The Pulpit Commentary — Titus — Section 18

were want of Ohurch officie.ls, le.ck of Church government, want of cohesion between the Churches of the island; in a word, there was plenty of Christie.n life, but no Christian organize.t.ion BB yet in Crete. It was rather a number of Christian brotherhoods than one." "Set in order." God is the God of order, as witnessed in the harmonious operations of nature. Disorder, both in the mental and moral domains, is abnormal and pernicious; it implies e,·ermore a deviation from the established law of Almighty love. A disordered body is diserumd, so is a disordered soul. A disordered family lacks the condition both of p,•ace and prosperity, A disordered Church, for many reasons, ie the greatest of all evils. Confusion in a. Church is a calumny of Christ, a.nd obstructive at once to its peaoo, power, prosperity, a.nd usefulness. "Order," ~aye Southey, "is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the beams to a house, as the bones to the microcosm of man, so is order to all things.n Il. THAT THE MAINTENANCE OF CHURCH ORDER MAY REQUIRE THE MINISTRY OF SPECIAL SUPERINTENDENTS. The words "elder," " bishop," " pastor," etc., all refer to the same office, and that office means "superintendent," or "overseer." "These pres- byters were to be most carefully selected, according to the instructions Titus must remember Paul had given him on some previous occasion." There was to be some one to overlook all. Such a one is to maintain order, not by legislating but by loving; not by the assumption of authority, but by a humble devotion to the spiritual interests of all. The ministry of such a man is needed because of the many elements of discord that exist, even in the best communities, such as temper, self-will, pride, etc. III. THAT THE SUPERIN'I'ENDENTS SHOULD BE MEN OF DISTINGUISHED EXCELLENCE. " Blameless," etc. The highest offices in Church and state should always be filled by the highest characters. The morally small man, elevated to a high office, is an incon- gruity and a curse; and yet how common is such a sight! Moral serfs on thrones, moral rogues on the bench, moral sycophants in the ecclesiastical world I Here Paul denotes the style of men required to superintend the Chumh. "If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly," etc. "The expressions," says Dr. Fairbairn, "indicate one possessed of that prudence and 8elf-control, that uprightness of character, that kind, generous, disinterested, gracious disposition, which were fitted to command the respect and secure the confidence and affection of a Christian community--one altogether such as might serve for a pattern to a flock over whom he was appointed to preside, and guide their affairs with discretion." The qualifications of this office are here given in: 1. A negative form. "Not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre." 2. A positive form. "The hug band of one wife, having faithful children, a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful Word as he bath been taught."-D. T. Vers. 10-14.-7'/ie sina of the sect and the ,iM of the tri"be. "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision," etc. In the preceding verses Paul stated one purpose for which he left Titus in Crete, viz. to set in order "the things that are wanting," and to ordain elders in every city. He recog- nized ai once, not only the importance of order in the new community, but also the importance of appointing men who, intellectually and morally, were qualified for its establishment and continuance. In these verses he gives Titus directions .as to his aggressive work in Crete. He was to do battle with sin. "For there are many unruly [ menJ and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouth A mnst be stopped, who subvert [overthrow J whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." The great work of the gospel minuter iB to do baetle wi,th ,in. In the text, sin is referred to a.s appearing in two aspects, in religiom sect and in national character. L ill BELIGIOUB BEOT. "Specially they of the circumcision." These, undoubtedly, are Judaizing Christians, men who pretended to be converted to Christianity, men who sought not only to mingle Judaic elements with the new religion, but to inculcate and disseminate it in that form. Observe the desoription of sin as it appeared in this religious sect--these men of the circumcision. Here is: 1. Factiousness. "Un~uly." Nat onlv would thev not bow to the established order of the Church, but not to the OH, I, 1-16.] THE EPISTLE TO 'l'J'l'li::S. cl