And we talk about each other, because we are a community of God’s people, and we are involved with each other. Christ has purchased us and made us a community.

And as a community we are well aware of each other. If someone is not here we notice it. If someone does something unusual, we notice it. And we might think, “ah…” or “mmmm…” or “ugh”. Sometimes we are so impressed we rush up to them and say “that was wonderful, that was fantastic”. At other times we are not impressed at all and feel we should say something to them about it. But quite often we say nothing because we are not sure.

It is this type of talk i want to speak about today, the way we talk to each other as a Christian community – the talking part of our fellowship.

In the Bible there’s a fair bit about how we should speak with each other in Christian fellowship. Let’s just take two verses by way of illustration, but there are many others that are similar. Titus 2:14-15 (read).

You realise this is part of a letter from the apostle Paul to his assistant Titus. This is how Titus, the minister, was to speak to people in the churches of Crete where he was working. He was to teach certain things to older men, older women, younger women, young men and slaves. And now summing up, Titus 2:15. What he was to tell them is set out. THE WAY he was to do it was to encourage and rebuke with all authority. We want to focus on the balanced method of encouragement and rebuke.

The Need for Gospel Encouragement

Simply put, we need to speak to each other the same way God speaks. If God’s method was to yell at us out of heaven, then we should yell at each other. If God’s method was to crawl to us on hands and knees, begging us to do what he wants, then we should do the same. So we should try to find out how does God speak to us?

Does God speak to us in a military way? I mean like a Sergeant-Major on the parade ground – shouting out the orders so we snap to attention and do it? Perhaps he does speak like that, and after all that would be a simple way to speak, wouldn’t it. After all he is God, and we are his creatures. He issues the orders – we do what we’re told. Everyone knows where they are – simple!

Now God could speak like that, but would that achieve what he means to achieve? Because the Lord has a goal, a purpose. We are told about that goal in this verse – verse 14. It is to have a people who are his very own, eager to do what is good. And to achieve that goal, God hasn’t just yelled at us out of heaven. Rather, Jesus Christ has given himself for us, to redeem us and purify us. By redeeming us and purifying us, that’s how Christ gets a people who are keen to do what is good. Not by military but by gospel means.

I said we need to speak to each other the same way God speaks to us. The way we speak to each other needs to be an echo of God’s Word in the gospel. if God speaks to us with the gospel, we should speak to each other with the gospel. And our manner of speaking should have a gospel ring about it – a gospel tone about it. I suggest this word ‘encourage’ has a gospel ring about it. Mind you ‘encourage’ is not a wimpish word. The idea is comforting, encouraging, urging, exhorting, helping. It’s a strong word, and it does mean doing what is necessary to help that person progress and grow. Christ is redeeming us from wickedness and purifying us. The way we speak to each other is to fit in with what Christ is doing and cooperate with that process.

We read before from Matthew 12 – the Lord’s Servant, Isaiah had said, would serve in a certain way: “A bruised reed he will not break. and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (verse 20). In the process of redeeming and purifying a people for himself, there will be bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. Because sin creates misery – it leaves people wounded – it leaves us scarred, nervous and unsure. With such people you have to be gentle. Otherwise the reed will break and the wick go out.

If the Lord Jesus ministered to people like that, we need to do the same. Don’t forget the aim: to have a people for Christ, eager to do what is good. We encourage each other towards that goal.

Another example is in verse 6 in Titus 2. A tall order: young men are always charging off, adrenalin pumping – “boys will be boys”. But we can urge them to take charge of themselves, because they are being redeemed and purified. We encourage them to cooperate with Christ; to avail themselves of the power of Christ’s Spirit. Our method fits in with God’s method.

That’s also true now with this second part…

2. The Need for Gospel Rebuke

It should be fairly obvious to all of us by now that we live in a different culture than we used to. Here’s an illustration to highlight this. When I was young we lived on a farm and my father belonged to the local bush  fire brigade. If my father couldn’t make it to the monthly meeting of the fire brigade, this is what he used to do. He would ring up the Fire Brigade Captain and say, “Would you please excuse me from the meeting tonight – unfortunately, I’ve got the flu” or whatever. “Would you please excuse me from the meeting.”

He would put it like that because he believed that being a member of the bush fire brigade meant he was under an obligation to be there at that meeting, unless the Captain excused him. That sense of obligation to the group was a strong point with that generation.

It would seem that sense of obligation is not nearly as strong these days. In our society the rights of the individual are emphasised much more than they used to be. So, I will decide what I will do – other people can fit in with me.

So these days, if there is a bush fire brigade meeting on, you will just say, “Sorry I can’t come.” You probably won’t say, “Would you please excuse me?” And it’s like that not just in the bush fire brigade, but also in the church. These days if someone rings up before a meeting, most likely they will say, “I won’t be coming tonight.” Of course it was good that they rang. We are influenced by the culture we grow up in. A measure of individualism has seeped into the church. And individualism is not good for the church — because the church is God’s community – Christ has redeemed a people to be his very own.

Now I don’t want you to think that all was good with the old society and all is bad with the new. That’s not true. In the past, with that strong sense of obligation, some took too much notice of what the community expected. At least these days we have been set free from slavery to other people’s opinions – and that’s healthy. Each culture has its up side and its down side.

But the point here is this: These days it is getting harder to accept this bit about rebuking with all authority. “Encourage and rebuke with all authority – do not let anyone despise you.” Encouraging we can accept — it fits right into the mood of our times. Rebuking with all authority? That’s something else.

Rebuking is not so acceptable these days. It doesn’t sit well with the rights of the individual – who may well sue you if you are not careful. Nonetheless, rebuking is part of God’s method. Remember God’s plan? It is to redeem us from all wickedness, and purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Christ gave himself up to achieve this, and now we are to speak to each other about it. The way we speak to each other arises out of the gospel. Christ has given himself for us; the Spirit is at work purifying us; our role is in speaking to each other.

Don’t forget, this rebuking arises out of the gospel. Going to someone and getting it off your chest: is not gospel rebuking. Putting pressure on someone by our insistent manner, or by intimidating them is not gospel rebuking either. Trying to coerce them or force them to do what God says they should do, is not a gospel method either. God is at work redeeming and purifying because he wants a people eager to do what is good. Our methods need to cooperate with what he is doing. And they need to include, as needed, encouragement and rebuke.

As Paul also says to Timothy in his previous letter, this inciudes correcting, rebuking and encouragement – with great patience and careful instruction (4:2). The Lord doesn’t want a people who just outwardly conform to a set of rules – he wants a people who are keen to do good. What we do is to fit in with that goal.

Conclusion When any group of people get together we talk. But in the church that talk is sometimes serious. We talk about the Bible. And we talk about each other, because we are a community of God’s people and we are involved with each other. Christ has purchased us and made us a community. The Lord’s programme for his church involves us talking with each other. Today we have seen that includes:

1. the need for gospel encouragement;

2. the need for gospel rebuke.

This is not a matter of giving the Lord a hand. It’s a matter of seeing what the Lord is doing, and getting with it. He is purifying a people for himself. The Lord has made our fellowship a part of that process.

Amen.