Bible In A Year - Titus

Prayer for Teaching, Searchable Hearts, and Christlike Ambassadors

Father, once again, we are privileged to be able to come before your throne and beseech you in the name of Christ to help us this morning, Lord, to teach us that our hearts might be searched, Lord, that you might see if there be any wicked way in us, that you would lead us in the way everlasting, that we would be corrected, that we would be encouraged, that we would be stirred up in the most holy faith, that we'd be challenged by that which we hear.

Lord God, so that that we would be the special people that you've called us to be, that we would that would be more Christ-like, that we would be more effective in ministry and have a more powerful testimony as we desire and strive to be the ambassadors that you've called us to be, the ambassadors of Christ.

Help us, Lord, to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord, and may this book be profitable to us. May the study that we have be brought back to our remembrance in future days as we we think of the calling of God upon our lives, which comes through the great gospel, the good news, Lord, whereby you've changed us, and you've made us your people.

We praise you and bless you and honor you in Jesus' name. Amen. So as you can see on the sheets, we are studying the book of Titus this morning, another of the pastoral epistles. Of course, the Apostle Paul was one who had a great burning desire for the gospel to go to the known world.

And of course, God had put it upon his heart, and God had so gifted the brother, saved him, but also gifted him and put a desire upon his heart for the gospel to be spread. And one of the ways that Paul extended his ministry was by sending letters.

He would send them to places that he could not go, or places that he had been to, to reiterate what he had taught when he was there, to correct issues that had taken place that he had heard of after he had left, and the gospel had gone there, and the church had been established.

But not only by sending letters did he extend his ministry, but the Apostle also extended his ministry by sending people. Titus was one of Paul's trusted messengers, one of his faithful workers. Now, there's a little bit of a difference between Timothy and Titus, as we saw last time when we looked at Timothy.

Do you remember that Paul had to encourage Timothy to stir up the gift, to kind of get it in gear, to kind of think about what it was that he was all about, and not be afraid, not be timid, not be reserved, and not hold back.

And sometimes you have people in ministry that need to be encouraged. Titus is not like that. Titus is a faithful man of God. You'll notice in this book, if you read this book, that there are no encouragements like that to him to stir it up.

Almost just the opposite, the Apostle Paul has somebody who is fired up and ready to go, one who is is serving, one who is solid, a man of God, godly man, and he just needs a little bit of direction. He just needs to just to be reminded a little bit about what it's all about, and give the charges and the commands.

So Titus, a little bit different than than Timothy, but he nonetheless, Paul used men like Timothy, and men like Titus, to help him in carrying out the ministry. Even when when when Paul was in prison, of course, he used men like this, and he used letters to have an effective ministry.

Titus in Crete and Paul’s Letter to Set the Church in Order

Paul, in this letter, focuses on Timothy's role as leader, as pastor of the church, which is at Crete. And Crete is an island that is just southeast of Greece, and Paul had, through his ministry, come to the place, and wanted to leave Titus there, so that he could minister, so that he could set the church in order.

You notice in chapter 1, and in verse 5, we see where Paul writes, for this cause, I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are wanting, or lacking, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.

So this brief letter focuses on Timothy's roles, Timothy's responsibilities, and organizing the church, maintaining the church, supervising the church, guiding the church, ruling over the church, just making sure that things are done decently, and in order.

And Paul does it, of course, to strengthen Titus, to strengthen the church, to exhort Timothy to Titus, and to exhort the church. And he wants to make sure that Titus exercises his authority as an apostolic representative, because he's there, placed by, notice in that verse, Paul left Titus there.

He was Paul's representative, and he wanted to make sure that he exercised that role that he has, as a representative of the Apostle Paul, and to put things in order. The book was written about 62 to 64 AD, and you'll notice in the background and settings section that there are other instances in Scripture where Titus was with the Apostle Paul.

In reading Galatians chapter 2, you will see that when Paul went to Jerusalem at the council to refute what the Judaizers wanted to do to add legalism to those, the Gentiles, the whole problem was that, what do we do with the Gentiles?

The Gentiles are being saved, and how much, what is it that they need to do, to practice, and the Judaizers are saying they must believe in Christ, and they must follow the law. They must follow the law of Moses, and they were pressing upon them legalism, and Paul went there, and of course James was very instrumental there, to show that no, it was by grace, and grace alone, and they only gave a few instances of what the Gentiles should do.

But it's pretty apparent that Titus is mentioned in Galatians, although he's not mentioned in the book of Acts chapter 15, where that council was, he is mentioned in Galatians chapter 2, verses 1 through 5, as having accompanied the Apostle Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem at that time.

So he's there at Jerusalem. We see in other places that he was there in Corinth, helping out, and here in Crete. So he's a man that is proven. He's a man that is mature. He's a man that is godly, Titus is.

A Greek, saved by the Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached, and you notice again, like Timothy, in chapter 1, in verse 4, to Titus, as Paul's writing this book, to Titus, my own son, after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.

So Paul was instrumental, used of God, to preach the Gospel, to win Titus to Christ. He was his spiritual father, and in this, not only was he his spiritual father, and he came to see Titus as his son in the faith, but Timothy, after all of these, I mean Titus, after all of these different instances of ministering with the Apostle Paul, he became, Paul considered Titus to be a brother.

We see that in 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. He's called him my partner and fellow worker, 2nd Corinthians 8, and here, a true son, or my own son, after the common faith, in Titus chapter 1, in verse 4. Later, as I've already introduced, Titus ministered for a while with Paul on the island of Crete, and he was left behind to continue on with the work.

It was the Apostle Paul's desire that the work continue there, in much the same way when Paul left Timothy at Ephesus, to be the bishop, or to be the elder, to be the pastor of the church there. At the end of this book, it is indicated that the Apostle Paul had intended, at the end of the book, you'll see in chapter 3, in verse 12, he says, when I shall send Artemis unto the Antiochus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis, for I have determined there to stay there for the winter.

And Paul wanted to relieve Titus of the ministry in Crete, join him in Nicopolis, which was the Grecian province of Achaia for winter months, and Paul informed Titus of his upcoming plans and offered him direction for his ministry in Crete throughout this whole book.

There's, of course, no indication that that took place, as far as him being able to meet up with him, because we know that, from the previous book, that the Apostle Paul's life had come to an end through when he had said those words that we were encouraged by last time, where he said, I have fought a good fight.

I have finished my course or finished my race. I have kept the faith. I'm not going to really go into too much more. You can see that there are other notes that I put, as far as summaries of different portions of the book under miscellaneous notes, a very quick overview, a couple of good key words for in the Greek with their definitions, and particularly on the second page, on the back side, up to the top, Christ in the book of Titus.

The deity of Christ is strongly maintained by the book of Titus, and of course we see that. If you'll turn with me to chapter 2, you'll notice that the Word of God tells us in verses 11 through 13, there's this teaching of the grace of God coming, and how it teaches us how we ought to live, how believers ought to live, and one of the characteristics of a child of God is to look for the fulfillment of the second coming of Christ, and to anticipate that, to long for that, to desire for Jesus to come, and he says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and undeniably that is a declaration that Jesus Christ is God.

Here it says that we're looking for the great God to come, our Lord Jesus Christ to come, the one who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Yes, Lou is here this morning, so I thought I'd encourage you again in this book, you have the theme of things. It is in chapter 1 and verse 5, we see Paul said, I have left you at Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking.

In chapter 2 and verse 1, but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine. Verse 3, about the aged women, that they should be behavior that becomes holiness, and so on with the list, teachers of good things.

For the young men in verse 7, in all things showing yourself a pattern of good works. We see it also in verse 10, chapter 2 and verse 10, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things, and so on.

I won't read all the others, let me think, I think the last, oh yes, verse 15 of chapter 2, and also a couple of times you see it in verse 8 of chapter 3. So what was this book? What is this book? What is the thrust of it about?

Yes, it is about setting things in order, and making sure that the church is organized, and Paul encouraging Titus, and teaching, and instructing, and commanding, and giving him some pointers of what ought to take place in the church.

In this book, we also see in chapter 1, of course, Paul had set Timothy, set Titus there as the the bishop, and he had set Timothy as the bishop, and he had set Titus as the bishop, the elder, the pastor there, the ruler, the overseer of the church there, and gives a great outlining of the qualifications of the minister, or of the one who would be a ruler, and of course, they begin in chapter 1, in verse 6, it says, If any man be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, for the bishop must be blameless, a steward of God, a manager of the things of God, dealing with the management of the things of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, not a striker, not one who is quarrelsome, not one who is ready for a fight all the time, one who is combative.

It's okay to fight for the faith, to contend for the faith, but it's different if in your spirit and in your attitude, you're one that's always looking to bring out the club, and always wanting to be combative or to quarrel with people in a negative way, in a way that is ineffective and unprofitable, shouldn't be that, have that type of attitude.

Not given in the King James to filthy lucre or eager to get base gain, eager for money, not to have that characteristic, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers or to refute those who would contradict, those who would dispute or contradict truth, they'll be able to refute that truth and to convince of the truth.

Because he says, there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcisions, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for, again, sordid gain, for filthy lucre's sake.

And there is this warning to Titus that there are those that have the wrong motive, there are those that want to tear down, there are those that are just seeking it for themselves because of greed, because of envy, being false teachers and leading people astray, and he's saying, watch out for them, and you're going to refute them what they say and stand in the gap, stand firm, and Titus is a soldier.

Titus is one who is strong. Titus, as I said before, is a mature believer, and the apostle leaves him there, and one of the things that he wants him to do is to ensure that the church understands that in the day in which they live, with these false teachers and with the immorality and with the pagan heathenism that's around them, the idolatry and the false worship, and the out-of-control society in the day that he's living in, he wants to make sure, and he encourages in the teaching as he sends this letter to Titus, that he instructs the church that in all that they do, in all the ministry that they get involved in, one of the things that they need to be careful to maintain in their lives is godliness.

And he begins that right off from the very beginning in the first verse where he says, Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and acknowledging the truth which is after godliness.

The apostle's desire is, as he says to Titus, look, you've got to take care of the church while you're there on the island of Crete. Make sure that things stay in order. Make sure things are maintained.

And one of the things, and I'll let you know what it is before the end of the class. I'll give it to you here in case if you're taking notes. Another theme that runs through this book, and I mentioned it in the miscellaneous notes, is that one of the things that they needed to maintain and needed to make sure that as believers that they did, was that they maintain good works.

Good works not to be saved, but as a fruit of, as a result of. Salvation produces good works in the lives of believers. And we see this in chapter two, notice verse seven, where he is instructing and he says, in all things, showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine, showing uncorruptness, gravity or sincerity.

Your translation might say incorruptness or reverence and integrity. But one of the things he says here is that you need to show yourself a pattern of good works. Titus needed to exemplify the moral and spiritual qualities that he was going to admonish the church to do.

He had to do it himself. He would not. I mean, that's I mean, we do that as supervisors or managers, even in the workforce. One thing I've always learned is, is I don't ask my people to do something I'm not willing to do myself.

And, of course, in the that's just the earthly realm. But what about the spiritual realm? What about ministry? What about living the Christian life? If if the leaders ask the the the congregation to do something that they're not willing to do themselves, what is that?

Well, it's hypocrisy, right? It's what we can say. Hypocrisy just didn't come through that frog in the throat. They're hypocrisy, not going to do what we asking others, others to do. And Paul, Paul admonishes him.

He says these things, everything that I've that I've laid out here before. And we're going to get back to those. Make sure you show yourself a pattern of good works that you keep laboring, that you keep working.

Notice one of the other examples in in verse 14. I read this verse speaking of Christ. He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar or special people who are zealous of good works.

And the word zealous means desirous, having having a warmth for or feeling for. That's what the Greek word means, a warmth for or feeling towards or a desire for. So it's something that we as believers, since Christ has saved us, ought to have a desire for is to labor for him.

We've been ordained to good works. Ephesians 210 tells us that it is a it is something that is going to be borne out in the life of a believer, that through the good work of the gospel, through the good work of our Lord Jesus Christ upon us, the spirit of God regenerating us and giving us new life in Christ, that we are going to be a people who desire to labor for the master.

Notice in chapter three, verse one, put them in mind to be subject to principalities, to powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. Not only not only is it to be evident in our life and not only should we be desirous of it, but we should be ready to do good works.

And that means that we should have a preparedness about us. We prepare in our homes. If someone's coming over, we we stock the shelves, don't we? Or we go out to the store to buy something to feed them, at least when they come so that we'll have a meal that is ready for them.

Or we will wash the sheets and get the bed ready or or vacuum or or dust the room just to make things ready for the visitors that we're we're going to bring in. And when it comes to ministry, we ought to be prepared for that.

We ought to have an attitude about us that God could use me and God could use you at any moment to be a spokesperson for the gospel, to be a witness for Christ and and be looking. Remember, we were talking about when it when it comes to being kind, looking for opportunities to be kind and looking and be preparing ourselves and being prepared for every good work, not to be caught off guard.

But I know that Pastor Mike says that sometimes for particularly for the for the elders, be be ready to preach or to pray at any at any moment and to die for Christ, to be ready at any moment to do either of those three things.

And all of us as believers, I mean, think of the opportunities that come our way. And sometimes we're kind of caught off guard, aren't we? And we lose an opportunity because we weren't ready. We weren't prepared.

We weren't in the mindset to be ready to do and labor for Christ. Chapter three and verse eight. This is a faithful saying. And these things, I will let our firm constantly that they which have believed in God, that's us.

Right. They which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. And in this verse, it talks to us and says to us that we should be careful to maintain it.

What that is, is that, again, is a preparedness. It deals with that and a desiring kind of brings that thought in. But the idea to be careful to maintain good works means to exercise thought. To give it some thought when it comes to laboring for Christ.

And of course, when we think about and want to be careful for and and be anxious about it, actually just be be ready to roll when it comes to serving Christ, thinking about his glory, thinking about what we can do to benefit somebody else, being careful to to put some thought in it, to see how and how we might better excel when it comes to to laboring for the Lord.

When it came to salvation, was it perfect and complete? Certainly was. I saw a few heads nod when Jesus died upon the cross. He said it is half done, right? No, it is finished. It is all done. Remember last couple of weeks ago, I I said one of the I think was at the communion table.

One of the hymns that I said, I'm glad we don't sing is Calvary covers three quarters. No, it's Calvary covers it all. And Jesus washed away all of our sins. It was a salvation full and free and complete.

He saves us from the gutter most to the uttermost, completely saves us and and gave of his all for us. No scraps, no leftovers. But as it said in 214, Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us or that he might buy us back out of the slave market of sin through a ransom price, the price of his precious blood.

And he and he gave it all. There was a complete sacrifice and we can't give him scraps back. We ought not to give scraps back when it comes to to ministry. And I believe that's the thought here. We need to give an exercise, some thought.

What I'm doing, what I'm going to do, I'm going to do it for Christ. When I teach that Sunday school class, I'm going to do it for the glory of Christ. Yes, for the betterment of God's people, for the edification of the body.

But first and foremost, I'm doing this for Christ. When Paul wrote the church at Ephesus, you remember, you remember these words. Was it? No, it's not Ephesus. It was Colossians. Colossians three, verse twenty three, whatever you do and whatever whatsoever you do, do it.

Who do it shabbily? Do it halfheartedly? No. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily. And that word means do it from the soul. Do it with your whole being. Do it with your whole volition, your mind, your will, your emotions completely engaged.

Do it with all your heart or wholeheartedly as to the Lord, not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. And we have a great privilege.

We have been called of God, not only called unto salvation and called to be his very own. But when he called us, he could have taken us straight to heaven. Right. It could have been. I mean, that would be a different form of salvation.

You believe in heaven, but that's not what God did. He left us here upon the earth to be ambassadors, to be servants of the Lord. And when we serve, we should be careful. I mean, when it when it comes to the things of this life.

I mean, we're pretty careful. We exercise thought. Right. When it comes, like I said, to when someone's coming over our house, we give some thought to that. We don't just put some, you know, breadcrumbs on the table and a glass of water.

We give some thought about the things that we care about and the people that we care about. When it comes to education, some of you are working on a on a college degree or anybody in school. I mean, you give some thought to do your homework and to do the assignments because you want to do well, because you want to honor the Lord when you're when you're doing that.

A wife keeping her home, a husband going on his job, children serving in the home with their parents. We we think about and give some thought to it. And the Apostle Paul is using that same type of thing when it comes to good works.

Give it some thought. And then lastly, in verse 14, chapter three, verse 14, he says, and let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. And what he says here is that this is part of the learning process as a disciple, as a follower of Jesus Christ.

One of the things that we need to learn is that we need to learn to maintain, to keep it up, to keep on keeping on, to keep rowing the oar. Sometimes we can get tired in the work, but not tired of the work, because it is it is by the Lord's grace and is by the Lord's strength that we're able to go day by day living and serving for Christ.

And one of the things one of the things that that I heard at a shepherds conference was the idea of those songs that you that we sing about getting on a boat and rowing towards the shore of heaven and every roar, every row, every pull gets us one pull closer, one day closer.

But we ought not to give up, not quit, not throw in the towel, no matter how difficult it gets. And we need to learn to maintain good works in our lives. It's necessary for other people. It's profitable for them.

Who else is going to be the light that shines in this dark world? And men should see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. And as we are laboring for the master from the dawn till setting sun, let's not forget that it is something that that we learn.

And we in order to learn it, it needs to be taught then to write. People need to be taught what it means to serve Christ and to do good works. OK, but now what I want to do is I would like to kind of revisit this idea that the Apostle Paul had had instruction coming to Titus, that he wanted he wanted the church at Crete to be to be one that to be one that was a godly church, to be one that was in synonyms for godliness would be Christ likeness would be holiness.

And I would like to focus a little bit on this as as Paul deals with this in chapter two, as he gives specific instructions to specific ages of folks, categories and ages of folks, telling them how it is that they ought to live.

And we're going to see that this is what the gospel teaches. This is what the gospel brings to a person's life. This is what the grace of God affects the change in the life of the sinner as they become a saint and following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Sound Doctrine, Godliness, and the Call to Holiness

Notice what he says in verse in chapter two. He says, but speak, thou the things which become sound doctrine, give them healthy doctrine, give them. And it is God's truth that produces spiritual well-being.

It's the only thing it is the only thing that can God's word, God's truth. He starts with the aged men and he says to them that they be sober, that they be grave or reverent. And that word means to be honorable, to be dignified, that they be temperate, that they be sound in the faith and in charity and in patience.

So it begins the teaching here that that the old men, not that when you get older, you can just kind of coast and it's all over. You know, you've you've pulled your war enough. You know, it's time to take a vacation.

It's time to retire from Christianity. No. And the age bracket here could possibly be 60 and above is what this is dealing with. The aged men keep toe in the line. Keep standing in the gap. And maintain character, have a godliness about you.

Then he goes into with the aged women. Likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes holiness. Well, if the women are encouraged to be holy, of course, the men are encouraged to be holy. Holiness ought to be the mark upon those who would follow Jesus Christ.

You want to see a very challenging, a very sobering, a very serious verse. Hold your place here and turn to Hebrews. Just a few books to the right. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. And here is a here is an admonition that comes to us.

An exhortation for conduct from the writer of Hebrews for all believers. Hebrews 12, 14. Follow peace with all men. So first and foremost, and we can see that we understand that the blessing of the peacemakers.

We ought to be those that try to be and live at peace with as much as possible. Live at peace, it says in Romans chapter 12, with all men. But notice it. Not only to follow peace with all men, but also and holiness.

Without which no man shall see the Lord. That tells me that there are no unholy people. People who lived an unholy lifestyle. An ungodly lifestyle. A lifestyle which is opposed to that which the scriptural commands lay out to us.

To strive against sin. To live in a pure way with our thought, with our word and with our deed. No holy people who practiced unholiness or practice wickedness or evil. Shall enter into the kingdom of God.

And of course that's born out in scripture. Like 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9, where Paul's talking to the church at Corinth. Because they are living a life as carnal. They're living as they should not be living.

And he is admonishing them to change their ways to repent. And what he says there, he says, don't you know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. And he lists this whole list.

Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuses themselves with mankind. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. They're not saved.

They're not going to heaven. And what the apostle, what the writer here is saying that when it comes to the people. One of the marks of the people who will step foot in heaven. And it is by the work of God.

It is by the transforming power of the grace of God. The great, the gospel, the good news. God works in us to make us willing to do his will. And to live a life that is completely different than what we lived in the past.

But the people of God become a holy people. Remember Peter's admonition, 1 Peter 1, chapter 15 and 16. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all your manner of conversation. Or in your behavior.

In every manner of your behavior. In every piece of our conduct, we are to be holy. We live in an unholy world, don't we? I mean it is sometimes so grieving and discouraging. All you have to do is go out in public and you will hear things.

That are just so defaming to God. So blasphemous. Taking the name of the Lord in vain. And the things that people will do. I mean I hear people at work at times. Not particularly at this job where I am at.

But on other jobs where I was. That people would connive on how they are going to defraud. How they are going to pilfer steel from the company. And doing it blatantly and openly. And the people of God are to be believers.

Us are to live differently. Live above the world. Live above reproach. Not to do anything to bring any reproach upon the name of Christ. Friday night at the home group we were studying 1 Corinthians 6.

And one of the things that the Corinthian church was doing was. They were taking the disputes that they had in the church. Before heathen judges. Before heathen magistrates. They were taking their matters before the lost courts.

What they were doing was. They were taking their dirty laundry. Opening up what was going on in the church. And bringing it before the unrighteous. The ungodly. And Paul said. He says don't you know. That one day you are going to judge angels.

Or rule over angels. And rule over the world. You don't understand your rank. You don't understand who you are. And what you are doing is absolutely wrong. And it is a poor blotch. And a testimony. A poor testimony against the name of Christ.

You are Christians. And you are to be Christ like. And we have here in Hebrews 12. Verse 14. This condition that those that will enter heaven will be people who. God has worked holiness in their lives.

Go back with me to Titus 2. I'll just try to rip through some of these verses here. We talked about the aged men. The aged women. A behavior that becomes holiness. Not false accusers in the middle of verse 3.

Not given to much wine. Teachers of good things. Boy there is a lot of teaching going on in the world. And much of it not good. Teaching people how to. I mean just think about when you. It just kind of blows my mind sometimes.

I don't know if that is a great word. Or a great way to phrase it or whatever. But I read the news. And they give all the details on how to build bombs or something. And how to commit these crimes. And it's on the internet.

I mean it reminds me of Proverbs chapter. I think it's in chapter 6 where it talks about teaching with their fingers. You know just how to manipulate and how to do those things which are wrong. Just to corrupt people.

But women are to teach good things. Notice what they are supposed to teach in verse 4. That they may teach the young women to be sober. To love their husbands. To love their children. You have women teaching.

The older women teaching the younger. These are the things that ought to be concentrated on. To love their husbands. To love their children. To be discreet. To be chaste or to be pure. To be keepers at home.

This is to be workers at home. To be keeping a godly home for their husband and for their children. And for the Christian woman this is non-negotiable. I mean this is what God commands in his word. To be good.

To be obedient to their husbands. Not just kind of giving it lip service but to obey them. Like as Sarah. I mean we don't do it today but Sarah called Abraham Lord. She obeyed what he had said. I remember I may have shared this with you once.

I was working at the Norton Company or St. Gobain Company in Worcester. Talking about a wedding that I was going to be doing. And someone said, asked the question, oh you're not going to say that phrase to the wife that she's supposed to obey her husband are you?

And of course as a believer what do you do? You say yes because that's what the word of God says. I mean I don't argue with what God says. The husband loves the wife and the wife submits and follows her husband.

So these are the things that ought to be taught. For this reason. To be obedient to their husbands. Why is it that these things ought to be taught? And why is it that they ought to be practiced? That the word of God be not blasphemed.

Is not blasphemed. The goal of godly living in the church is to eliminate any reproach upon the word of God. Because what do we say? Who do we say we are? We are Christians and we are people of the book.

We say we own the Bible. God has given it to us. And we say we're going to practice the Bible. We're going to live the Bible. And then if our life contradicts what the Bible says it is a reproach. It is a poor testimony.

And Paul says to Titus make sure you teach these things. It's not just for one segment of the church. The aged men. The aged women. The young women are taught. Notice verse 6. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

Exhort them to be sensible. And then in all things show yourself a pattern of good works and doctrine. Showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity. Sound speech that can't be condemned. Notice how it deals with thought.