TITUS 2:1-102008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Titus 2:1-10

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. As we continue our study through the book of Titus, now in chapter 2, Paul the Apostle is writing to Titus about different groups of people. And there's five different groups that we'll be talking about this morning.

First we'll see the older men, then the older women, the younger women, the younger men, and finally the bond servants or we'll relate to them as employees. And many of you may look at this and say, well what about me? I'm middle-aged. I'm not the older or the younger and so where do I fit in this equation?

Paul the Apostle, he didn't give age specifications when he uses the term older or younger. There's no Greek insight here that will help determine that age. And I think it's important and it's purposeful that we're talking somewhat about age, but also we're talking about spiritual maturity.

And so both of these things need to be in view as we look at the older versus younger and find out which group we fall into. Now, just to kind of help you orientate yourself to the appropriate group for you this morning, I want to ask you to just take a couple seconds to look around the room. And if there's more people that are younger than you, then there are people that are older than you, then you are an older person. If there's more people...

Right? If there's more people that are older than you than there are that are younger than you, then you are a younger person. So just take a second, look around, kind of figure out where you fit into the equation, and you'll figure out pretty easily where you stand. So we start in verse 1. Paul tells Timothy, but as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.

As we begin this morning, Paul is connecting this passage to what we studied there at the end of chapter 1. He says, but as for you, we were looking at the false teachers and the reason why there needed to be elders within the church was because there were those who were teaching things that were false. There was idle talkers and there was also deceivers. So people intending to deceive, some people just speaking nonsense, but they're speaking things that they ought not to speak.

But also, we saw at the end of chapter 1, verse 16, there are also those who profess to know God, but in works they deny Him. And so, Paul is setting up the contrast to that. In contrast to the false teachers, Titus says,

speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. In contrast to them who speak nonsense or are speaking things that are deceiving and leading people astray. Timothy, you need... Titus, I keep doing that. You need to speak the things that are proper for sound doctrine. We spent a year in 1 and 2 Timothy, so it's kind of engraved in my head now.

In contrast to the false teachers, speak what is proper for sound doctrine. In contrast to those who profess to know God, but in works deny Him, Paul will be sharing throughout this passage, here is how life is to be lived. Not like those who claim to know God, but their life shows nothing of the sort, but those who claim to know God need to have their life match what they claim and what they profess. And so, Paul tells Titus, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.

When we talk about sound doctrine, we would often think of the doctrines that we're familiar with. The doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of angels or the doctrine of baptism and the instruction and teachings that we have in the Word of God. But Paul is telling us here that sound doctrine also includes...

right living, how to live right and how God expects us to conduct ourselves, the attitudes He desires for us to have and the way that we are to be as believers in Jesus Christ. He uses the word be, I think about six times through this passage, to emphasize, to indicate, this is who you are to be, this is the type of person that you are to be.

I like the way that David Guzik puts it. He says,

The Bible is a book that tells us how to live. And that's what Paul is dealing with today. This is how we are to live. This is the type of people that we are to be. Now as we look at these things,

things and areas where Paul says, this is how you're to live, this is how you're to be. It's not a legalistic type of thing. In fact, the motivation to be this type of person is grace. And we'll see that more in depth next week. But look at verse 11 for just a moment.

He says, Here Paul tells Titus, It's the grace of God that has brought us to salvation that teaches us

Not to walk down this path, to stay away from these things, and to walk down this path, the path of righteousness and doing the things that God has desired. It's not a legalistic thing in the sense that our relationship with God is dependent on how we're able to keep these things. And if we don't keep these things, we don't have access to God. No, that's legalistic. We have access to God when we fail or when we triumph because of what Jesus Christ did for us upon the cross.

But the motivation to be this person, the power to be this person, and the way that God will transform us into this person is by His grace and through a relationship with Him because of what Jesus Christ did for us. And so we look at these things not in a legalistic fashion, but as an opportunity to allow God to change us and mold us into His image. As we look at these things in these different categories, the older men, older women, younger women, younger men,

We need to understand also that Paul is speaking these things, but he also connects them, he connects the different groupings or categories a couple of times with the word likewise. To link these together, to link these qualities together, so that we understand it's not just our group that applies to us, but many of the qualities, most of the qualities that he's talking about apply to every believer, but the groups that he's speaking them to are

are emphasized especially for that group because it's usually what that group needs. The point I'm trying to make is for you not to tune in only at the portion that you think applies to you, but to pay attention throughout because the characteristics and qualities of a mature Christian are what we're all called to demonstrate and to be.

So the first of five this morning, Paul looks at the older men and the way they are to be. Verse two says that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love and in patience. He starts out with the older men and he says, this is how the older men are to be. The first thing he names is that they need to be sober, sober.

The word is not a complicated word. It basically means exactly how it sounds and what we understand it to mean. To be sober is to not be drunk, to not be under the influence, to not be involved in overindulgence of alcohol. It can also be used to talk about seriousness and having a clear mind and good judgment. And so, first of all, he says the man of God must be sober.

Now, the Bible does not completely forbid the use of alcohol for a believer in Jesus Christ. And that's a question that many people often have and some contention that can come up within the body of Christ. But it does not completely forbid alcohol. But it does forbid drunkenness.

It does forbid any other kind of altered state of consciousness that a Christian is not to be participating in that, in excessive drinking or other types of substances that would alter the state of mind. Older men are to be sober. They're to have a clear mind and sound judgment that they may appropriately walk with the Lord and serve Him.

Now, in addition to this, we often have our own convictions and preferences, and I certainly do have my own, but if you want to know those, then you can talk to me afterwards. I'll be happy to share them with you. But here's what the scripture says. Older men must be sober. Secondly, he goes on to say, older men must be reverent. This word reverent means to respect, to revere, and to worship God.

Older men must respect, revere, and worship God. You know, we've just spent some time, just prior to me coming up here, singing songs, praise, and worship to God. But the worship that this word is talking about is not limited to that type of worship. When it's talking about being reverent, it's talking about living your life in a way that respects and honors God. It's conducting yourself in a way that

that it's an act of worship, that you and I would be able to present our conduct, our decisions, our attitudes, the things that we do to God as an act of worship. Saying, Lord, this is what you desire. I'm doing this and I'm making this decision. I'm doing this deed. I'm taking this step and

Because I want to please you. Because I love you. And because I honor and respect you, I'm going to do the things that you desire. It's talking about obedience to God. Again, not with legalism, but as a free will offering, as an act of worship to God because of your love and your respect for Him. And so older men are to be reverent. They're to live their lives in a way that they can offer each day each element of

As an offering to God as a part of worship. Older men are also to be temperate. To be temperate is to be one who voluntarily places limitations on his freedom. As Christians, we are not under the law, but we are under grace. We have great freedom in our relationship with God because of what Christ did for us. But there's a need for us, even though we have freedom,

to voluntarily place limitations on our freedoms. Paul the Apostle puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 10.23. He says, Paul says, Paul says,

Everything is lawful for me. I can live my life the way I want to live it, but not everything helps me and not everything builds me up. And so Paul the Apostle is expressing that he voluntarily places limitations on his life so that he does not involve himself in the things that do not edify him, in the things that are not helpful to him. And so there's three areas I'll point out really quick where we can voluntarily limit our freedom.

Number one, we limit our freedoms so that we participate in the things that edify and not the things that do not edify. Number two, 1 Corinthians 6.12, Paul says, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the bondage of anything. I will not be mastered by anything.

And so Paul says there, everything's lawful for me, but I won't participate in activity that will enslave me and become my master and consume my life. I won't go in those areas. I won't go in those directions to which I'll become in bondage to. And thirdly, he says, I'm going to limit my freedom when it comes to causing others to sin. 1 Corinthians 8.13 says,

If it's a stumbling block to others, if it causes them to go against their own conscience and what the Holy Spirit is speaking to them, I voluntarily limit my freedoms so that they would not be caused to stumble and to walk away from God. And so older men are called to be temperate, to voluntarily limit their freedoms to what's edifying to them, to what will not bring them into bondage and to what will not cause others to sin against God.

He goes on to say that they're to be sound in faith and love and in patience. Sound in faith. The word sound means to be whole or balanced or right. When we talk about sound doctrine, we're talking about balanced doctrine, whole doctrine, what the whole Bible teaches.

Sometimes people have fragmented doctrine. And that is that they take parts here that they like and parts there that they like, but they leave out the other parts that also are regarding that particular doctrine. And there's lots of false teaching as a result of that because there's a little bit here and then a little bit more over there, but they don't take in the whole counsel of God's Word.

In the same way, sound in the faith is to be whole in the faith and to be balanced in the faith. If you are an older man, you're to have the right balance in faith. Not lacking faith, but

nor over-emphasizing faith as we often see in the Christian circles. There needs to be the whole and the balance to faith. In the same way, we need to be sound in love, Paul says. The older men need to be sound in love. Agape love, the love of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 describes for us this kind of love, the perfect love of God. And for an older man, he needs to have a whole, balanced love.

Love. Balanced. Not out of balance, but balanced. It means the priorities need to be right. The balance needs to be there. The priority in love, of course, is first and foremost, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If that is not there, then love is out of balance. An older man is not to be lacking in love, but to have love. And Jesus, of course, is our example in this.

He was a man who was sound in love. But also, the idea of balanced love, we need to understand that there's

There's balance to love in that one side. Yes, we encourage, we uplift, we exhort, we bless, we help. But on the other hand, the other side of love, it's the balance of love, is there needs to be rebuke and correction and instruction and dealing with things that very often we don't want to deal with and is not pleasant to deal with. But rebuke and correction is part of love.

Speaking the truth in love. Ephesians 4.15 talks about that. We need to be speaking the truth in love that we all may grow up into all things and to him who is the head, which is Christ. And so we need to be able to love and encourage and bless, but we also need to love with rebuke and correction. An older man needs to be sound in love, Paul says, and an older man needs to be sound in patience.

This idea of patience is enduring through trials, circumstances and situations. An older man needs to be able to endure. He needs to be whole in that type of endurance. He needs to be balanced in that type of endurance. Not splitting at the first sign of trouble. Not taking off just because things are tough. But enduring and pressing forward even though things may be difficult.

But also the balance to endurance. And the balance to endurance is this. There is the time to wait. That's one side. And we endure and we wait and we be still and know that He is God. But on the other hand, on the other end of the scale, is there's the time to act and the time to do. Just as God told Moses when Moses fell on his face before God there before the Red Sea and God says, what are you doing? Get up. There's work to do. You got to go forward.

You can't just sit there and do nothing. There's the balance to endurance, the balance to patience. And so older men are to be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, sound in love, and sound in patience. Now he moves on to the older women in verse 3. He says, "...the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things."

So now as he talks about the older women, again, I'm not labeling any of you. I don't think we have older women here, but just in case we do, we'll cover these things. He says, likewise. Now again, connecting what he's about to say about the older women with the things he's just been talking about the men. Most of these things apply to all of us. There's only a few that are particular to a certain group.

And so the older women, he says, in addition to those other things, are to be reverent in behavior. To be reverent in behavior or to behave like a sacred person. I like the way the King James puts it. It's behavior as becometh holiness. Behavior as becometh holiness.

It's the idea of conduct, of the way that you act, the way that you live, that is in accordance with, that is in agreement with, that is right when holiness is considered. If your relationship with God does not affect your behavior, something is wrong. If it doesn't change the way you live...

then something is out of place. Paul wants to make sure that we are not those who profess to know God but in works deny Him. He wants to make sure that we profess to know God and that our life demonstrates that that profession is true and right. And so he says, ladies, you need to behave in a way that is right and that is fitting with holiness. Holiness is separation from sin, separation from that which defiles.

being holy and set apart unto God. He goes on to say that they should not be slanderers. Not slanderers. Now, a slanderer is one who falsely accuses and divides people without any reason. Someone who falsely accuses and divides people without any reason. Now, Paul mentions this here among the instruction to the older women. Does that mean that the older men, it's okay for them to be slanderers?

Well, no, of course not. Again, these things apply to all of us, but sometimes there's special emphasis because it's needed. And I'll just leave it at that. This is saying something that would divide, saying something that is accusing, confronting in a way that is not right. Now, there is time to divide. There is time to confront. There is time to bring up issues and sin. Paul will deal with that a little bit in chapter 3. We'll look at that in a few weeks.

But we need to understand that those times are few and far between. They're not as often as we think or maybe as often as we would like. The word slander comes from the word that is also translated devil. We talk about the devil all the time. The devil, that name literally means slanderer. It's the same word. And how does the devil act and how does the devil conduct himself and

We can see and understand from the scriptures that the devil stands before God and accuses the brethren, accuses you and me before God. You see what he did? You know what he did? Those thoughts and so on and so forth. Sometimes the devil confronts us to our face, doesn't he? And he tells us and he blames us and he accuses us right to our face and tells us we're not worthy and look at how can you call yourself a Christian and so on and so forth.

The same way that the devil does that, there are those who are slanderers who do the same thing, who will go before other people and accuse the brethren and accuse them of this and accuse them of that and say this about them and say that about them. And it's not right. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 29 tells us that we're only to let out of our mouths what is wholesome, what is good, what is necessary to edify and build people up.

And we're not to let any corrupt word come out of our mouth. Just like the devil, there are some slanders who will come to a person to their face and they'll bring before them accusations and they'll bring before them this confrontation that is not right and it's out of place.

And accuse them of this or that and accuse them and say, look what you did or how can you call yourself a Christian? How can you be involved in serving in this way or this capacity? You can't do this. There's these accusations, there's slanders that come. And Paul says for the older ladies, you're not to be a slander. You're not to talk about people behind their back or to their face in a way that does not build up and edify. In a way that is not good or constructive.

So Paul says the older women are to be reverent in behavior. They're not to be slanderers. And he goes on to say they're not to be given to much wine. Now again, like we talked about with the guys, the Bible does not forbid completely the use of alcohol. But it does forbid any type of drunkenness or other altered state of consciousness. And so an older lady in the Lord is not to be a heavy drinker, not to be abusing substances,

of any sort, whether prescribed or otherwise, she is to have a sound mind. Finally, for the older ladies, she's to be a teacher of good things. The older ladies are to be teachers. If you're an older lady, then you have some experience and wisdom that comes with the extra time that you've spent here on this earth and the extra time that you've spent in relationship with God.

So Paul is saying, look, don't keep all of that extra experience and wisdom to yourself. Pass it on. There's a need for you to turn around and share that with other ladies.

Who are you to share it with? Well, Paul will go on to tell us in verses 4 and 5, as now he addresses the younger women. Verse 4 says, Paul says, look, you need to be able to teach good things.

The things that are good, the things that are right, the things that need to be known and practiced, those are the things that the older ladies ought to teach and they ought to teach them to the younger women. He says that they admonish the young women. To admonish means to teach to be sober. We keep talking about that idea, the soberness and the clear thinking and right understanding.

To admonish, it means to moderate or to disciple. Here's what Paul is saying. The older ladies are to disciple the younger women. He's giving the proper order here within the church. He did not give to Titus this task of discipling the younger women. He didn't say, Titus, make sure you meet with them one-on-one and you spend lots of time with them and disciple them and teach them the ways of God. No, that would be improper.

He's teaching Titus the proper order. Titus' task is to teach the church collectively, but for the discipleship, for the moderation of one's life, for younger women, that's to be done by an older lady in the faith. It's a matter of purity and it's a matter of practicality. Just being very simply practical, I think it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that guys are different than girls.

We just don't work the same way. We function on different rules, it seems like. There's different priorities, different emphasis, decisions are made different ways. A woman can help another woman in ways that a guy cannot. An older woman has experienced and learned the same things that the younger woman needs to experience and learn, so the older woman can pass that on in a way that is helpful to the younger woman.

I want to encourage you older ladies to take this seriously. Who are you discipling? Like Titus, we're all called into the ministry and we're all called to make disciples. And so who are you encouraging? Who are you discipling? Who are you passing on the things that God has taught you in your life, in your marriage, in your ministry? And younger ladies, I want to encourage you, if you don't have an older woman in your life, you need to get one. I was going to say a joke. I'm going to stay away from that one. You need to get one.

Really, you need to be receptive and allow other ladies in the faith to speak into your lives and encourage you and help you grow in your relationship with God. You don't know everything. You don't have a handle on everything. And there's lots you can learn from those older ladies that God has placed around you.

And so he goes on now to talk about these things that a young woman is to be. And there's kind of a dual meaning here. On the one hand, it's the things that the older women are to teach the younger women. But on the other hand, it's what the younger women are to be. And so for you younger ladies, this is your time, this is your section where he deals specifically with what you are to be. He says, first of all, the young women are to love their husbands. To love their husbands.

Now this one might seem a little bit curious. We might ask the question, don't young ladies already love their husbands? Do they really need to be taught how to love their husbands? Well, apparently so, because the Holy Spirit, writing through the Apostle Paul, felt the need to address this.

But we would think, I mean, husband and wife, especially if they're younger, they're probably kind of newlyweds and they loved each other. That's why they got married. Why would she need to be taught to love her husband? We would think that love for your husband is somewhat natural. But here's what we must remember. Although love for a husband is natural, we have a fallen nature. And with a fallen nature, what comes natural to us is not the fullness of what God desires for us.

The love that we have naturally with our fallen nature

does not compare with the love that God desires for us to have for one another in marriage. The love that God calls us to have for one another far exceeds that natural love that a wife has for her husband. And so older ladies are to teach the younger ladies how to have the love that God desires, how to fulfill 1 Corinthians chapter 13, how to fulfill maybe some just basic practical needs of a husband.

They're to love their husbands. He goes on to say they're also to love their children. Now again, we would say, well, of course that's natural. All moms love their children. But again, I would share with you that we must remember that we have a fallen nature. And the natural love that a mom has for her children is not the same as the love that God desires for a mom to have for her children.

God desires an even greater love than the natural love that our mom has for her children. Quick example of this, some moms think that it's an act of love to not discipline their child. But the scripture says quite the contrary. Proverbs 13, 24, he who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. And so like we talked about with rebuke, it's a part of love in the same way. Discipline for a child is a part of love. But some are confused.

Because the natural love that a mom has is not enough. There needs to be the supernatural love, the love of God for your children. The scripture says, if you love your children, that you would teach them the word of God. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, it talks about as you go, when you come in, when you sit down, when you go to bed, be on your doorpost, you'll be teaching the word of God to your kids constantly. That's a part of loving your children.

Older ladies encourage the younger ladies in how to love their children, how to care for them and give to them the love that God desires for them to give. So they're to love their husbands, they're to love their children, and then he goes on to say they're to be discreet. To be discreet is the same word that we looked at earlier, to be temperate. It's one who voluntarily places limitations on freedom. And so a young lady...

is to be discreet. She is to be temperate. She is to voluntarily limit her freedoms to the things that edify her, to the things that won't bring her under subjection, that won't master her life, and to the things that won't cause others to sin. And I think there's a lot that could be said there, but I encourage you younger ladies, get with an older lady, ask them what this means, allow them to encourage you in this area in your life.

He goes on to say that they need to be chaste. Chaste means to be free from defilements or impurities. It goes along with the holiness that we were talking about with the older ladies. In the same way, young ladies, your life needs to be marked by purity. It needs to be marked by your separation from those things that defile, your separation from sin. He also goes on to say that the young ladies are to be homemakers.

A homemaker is one who looks after domestic affairs with prudence and care. Now this might not be the popular message of the day in our society, but this is what God has said that young ladies need to learn how to be. Homemakers. He goes on to say they need to be good.

This is good and benevolent. There's a generosity here, ministering to others and blessing others. Younger women need to learn to be good and they need to be benevolent and generous to the people around them. And finally, he says they need to be obedient to their own husbands. Obedient to their own husbands. The word obedient means to place in an orderly fashion under something.

And I always use this type of illustration when I deal with this because I want to make it very clear. When we're talking about obedience, submission, the Bible is not saying that women have less value or are less important than men. If I were to take all of you and line you up, tallest to shortest, the shortest person is not necessarily the least valuable person.

or least important. And the tallest person is not the most valuable and most important. No, it's just the order that you've been placed in. In the same way, within a marriage, God has placed an order. He's given an order that the husband is the head of the home and the wife is to be submissive or obedient to her husband. It's not a statement of value. It's not a statement of importance. But it's just the order that God has given.

You can see more about that in Ephesians chapter 5 if you want to dig in a little bit further. But God gives the order and so the young ladies need to learn to be obedient to their husbands. But then he closes off there at the end of the verse saying that the word of God may not be blasphemed. The reason why you're to be this way, Paul is saying, the reason why you need to have these characteristics in your life

The reason why you need to be this person that God is calling you to be is so that the word of God is not blasphemed. David experienced this in 2 Samuel 12, verse 14. God tells him, because of his sin with Bathsheba, God tells him, by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.

And he connects that with the consequences. He said, the child also who is born to you shall surely die. The child that was a product of his adulterous relationship died. It was part of the consequences because he had given great occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme. To say, look at that. He calls himself a child of God. To say, look at that. What he does. And he's one of God's chosen people. He caused the unbelieving to blaspheme

the Lord and the Word of God. In the same way, we're called not to just profess God and then deny Him by how we live. That gives opportunity for the world around us to say, they call themselves Christians, they say they know God, but look at how she acts, look at the things that He does, look at the things that they say. The world can see, the world can understand between Christ-like and worldly. The world knows the difference. Unfortunately, often we don't know the difference.

Paul says they need to be this way that the word of God may not be blasphemed, that it wouldn't be occasion for others to blaspheme the word of God, to discount and close their ears to the gospel because of the way that some believers have lived their lives. Number four, we find Paul addresses the younger men. Verse six, he says, likewise, exhort the young men to be sober minded.

exhort the young men to be sober-minded. Now he starts out with the word likewise. So again, connecting all these characteristics together, the characteristics of an older man, older woman, younger women, they also apply to younger men. But there's a special emphasis on one thing here for the younger guys. Now, you could look at this and say, man, women must be really messed up because they've got a lot more to work on than guys do.

The young women had seven things. Here the guy only has one thing. Okay, but here's what I'm saying. Here's what I think. The reason why it's this way is because men, especially young men, cannot handle more than one thing at a time. They've got the brain capacity. Their buffer is only one thought long. And so if another thought comes in, it knocks out the previous thought. It's gone. And so if Paul gave a list, well...

it would probably all be gone. But here he understands. So he says, look, there's one thing, guys, you need to focus on. I was sharing with the whole council study last week similarly about this with the difference between Psalms and Proverbs and how we can kind of relate them to men and women. Proverbs is 150 chapters. I'm sorry, Psalms is 150 chapters long. One of the Psalms is the longest chapter in the whole Bible.

Many of the Psalms are very long. It's the biggest book of the Bible. Proverbs, however, is only 31 chapters. One for each day. Convenient, right? Because there's only one thing that can fit at a time. So what day is it today? Oh, 31st. Okay, I can read chapter 31. It's very easy for guys to figure out. Psalms is long and detailed, has flowery, flowery, flowery, I can't even say the word, but you know what I mean. Some ladies say it.

There you go. That kind of language. And it has all the details and just great length. Proverbs is one line. You can almost kind of grunt out the proverb, right? It's just the bottom line is just that last detail. And that's kind of the difference between men and women. And so women are able to handle all these tasks at once. Young guys, one thing. Here's your one thing. Paul says, be sober-minded.

Be sober-minded. It's to be of a sound mind to exercise self-control. Another definition is strength of mind, which has learned to govern every instinct and passion until each has its proper place and no more. Let me read that again.

Sober-minded is strength of mind which has learned to govern every instinct and passion until each has its proper place and no more. If there's one thing that young men need to work on, this is it. To have a strong mind in order to have self-control. To have a strong mind, to be sober-minded in order to place the proper emphasis on the elements of life.

To have the proper place for passions in his life. Whether it be discipline to study hard and work hard. Or the strength of mind to choose to obey God and turn from sin and resist temptation. He needs to have the proper place and priorities in his life so that

He understands the value of each and how much he needs to be involved in them and his proper place for God in his life and how that's not the same as the place for video games in his life and it's not the same as a place for school or work in his life. A young man needs to have a sober mind to be able to think clearly, to have good judgment, to be strong enough, to do what is right, to make good decisions, to be self-controlled in his passions.

And to have the proper place and priorities for the elements of his life. Young men, this is your task. Learn it well. Verse 7 and 8 now, he goes on to give a note to Titus. He says in verse 7, In all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility. Verse 8, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

So now he kind of gives a side note to Titus. He makes it personal. He says, in all things showing yourself. So he's not talking about those people anymore. He's talking about you, Titus. He says, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works. Now, why do you think Paul included this personal note to Titus right here in connection with his discussion about younger men? Well, as we've discussed earlier, Titus was probably a younger man.

And so it was appropriate for Paul to insert this here because he's talking about the younger men and they need to be sober-minded. And now he says, Titus, you need to be the pattern and example for them as a young man. You need to be the example so that they can see how a young man is supposed to be and what sober-minded looks like within a Christian. Titus, you're to be the pattern. You're to be the example. And so you and I can take this section and insert it

to whatever group applies to us. If you're an older man or an older woman, a younger woman or a younger man, this applies to you. Because again, like Titus, you've been called to make disciples. You've been called into the ministry. And so you and I, we need to be the example. We need to be the pattern

So that other people can look at us, so that our peers can look at us and say, oh, that's how I'm supposed to be. That's the kind of walk that I'm supposed to have. That's the way I'm to conduct myself. That's the way I'm to spend. That's the way I'm to drive. That's the work ethic I need to have. That's the way I need to be as a Christian. And he goes on and he gives three areas that he is to be a pattern. He says to be a pattern of good works.

In the things that you do, you're to be a pattern. You're to be an example to the people around you. This is what a Christian looks like. If you do what I do, you'll be okay. You'll be right with the Lord. You'll be doing the things that God wants you to do and you'll be staying away from the things that God would want you to stay away from. He also goes on to say in doctrine...

In doctrine, in what you believe, in the things that you teach, in the truths that you hold to, you're to be a pattern. Some people, I shared earlier, have fragmented doctrine. They have scriptures here and scriptures there, but they don't take into account the whole counsel of the Word of God.

That's why we looked at in 2 Timothy 2.15, we need to study to show ourselves approved unto God. A workman who does not need to be ashamed, who rightly divides the word of truth. Have an accurate and correct understanding of the word of God. How we believe it, how we teach it, and how we apply it. Paul says you're to be a pattern in doctrine. That's why we need to be studying the word of God and know what the Bible teaches. And he says you also need to be a pattern in sound speech there at the beginning of verse 8.

Sound speech, the things that you say. We need to be a pattern in the sense that we can look at the person next to us and say, use my vocabulary, you'll be alright. If it's not in my vocabulary, don't use it. If it's in my vocabulary, you don't have to worry about using it. It will be appropriate for whatever situation. We need to have sound speech that cannot be condemned, Paul says. We need to be the pattern for the things that we say, the way that we say them, our tone of voice, our attitude, our

So that we can set the example, so that others can watch and look and say, oh, that is how I'm supposed to communicate as a believer in Jesus Christ. Paul says, in good works, in doctrine, in sound speech, be a pattern. Show yourself to be a pattern. He ends by saying, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed having nothing evil to say of you. A great example of this is the man Daniel.

We all know him from the book of Daniel. And you might remember the events leading up to Daniel being in the lion's den. What happened was other rulers, other authorities who were peers of Daniel didn't like him. They wanted to get rid of him. And so they studied his life because they wanted to find something to accuse him and get him out of there. But they studied his life and they came to the conclusion there's nothing we can say. There's nothing out of place in his life.

Unless it has to do with his God. The only way that we could cause him any trouble or the only way that we could get rid of him is if it has something to do with his God because he lives uprightly. He does what's right. They had nothing to say. And so that's why they came up with the plan to get the king to sign a decree that he could not worship any other God but only the king. And that's the only way that they were able to get Daniel.

And that's the way that we're to be, to living our lives as a pattern, that even one who would desire to be opposed to us has nothing evil to say because of the way that we live. Finally, this morning, we look at employees or bond servants. Verses 9 and 10, he says, "...exhort bond servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things."

So he says now to bond servants, Titus, this is what you're to teach them. Bond servants were very common in that day. They had a huge population of bond servants. It was really relatable to what you and I call employees today. Some good masters, some bad masters. I'm sure you've probably experienced both.

And he tells them, this is how you're to be. First of all, you're to be obedient to your own master. As an employee, you are to be obedient. It's the same word that's used of wives being obedient to their husband that we looked at earlier. To place in an orderly fashion under something. Again, it's not a statement of value or importance, but it's a statement of order that you are to be submitted to and obedient to those who are in authority over you in the workplace.

You're not to be insubordinate. You're not to be disobedient, but you're to be obedient to do what they're asking you to do. Now, of course, there comes a conflict when they ask you to do something that is contrary to God, contrary to what He has commanded you to do. And then, of course, you must obey God rather than man. But like before, those cases are few and far between. For the most part, you need to be obedient to those authorities that God has placed over you in the workplace.

He goes on to say that they need to be well-pleasing in all things. Well-pleasing. Now let me just ask you, would you say, would your boss agree that they are well-pleased with you? They're well-pleased with the job that you're doing? With the way that you work and the way that you are obedient to them? Are you well-pleasing to them? Do you please them well? He goes on to say, not answering back.

An employee, a bondservant, is not to answer back. It means to speak against, to contradict, to oppose, or to refuse to obey. Now, I've seen all of those in the workplace. I've probably practiced many of those in the workplace. But it's not how we're called to be as Christians. Whether to our boss's face or to other employees, we're not to speak against those authorities over us. We're not to contradict them, oppose them, or refuse to obey them.

Not insisting on our way, but again, going back to we need to be obedient. We need to be in an orderly fashion under the authority that God has given to us. He goes on in verse 10, not pilfering. I'm sure that's a word you use almost every day, right? Pilfering, it means to steal. Not stealing, not embezzling, not keeping back for oneself. It can be used regarding to

Money, cash, but it also could be used in regards to time and energy. Are you keeping back for yourself, stealing from the company by using time that's inappropriate or not giving your all and using your energy inappropriately in the workplace? The last one he says is showing all good fidelity. Fidelity is faithfulness. Here he's just saying being a person that can be relied upon.

that your boss, your supervisor can count on it. When they ask you to do something, it will be done. When you say that you will do something, that it will be done. They can rely upon you in loyalty. They can rely upon you to do what's right. They can rely upon you to follow company policy. They can rely upon you showing faithfulness in all things and not stealing, not answering back and being obedient. Are you a faithful employee?

He ends the verse by saying that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. The reason why you're to be this kind of employee is so that you may adorn the doctrine of God. Adorn or you could also say decorate the doctrine of God. Whoever your employer is, whatever position you hold at that company, your real job is to make the gospel attractive by the way that you work.

No matter what you do, no matter who you work for, no matter who your boss is, good or bad, your real job, the real reason why you're there, the real reason that God has you there, the real task that is at hand is for you to make the gospel attractive by the way that you work.

And I want to conclude with this. Okay, so we have the different groups. The older men, the older women, the younger women, the younger men, the employees. Wherever you fit, you be the pattern of good works, of doctrine, of sound speech. The things you say, the things you do, what you believe and teach and how you apply the word. You're to be the pattern. But why? Why do we need to be this person? Why do we need to be this Christian that God has called us to be?

And I want to combine verse 5, 8, and 10, the last part of each verse. Verse 5, the last part says, "...that the word of God may not be blasphemed." The reason why you need to be the Christian that God has called you to be, the reason why you need to live out your faith...

and do what God has called you to do, is so that you don't cause other people to blaspheme the Word of God, and discount and discredit the Word of God, and ignore and turn from the message of God, the Gospel of God, because of the way that you conduct yourself and the way that you live. I'm sure that's not what you want. But oftentimes, by disregarding what God has said, by doing our own thing and being self-centered instead of Christ-centered, we cause others to blaspheme the Word of God.

If there's an area that's out of line in your life, again, it's not a legalistic thing. As we talked about last time in chapter 1, it's not a thing where, okay, this is out of line in my life, I've got to work real hard in this thing. No, when you see those areas that are out of line, those areas where you need work, it's an opportunity for you to go to God, to surrender to Him, and ask Him and allow Him to change you in that area. And so if there's an area in your life that is causing the Word of God to be blasphemed,

You need to surrender that area to the Lord, to give it to Him and ask Him to change you and transform you, to ask Him to do that work in you. The end of verse 8. That one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. You need to be this kind of Christian. You need to walk and live the Christian life as you're called to, so that those who would come against, those who would oppose, they would have nothing evil to say of you, just like Daniel.

That you would be such a powerful witness and testimony like Daniel that the rest of the company would know of your witness, would know of your testimony. That the rest of the neighborhood would know of your witness and testimony. That the rest of your family would know of your witness and your testimony because there's nothing that they could bring against you. This is the life that God has called us to live. Verse 10, the last part, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. That you would decorate or make attractive things

the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ by the way that you live. I would hope if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, that's what you desire. That your desire would be, yeah, if God can use me to reach others, to draw them close to Him, if they could get saved by the example in my life, if I could participate in that process, man, that would be awesome. That's perfect. That's what I desire. But here's what it takes. It takes a life that's submitted to God, completely and wholly.

that we would demonstrate these characteristics that He lays out for us, that the world around us would see our lives, see the way that we conduct ourselves and say, yeah, I want to be a part of that. I want God to do that work in me. Christian and Stephanie are going to come up and lead us in one last song. I would encourage you during this time that you would just seek the Lord and allow Him.

to work in your heart. If there are areas that are out of line, now is the time, get right with Him so that you can be a part of the salvation process, that you would be part of bringing people to God and that you would not be a part of keeping people away from God. If there's an area you need to surrender it to God and you need to ask God to change you. After the song, there's going to be people up here on both sides. They would love to pray with you and encourage you and if you need that, come on forward after the song.

Let's take this time to worship God, to praise Him, to be reverent in our words, and then for the rest of the day, by how we conduct ourselves. Amen? Let's worship Him. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.