WWUTT 758 Perfect Courtesy Toward All People?

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So, in going through Titus, we've talked about how Christians are supposed to conduct themselves in the church, but Paul also has instructions for how

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Christians are to conduct themselves in the world. And it looks about the same when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in the book of Titus chapter 3, and I'll be reading verses 1 -7.

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The Apostle Paul writes, "...remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

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For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another.

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But when the goodness and loving -kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

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Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

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So right after Paul shares the gospel, a deep gospel doctrine in chapter 2 verses 11 -14, and then tells

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Titus to declare these things, rebuke with all authority, and let no one disregard you, that was the last verse in chapter 2, then he comes back in chapter 3 with instructions for gospel living.

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In light of our belief in the gospel, here is how a Christian should behave. Now in chapter 2 we got that, but it mostly had to do with the ways that we interact with one another in the body of Christ.

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In chapter 3, it's the way that Christians should be conducting themselves with all people, even outside the body of Christ.

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And we know that because Paul refers to those who are unbelievers in verse 3, and that we once were part of them.

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We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, and that's everybody in the world who is not a follower of Jesus Christ.

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So even with them, we must speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, and show perfect courtesy to all people.

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Those were clear instructions that were given to the church as to how the church is supposed to interact with other members of the church, but here were even given instructions as to how we should conduct ourselves as Christians in this world.

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Now the very first verse of chapter 3 here is a little bit of a puzzle, but I think whichever way we take this, it's still applicable.

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Paul tells Titus, remind them, so he's talking about the church, remember, declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard you.

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This is the way that Titus is teaching in the church primarily. So remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.

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Now where is the puzzle in that? Well, who are rulers and authorities in verse 1?

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We could take this two different ways. This could be referring to elders in the church.

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It could be referring to those who have been given authority to teach the word of God, because remember we have it said in 1

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Timothy chapter 2, I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, rather she is to remain quiet.

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And Peter suggests also in 1 Peter chapter 5 that we submit to the authority that is in the church, that which has been granted to the pastors who are shepherding the flock of God with oversight and and leading the flock of God with the word of God.

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So in this way, a pastor has been given a certain authority.

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Now the authority that he has is not some inherent authority within himself that comes with that title or because he stands at a pulpit or something like that.

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The authority is with the word of God, but the pastor is somebody who handles the word of God properly and has been appointed to oversee the spiritual needs of the church as an overseer, then he does carry a certain authority, which the church is expected to submit to.

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In Hebrews 13 7, we read, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

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And then in verse 17, obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

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Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

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And that is referring to those overseers in the church who are teaching the flock of God, the word of God.

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So that seems to be the context there, especially since we've come right after Titus being given an authority in verse 15, declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority.

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And then in verse one of chapter three, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities.

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And we also have elders referred to as rulers in Paul's letter to Timothy. Let those who rule well be considered worthy of double honor.

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And that's in reference to elders. So there we have an elder referred to as a ruler and an authority in other places that Paul has written.

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So that would seem to be the context here in Titus 3 .1. Or since we're also kind of moving into a context of the way that we are handling and conducting ourselves among unbelievers, how do we treat unbelievers?

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It could be that the rulers and authorities here are the governing authorities that God has established within the governments.

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Paul wrote in Romans 13 .1, let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God.

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Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

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Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority that do what is good and you will receive his approval for he is

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God's servant for your good. Now, that doesn't mean that the people that God has appointed to be rulers over the nations are perfect.

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It doesn't mean they're going to do that, that ruling position justly every single time.

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But nonetheless, without those ruling powers, the world would be chaos. So God has indeed established every ruling government on the planet, and there is no governing authority except that which has been established by God.

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And this is for your good for without those governing authorities who are supposed to be a terror to bad conduct, then everything would be chaotic.

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Yes, there are times when our ruling authorities act in an unjust manner, but they are still punishing evil doers.

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And that keeps a certain amount of civility and order in the world in which we live.

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So going on from there, this is still in verse four of Romans 13. If you do wrong, be afraid for he the ruling authority does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an

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Avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid

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God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.

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Pay to all what is owed to them taxes to whom taxes are owed revenue to whom revenue is owed respect to whom respect is owed honor to whom honor is owed.

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And Peter will also say in his letter to honor the emperor. But I'm staying in the context of Paul here, since we're reading a letter from Paul Titus chapter three, verse one, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities.

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So again, since we're moving away from how we conduct ourselves with one another in the church and we're moving toward the ways that we are supposed to conduct ourselves in the world, this

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Titus three one could also apply to the way that we are supposed to submit to the governing authorities.

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It's not real clear, but either way we look at it, we could see that instruction being applicable since we have other places in Paul's letters where he says to be submissive to rulers and authorities in the church.

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And he also says to be submissive to rulers and authorities that have been appointed over the government.

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In first Thessalonians chapter five, beginning of verse twelve, Paul says this, we ask you brothers to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the

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Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work, be at peace among yourselves.

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And that's specifically in first Thessalonians five versus twelve and 13 is Paul talking to the Thessalonians about how they must submit to their elders, respect those who labor among you and are over you in the

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Lord and admonish you. And that's talking about the elders and overseers in the church. So we can go either way on that.

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But as we live out gospel faithfulness in our lives, we should do both.

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We should submit to the overseers in the church who care for our souls and teach us the word of God.

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And we also must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority that has been established except that which comes from the

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Lord. So Titus says in Titus three, one, remind them, remind the people to be submissive to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient and to be ready for every good work.

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And that's especially relevant considering who the Cretans are, because remember back in Titus chapter one, where Paul says that a prophet of their own had said of the

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Cretans, they are always liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons.

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So then when we get here and it says, be obedient, tell them, teach them, remind them to be obedient and be ready for every good work.

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This is in direct contrast to the reputation that the Cretans have.

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They're not obedient. They're evil beasts. They don't do any good work. They're lazy gluttons.

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So instead, you must remind them to obey, obey those authorities which God has appointed, whether that would be an authority over the government or even those overseers in the church.

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Be obedient to them. Be obedient to the word of God when it is preached, when it is proclaimed to you, repent of your sin and follow

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Jesus Christ and be ready for every good work that we might do the work of God, which we have those works which have been prepared for us beforehand, according to Ephesians 210.

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And again, going back to Titus 214, Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

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So to have zeal for for the good work of God is to anticipate it, to do it.

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We want to do the work of God. And so Paul says, be ready for every good work that comes your way in obedience to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. As we go on into verse to speak evil of no one.

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Well, that's kind of curious. I mean, isn't that what we're supposed to do as Christians when we go out with the gospel?

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We tell the world that it's evil and they have to repent and follow Jesus in order to be saved.

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After all, even Jesus said, John 319, this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

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And then he says to his disciples in John seven, seven, the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

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So if if that's part of our responsibility as we go out with the word of Christ is to show the world the evil that it is guilty of, how can it be possible that we as good

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Christians would follow this instruction to speak evil of no one? Well, a little bit more simply, this means that you don't lie or spread slander about anyone or gossip about them.

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All of those things are just kind of summarized in a in a more simplified instruction to speak evil of no one.

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The way that Paul put this with the Colossians in Colossians chapter three in these things, you two once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.

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Anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

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So this is the way that we should conduct ourselves even within the world. When we speak, we speak the truth with our neighbor.

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Also, an instruction that Paul gave to the Ephesians that we do not slander or bear false witness about our neighbor, but rather that they would see us as somebody who is kind and compassionate to share the gospel with them, doing this with gentleness and respect, as Paul instructed

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Timothy in Second Timothy chapter two. So again, we've got instructions about this that are all over the epistles in the

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New Testament. But here in Titus three to it's summarized in this simple instruction to speak evil of no one.

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Let what comes out of our mouths speak grace to the hearer as fits the occasion.

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And let us not tear down one another with our words, but build each other up specifically the way that we would speak to those who are lost, who are not

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Christians. We're building them up by pointing out that they have transgressed the law of God and what they deserve is death.

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They are evil and they should see that when they see in in light of the law of God that they have broken

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God's perfect standard and what they deserve is destruction. And so then hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, who has paid the penalty for our sin, they will repent of their sin and worship

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Jesus. And all of this done very simply, the Holy Spirit opening up their hearts to receive this message, which they were previously hardened to.

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And that's what Paul gets to even in this particular section when he talks about a regeneration and renewal of the

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Holy Spirit that we receive when the spirit is poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior.

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That's coming up in verse six. So sticking with these instructions here, we speak evil of no one.

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We avoid quarreling because it does no good. It only ruins the hearers.

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There comes a point when, as you're having a discussion with somebody, if they are increasingly resistant to the gospel that you that you are preaching to them, you just have to walk away because then it turns into a quarrel and and it's not going to benefit the person that you're talking with.

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They're just getting increasingly more hardened to it. And then anybody who is around who hears you having that conversation, well, they're not going to be interested either.

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They're just going to hear that the gospel causes quarrels among people. And so just as the emotions are being flared up in the person that you're trying to share the gospel with.

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So it kind of has a trickling effect to people around them as well.

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They start to feel a little resistant to this, seeing how it's gotten this other person all riled up.

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So we need to avoid those quarrels. You need to speak, be in perfect courtesy toward all people, which is the term that's coming up.

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Avoid that quarreling. And then Paul is even going to come back to this here in just a little bit in verse nine when he says, avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

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So we need to not quarrel, but rather speak the truth. If a person is going to be hardened against it, we need to know where to cut off the conversation so we can go to the next person who will maybe have a heart that is a little bit more receptive to the gospel that we have to share.

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In Matthew chapter seven, verse six, Jesus said, do not cast your pearls before swine, for they will just trample on them and it will be worthless.

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And this is in the context of Jesus telling us to judge with right judgment. And so the the application there would be that as we're sharing the gospel with people, which is a pearl, it's a pearl of great treasure, as it's described by Jesus in his parables.

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And so as we have this treasure of the gospel, that we would not just cast it in front of people who are just going to stomp all over it and not receive what it is that we have to share.

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But with wisdom and discernment, we need to realize when a person's not going to listen to it. And maybe this other person over here is already has a work that is being done on them in the

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Holy Spirit. And they desire to hear the good news of the gospel and the forgiveness of sins.

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So Paul says again, speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling and be gentle.

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We've already talked about that a little bit. Peter also says, 1 Peter 3, 15, in your heart, set apart

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Christ as holy, always ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you. But do this with gentleness and respect.

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We must show even gentleness and kindness to others, though they revile us.

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And Peter talks about this also. We cannot revile in return, but we entrust ourselves to him who judges justly.

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And finally, these instructions in verse two show perfect courtesy to all people.

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And the the term that's translated here, perfect courtesy, is the same word that is often translated to mean meekness or gentleness.

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A meekness would simply mean a meekness is not weakness. I know they sound the same, but that's not what the word means.

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To be meek means that we would consider another's needs without expecting anything in return.

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We just put the needs of others ahead of our own to glorify God and not to glorify ourselves.

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And so, as Jesus says in the Beatitudes, blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

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This means that you give to others to benefit them, expecting nothing in return. And what you get on the other side in glory is the whole world, literally a new heavens and a new earth, which we will receive as fellow heirs of Jesus Christ in the kingdom that is to come.

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So these are the instructions that we've looked at for today in Titus three, one and two.

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Paul tells Titus to remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, whether that is an authority in the church or it is an authority in the world.

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Be obedient, be ready for every good work, speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle and show perfect courtesy to all people.

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Let us pray. Our gracious God and heavenly father, we thank you for this wonderful courtesy that you have shown to us when we have done nothing to deserve the kindness that we have received in our loving

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God and savior, Jesus Christ, who died for us to redeem us from our sins and to purify us to be his own possession and to do the work that he has called us to do.

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So as we live in this world and as we hold out the word of life to those who are perishing,

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I pray that in our conduct we would be submissive to those whom you have placed in authority over us, those that help to keep the laws of our land and those who also teach us how to be obedient to Christ and follow his word.

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I pray that we would be ready for those good works that we have been prepared for and that we would speak evil of no one, that what comes from our mouths when we speak is graciousness, for God has shown us much grace, that we would avoid quarreling and help to help us to seize those thoughts in our minds when they come up.

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We would not be tempted to quarrel with somebody, even though we know the best and snappiest answer to rebut this thing that they are saying, but rather we would desire to obey

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God in everything, even the words that we say. Though the world might revile us, we don't revile them in return.

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That we learn to be gentle and that we show perfect courtesy to everyone.

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In the name of Christ we pray, amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.