Titus 1:15+16 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed. 
The Apostle Paul, in this letter to Titus, highlights many aspects of what it means to be a Christian. There are many reminders of what is to be true in our lives, now that we are in Christ. But, imbedded in these encouragements is an aspect of this passage, although written specifically with regard to non-believers, which has hit home in my heart. There is an inherent warning about an entrapment of succumbing to a natural tendency of human nature. We must carefully guard our hearts against it. It is a character flaw of our humanity, of all humanity, which can defile that which is pure before God. Many times, it just creeps into our hearts, like crabgrass, until it overwhelms us in our complacency. It is a matter of our inconsistency with regard to our spiritual nature in Christ Jesus. One example can be seen in some of us as we consider worship. We commit ourselves to ever greater levels of coming together unto the Lord, and yet within weeks, we fall back into old habits and laxness of dedication. And there are many other areas of equal concern in our spiritual lives before God. 
This morning, in the light of the purity of Jesus Christ and all that we are before Him, let us consider that which should send a chill of fright and concern through our new spiritual nature in Him. There are characteristics that would define our spiritual inconsistency before Him and which we need to strive after the Holy Spirit to deal with in our individual and corporate expression of Christ. If they are evident in our lives, we need to seek earnestly after that healing and complete and faithful working of God to bring them to a swift demise in our hearts. 
The first of these negative characteristics of a spiritually inconsistent heart is that of uncharitableness. This uncharitableness is that of our attitude toward others. It is not simply an unwillingness to give financially or charitably, as defined by the tax codes. It is a heart which sees nothing in another but their lack, their need, their circumstances, their trials and tribulations and does nothing other than exalt itself in the idea that, at least, we are not like them. Our Lord was very forceful in His manner of dealing with this heart of inconsistent spiritual reality. Matt 7:3 "And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 
There should be a heart that sees a need and is willing to do something other than criticize and gloat in a seeming betterness. There should be a heart that sees their need as our need and responds accordingly.
	Our Lord took this to another level as He referred to the religious leaders of His day. Matt 23:1-3 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them. Jesus saw them for what they were, men striving after power and worldly exaltation at the expense of those in greatest need. They were too good to help, so they directed the masses to deal with the issues on their own while lording the position of Moses’ seat over them. They had no compassion for those beneath their station and lacked the charity of heart to do other than criticize others and expound their own virtue over the faults of their listeners.
	This leads to the very next characteristic of an inconsistent spiritual condition, that of merely practicing religious talk. Again Our Lord identified this bitter, spiritual root in Luke 6:44-46 "For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. "And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? How easy it is for us, after we have heard the Word of God preached year after year, to be able to say the right things, yet not have any idea of what we are truly meaning in that verbiage. We can recite and we can repeat and we can memorize, but can we live what we have been taught? After years and years of being together under wonderful God-centered teaching, are there those among us whose lives do not show that we have heard a single word? As Christ states, And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 
Please do not point a finger at anyone, which would only validate this statement. Rather, let us search our hearts and our thoughts and our attitudes toward God and toward others and ask the Lord to make us live that which we have heard over the course of our life in Him. This is not going to be easy, by any stretch of our thoughts. There are going to be many of us who may find ourselves even wondering if we are saved before the Lord finishes that which we seek, if we earnestly seek Him. This will involve all of us, new, young, middle-aged and old, all of us in a work that will test the very fabric of what Christ really means as our life on this earth. It is a vital necessity in my life. And you, alone, must determine if it is needed in your lives. I speak solely and solemnly for myself in this heart that it is can not be merely religious talk. It must be life that He brings to His people.
	This aspect of spiritual inconsistency then flows into a characteristic of legalism. When we lack a living understanding of the life of Jesus Christ, we begin to put forth, from our limited viewpoint, strict laws and regulations upon ourselves and others. It is with the wrong idea that in legalism we can honor God. The Lord speaks directly to this attitude in John 7:23+24 "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." The Pharisees and the scribes operated from the law, with every motive set on doing that which physically, to the very best of their abilities, fulfilled that which they held with greatest regard and esteem. They did so because it put them at the top of the heap of humanity, making them someone special and to be proclaimed for all their good works. Christ, however, met the needs that were presented to Him for the single purpose of glorifying God. He was not bound by a law of man for man. He was bound by the love of God and He did all as unto the Father, from the love of the heart of God. He loves those for whom He has been sent. He lived in the purity of doing all that would please the Father with no motive of self-exaltation. 
	This, then, points to the next progression in the characteristic development of an inconsistent spiritual nature, that of legalism leading to harsh judgment of others. As the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Rome in Rom 2:1-3, Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? There is something at work within us that seems to delight in placing judgment upon another. It probably stems from an evil idea that if we can put others beneath our station, in some form or fashion, it will make us seem better and more superior. We look to see how others behave and we are very quick to point out those areas in which we live in a much better, outward manner than they. Thus we attempt to prove that we are someone of greater value. All the while, we are corrupt and misguided and deluded within our hearts and beings and are sinking very quickly into the muck of putrid self adulation. The truth is that we are quick to judge others doing wrong, because we do that same wrong. We can see it easily in them because we recognize it in us. We just want them to suffer the shame in order to deflect the attention of others from the same inspection in our lives. They become the target so we can slip away into the darkness of night unseen and unmolested.
	Thus we fall into the next pattern or characteristic of this inconsistency as Christians, that of preaching, but not practicing that which we espouse. Again, we read the Apostle Paul as he writes to the Romans, Rom 2:21-23. you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? Having reminded the church who we were as gentiles, apart from God, lost in the depravity of our sinful nature, the Apostle Paul now challenges us in the course of our new life in Christ. We are to live in accordance with that which we have learned in Jesus, and not according to the pattern of our former captivity. Our lives are to manifest the grace and the mercy and joy of the Lord. They are to be lived in utter compliance to the value and the virtue that is now ours in Christ. We are not to just give mouth service to God, but heart service in every facet of our lives.
	Paul even had to admonish the church leadership in this heart of living what we know to be true in Jesus Christ. It is very easy to succumb to the former things without realizing that we are compromising our stand and our declaration of Jesus Christ as our everything. Sometimes, inadvertently, we end up putting a yolk on others that we do not take upon ourselves. Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? It is vital that our lives give full expression to the One, Whom we profess. Admittedly, we will not be perfect in this endeavor. However, our hearts must have that full desire unto Christ’s perfection. Our hearts must desire Him to such an extent that as we are shown our imperfections, we will seek more fully after His absolute perfection. That we will not hang onto anything out of self-pride or shame.
	Selfishness is another trait that is seen in an inconsistent spiritual life. There is great stress on either my greatness or my lowliness, which turns a blind eye to the true sense of what needs to take place. We see others in terms of how helping or not helping would affect me. We look at them with eyes that seek after how we benefit or are harmed in their condition or plight. We become so prevalently the target of our gaze, that we cannot truly see their need. As we read in James 2:15+16 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Our focus of attention is me and my part in everything, seeing the world and even God revolving around me and how I live my life. There is no real concern for others and there is absolutely no concern for the glory of God, except for the part in which it benefits me, my reward, my glory.
	The vileness of this self-centered focus shows forth the final characteristic that we will consider this morning, that of our double tongue. We become so deceived in our inconsistency that we do not even realize that we are fooling nobody but ourselves with the words that we speak. We proclaim, with all the volume of our mouths the name of the Lord, yet we shelter to ourselves the real lordship of our lives. We pronounce judgment in His name, yet we refuse to listen to Him as He shows the hardness of our hearts. We crow with the greatness of our intentions and our knowledge, yet seek refuge in the safety of the comfort of our possessions and our supposed position of power and prestige. James 3:8-11 addresses this double-tongued deceitfulness. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 
With our tongues, we profess Christ as our everything, but what of our lives? Are we the pure witnesses of Christ’s sovereignty? Or, do we try to have the things of this world, its glory, and its adoration, and its fleeting treasures, while at the same instant decrying them in an appearance of holiness? This is a question that we must each face in our walk with the Lord. We are not the ones to judge each other, but are to bear witness to the truth of Christ only as He reigns in our hearts and in our lives. As the Apostle John writes in 1 John 2:4-6, The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. 
Our hearts need to be challenged, need to undergo the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal. We need to desire the earnest and relentless seeking required before God Almighty as to the manner in which we conduct ourselves on this earth. As I stated earlier, do not point a finger at anyone else. Beset God with our humble and persistent and intense prayers to search our hearts and our thoughts and our attitudes toward Him and toward His Body of Believers. Plead with God to make us live that which we have been taught by Him. This is not going to be easy. This is not going to be a simple exercise. This is utter and absolute death to everything we hold dear. As I stated, there are going to be very many of us who will find ourselves even questioning the very fabric of our salvation before God finishes with us, if we earnestly seek Him. This fiery trial, if we seek it with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our beings, will test the very fabric of what Christ really means as our life on this earth. May it ever and always be in the purity of the Spirit of God’s so great love to His Glory Alone! To His Glory Alone! So be it!
To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed… To the pure, all things are pure… Amen. 
	
This morning’s benediction is Rev 1:4b-6 …Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.