If you would turn with me in
your Bible to the little book of Titus, chapter 2. Titus, chapter 2. In this chapter, Paul exhorts
Titus to the full responsibility of his office as a pastor, and
he does so in giving him instruction to all believers in the church
of God. He speaks of preaching in a way
that promotes sound doctrine. That's a word that many of us
are familiar with, doctrine, it simply means teaching, instruction. healthy instruction, the concordance
is. And it's in regard to conversation,
general behavior, godliness, and duties toward one another. And in verse one, Paul encourages
Titus to speak out with all boldness, not fearing men or seeking to
please men. to speak in all boldness the
things that were becoming to the gospel of God's grace. In verse 2, Paul addresses Titus
in speaking and instructing the aged men in boldness. He encourages
the elder believing men, those who are older in years, to be
sober. And that word doesn't mean just
not drinking. It means vigilant. It means serious. This is serious business. The
gospel and the church, serious business. He encourages them
to be grave, honorable, temperate, self-controlled, sound in faith,
in charity, in patience. Then in verse three, Paul tells
Titus to exhort the aged or the older women to behave in their
clothing, speech, conduct, and spirit as it's becoming to the
name of Christ. whom they profess to love and
to serve, not to be false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers
of good things. Matter of fact, in verses four
and five, the older women ought to teach the young women to be
good wives and mothers. I'm thankful that over the years
we've had such women in this church. Two come to mind immediately,
who are no longer with us, and I don't even have to mention
their names, you're nodding your head, you know who they were. To be sober, meaning wise and
prudent, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be
discreet, chaste keepers at home. And let me just say this, and
not a message on what we should do this morning, but while the
husband is to be the provider and the spiritual head, there's
no doubt in my mind that the home's happiness and unity depends
upon the woman's presence. You men know that so. I've often
heard, happy wife, happy life. Well, that goes, for children in the home, too.
A happy mother, a happy wife. Women were to be good, kind,
obedient to their husbands. That's what God says. And this
is God's order. So the Word of God be not blasphemed,
verse 5. And then in verse 6, Paul tells
Titus to instruct the young men, verse 7, not showing themselves
to be corrupt, but honest and sincere. having sound speech
that cannot be condemned, having a way of life that is to not
be ashamed of, so that no one can bring a charge of evil against
them. And this is all done for Christ's
sake, for the honor of Christ, not to bring reproach upon His
name. Then in verse 9, Titus is told
to exhort servants to be obedient unto their masters. We could
use that in today's terms as employees with their employers.
To be servants, obedient servants, and please them in all things,
not arguing with them, not rebelling against their orders and wishes.
We're good employees, but we should be for Christ's sake,
to bring honor to Him. And then we come to verse 10,
and verse 10 is my text. He says, not purloining or stealing,
but showing all good fidelity, meaning conviction, stability,
faith, that they, the servants, may, now look at this, adorn
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. That's my subject
this morning. That's the title of this message.
The Doctrine of God, Our Savior. I hear a lot about doctrines
today. The word doctrine, as I said,
means teaching or instruction. And the word adorn means just
what you think it does, to decorate. It means to make beautiful. How
do we adorn ourselves? I know you ladies go to great
lengths to do so. How do we make ourselves beautiful
and attractive, especially to God? Only in and by and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Only by adorning ourselves with
the instruction or the doctrine, the teaching of God, our Savior. You're gonna hear that phrase
many times today. The doctrine of God, our Savior. To endeavor to array ourselves
any other way is to purloin, it's to steal from God. It's
to attempt to steal His glory. Purloin means to take for oneself. That's exactly what works religion
does. It takes or it steals for self
the glory of God. That which is due God alone.
We endeavor to take for ourselves. Now, I was raised in religion,
and I'll add false religion, religion that was false, religion
that was wrong, doctrine that was not according to the Scriptures,
teaching that was not according to the Word of God. And I did
not fear the God that was preached to me. I didn't. He seemed weak,
pathetic, Frustrated and needy. He wanted to save sinners, but
couldn't. He desired to forgive sin, but the sinner had to let
him. He willed to provide perfect
righteousness, but he couldn't apart from the sinner's permission
and will. So what was the result? I had
no fear, no reverence, no respect for false religions, puny, potentate. And that word or that title,
potentate, means ruler. It means monarch. It means king. It means sovereign. One who is
potentate is not puny. And one who is puny is not potentate. Now let's fast forward about
20 years to 1986, and then the providence of God and the true
God, the God of the Bible, the God that this book declares was
preached to me, and this God was truly God. He was almighty,
He was powerful, He was sovereign, omnipotent. Why, He did according
to His will. And He did so in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none could
stay His hand or son to Him. What are you doing? Whatsoever
He pleased, the Scripture says, that did He. What did He do? Whatsoever He pleased. In heaven,
in earth, in the seas, and in hell. The deep places. Why, He causes the vapors to
ascend from the earth. Fire, rain, snow, the winds of
the storms, they all fulfill His Word and His will and His
purpose. Why, He maketh lightnings for
the rain. God does that. He bringeth forth
wind out of His treasuries. All things, everything, comes
to pass by the counsel of His own will. Everything, all things
are predestinated, predetermined according to the purpose of Him. He declares the end from the
beginning. He brings to pass the ancient things that He purposed,
the things that are not yet done. He declares with certainty, my
counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Not your pleasure, His pleasure. With Him is wisdom and strength.
Who's directed the Spirit of the Lord? Who, being His counselor,
hath taught Him? Who hath instructed Him? No thought
can be withheld from Him. Job 42.2. His counsel stands
forever. Psalm 33.11. He does whatsoever
He's pleased. Psalm 115.3. This is the God
that this book declares. Not the God that some man has
imagined and that some man preaches. I've said this so many times,
don't ever put God and the word try in the same sentence together. It's blasphemy. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Well, I don't like that. Well,
sorry. He has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. And how thankful we should be
that He has mercy on any. How thankful we should be for
His divine intervention. And when I heard the true doctrine
of God, our Savior, my, I remember thinking, now there is a God
that's worthy of my praise and my worship and my service. Wasn't it so with you? But after a while, I discovered
that I had fallen in love with doctrine, which thankfully, according
to the purpose of God, led me to fall in love with Christ.
But there is a difference. There is a difference. There
are many professing believers today that simply love doctrine. Doctrine never saved a soul.
Jesus Christ is salvation. Some love to discuss theology
and eschatology. I wish I had a dollar for every
time I've been asked, are you a pre-millennialist or a post-millennialist? Well, I'm just a menialist. I'm
nothing. Nobody. I can't do anything. I have nothing to offer God.
Just menial. Folks love to debate the mysteries
of the Bible. Brother Henry once said that
what we need is Christology. And that's right. And that is
the doctrine of God, our Savior. One says, I love the doctrine
of election, but it was God who elected sinners in Christ. Jesus
Christ is the elect of God. God called Him, Mine elect. And we're electing Him. You can
believe in election, but if you don't see that it's in Christ,
then you've missed election. Another says, well, I love the
doctrine of predestination. It is God who predetermines all
things, especially our salvation. Well, if you don't see that it's
God who predestinates and predetermines and brings to pass these things,
then you've missed predestination and it's nothing but a cold doctrine. Many claim to love the doctrine
of justification. Friends, it's the just God who
justifies sinners. To preach the doctrine of justification
without preaching the holy justice of God is a waste of time. I
love the doctrine of substitution. We talked about it in our study
in Psalm this morning. I love the thought that God came
to earth, became a man, put away my sin, and gave me His perfect
righteousness. I love that it was Christ who
died and was made to be sin so that His people might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
substitute. He's the doctrine of God, our
Savior. I love the doctrines of grace.
Oh, I do. I love them. Salvation is not
by works or of ourselves. It's the gift of God. Jesus Christ
is the gift of salvation. He's the doctrine of God, our
Savior. And I love the doctrine of regeneration. But only God
can give life, and God only gives life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see what I'm endeavoring
to say? That life is in His Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. If you've missed that, then you've
missed the doctrine of regeneration. I love the doctrine of atonement.
Listen to me. We joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ by whom we have the atonement. It's in Christ. It's all in Christ.
I love the doctrine of preserving grace. kept, oh my, the child
of God is kept, preserved by the power of God. And if you
miss that, if you're endeavoring to persevere on your own, you'll
never make it. So may God enable us to love
Christ, who the doctrines are all about. He's the doctrine
of God, our salvation. That's what I want you to see.
He's the author and the finisher of our faith. It all began with
Him. It all ends with Him. He purposed
it. It originated with Him. It's
according to the pleasure of His goodwill. He is the substance
of all our doctrine. To Him gave all the prophets
witness. Moses wrote of Christ. The prophets,
David, the psalmist, sung His praises. Abraham saw his day
and was glad. The Scriptures are they that
testify of Him. Jesus Christ has the preeminence. He's our wisdom. He's our righteousness. He's our sanctification and redemption. He's all of it. Our sin is so
great. Our misery is so substantial.
We need a Savior who is God. Christ is the God-man. And as
a man, he is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and
was tempted at all points as we are, yet without sin. And
as God, he is able to save to the uttermost by his strong arm
to those who come to God by him. In verse 13 here, look at it
with me. Paul calls the Lord Jesus, the
great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for
us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto
himself a peculiar. And that word means represented
or united people. The one whom we have offended
has himself become our Savior. Isn't that something? That's
something. I've often thought about someone
that murdered one of my children whom I love. How would I feel
about them? God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. And men by their wicked hands
took and crucified Him, and yet God caused it to come to pass
by the determinate counsel and purpose and foreknowledge of
God. Why? Because that's how he was gonna
save these wretches. Verse 11, the doctrine of the
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared. It appears to all men to whom
God reveals it. And this proposes that it was
once hidden. Friends, hidden in Christ in
whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid. It was
hid from the angels. It was hid from the world, the
Old Testament saints, the Gentiles. But now it appears and it shines
forth like the sun. Not to all men, not every man
and woman in the world, no. But to all sorts of men. To all
sorts of women and nations of every condition, high, low, rich,
poor, bond-free. Because the Gospel is now preached
to all. It's reached the hearts of all
sorts of men and women who sat in darkness and were in the shadow
of death. And it's preached to every creature
under heaven. One like me. This is the doctrine
of God, our Savior. It's the doctrine from the very
breath of God. God breathed, it's God inspired,
divine teaching, divine revelation. It's given and revealed by a
divine Savior. It's kind of like Goliath's sword. You remember what David told
Ahimelech? He said, there's none like it.
Give it to me. There's none like the Lord Jesus
Christ. God, give Him to me. I need Him. I need Him. There's but one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, one Gospel, just one name under
heaven whereby we must be saved. I've had people say, Preacher,
you're awful dogmatic. You're awful single-minded. Well,
we better be. Another gospel? Paul said, which
is not another, but there be some that trouble you that would
pervert the gospel of Christ, that would distort the true doctrine
of God our Savior. There is but one message. I still get a kick out of a cousin
of mine that Clayton and Jeff had done some business with over
in Greenville. She said, I told you this, but it's so true. She said, well, what did David
Lee preach this past Sunday, knowing that I passed her over
here? And he said, well, the same thing he does every Sunday.
And she was appalled. Really? Shame on him. No, no, it's only one message. Just one message, Chris. And
it's the message that you said and heard growing up, and one
day it became effectual to your heart. Why? Because God Almighty
made it so. The message that concerns the
only Savior, the doctrine of God our Savior, He who is just
and the justifier of them who believe in Him and in Him alone. There's nothing deader than knowledge
of doctrine without experience. Nothing deader than truth without
spirit. Do you know Jesus Christ? He
is the doctrine of God, our Savior. Our Lord said they that worship
Him must worship Him, how? In spirit and in truth. Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter 1. You're bound to know how it's
going there. Ephesians chapter 1. Here in Ephesians chapter one,
Paul wrote in verse three. I'll give you a moment to get
there. Ephesians one, three. Paul said, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings. How many? All of them. Every
spiritual blessing there is comes from Him. He's blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Where? In Christ Jesus. According as He has chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. Having predestinated
us, predetermined us unto the adoption of children according
to the good pleasure of His will. We didn't let go and let God. to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
That's Christ. He's the Beloved of God. Now
that's enough doctrine to satisfy the most curious mind, and that's
a foundation to build upon and to hold to for all eternity.
And Paul's a master theologian. And here he's talking about the
eternal counsel and purpose of the Heavenly Father. And what's
he talking about? No, who's he talking about? In verse 7, Paul writes, in whom? Talking about the Lord Jesus.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sin, according to the riches of His grace. Salvation is of
the Lord. He's our doctrine. He's our salvation. He's our forgiveness. He's the
riches of God's grace. He's the doctrine of God, our
Savior. Then in verse nine, Paul talks
about how Christ revealed unto us the mystery of His will and
how then in Christ, we've obtained an inheritance. being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own blessed will. And then speaking of the
Holy Spirit in verses 13 and 14, he says, in whom you trusted
after you heard the word of truth and you were sealed with that
Holy Spirit of promise. How does God save sinners? Through
the preaching of the gospel. That's the means. It's always
been the means. There'll never be another means. And that, my friends, is true
doctrine. True theology. This is Christology. That's what Paul preached, and
it's true doctrine. It's the doctrine of God our
Savior. And this is how we adorn ourselves. This is how we are
made beautiful to God. This is how we are made attractive
to our heavenly husband. Want to know how? He sanctified
and cleansed us. He presented us to Himself a
glorious church, a glorious bride, not having spot, wrinkle, or
any such thing. He did it. All of it. We're holy and without blemish,
only in Him. And this is our doctrine. We're
members of His body. We're flesh of His flesh. We're
bone of His bone. And this is a great mystery concerning
Christ and His church. I've been involved in several
weddings, several young people joining together in holy matrimony. We always say that. You too become
one flesh. Just as we become one flesh with
Christ, with flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. Great mystery. In Romans 1, Paul says, I'm a
servant, I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I'm called to be
an apostle. He said, I'm separated unto the
Gospel of God. Whose Gospel is it? It's God's
Gospel. This is the gospel unto which
we've been called. This isn't man's gospel. This
isn't the church's gospel. This isn't the Baptist gospel,
the Catholic gospel, the Methodist gospel. This is God's gospel. This is the gospel of Christ
by which we've been saved. The gospel that we're under is
the gospel that separated us, and it's the gospel of God. And
this gospel is our doctrine. What is it? It's the doctrine
of God, our Savior. For God sent His Son into the
world. Man didn't bring Him into the
world. God sent him into the world for
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. In
the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to do what? To redeem them that were under
the law. All of us are under the law.
And the law we cannot keep, and God's justice we cannot satisfy. So Amy, God had to do it for
us. When Christ died on the cross,
the Scripture says it pleased God to bruise Him. When Peter
spoke to those people at Pentecost, he said, you crucified the Lord
of glory, but in doing so, you carried out the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. It was all part of the purpose
of God. What we meant for evil, God made
it good. You and I are kept by the power
of God through faith. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling, I need a God who is able. You don't keep yourself from
falling. It's God that keeps you from falling. He not only
gives us faith and gives us repentance, but He gives us the ability and
the will to persevere. We're not going to talk about,
oh, well, you know, brother, I strapped the cross on my back
I did it all, no sirree, don't talk that way. It's God that
keeps you from falling. This book declares that he might
gather together in one all things that are in Christ. It's called
the doctrine, the doctrine of the name that bears it. It's
the doctrine of God. And he's God our Savior because
he's the author and the finisher. If you could take the Scriptures
and condense it all into two words, it would be a name, and
that name is Jesus Christ. That's the Gospel. He's the doctrine of God. Who
is? Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many search the Scriptures for
in them, they think that they have eternal life. But they,
the Scriptures, Are they which testify of Jesus Christ? That's what this is about. Christ
is the Son and the substance of the Bible. Any preaching that
does not, now hear me, any preaching that does not point to Christ
and Him alone is not true preaching. It's a lie. Beware of any preaching
that does not glorify Jesus Christ. And that's the reason Isaiah
in prophecy said, look unto me and be ye saved, for I am God,
and there is none else. Not another. Not another. So the name that our gospel bears
is the doctrine of God our Savior. And we don't need to be afraid
of this doctrine. That's how we adorn ourselves.
By putting on Christ and His righteousness. Last time I wore this jacket,
somebody said, that's a nice jacket. Oh, it ain't as nice
as the other one I have on. The very righteousness of God
in Christ. That's what I adorn myself with.
And it's only because he adorns me with it. You can't adorn the true doctrine
of God with flattering words of man's wisdom. But you can adorn it with love.
Love for God, love for Christ, love for His people. By this
shall all men know that you are my disciples. How? By your love
one for another. What's the greatest grace? faith, hope, and love, and the
greatest of these is love. What is the test of hypocrisy?
He that loveth not knoweth not God. What is the rule of judgment? If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha, let him be accursed. What's the first fruit mentioned
in the fruit of the Spirit? These are the fruits of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace, love is the first. And Paul wrote, though
I give my body to be burned, though I speak with the tongue
of men and of angels, and though I have faith so that I can remove
mountains and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Lord,
help me to love. Help me to love you like Christ
loved me. And we can adorn the doctrine
of God with our love, and we can adorn the doctrine of God,
our Savior, with kindness and forgiveness. Be kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. One day the disciples asked the
Lord, they said, how many times shall I forgive my brethren?
Seven times. Seven's a pretty good number. Surely if I give him seven times,
eighth time, I can get mad. And Peter here instances the
word brother because that's who the Lord been speaking of. The
Lord said, moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. And if he
shall hear it, then you've gained a brother. And the Lord answered
Peter's question seven times. No, 70 times seven. That's a bunch. If he offends you 70 times in
one day, if he or she repents, forgive them. We must always
forgive our brother for this reason. It is to adorn the doctrine,
the gospel of God, our Savior. We can adorn the gospel of God
with patience. Patience under trial, my, my,
oh, my. Boy, I'm stepping on my own toes
now. Patients under trial, believing, trusting God in the midst of
trials is a great way to adorn ourselves with the doctrine of
God our Savior. Lord, I need help here now. I
need help. Our Lord said, in this world
you shall have tribulation. How should we react to these
God-sent tribulations and trials? Well, knowing that God sent the
trials and the tribulations for our good, we ought to react as
Job did. Do you remember how he reacted?
Job worshipped God. He didn't charge God with foolishness.
He said, whatever God sends my way, I'm going to trust Him.
Though He slay me, I will trust Him. I came into this world naked,
and naked I'm going to leave. But I'm going to leave trusting
God. The Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh away. You know, everything we have is the Lord's. It's just
on loan to us. If somebody kindly loans you
something and then needs it back, are you going to get upset with
them when they do? Here, brother, take my car. You
drive it. and then all of a sudden they
need it back, you're gonna get upset? Then how much more so does that
apply to our gracious, generous, giving Lord? It all belongs to
Him. It's just on long does. We can
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior with contentment. Will
we ever be content? As I get older, I believe I'm
becoming maybe a little more content, but I sure hadn't arrived. I got a nice car, but when I
see somebody drive up in a nice Cadillac like jeans, I think, boy, I'd sure like to
have one, man. Will we ever be content? I still
murmur. I still complain. I still find
fault. about the government and about
the water bill, with the world and with the weather. Teach me, Lord, to say with the
Apostle Paul, I've learned in whatsoever state that I am, therefore
to be content. Having food and clothing, be
content and avoid covetousness, which is idolatry. Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God's going to take care
of all the other needs. And He really does. Those that belong to Him, He
feeds them, He clothes them, He gives them shelter. David
said, I've been young, and now I'm old, and yet I've never seen
the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for bread. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For He hath said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you." Oh,
poor, poor, pitiful man. Stop it. Stop it. Many have made doctrines out
of almost everything, and they're nothing but man-made, church-made,
religion-made doctrines. But in the end, The one doctrine
that really matters is the doctrine of God our Savior. There was an old poem written
in 1921 and it very well tells the story that I've endeavored
to tell you this morning. I think the first time I heard
it may have been by Brother Mahan
or Brother Maurice. It's called The Old Violin. Have
you heard it? "'Twas battered and scarred,
and the auctioneer thought "'it's hardly worth his while "'to waste
his time on the old violin. "'But he held it up with a smile. "'What am I bid, good people?'
he cried. "'Who starts the bidding for
me? "'One dollar, one dollar, do I hear two? "'Two dollars,
who makes it three?' $3 once, $3 twice, going for three,
but no, cried a man from the room far back, a gray bearded
man, came forward and picked up the bow. Then wiping the dust
from the old vial in and tightening up the strings, he played a melody
pure and sweet, as sweet as the angels sang. And the music ceased and the
auctioneer with a voice that was quiet and low said, what
now am I bid for this old violin? As he held it aloft with its
bow. 1,000? 1,000, do I hear two?
2,000, who makes it three? 3,000 once, 3,000 twice, going
gone, said he. The audience cheered, but some
of them cried, why, we just don't understand. What changed its
worth? Swift came the reply, the touch
of the master's hand. And many a man with life out
of tune, all battered and bruised with hardship, is auctioned cheap
to a thoughtless crowd, much like that old violin. A mess
of pottage, a glass of wine, a game, and he travels on. He's
going once, he's going twice, he's going and almost gone. But
the master comes. And the foolish crowd never can
quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that are
wrought by the touch of the master's hand. May God enable us to truly
fall in love with Him. the doctrine of God, our Savior. It's the only doctrine that really
saves. The doctrine of Christ and Him crucified. Christ is
the doctrine of God. Jesus Christ is the one and the
only Savior. May we, by God's grace, put all
our trust into the Master's hand. Amen.