Book of Titus - Ch. 2, v. 4

All righty guys, well, there's maybe a pop-pop good morning. Well, we'll go ahead and get started. I The past few weeks. I've been doing a little bit. Taking the first couple of minutes to review just slightly mainly and I don't normally do that, but mainly just because I don't want us to forget any of the immediate context of these verses we're getting into and so.

Again, we've we've kind of repeated ourselves a couple of times. At the beginning of each week. I'll do that one more time we Covered verse 3. We're in Titus chapter 2 we covered verse 3 pretty well last week.

The Church Living Out Sound Doctrine

But verse 3 is very important for understanding What we're about to get into in verses 4 and 5 so just again a quick rehash of a few things. What were we talking about chapter 2 is all about what it looks like when the church lives out.

Sound doctrine not just a matter of it being preached not just a matter of it being heard. But a matter of it being lived out in the most practical Practical ways that you can imagine. And so right after setting the tone there Paul then talks about what he expects of the elderly class and I say elderly I'm actually going to define The aged a little bit more in a minute because we'll have to define what it means to be young here in just a second.

As well, but he gives us what he expects for the older part of the congregation to look like the older members. How he expects for them to live and so for the older men, he says they need to be sober.

They need to be grave. They need to be serious about life. They need to be temperate. They need to have self-control over themselves. They need to be sound in the faith, of course because they are taking part in the ministry.

They are leading the younger men and the young families as well. They are taking part in the ministry in that manner. So they need to be sound in the faith. They need to be sound in charity and in patience as well in love and in patience.

Of course, the patients can't be overstated. That is obviously something that needs to be approached in prayer in every stage of life, but certainly as life progresses because you know just. There's always a lot of reasons for patients to be lost as a virtue.

And so Paul mentions that specifically and then in verse 3 what we spent two weeks on. He then talks about the older women in the congregation and he says likewise in the same manner. That the older men need to behave like this the older women need to be in behaviors become with holiness.

We talked about that Very unique Greek word. It means they need to literally be priest like in their behavior. And we talked about that quite a bit and then he gave us the contrast not false accusers not Diabolos not gossips.

Not given too much wine they don't need to be enslaved to anything with wine being usually one of the The top culprits there, but rather teachers of good things. Okay, so that is what we've been covering up to this point.

We mentioned this last week. Briefly, but the end goal of all of these things as they are lived out by these people in the congregation the end goal. It's not because Paul is just given them some rules to follow there's nothing arbitrary about any of these things in verse 5.

It says that the Word of God be not blasphemed. We'll be looking at that in just a moment. And so there's a very serious Reason why Paul is given these specific instructions. Yes, they're practical. Yes, they contribute to peaceful living in the church, but Most importantly the end goal of all of these things is that the Word of God itself is not Blasphemed by those outside of the local church.

Listen people even if they are a hypocrite themselves. Everyone everyone knows a hypocrite when they see one, of course, the hypocrites themselves would would know very well. They know all of the and they know all of the Ingredients for lack of a better term of a hypocrite.

And so everyone knows a hypocrite when they see one and the last thing that Paul wants is for there to be a local body anywhere that claims to be Living according to the scriptures and then not be You know making that claim and then showing the world that actually they're not doing that.

They're doing the opposite and when that happens when hypocrisy comes spilling out of a local church The Word of God is blasphemed. It is it is a sign that the Word of God is not taken seriously. And that those that say this they say that they subscribe to it actually don't believe in its authority.

It's inerrancy and all of these things and so the end goal of all of these very specific Instructions Paul has given the older men to the older women in a second. We're about to see the younger women and then after that the younger men literally the full spectrum of people in a local congregation.

He's giving them all of this information that the Word of God be not blasphemed. So Let's jump into this a little bit. Remember at the end of verse 3 He says the older women need to be teachers of good things.

How does Paul define good things? What does that mean? What does it mean in this context? He goes on to elaborate. Let's look at verse 4. That they still talking about the older women. That they may teach the young women to be sober.

To love their husbands to love their children to be discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands. That the Word of God be not blasphemed. Very very important in the goal. They're very important that these things are.

Obeyed.

Broadly speaking like the congregation as a whole these words of Paul so that this doesn't happen so that there's no blasphemy on the part of The local congregation. Living out something contrary to the Word of God and then more importantly than that Like I said a second ago that the outside world can't look in and say look at the hypocrites.

Look at how they're living. The Word of God must not be what they claim to be the Word of God must not be all that authoritative because they don't believe It themselves. Paul does not want this to be happening.

And so He lays all this out now really quickly. I just want to define Terms a little bit because we're talking about the aged. The aged men the aged women and then now he's talking about the young women the young men.

So are we talking about like when it comes to the older people people like in their 80s and 90s? And then these young people just like the teenagers who what groups of people are we talking about here?

The Greek terms behind the aged and then again in the young in a second kind of carry some very broad Connotations in the case of the aged really what Paul is talking about what he has in mind are people that are just beyond childbearing years and Kind of by implication child rearing years as well.

So in general when he's talking about the aged he's just talking about people couples that are beyond the age of having kids and More than likely beyond the age of rearing kids as well. Whatever kids they have they are now grown up and they have started their own lives.

And so we could be talking about people as young as their mid -40s All the way through the end of their life. And so it's not old people in the way that You know modern culture deems them it could be People that are just mature that have lived beyond the childbearing and rearing years.

And so then when he talks about the young women in the verse for when he talks about the younger men He is generally talking about young men and young women that are within that Timeframe in their lives.

They can bear children. They are rearing children if they have them. They are getting married these types of things that could be anywhere between the mid-teens through you know 40s and so again, we're Broad groups of people in view here that all fall into one of these two Broad categories one is teaching from life's example life's experience to the next generation.

That may be older in our view I mean people in their 30s could be people in their 20s could be younger people than that even. They are teaching them from life's experience so that they don't have to learn things the hard way.

So When Paul is talking about the age, that's generally what he's talking about. When he's talking about the young that's generally what he's talking about now. We just read verses four and five. As we get into this, it's gonna be really important for us to keep a few things in mind because the I can't remember if it was last week or maybe week before that I Kind of alluded to the idea that this is one of the great neglected chapters of the Bible of the New Testament.

But probably the Bible as a whole. When we looked at chapter one and we looked at the qualifications of an elder and it gets to talking about his kids needing to be faithful needing to be Trustworthy needing to be under control.

That they're not accused of right and unruly. We talked about how that Specific qualification is often the neglected qualification. It's where we get this cute proverbial Phrase of the preachers kids everyone kind of laughs at it.

You know, you got the pastor who is supposed to be the exemplar of righteousness and then you got his kids that are the exact opposite. It's just kind of this funny irony. That's the way our culture looks at it and it's actually a devastating thing.

Because what it shows is that that qualification has been neglected for decades at this point perhaps even Going coming up on a century or so of American Church history. Okay, so we had that concept but then you get to chapter two and you start reading some of this stuff and then you realize well in many cases when it comes to practical living in the church just regardless of who you are whether you're an Officer an elder or a member.

There's a lot of stuff in this chapter That's neglected in the American Church, perhaps the West at large. So we need to keep a couple of things in mind as we start reading through these things. They're very important the first thing we need to keep in mind is Is that Paul?

Makes arguments here. He makes arguments really throughout all three pastoral epistles. We're gonna see this. Especially in 1st Timothy where he literally calls back to the creation order and Some things that happened in Genesis here.

It's a little bit more subtle, but it's still happening the Apostle Paul Makes arguments throughout the pastoral epistles that are grounded in the creation order and in Scripture in general. It's like I said it a second ago.

There's nothing there's nothing arbitrary here. There's nothing that is just Paul. There's nothing here. That's just Paul coming up with some stuff to just pass on to Titus pass on to Timothy. Do these things you guys should be good, you know, y 'all get to work.

These are very well thought out items up for or part of Paul's discussion here Paul's discourse and In some cases again He's making an argument in the positive sense and he's grounding this argument in very Fundamental things that being the creation order and throughout Scripture.

They're not arbitrary. They are from God Obviously and therefore they have a very special and intended meaning and purpose each and every one of these things. So we need to keep that in mind first of four of us each thing on these lists.

Whether we're talking about the young women or the young men even beyond that they have an intended purpose from God through Paul. Grounded in the creation order grounded in Scripture. That's the first thing we need to remember.

The second thing that we need to remember is That what we're reading right now in this chapter and in these verses specifically has been Systematically undermined and mocked and hated and Just totally disregarded for probably a few centuries at this point across the West.

One of the reasons why you don't have a whole lot of sermon series through these Particular letters is that they really start to make people wonder why The Apostle Paul sounds so different from the way that they live.

Why does the Apostle Paul sound so different from the way that they've been told to live? Why does the Apostle Paul sound so different by the way they've been told to view marriage in the way they've been told to view?

Raising kids or the way they've been told to view.

Women in.

The culture at large men in the culture at large. It's it's very different. It sounds contrarian and really what's happening is That at some point these little seeds were sown in the culture going way way back.

Farther back then we could probably even be able to pinpoint by the devil by the enemy. And by his emissaries little seeds were being sown and they started being they were Repropagated and they started spreading to the point where here we are in the 21st century in a solidly egalitarian culture and.

These particular scriptures here are either ignored or they are reinterpreted in some of the most creative ways that you can imagine. Of course these epistles are avoided because teachers In many cases are aware of the contents that are in these letters.

They hate their contents in some cases or they just find them quote-unquote Problematic and so they either avoid it altogether or they start, you know Finessing it a little bit and so now, you know, they get to the point where you're reading through them.

You're teaching through them many churches kind of have this desire to go verse by verse and. Then they get to a letter like this and they realize well We can't ignore this stuff forever. And so for that reason you now have just a slew of commentaries today written by these guys.

That you know jump through again the most creative hoops that you'll ever see in order to change Paul's meaning Paul's intent.

For what he's saying here.

One thing that has been so helpful for me Just in personal Bible study but I mean it is just as applicable to preparing for lessons preparing for sermons and all these types of things and I can't remember who it is dad quotes them often, but basically Talks about the idea of you know, the the Bible.

It really doesn't matter as much what the Bible says as much as what it means. I think that's how the quote goes and then another thing that goes parallel with that just kind of a an Interpretational tool that you use as you read the scriptures plainly so you consider the fact that the Apostles are writing With the full knowledge that they have.

They are writing the covenant documents for the church that is about that is beginning. It's already begun but is about to spread to the four corners of the world. Because they were given the Great Commission.

They knew what all of this was going to turn into they knew that it would be the plowboy and the farmer and the as the The old reformers would say the vulgar the people that just the normal people in society.

They knew the Apostles knew that they would be the ones that would need these scriptures that they would be reading these scriptures. Someday, of course the Catholic Church tried to thwart that for centuries by keeping people illiterate so that they could have sole interpretive power.

But the it doesn't matter, you know, even with all of those barriers aside The common man had the scriptures he would get them. Even if it was very even if his own life was at stake for getting the scriptures.

Of course as we know in so many cases and so the Apostles wrote these epistles and all and all of the New Testament plainly and of course, obviously there are Particular areas where you need to study perhaps it involves going into the original language to really get a sense of the original intent, of course another Important thing is making sure that what you're reading and your interpretation of it or what the interpretation of your pastor is is that is consistent with the entire Bible not just kind of this new this newfound thing that seems a little bit Different from 2 ,000 years of Christian history and things like that.

But the main point is that reading the Bible plainly is the best place to Start and it can be very helpful when you start getting into some of these interpretations and commentaries that are trying to change Paul's plain meaning here and so that is happening.

It happens a lot and it especially happens with the pastoral epistles because Paul talks about stuff that people just don't want to hear but nevertheless even with all that aside here we are and God's Word which was again given to Paul as he was carried along by the Holy Ghost as Peter tells us it still stands and whatever the whatever the Convictions are of a culture whatever the scruples are of a particular culture.

Even if it's the one that we've been accustomed to. It'll sometimes make us feel weird when the New Testament starts talking about these things the distinctions and roles of the sexes and The the differences between men and women.

Yes created equal in value in the eyes of God. They both men and women were created in the image of God.

But.

Just as God gave different ethnic groups special distinctions so that there could be Diverse culture around the entire world and that he can be glorified in that he gave men and women distinct duties and roles and Gifts and skills and all these types of things and so Paul is going to be highlighting some of these.

Items in.

This passage and he certainly will be doing it quite a bit in first and second Timothy, which we'll get to eventually. And so when we start reading about these distinctions and that there are differences and that these things are good It can make even the most conservative Evangelical feel a little bit weird because again, it sounds different from what they've been told.

It sounds different from how they live their lives Themselves, but what we have to remember is that behind these very practical seemingly mundane instructions from Paul is a very special glory that man truly cannot comprehend because They're dull of hearing.

The reason why people don't see the glory in some of these things such as. Let's read it again. That the young women be sober. Love their husbands. Love their children. That they are discreet. That they are chaste.

That they are keepers at home. That they are good. That they are obedient to their husbands. The reason why these things seem Mundane and that people don't see the glory that is actually before us in these couple of verses here is because they're dull of hearing.

And.

That could be a sad thing because they can be dull of hearing because they have. They're in opposition to God's Word much like the Pharisees were much like the scribes were. Or it can also be because they have been under Teaching the teaching of those that are in opposition to God's Word for so long.

They just don't know any better. In other words, it's it's more of an ignorant thing than it is an intentional thing. And so how do you fix all of that? Well. You go back to the first chapter of Titus where Paul starts to tell the elder.

He starts telling Titus and all of the elders that would succeed Titus. You need to be holding fast the faithful word as you have been taught. So that you are able by sound doctrine both to exhort. Remember, that's the positive side.

That is looking at their congregation with full confidence. With no embarrassment and with absolutely no care in the world for what the culture's Standards are around him. Even when they're in opposition.

The majority is in opposition to God's Word. He can stand before his congregation and exhort them from God's Word from the truths that have been delivered there. So that's the first thing. That the elder can do that these men of God can do.

When they hold fast the faithful word, but what's the other thing? It is to convince or to convict the gainsayers. Because there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers. Especially they of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped as Paul tells us we've covered all this they subvert whole houses they teach things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake and.

Then he skips to verse or I'll skip to verse 13 and he says. Wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. In verse 16 He says they profess that they know God but in works they deny him being abominable and disobedient unto every good work reprobate.

Now there's a specific context here for the false teachers that Paul was talking about. But he is giving us some things to watch for which are perpetuated in false teachers across all generations. Across all of time regardless of whether they're Jews or not.

So here you have some some Judaizers that were the false teachers subverting whole houses. But we have plenty of examples of Gentile false teachers as well. And you will see these same things crop up and it'll it'll generally be for the same reasons whether for filthy lucre's sake or for their own gain in some form or fashion whether it be reputation or monetary and so.

These are the types of things that the elders and that those that will succeed Titus and Timothy will have to deal with and For that reason they have to go forth they have to hold. They have to faithfully hold to the faithful word they have to hold fast to the faithful word is the exact phrase so that when they get to passages like this, even when there is Vast amounts of opposition to the plain reading of Paul's words here God's words through Paul they hold fast.

They they can still exhort they can still exhort their congregation and With the egalitarian start coming out of the woodwork with these really bizarre interpretations of these passages. They are able to argue with them in a way that eventually can lead people to the truth and.

So.

Really really interesting stuff. You know if there's one thing That I want everyone to keep in mind as we move through these particular verses I've said it before but I'll probably say it again a number of times is that there is nothing purposeless.

In here again, there's nothing arbitrary. There's nothing in vain that Paul is teaching. We see patterns we see purpose that are pictures of the very interplay between the Creator himself and his creation and These things they mean far more.

Than.

Our own Ever-changing standards our own ever-changing convictions is a culture. But I mean also, you know, you you can look at that. It's like on a national scale on a state level scale and your local County.

You're you're just circle of acquaintances. It doesn't matter how much you want to extrapolate it or bring it in. Either way, we have to remember that the pictures that what we're reading represent. They mean far more than Any changing Standard that anyone may have.

There's a phrase I'm trying to think of and I can't off the top of my head. But there's not any subjectivity here for sure. It's it's objective and it's straight from the Word of God. Now, let me just a couple of more quick thoughts and then I'll see if you guys have any thoughts before we move on.

But.

You have these verses here. You have these things laid out that sound mundane. They sound mundane. To be sober to love your husband's love your children. To be chaste to be discreet to be a good keeper at home to a beat to be obedient to your husband in these types of things.

They sound mundane. But what we have to remember just as much as the other things we've mentioned at this point is that God Has always worked through the mundane because that's where.

When.

You see this throughout the Old Testament. You see this is the New Testament as well. You know, this is that cool story of Elijah that ran away because he was petrified of the Baal worshipers in Israel and he was Convinced that they were coming to kill him and not only that but he was the last one alive.

He was the last one of God's people that actually feared him that actually believed his word and then actually believed That he was in the right Against the majority opinion of his day. But he was having to flee for his own life's sake and he was in a cave and all of a sudden just this commotion started working up on the outside and he had this this Feeling that the Lord was present.

And he walks to the the mouth of the cave and you have a hurricane and you have An earthquake and you have fire and with each thing that happens It mentions that God wasn't in the earthquake mentions that God wasn't in the hurricane.

It mentions that God wasn't in the fire.

But then.

After all of that happens There was this still small voice that Elijah heard and that's where he heard the Word of God. He heard this still small voice. He heard it after the hurricane he heard it after the earthquake and It was in the still small voice not in any of the ruckus that was happening before that that he heard the deep things of God.

If you read the Old Testament And you read the story these amazing narratives of these people of God that many times we're going through travail of some kind they were Going through sorrow of some kind God would work through these very in the opinion of just mere men Mundane ways to show them his handiwork to show them the way he was working in their lives and it would bring them out of It where they could actually see the greatness of God.

And that theme certainly continued throughout the New Testament. In fact, I believe we're seeing it right here in these verses in Titus and so God has always worked through the mundane now. I say mundane quote-unquote simply to make a point.

And that is of course that that which the world deems to be mundane.

Quote-unquote.

Is actually some of the most significant kingdom work that a person a man or a woman could ever do to once again perpetuate God's kingdom. To actually grow and expand God's kingdom. Because God works multi-generationally, he doesn't it.

He rarely picks a single person like a Moses or like an Elijah or like an Apostle Paul and Just unloads his power visually speaking.

To.

Maybe authenticate a message maybe just to show this particular person that they are The chosen one of God to fulfill this particular purpose. He rarely does that. When he does it's amazing. It's awe-inspiring, but it's rare.

Most of the time what he is doing is he's working in the small things in the lives of his people. Because he is working multi-generationally. He the things that we do even the small things even the quote-unquote mundane things.

They are.

Contributing to.

Massive things that will happen perhaps two to three to four to five generations from now. For people for your lineage for your descendants that may not even know your name. But because of the small things that you were faithful toward today.

Such as the small things that Paul is talking about in this passage. You are contributing to their well-being you are setting them up even multiple generations down the road you're setting them up for success and.

In that is how God expands his kingdom. And so because of that because he works multi-generationally. It's not mundane in the eyes of God and. Because these things in verses 4 5 and in following because they're not mundane in the eyes of God.

They should not be mundane in our eyes either. We shouldn't think of them trivially. We shouldn't think of them as oh, I really wish it said something different here because well. Maybe we're looking at it through the lens of what the culture wants us to be focused on.

But these things aren't mundane in the eyes of God and so they shouldn't be mundane for us. Does anyone have any thoughts or anything? They'd like to share? Real quick anything y 'all have in mind. Okay, let's see here.

We could go a little bit further. Although last week we used up a lot of time. So I just want to look at a couple of things here. It will probably pick it up. In the same verses next week is there's a number of things worth honing in on.

So.

These things are very important as we've established and as we look at them. We need to remember that These are not These aren't random. These are issues that Paul sees happening in the lives of believers and Therefore he is given this these instructions to Titus to then give the older women in his congregation So that they can teach the next generation how to do these things.

Properly, so teach the young women to be sober if we recall.

This is.

Something that Paul expects of the older women as well. This word carries multiple connotations. It could be talking about sobriety in the most literal sense. But it could also be talking about just self-control in general.

How can the older women teach the younger women how to be under control if they themselves aren't under control and that's why Paul begins. By saying the aged women Need to be in the behavior that becomes holiness not false accusers not given to much wine teachers of good things.

And so he starts by setting the foundation of let. Make sure the the older women are under control themselves because they are going to be put in a position to be ministers to be teachers to be. Showing the next generation how to live in a God-honoring way.

One of those ways is for the young women to be sober themselves. The next thing he says and we'll probably end with this thought to love their husbands to love their children. We'll pick it up here next week, too.

But that sounds just like okay. Yeah, sure. Obviously, we're gonna be you need to love your spouse. You need to love your kids. The problem is that it is very hard to love other people. It doesn't matter.

I mean it it doesn't matter what the relationship is. It doesn't matter if they're your husband or your wife. It doesn't matter if they're your kids or your mom or your dad. It is very hard to love other people.

And it's like that because of sin. It's like that because of the fall. It's like that because we got what we asked for when we took the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. We wanted to know what that was like and now we know what it's like.

And it can be really tough sometimes. It can be really tough on ourselves. Because you know, we may be put in a position where we realize we have some ill will toward any person. It could be anybody. But even all the way up to the most intimate relationships We have or it could be the felt the feeling of ill will from someone else toward us either way.

It could be painful and it can make life really tough and it's because of the fall that we experienced that.

Now.

Back in October Of last year. I did. I did four sermons on the sufficiency of Christ, but each week we looked at a different area where we can look to Christ's efficiency to help us through a Certain aspect of our lives, you know, it could we could be talking about our salvation.

It'd be talking about Christ's efficiency when we're going through the rough times suffering our contentment. Whatever it may be but one of the things we looked at was Christ's efficiency for our fulfillment for our ultimate fulfillment.

And one of the really sad realities of Humans in in culture going back a long time for a long time is that people Seek and believe they can find true fulfillment in people. In the spouse the perfect spouse.

And when they realize well, okay My spouse isn't as perfect as I thought they were so maybe I'll find it in the kids. So they have kids and then they realize well, the kids are kind of driving me nuts, too.

And so I still don't feel fulfilled. I don't understand what's going on.

Well.

The the issue of course is in the premise that a person a fallible fallen human being just as yourself. Can give you any sense of fulfillment now? Here's here's the interesting part is. That your family can obviously give you fulfillment, but it doesn't start with him and it's not in and of them.

It's not in and of themselves. Certainly not in and of yourself and. So when you talk about full satisfying gratifying Fulfillment in your life. It starts first and foremost with Christ and his sufficiency in that.

His sufficiency in your ability as a person regardless of what maybe you're in the at the point of life where you're looking for your spouse and you haven't found him him or her yet and It's you know, there are some people that struggle and they will they will go well into their 20s in some cases having.

And maybe even the early 30s haven't been looking for a spouse all along. Trying to be obedient to the Lord in that particular area, but that door hasn't opened yet they haven't found a person that meets maybe biblical criteria of a person that you'd want to be married to maybe they they have met some people that seem nice at first maybe even in church, but in the end the The standards didn't live up to their own.

In the right sense perhaps or perhaps they had we're living this kind of double life over here or who knows I mean, I'm thinking of hypotheticals, but the point is people can find themselves way down the road.

They haven't found that person yet. Well, what do you do about that when you have this yearning to find your companion well. Without Christ, it could be an absolutely miserable season of life. But with him you can actually get through that.

Yes, you still have that yearning and it's a good yearning to have. It's a God honoring thing to find that spouse. But you can still have fulfillment even in that season with Christ or maybe you found the spouse and you're at a particular season where you Don't have kids yet.