Titus 2:1-14
Introduction:
A.Good afternoon, open your Bible which I know you brought with you to Titus the second chapter.
1.Today we are going to examine verses 1-14, so let us read this section together and see what God’s Word says.
2.Up to this point Paul has talked to Titus about the appointment of elders in every city and what the qualifications of these elders are
3.He has told us about rebellious men who are seeking to divert the Christians from the truth and how Titus is to reprove them.
4.Here in chapter two Paul is going to discuss how a Christian should act and be in their life here on earth.
B.This is important don’t you think? How we live is a reflection upon what we believe. If we are Christians then our life should reflect Christ.
C.Here in verse 1 Paul writes to Titus, “But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine”
1.This is in opposite of how the rebellious men in the previous section spoke. They were distorting the Word of God.
2.Now Titus has been speaking the truth of the gospel, this verse is merely transferring us from one thought to another by Paul.
3.What is happening is that the Cretans have been living a life in the world for so long they are having a hard time understanding how they need to act.
4.So Titus needs to always be aware of what it is he is saying.
a)For there are those men who are rebellious who want to bring the Cretans away from the truth.
b)If Titus is speaking in a manner that is not in accordance with the gospel then they will have an excuse to attack his reputation.
5.So when Titus is speaking to the people of Crete he needs to do so in a way that is fitting, that is he needs to be proper about it, not to say something that the gospel does not say the gospel is that sound doctrine here
a)Guy is always telling me that I need to do this, that when I preach I need to expose the text.
b)I am working on this and with Guys help I will get better.
D.Now we can speak things in our life in many ways and the two most prevalent ways is by literally speaking and by our actions.
1.Titus is to speak to the Cretans in both ways as well and here in our lesson today we are going to see some of the things Paul wants Titus to speak
2.We are going to breakup verses 2 thru 14 into two sections for study
a)First that we are to live in a way that is proper to the grace we have received. This is going to cover verses 2-10 where Paul is talking about certain groups of Christians.
b)The grace received is found in verse 11 where Paul concludes his thought on this with what will be our second point where Paul tells us why we are to live this way.
3.So let us start up here at verses 2-9 with point one.
I.Live in a way that is proper to the grace we have received
A.Here in theses verses Paul is going to discuss 5 groups of which we all will fall into one of and it won’t be until the next point that Paul will discuss why we are to live this way, it is that grace we have received.
1.The first group is that of older men
a)Now I have done some extensive research here and I have found that “older men” are anyone who is older then I, so I am excluded from this group.
b)Older men are just that, aged, advanced in years, Paul is going to go into what these older men need to be as Christians.
c)First they need to be “temperate”
1)A person who is not extreme in their opinion, they think before they talk and don’t just burst out ready for an argument
2)It can also mean a person who drinks moderately or that they do everything in moderation. They are not extreme.
d)They are to be “dignified”, serious and worthy
1)This can be seen by the way a man carries himself and how he dresses
2)If I showed up to preach one Sunday in torn jeans and a tee-shirt, I would not look very dignified nor would I be bringing dignity to the position of the preacher.
e)Older men are to be “sensible”
1)Sound of mind, they have a healthy mind that is not polluted
2)They have control over their mind in that they do not flip out and rush toward a fight without understanding it first.
f)They are to be “sound in the faith”
1)Their faith is to be healthy and not prone to disease this is true of all Christians.
2)A healthy body is a strong body and a healthy faith is a strong faith ready to stand against false doctrine.
3)The word “sound” here is also connected to the next two things an older man should be
g)They are to be sound “in love”
1)This is the Greek word agape and means unconditional love
2)Their love is to be healthy and strong ready to overcome any obstacle set in its way.
3)Strong enough to be able to reprove a brother if it becomes necessary
h)They are to be sound “in perseverance”
1)Again strong and healthy in their patience and endurance as they go through this life.
2)Not to be swayed by those who teach false doctrine, but always striving unwaveringly toward the goal in heaven.
i)Older men this is how you need to be as a Christian in this world.
2.Next Paul turns to the older women
a)They “are to be reverent in their behavior”
1)This is like when I first went to Guys house and he took me down stairs to see the John Wayne memorial.
2)Guys behavior when he went down there went to reverent. He got silent and you could tell that he respected the room.
3)That is having a reverent behavior and this is what Paul is calling on the older ladies to have.
b)They are also “not to be malicious gossips”
1)When a person seeks out a “juicy” story on someone else or spreads one themselves.
2)This is not the attitude of a Christian and is not what an older lady should be either.
c)They are not to be “enslaved to much wine”
1)It is hard for a person to be reverent if they are drunk with wine, so ladies you need to refrain from this!
2)The word “enslaved here means that a person has become the slave of the wine and that they no longer control themselves, but the wine does.
3)We are to be enslaved to Christ and most certainly not to the wine
d)Older women are to be “teaching what is good”
1)But what is “good”? Certainly not their past life as a worldly Cretan, but that of the good news they had received and obeyed.
2)This teaching is for (but not limited to) the younger women as we see here in verse 4.
3.Now we see Paul turning to give some words about how the younger women are to conduct themselves in this world.
a)The first thing we see is that the older women are to encourage these younger women to be all these things Paul is about to list.
b)Paul is making the older ladies the role model for these women to follow and the first thing is “to love their husbands”
1)Is marriage important? Yes it is. Marriage is the first institution God established for us.
2)We need to take is serious and Paul wants the Cretans to also first by looking to the older Christians for encouragement.
c)Next Paul wants the older women to encourage the younger to love their children.
1)We can see a great emphasis on love here. It was love that saved us from sin and we need to show that love to others.
2)And who should have a prominent place in our lives? Christ, our spouse, and our children.
3)Who better to be the example for these young women then the older women? Paul knows what he is talking about here.
d)Just like we can see that these first two are a pair, so also are the next two, “sensible” and “pure”
1)Sensible means that one has control over their mind. That impure thoughts are being kept out.
2)Pure is keeping sin out of your life. It is when we find those things in our life that are sinful and we purge them out leaving us more pure.
e)Next they are to be “workers at home”
1)A young women who takes care of the home will undoubtedly bless her husband and her children.
2)Connected with this is that she is also to be “kind” to those who come into the home and among her family.
f)Finally the responsibility laid upon the young women is that she is to be “subject to her own husband”
1)This is by her own will, she is to subject herself to the husband, it is a choice that she must make.
2)Paul opens with young women loving their husbands and he closes with the thought that they are to subject themselves to their husbands.
3)It seems clear that the Cretans have a problem with this in that day and it is a problem we face in our day and age.
4)So how can we fix the problem of adultery in our day in age? First it starts with the older women encouraging the younger and then for the younger to know God’s word and apply it.
5)But this is not a lesson on adultery so we must move on.
g)Now closing out on the duties of the younger woman, Paul says, “so that the word of God will not be dishonored”
1)So an unruly wife will dishonor the word of God.
2)If the husband of this young woman was a non-believer then her unruly ways would indeed dishonor the very word she claimed to uphold
3)But if she applied the principles of God’s word to her life then she would bring praise to God through her life and reflect well to her husband.
4.Now we come to how the younger men are to conduct themselves in this world.
a)With the younger women Paul told the older women to encourage them and here Paul is telling Titus to “urge” the young men.
b)This is his age group and he will have more influence on these men then he would on the younger women
c)So the first thing is that these young men need to be “sensible”, that is they are to control their mind and thoughts to remain on that which is good and true, the Word of God.
d)“in all things show yourself” Titus “to be an example of good deeds”
1)We all have someone in this world that we look up to and whom we watch for our example.
2)Paul knows that the young men of Crete will probably look up to Titus, therefore he needs to always present himself as a man of good deeds.
3)So that he will be a good example for these younger men.
4)This is true for everyone, we are always being watched and I have heard and seen a ton of examples of this with fathers and their children.
5)Especially when the child over hears something the father says and then repeats it.
e)The example of Titus is to be “with purity of doctrine”
1)The word “purity” here is literally “uncorruptness”. The doctrine that Titus is preaching and teaching needs to be untainted.
2)The Word of God should always be presented without our preconceived ideas or our misconceptions.
3)In order to present people with the pure untainted Word of God it requires study on our part.
f)The way in which Titus presents the gospel is just as important, he needs to be “dignified”
1)If I were standing up here today and was dressed in ripped jeans and a t-shirt would I look dignified? No, not at all, if fact you would be prone to not take me seriously.
2)Even worse what if I were to come up here unprepared with my lesson? That to would not be dignified.
g)“sound in speech”, again here is our word for “healthy”
1)Titus is to present the pure Word of God, he is to do it in a dignified manner, and he is to be “sound in speech which is beyond reproach”.
2)As long as Titus takes the Word of God seriously and teaches the Word in its pure form, not allowing any falsehoods to creep in.
3)Then those who are opposed to the truth will be put to shame, because when they seek out for something bad to say about the church, they will find nothing.
5.Finally here in verses 9 to 10 Paul comes to the conduct of the bond slaves
a)Titus is to also urge the slaves to “be subject” to their masters “in everything”, much like the young women are to be subject to their husband.
b)Here to it is the slaves responsibility to submit themselves to their master and that in all things.
c)They are to be well-pleasing, doing what they are told to do and to serve in a pleasing manner to their master.
d)They are not to be “argumentative”, literally “contradictive” to their masers
1)Some of you parents may know this as “back talking”. When your kids don’t want to do something they may try to argue with you and contradict you.
2)Well, Paul is telling these slaves that if you do not what the job is to bad, you need to be well-pleasing and that means to submit, therefore no arguing.
e)Titus is to urge these slaves not to pilfer from their masters, that is they are not to steal from him for their own gain
f)“but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect”
1)“showing all good faith”, that is in their conduct which their masters will see and when the good faith which they profess is seen in their works then they (the slaves) will “adorn the doctrine of God”.
2)The word “adorn” here means to lavish praise upon it and that is by their actions.
3)They have shown great praise toward the Word of God they profess merely by their actions.
B.The one thing that rings out in each of these sections about conduct is that each person is to live their life according to God’s will and not their own.
II.In summary Paul tells us why we are to live this way
A.Looking down here at verses 11 and 12 we see the grace of God which brought salvation and divine teaching for the present age.
1.This is why we are to conduct ourselves this way. This grace here is speaking of the forgiveness of our sin.
2.Sin was the only thing keeping us from God, but now we have grace through Christ who has given the opportunity of salvation to all men.
3.The Word’s of Christ instructs us to “deny ungodliness and worldly desires”.
a)Those things that we once were when we did not know Christ and lived as the world lived.
b)When we lived to serve ourselves and not serve God, when we fed our will and not the will of God.
4.He instructs us to live, here’s that word, “sensibly”. With that healthy mind which can only be obtained if we are feeding our minds good soil the righteous words of Christ.
5.To live “righteously”, meaning that God’s judgment approves the life we live, which is according to his Word.
6.And to live “godly in this present age”
a)Living “godly” is the opposite ungodliness. Our lives are now focused upon God and what He wants from us.
b)It is when we reflect His Word’s in our life.
c)We are to do this in this present age, this is the Christian age. The readers of Paul’s letter here were living in this age and we still live in it today.
B.And here in verses 13 and 14, we see the blessed hope of the second coming
1.God had brought salvation unto man and in His Word He has shown us how to live in this present age.
a)And we are to look for that “blessed hope” of the return of Christ this is why we live this way as Paul has outlined in here chapter two.
b)“looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”
1)This is what we are to look for always waiting to see this appearance of Christ and when we do if will be glorious.
2)Who is Christ? He is our “great God”. Great because of what He has done for us on the cross, great because He is going to return and bring us home. Great, because He, Jesus Christ is God.
2.Great because He “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed”
a)He is our redeemer. Christ died for us, He paid that plenty of death that we deserved and wiped away our sins.
b)Is it then too much to ask us to live in this way considering what all he did for us?
3.Christ purified us who were once blemished and unusable, He cleansed us so that we might be His people and if we are His then we are to conduct ourselves in a manner befitting Him.
4.And that should be a people who are zealous for good deeds, the deeds or works we see here in Titus chapter two.
Conclusion:
A.Christ has done so much for us and He continues to work on our behalf ever time we sin against Him.
B.Is it then too much for us to mold our lives after His Word to be that reflection of Him so that others in this world will see and perhaps want to know more about Christ.
C.We are to conduct ourselves as Christians because this is the life we choose to live.
1.We were once people of the world and our actions proved that we were suce people, but we chose Christ to be in our lives.
2.But do our actions reflect that change? Are we molding ourselves to His Word or are we reverting back to our pagan ways?
D.If you are struggling with being conformed to the Word of God or if your conduct in this world has not been in a way that is pleasing to God, then we offer you Christ’s invitation to come forward and receive the prayers and comfort of the congregation as together we stand and sing.