Introduction

The Prophetic Charismatic Movement has taught for years that healing is the right of all God’s children, that we can speak with authority creative miracles into existence, that we can live in such an “anointed” manner as to never even get sick! However, this does not even work in their own personal lives and religious circles. I do not deny that the Lord our God can heal. God does so according to His sovereign will. We, His children do not command healing to “be.” Yet, there are people going around commanding Satan as if they had authority, commanding demons and disease as if they had authority over. We have all heard them do that? Heart disease, cancer I command you depart the body them. There are people running around claiming they can bind demons. When the bible teaches in Revelation 20 says, only Jesus Christ can dispatch a holy angel to bind him. It is important to take note of Jude 1:9. Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

The facts are that many in this movement have died from disease and needed medical attention. Some are E.W. Kenyon, Father of the Word of Faith Movement. One of the initial teachers of divine healing died in a coma brought on by a malignant tumor. Joyce Meyer, the Word of Faith female preacher, admitted that she had breast cancer and was medically treated. Katherine Kuhlman – an acknowledged divine healer died from heart disease. The list goes on and on. If you want I can sent you a link written by a former member of the movement with examples after example of their leaders going to doctors and hospitals and dying like the rest of humanity with sickness and disease. (http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/sick.htm) They had no authority. The truth is authority is given in the New Testament for preaching and teaching and that is what we will address this morning in this message…

I. God’s Give Preaching Authority v15.

1. In verse 15 Paul, again goes back to addressing Titus. He had said in 2:1, “Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine,” and here Paul states, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” Folks, being a minister of the Word of God has the responsibility of leading the church so one must speak the things fitting for sound doctrine. You must speak, exhort, and reprove truth with all authority.

2. Most important is the responsibility to compel people to the authority of sound doctrine and teaching moved by the Holy Spirit. The word “authority” is disliked in people’s minds. So this word is worthy of attention. It is epitagē, (epic-ti-gay) which is essentially a military term that means “command.” In fact, wherever you see epitagē in the New Testament, many times it is translated “commandment,” or “command.”

3. The preacher’s authority then comes when he speaks the Word of God. You see that pastors are to speak and exhort and reprove, not with limited authority or little authority but with all authority. Whenever you speak the Word of God, it is authoritative. Jesus was teaching as one having authority we read in Mark 1:22, “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. The pastor does not simply share his insights, Pastors are to tell you what the Word of God says, we have been delegated that authority. Paul says this, 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort,” – it sounds quite similar to Titus. We must handle the Word with clarity, with accuracy, so as to unleash its power upon people souls, by which the Holy Spirit saves.

4. Paul says, “Speak.” The Greek word means “say it so people hear it,” and exhort.” So we say it so that you hear it, which means understand. This is the first objective. The Scripture then say to “exhort” it is the word “Parakaleō” the N.T. word translated “exhortation.” So it is the power of the preacher, to press you, to touch your soul, so that you embrace it with a desire to appropriate it. Paul adds a negative word, “And reprove,” that means “create conviction.” Effective preaching will create a sincere conviction from the Word of God.

5. The end of verse 15 is a special instruction to Titus in reference to himself: “Let no man despises thee; that is, give no occasion for others to speak again you, always be an example of the believer. Let no one imagine that they can evade you by their rationalizations, by their self-justification. This could relate to those that like in the epistle of Timothy despise his youth.

II. Preaching Deserves a Response vv. 3:1-2.
1. This morning I want to pose a question to you: How are we as believers to respond to a society that is so pagan? What is a proper Christian response for us in a pagan culture? Paul answers that very question in this next chapter. It won’t be easy to assimilate but this is God’s word. Paul reminds Titus in chapter 3:1 “Put them in mind” means remind those under your care to show proper respect and humility towards all people, particularly those in a position of authority. We remind you of what you already know. This is in the Present imperative and it means it’s a regular, ongoing, continuing duty of reminding them. Preachers, pastors are to remind the people of the necessity of behaving themselves in a pagan society.

2. Paul gives this command to (be subject to rulers and authorities) this had special emphasis within the culture that he wrote this letter. Rome ruled the world and paganism was rampant. Christianity was under attack; Satan’s desire was to wipe it out. His desire is the same today. Christianity is under attack some even believe it is dead. Biblical morality is assaulted relentlessly. Moral liberty reigns for folks to do what they want. The destruction of the family unit and it’s breakdown is epidemic. Abortions go on and the funding just keeps coming.

Applications: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill that makes abortions a “right” in the state and allows abortions up to birth. It also allows non-doctors to abort babies. Governor Murphy violated the pro-life principles of the Catholic Church, of which he claims to be a sincere follower. He is just one among many. — Catholic bishops are encouraging Americans to dedicate nine days this January to praying for the end to Roe v. Wade and the taking of unborn babies in abortions.

3. Sexual evils, drugs, crime, pagan education is flooding our nation like a tsunami hitting our shores. We can’t come close to coping with this flood of evil; it is so deceptive. Evil is made to appear as good and good to appear as evil. This culture has shredded all of the standards, and morals we’d known to be right. So now we have a generation that can’t figure out what is right, and what is wrong. Materialism and humanism used to be our main concerns and now it is pure evil we must co-exist with. That is where we are but we do not surrender we must proceed.

4. So the way we live within the church today and among ourselves is crucial as a platform for our faith. In chapter 3 Paul is not so concern how believers live among each other in the church, but how we live in the society, how we live among non-Christians, how we live in our culture and we are to live in the world but not of the world. It is more and more not our home.

Paul knew what it was like to live in a thoroughly pagan culture in a culture of tyrants, evil dictators and murderous. He knew what it was to witness a society submerged in sexual perversion. So he through the Holy Spirit is speaking to us because we are pretty much at the same place as a society borrowing a few differences. We still have some very influential ministry and churches in the good ole USA. There is still hope for revival.

5. People, even amidst the evil prevalent today we have a duty. We must keep these things in mind they become the motivation for living specially in a pagan world. Jesus said, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” Christians are to submit to: government it is designed by God Romans 13. There is no authority except from God, those which exist are established by God.” God has designed human government. The only time we disobey is when we have been mandated by Scripture to do something we are forbidden to do, or not to do something we compelled to do. This is when the government abrogated it’s authority by God.

Then Paul says, at the end of verse 1, “Remind them to…be ready for every good work.” Approach life no matter how volatile the culture is against Christianity, no matter how pagan it is to the very core, we must aggressively pursue every good thing, Then in verse 2 he moves on in his list of seven virtues, “To malign no one” Not even one person is the idea. It’s the verb blasphēmeō from which we get the word blaspheme. It means “to slander” or “to treat with contempt.” We must confront sin. We must call sinners to repentance, but we do not stoop to blasphemy, slander, cursing, and speaking contemptuously of people.

6. Then he says to Titus that Christians are “to be uncontentious,” “not fighting.” We’re not to fight, we’re to be peaceful, friendly, don’t quarrel with government, don’t fight leaders. We’re not to be combative. So easy to be contentious and hostile and angry about what happens in the pagan culture in which we live, and especially if it elevates our taxes or if it changes our neighborhood or our culture or whatever it is – we get angry about that.

Conclusion:
Why is it so hard for people to accept the authoritative Word of God? The only authority that is legitimate is the Word of God. One writer put it this way: “The Bible is the real preacher, and all the role of the man in the pulpit is to simply to let the passage say its piece through him. For the preacher to reach the point where he no longer hinders or obstructs his text from speaking is harder work than is sometimes realized. However, there can be no disputing that this is the task.” Are you saved do you obey?