Lights in the Darkness, Part 1

Introduction

Good evening, sisters. We are continuing are study in Titus and tonight I will be teaching on Titus 2:1-5. I have entitled my teaching, “Lights in the Darkness, part 1” as Lord willing I will be teaching verses 6-10 next month as part 2.

Before I start on the actual teaching from Titus, I am going to begin with another principle from Simeon Trust. The Simeon Trust method teaches that the Scriptures revolve around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So tonight we are learning about, “Seeing Jesus.” Because the whole Bible revolves around Jesus’s death and resurrection, one should be able to see something about Jesus in every passage. In these 1st 5 verses, I see Jesus in verse 1, where Paul exhorts Titus to speak the things fitting for sound doctrine. Doctrine is a systematic form of a body of teaching or instructions, taught principles or positions. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” And here are some Biblical principles and positions regarding Christ’s work. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 12-19 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Notice how Paul says, “of first importance.” He is telling us that Christ and His work is the most important doctrine of our faith, which is how I See Jesus in Titus 2:1-5 because Paul is telling Titus to teach Christ and His work as the basis for everything else he teaches.

Ok, now let’s look at the passage. Titus 2:1 “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” Well, since the verse begins with the word “but”, we need to see what came before it to see why Paul is saying, “but.” So, in Titus 1:16 Paul said, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” He is making a distinction between the rebellious, empty-talking, deceiving men from Titus 1:10 and Titus, who Paul knows has the knowledge to speak sound doctrine. Paul is telling Titus he must teach sound doctrine himself even as he is setting things in order and appointing elders in every city. Paul knows Titus will teach the main doctrinal truth of Christ’s death and resurrection so he adds a few things that Titus can teach that will help all the people live their lives for God’s glory. John MacArthur made an observation that the letter to Titus “does not focus on explaining or defending doctrine.” and “Except for the warning about false teachers and Judaizers, the letter gives no theological correction, strongly suggesting that Paul also had confidence int eh doctrinal grounding of most church members there, despite the fact that the majority of them were new believers.” He also points out that God and Christ are regularly referred to as Savior (1:3-4, 2:10, 13, 3:4,6) and the saving plan is so emphasized in 2:11-14 that it indicates the major thrust of the epistle is that of equipping the churches of Crete for effective evangelism.” As that would be difficult in the atmosphere that was described in Titus 1:12 “One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons,” Paul is helping Titus teach the people, men and women, young and old, and no matter one’s station in life, how they can be lights in the darkness of Crete. Do you think we can identify with that here in the USA today, sisters? We live in a country that seems to be getting darker every day.

Paul begins with the older men. Some see this as the elders of the church, but in fact, Vine’s describes it as aged man and Strong’s says an old man - aged. So, this really is referring to the men like my husband! :-) … meaning the older men of the church. However, the descriptions Paul gives Titus for how the older men “are to be” are not limited to them, which he brings out as he goes down the list of the other people. So, let’s go through these descriptions quickly so we can understand them:

Temperate (other translations say sober or sober-minded) - basically taking care of themselves instead of letting themselves go.

Dignified (other translations are reverent or worthy of respect) - basically not going over the top in dress and behavior.

Sensible (other translations say temperate or self-controlled) - basically keeping in control of their passions so they don’t get carried away into evil.

Sound in faith - basically adhering to the truth of the Gospel. Matthew Henry says, “Those who are full of years should be full of grace and goodness, the inner man renewing more and more as the outer decays.”

Sound in love - knowing what godly love is and faithfully carrying it out

Sound in perseverance (other translations say steadfastness, patience, or endurance) - basically reminding the older men not to become grumpy old men!! :-)

These traits allow older men and really the rest of us too, to be lights in the darkness.

Now, we come to what Paul tells Titus to teach the older women (which is the majority of us here!) :-)

Titus 2:3 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,”

He says likewise (meaning like the older men) the older woman must be:

Reverent in their behavior - Matthew Henry says it well when he says, “both men and women must accommodate their behavior to their profession.” And then he points out that the virtues mentioned before about the older men are applicable to both sexes and should be followed by the women as well as the men. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m asked if someone (usually about a family member) is a Christian, my response is, “they profess to be.” What am I saying when I say that? I’m saying that they say they’re a Christian, but their actions, their lifestyle, the things they say, and /or their behavior do not match what they profess. Sisters, let’s be reverent in our behavior so we can be lights in the darkness and not having anyone saying of us, “she professes to be a Christian” because that’s all they can say about us.

Not malicious gossips (other translations say false accusers or slanderers - basically they shouldn’t be talking of other people and sowing discord. James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” Sisters, we love to talk, but if we are going to be lights in the darkness we need to become much slower to speak. :-)

Not enslaved to much wine - I am guessing wine was a popular drink that women in Crete over-imbibed on, but I think we must be careful to not become addicted to anything - there’s lots of things in our world to become addicted to that aren’t even food or drink - so we can be lights in the darkness.

Teaching what is good - or teachers of good things. We can teach by example, living our life for the Lord and we can teach with our mouths (under the direction of the Bible - in other words not in church to men). To teach by example, we need to act and behave in a way that is holy (as instructed above). With our mouths and words, we can teach our children, we can teach other women in private, or in a group as we are doing tonight, but we must do it with wisdom. Prov. 31:26 “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” Proverbs 31 has always been hard for me because it has such a high standard to live up to, but that doesn’t mean I should ignore it. It is a beautiful teaching of what living for God as a woman can look like. Teaching what is good obviously means we need to be sure we are not teaching wrong things or vain things or corrupt things. Be careful what we teach through words and example, sisters, so we can be lights in the darkness.

So, when we are teaching by example or with words in private or in a larger setting, one of the groups we need to be cognizant of teaching are the younger women. Generally, the younger women are in a more challenging time of life, but a time of life that most older women have experience in one way or another. What should older women teach the younger women?

To love their husbands - young married women have a duty to their husband. We need to teach the younger women what loving their husband looks like, how they are to do it, and primarily how they are to do it is to live out the same traits the older men were instructed to live out and the same traits the older women were instructed to watch out for. The younger women need to be taught to be in the Word - to make time to be in the Word, to memorize the Word so when things are hectic in their life, they will have verses to cling to.

To love their children - in our current society, we have a strange definition of love - loving someone means letting them do whatever feels good to them and sadly that seems to include children now. That is not loving your children, of course, and we need to make sure we are teaching the young women that if we see something that seems to be like that. In Isaiah we read, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Young women need to be taught to not follow the ways of the world, but to follow biblical truth. Loving your children means disciplining them, guiding them and teaching them truth (younger women are older women to their children).

Sensible (other translations say self-controlled or discreet) - the word can mean “safe in mind, self-controlled, (moderate as to opinion or passion), discreet, sober, temperate. Young women need to learn to not give the enemy a foothold by desiring fun and merriment over the duties the Lord has given them of being a wife and mother. By being a solid wife and mother who takes care of her husband and children, you can be lights in the darkness young women!

Pure (another translation says chaste) - living in innocence, not desiring to do things that go against God’s Word.

Workers at home - this is a tough one in today’s world, but basically it means the home and the organization of it and the care for the husband and children are the responsibility of the wife and mom. Alistair Begg put it something like your sphere of influence when you’re a young wife and mom needs to be primarily your family. This does not mean you forego serving other places, but it does mean you will include your children in your service where possible so you can teach them about serving others.

Kind - basically, have a cheerful and good-natured spirit in all your dealings with people - husband, children, extended family, friends. This will build your house and do your husband and children good all your days.

Being subject to your own husband - notice the word own here - be subject to your own husband (his wants and needs - not another man’s who seems more reasonable to you - this will prevent disorder and frustration in your home.

Now why do we do all these things? So we can be lights in the darkness or as Paul says to Titus, “so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” Again, we want to be lights in the darkness and we can’t be lights in the darkness if we cause people to dishonor the word of God because of our behavior.