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"Liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons..."

Text: Titus 1:12

EXPOSING THE ENEMIES

The apostle Paul had vast experience dealing with enemies of the gospel. The enemies were many and their attacks against the Gospel were varied. The enemies of the Gospel in Crete were many. An important way of battling with the enemies was to know them better. Paul did his research and had the following words to share with Titus.

“One of them, a prophet of their own, said,
‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.'”
Titus 1:12

1. “One of them”

a) Paul was making reference to a Cretan speaker or writer.

b) We are not certain as to whether the source was from a book or from a speech.

2. “A prophet of their own”

a) This does not mean that Paul believed he was a true prophet of God.

b) This speaker was regarded as a prophet by the Cretans.

3. The observation of the Cretan prophet

a) “Cretans are always liars”

i) This does not mean that every time they spoke they lied.

ii) The intended meaning is that the words of Cretans were not automatically trustworthy.

iii) They resorted to telling lies without any qualms.

b) “Evil beasts”

i) They were prone to doing evil things.

ii) They were unfavourably compared to “beasts”.

c) “Lazy gluttons”

i) They were “gluttons”.

ii) The word “lazy” had other implications.

iii) They were “useless”.

iv) They were “idle”.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STATEMENT

The significance of the citation of this text must not be lost!

1. The credibility of the deceivers would be seriously eroded.

2. Having been forewarned, the individual must now also be forearmed!