And I hear in Titus chapter 2,
Paul continues his instruction of Titus and he says, but speak
thou the things which become sound doctrine. And it's obvious
that a good pastor will preach sound doctrine, preach the truth
as it's revealed in the word, as opposed to fables they talked
about last week in verse 14, not giving heed to Jewish fables
and the commandments of men that turn from the truth. Teach these
things that turn from the truth, but preach sound doctrine, the
truth. And you know, the first thing that comes to our mind
when we think of sound doctrine is things like the five points
of Calvinism. The three R's, ruined by the
fall, redeemed by the blood, regenerated by the spirit. Substitution
and satisfaction. The lordship of Christ. The imputed
righteousness of Christ. Sovereign mercy, sovereign grace.
All those things that we could sum up when we think of sound
doctrine, those things are summed up in our mind as Christ, the
solid rock. He is the sound doctrine. And certainly Paul does mean
that. He says here at the end of the chapter in verse 13, looking
for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify into himself a peculiar
people zealous of good works. Now that's sound doctrine in
it. But before Paul gets to that, the first thing he lists when
he tells Titus to speak the things that become sound doctrine are
all things that relate to the believer's walk in this world.
That's the first things that he lists. And Henry said in his
outline, let me read this to you. He says, there's a life
to be lived and attitude to be shown and duties to be performed,
which are becoming to the gospel of God's grace and the spirit
of God who indwells every believer. And that's what Paul is going
to show Timothy here, the things that become sound doctrine and
the proper walk can only come from hearing sound doctrine and
not just hearing it, but listening to it. and believing it. Sound
doctrine. The only way people have the
proper walk is sound doctrine. And a person who's been born
again will have and must have a new walk. It's an absolute
necessity. So Paul tells Titus, he said,
you speak these things. And what he means is you speak
these things boldly. Don't hold back and don't apologize
for teaching people who've been given a new heart that they ought
to have a new walk. Don't apologize for that. They should have a
new walk. They've got a new nature. And speak these things clearly.
Speak them to specific people. Don't just talk in generalities,
but to specific people. When I was a child, I'd sit there
in service and halftime, you know, I wouldn't pay a bit of
attention. But every once in a while, Henry would say, now
you children, Are you young people? And I'd listen. I'd listen to
that. He's speaking to specific people.
And I like that. I like knowing he must care enough
about me because he put something in his notes for me. He's talked
to specific people. And that's exactly what Paul
is telling Titus to do and other pastors and teachers to speak
to specific people. And this first group of specific
people he speaks to are the aged men. In verse two, he says that
the aged men be sober, grave. temperate, sound in faith, in
charity, in patience. Now, these aged men are older
believers. And just in a sentence, what
Paul is telling the aged men here is don't be a grumpy old
man, but set the right tone. You know, Janet tells me all
the time, you're going to be a grumpy old man. So, you know, I'm in
training for that. Don't do that. That's what Paul
is telling Titus here. Teach the aged men how to do
that. But first, he says to be sober. And that word sober means
vigilant, watching over themselves, watch over your faithfulness
and your conduct because you're setting the example for the younger
men. Be sober. Next, he says, be grave. And this word grave means a venerated,
honorable person, someone who should be respected. You be grave,
be someone that people should look up to. Have your behavior
in such a way that you should be an example to other people.
Be serious about spiritual matters and be composed in every situation,
no matter what life throws at you. And by the time you get
to be an aged man, life throws things like everything at you.
Well, be composed in those things. Now, this word grave, you know,
you all think about the stern Puritan, you know, just grave
and pouting all the time. And that's not what this word
means. You know, you don't have to just go around, you know,
with a frown all the time. That's not necessarily holy.
You can enjoy humor and things in its right place. And as the
end grows near, people tend to be more serious, don't they?
Their bodies falling apart, they're in pain. They see the end is
near and they see things that how they They viewed things when
they were younger that was wrong. You know, I understand that.
But when you get to that point, don't forget to smile and don't
forget to give reason to give people a reason to smile. Don't
make them just always down, you know, when they're around you.
And quite honestly, when I thought this week as I was going through
this verse about aging men, I thought about Cecil Roach. Now, there's
a man, everybody knows him. Here's a man who was grave, wasn't
he? Serious about spiritual matters. But yet young men were always
comfortable around him. I went over to his house one
evening. He came outside on the porch and we talked. He put his
feet up. He said, Frank, he said, now
that you've come inside my front porch, every preacher that around
this, these parts have all come inside my front porch. All of
them young men came and sat on my front porch and talked about
preaching. Young men were comfortable around him. And you learn a lot
from him. You can learn a lot from Scripture.
Just hearing him talk. You didn't even have to be preaching
or teaching. Just hearing him talk about Scripture. You learn
a lot. You learn a lot about life from his experience in this
world. He found the right balance. A
brave man, but not so serious you couldn't stand to be around
him. He found things funny. And that's exactly what that's
called. A venerated, honorable person
who should be respected. Next, Paul says temperate. And
that means prudent. Show a little bit of wisdom in
how you conduct yourself. Show that you're able to govern
yourself. Not, you know, we think of temperance. It's not just in alcohol, but
it's in everything that pertains to this flesh. Enjoy it in moderation,
at the right time, at the right place. That's what he means.
Then he says, sound in faith. Sound in faith. Now, someone
might say, well, Isn't an old believer going to be sound in
faith just automatically? He's been planted so long. He's
been fed. He's been watered. He's been
taught so long. Isn't he automatically going to be sound in faith? Well,
yes and no, because we're still in this flesh. And as long as
we're in this flesh, we have to be reminded. We have to be
pointed to Christ as long as we're in this flesh. And I think
Paul tells this specifically to old men. Because old men have
weaker bodies. And as the body decays and gets
weaker, he's reminding us, don't give in to the lust of the flesh
as the old man decays and gets weaker. But continue to seek
Christ. Continue to more fully depend
on him. Continue to renew that inner
man as the outer man perishes. And no matter that the way gets
harder because the flesh gets weaker, Continue to be an example
of faith in Christ and faithfulness to Christ. Faithfulness in Christ
and faithfulness to Christ. Continue to be an example of
those things. Then he lists charity, loving. You notice in scripture, faith
and love always go together. Faith and love, faith and love.
And that's what he said, be sound in faith and in charity. Sound in love, love to God. and love to the brethren. Then
last, he tells the aged men, be sound in patience. Now, an old man has probably
learned some things about patience. By the time you've gone through
this life, they've learned some things about patience. But it's
still a struggle. And that's why he reminds us,
be sound in patience. It takes patience to bear the
infirmities and weaknesses of old age. And as you age and you
have the infirmities of this flesh, it takes patience to bear
with the weaknesses of those around you, too, doesn't it?
You know, just when you're in pain, it's harder to be patient
with other people. So he's now be patient with people. Show yourself patiently waiting
on the Lord. The word patience here actually
means steadfastness, remain steadfast as you near the end, as the ship
nears the shore, remain steadfast. One of the writers said, faith,
love, and patience are the three main Christian graces. And Paul's
exhorting old men to be examples of those things, faith, love,
and patience. Matthew Henry said, those who
are full of years should be full of grace and goodness. As the
inner man is renewed more and more as the outward man decays.
And that's sound doctrine. That teaching becomes sound doctrine
because it's consistent with grace in the heart. That walk
is consistent with grace in the heart. Now, verse three switches
to the next group. He says that the aged women likewise,
that they be in behavior as become with holiness. The aged women
likewise, just like the aged men, be sober. Be grave, temperate,
sound in faith, in charity and patience. And your behavior should
become holiness. All of us, not just the aged
women, every person here, our behavior ought to become holiness. You've been made holy in Christ,
haven't you? Haven't you been given a new nature that's holy?
Well, then your character and conduct ought to match the name
of Christ that you bear. Our outward conduct should be
a reflection of the inner man. Look over Colossians chapter
2. Our outward conduct should be
a reflection of the inner man. Colossians 2 verse 6. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up
in him, established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. As you have perceived Christ
Jesus the Lord, walk in Him. And he gives us specific examples
here of things to avoid and some things for the aged women to
teach and to do. He says first that you not be
false accusers. Now, right or wrong, the perception
a lot of times of older women is that they're known for gossiping.
And gossiping about true things is bad enough. But carrying tales
that are not true is completely contrary to grace and love. And Paul uses this word accusers
to show us how serious this matter is. Accusers. Tell you how serious
this is. Who bears the title of accuser?
The accuser of the brethren is Satan. Now, don't be a false
accuser. And I looked this word up yesterday,
accusers. You know, with that, this word
is translated 35 times in the Bible as devil. That's how serious
this matter is. Be a false accuser is simply
giving a foothold to Satan. So don't do that. Avoid that.
Then he says, not given to much wine. Now, this is goes back
to temperance in everything, just, you know, has temperance,
just use it in its proper place and proper amount. An overuse
of alcohol can cause you to be an embarrassment to yourself
and to the Lord. So stay away from from that.
And, you know, it could be that the apostle points this out specifically
to aged women. And I'd say it applies to aged
men as well. You know, people as they go through
the pains of old age, you know, we seek to medicate ourselves
all the time. Be mighty careful of medicating those those aches
and pains with alcohol, because this word given means to become
a servant to. Don't become a servant to it.
Now, you're a servant of Christ. You're a bond slave of Christ.
Don't become a servant to something else in this world, whether it's
wine or anything else. Don't become a servant to that.
You're a servant of Christ. Next, he says that they be teachers
of good things. Be teachers of good things. First
of all, teach your children. Teach your children at home.
Teach them the scriptures. Teach them from just a young
age who they are. Teach them who the Lord is, that
He's sovereign, that He's merciful, that He's gracious, that He's
loving. Teach your children. Teach them to look to Christ. Teach them. I mean, from the
time they're little, teach them to pray about everything at all
times. Teach them that. This past weekend,
we were with Savannah at her state academic competition, and
she had a huge meet. Big deal. They were big underdogs,
one of the best teams in the state. And she told me, she said,
before that meet, I prayed. And I said, that's good. That's
good. Her mama taught her right to
pray about everything at all times. Let her remember what
she's studying. Let her nerves not get the best
of her. Pray at all. Teach your children
that. And be serious about this matter of teaching your children.
You're teaching someone's future husband or future wife. What
you're teaching your children is going to seriously affect
someone else down the road. You could be teaching a future
king or prophet. Look back at Proverbs 31. This
is how important this matter is of teaching our children.
Proverbs 31. Hear the king, the prophet, It's
going to give a prophecy, going to give some instruction. And
look what he says in verse one of Proverbs 31, the words of
King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. His mother
taught him this. He didn't learn this from some
preacher. This is what his mother taught him. And now he's the
prophet giving it to the people. And he goes on describing this
virtuous woman. And look down here at verse 26.
She opened up her mouth with wisdom. And in her tongue is
the law of kindness. Those are the things she taught
her child who grew to be the king and the prophet in Israel. So be serious about this matter
of teaching. Teach your children. And the
Asian women are to teach the young women. Teach them by word. Teach them by example. Now, listen,
when you're an older believer, and this applies to men and women
both, when you're an older believer, you are going to teach somebody
something. Whether you mean to or not. Because
those of us who are younger are watching. That's a fact. You're
going to teach somebody something. My dad taught the, he never would
say older ladies, the ladies class for years. And more than
once he told me, I've learned more from them than they ever
learned from me. That's the way the aged women
should be known. Teaching, teachers of good things. One of the writers said this
word actually means deaconnesses. Now, we may not use that that
title of a deaconnesses, but that's exactly what you are.
Teachers of good things. Even though we don't use that
title, that's the way you're looked upon in the church. So be teachers
of good things. Then in verse four, he says that
they may teach the young women to be sober. Teach the young
women. Now, you can teach a young woman
a whole lot better, and a lot of things anyway, a whole lot
better than a pastor and elder can. Because a man doesn't know
anything about being a woman, just doesn't know the first thing
about being a woman. But you can teach those things
because you are. You can teach the young women
to be wise and prudent. You can teach them how to conduct
their lives in a wise and prudent way because the home that she's
in is going to be blessed. A home is blessed to have a wise
and prudent mother and wife in it. Then he says, teach them
to love their husbands. Now again, whether it's right
or wrong, this is the perception, this is the reputation that older
women have earned, that they've been known to be the cause of
divorce and division in the homes of their children. They've been
known to cause an unhappy marriage for their children by meddling
in affairs that they ought not be meddling in. Paul's saying,
don't do that. You teach the young women how
to have a happy marriage. And I'll give you a good example
of this. Jan and I have been married about two years or so. And the company I was working
for was in serious, serious straits. We were on the verge of bankruptcy
for five years. And they cut people back. And
this kid, they put all this responsibility on this I mean, I was doing three
jobs, responsible for the inventory and all the accounting and responsible
for getting the orders out every day. And then when there were
problems with the orders, you know, schmoozing over with the customers. And I mean, I put in a ton of
hours. I mean, just the pressure. And
I didn't know it, but when I got home, I was grouchy. I was preoccupied
just constantly thinking about what's going on down there at
that warehouse. It's a 24-hour operation, just constantly thinking
about it, the pressure. Well, I was working late and
Jan was out with her grandmothers eating dinner. Holly's just an
infant. And Jan was telling her grandmother about this situation.
And that wise old woman didn't say, now, honey, you don't have
to take that. You come out here and live with Gammy until he
straightens his act up. She didn't say that. She sat
down and explained to her granddaughter about men and their work and
how men identify themselves with their work and how it's so important
to them. And she summed it up with this statement, honey, love
him out of it. That's what that's saying. Teach
her to love her husband. Now, let me give you the standard
disclaimer, this is not talking about physical abuse or affairs
that put you in dangerous, life-threatening situations. Please understand,
never mistake. Scripture does not talk about
that. This is talking about a normal,
everyday life. Teacher, to love her husband.
Her husband would be better off for it, I'll tell you that. Next,
teacher to love her children. What do you think? Isn't that
automatic? Mothers automatically love their
children. Yes and no. But I tell you what this is talking
about. Teach them how to love their children, how to love their
children. Teach them to teach their children
what they need to know to live in this world and the things
that they need to know spiritually. Teach them to love their children,
not with this silly emotion that just won't see their children's
faults and just thinks everything they do is wonderful and just
won't correct them because they're so cute. You know how I just
love them. How can I correct them? That's not love. Now, you teach the younger women,
that's not love. Good parental love loves their
children with a purpose, guiding and teaching their children,
not just an emotion. Look back at Proverbs 13. I'll
show you that. Proverbs 13, verse 24. He that spareth his rod hates
his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. You can't
say, oh, I love him too much to discipline him, because if
you don't discipline him, Scripture says you hate him. So teach them
how to discipline their children. Teach them to love their children
with a godly love. that brings their children up
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Teach them, as they
go through their everyday life with their children, to take
every opportunity to point that child to Christ. I mean, say
it a million times. Look to Christ. Look to Christ.
Look to Christ. Because you never know when they
might listen to you. You just never know. So teach
them that. And follow the example of our
Heavenly Father. If you want to know how to be
a parent, follow the example of our Heavenly Father. He loves
his children with a perfect, infinite, unconditional love. He gave everything for us, didn't
he? He gave everything for his children.
He suffered and bled and died and imputed his righteousness
to his children. Yet he'll correct us when it's
necessary, won't he? Matter of fact, if not, if he
doesn't correct you, scripture says you're a bastard. You're
not his. So follow the example of our heavenly father. Next,
he says in verse 5, teach them to be discreet. Now this word
discreet is the same word in verse 2 that was translated sober. Teach them to be wise and prudent. Look back in Proverbs again,
Proverbs chapter 2. A little discretion will go a
long way. So teach them to be discreet.
Proverbs 2 verse 11. Discretions shall preserve thee.
Understanding shall keep thee to deliver thee from the way
of the evil man, from the man that speaketh forward things.
A little discretion will save you a lot of heartache. So teach
them to be discreet. Teach them to be chaste. Chaste
not just in body, certainly that, but in their words, in their
actions. Act like a lady. Teach them to
act like a lady. You probably get treated like
one if you act like one. Then teach them to be keepers
at home. Now you know the traditional roles of the husband's the breadwinner
and the wife keeps the home. And in a day of two income families,
the wife gets a short end of that stick. She still has a responsibility
for the home. That's just, you know, that's
the way it is because that's the way men are. Now the responsibility
for a happy home, I never want anybody to mistake this, solidly
rests on the shoulders of the husband. It does. That's where
the responsibility lies. So he gets the authority, but
he also gets the responsibility to set the tone for a happy home.
The wife cannot do her job if she's not supported by her husband.
That's a fact. But the driving force in that
home is the wife and the mother. She sets the mood in the home
and every person in that home depends on her in some way. She's
like the hub of the wheel. Everybody depends on her in some
way. She manages the affairs of the home. When people need
attention, who do they go to? They go to Mama. She gives everybody
what they need. She makes the home inviting and
warm and loving. And I'm telling you, that's a
hard job. It's a thankless, hard job. It's not glamorous, but
it's important. I'm telling you, it's important.
So you teach the young women how important this is. You almost
cannot overemphasize how important a mother is to children. So important. And to her husband,
too. And it may not be the most glamorous
job in the world, but it's the most important. You teach the
young women to give their children the home that they deserve. A
home that's safe and loving and nurturing. Teach them that. Teach
them to be good. And that simply means kind and
gentle, both in the home and out of the home. And it means
serving others. Look back at Acts chapter nine.
I'll show you something interesting. Acts chapter nine, verse 36. Now there was at Joppa a certain
disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas.
This woman was full of good works, and it came to pass in those
days that she was sick and died, whom when they washed, they laid
her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydia was knight
of Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they
sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to
come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them, and when
he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber, where
they were having this And all the widows stood by him weeping,
and showing him the coats and garments which Dorcas had made
while she was with them. Everybody there at this wake
was saying, look what she did for me. I've got this coat because
she gave it to me. This might be the only one I
have. She gave it to me. Everybody there was showing how
she served them. And this woman who was full of
good works, what was it? Serving others. And you know
the rest of the story there, Peter raised her from the dead,
but the point was, teach them to be good. And that's serving
others, both in and out of the home. Then teach them to be obedient
to their husbands. Teach them to be obedient as
unto the Lord. And this is something that has
to be taught, because submitting to authority of another human
being is tough business. That's hard work. Teach younger
women to be obedient to be obedient to their own husbands and not
slaves, not second class citizens. We've heard this said a million
times. God took Eve from Adam's rib, not from his head to be
over her and not from his foot to be trodden under his foot
from his rib where she could be protected and cherished and
nourished to be at his side. That's what that means. And teach
her the beauty of that relationship. How that relationship pictures
Christ and his bride. And I look this word up to this
word. Obedient is a Greek military term, and it means to arrange
under the command of a leader. It's talking about the chain
of command, teacher of the chain of command that God put the authority
in the home as the husband. And then in a non-military use,
this word is a voluntary attitude of giving in cooperating, assuming
responsibility, and carrying a burden. Now you and your husband
are going through this life together. This is the attitude that you're
to have, a voluntary attitude of giving in and cooperating,
assuming responsibility, and carrying this burden together.
Now why is teaching all these behaviors so important? Paul
says that the word of God be not blasphemy. That's why this
is so important, the sound doctrine. The believer's conduct is a direct
reflection of our Savior and our doctrine. Our conduct is
a direct reflection of everything we believe. Now, if an unbeliever
sees someone who professes to be a believer, here's someone
who professes to know God, and they act in a way that's contrary
to grace. We're going to say, what good is that? What good
is his religion? Why should I come to Christ if
Him coming to Christ didn't make any difference? He and I are
still alike, so why should I bother? And rightfully so, that the word
of God be not blasphemed. An unbeliever judges who our
Lord is by our actions. The only thing they may know
about saving grace is what they see in our lives, in our walk.
Now remember, the Lord loved us when we were unlovable. He
died for us while we were yet His enemies. He called us by
His grace. Gave us faith. Gave us light.
Gave us life. Now walk in it. Walk in the light
that He's given us. And quickly, let me give you
this. The conduct of a believer should show the world we are
following the footsteps of our Lord. Christ our Lord was vigilant. He was sober. Vigilant. Watching
over His sheep. He was grave. A venerated, honorable
person. So honorable, he's given a name
which is above every name and he's due all of our adoration
and worship. Christ our Lord was temperate,
prudent. He was so prudent and wise in
everything that he did. Sound in faith. Perfectly faithful. In love. How he loves his people
with an unchanging Eternal love. Patient. One of the great hopes
of a believer. David talks about it frequently.
The Lord's long suffering. Patient. Always patient with
his people. He remembers that we're dust.
And how patiently did he suffer the contradiction of sinners
against himself? Patient. Holiness. The only holy man to ever live.
He wasn't a false accuser. He suffered false accusers and
never struck back. But he's never a false accuser.
Teacher of good things. God, the Holy Spirit, is our
teacher, is the believer's teacher. God help you if I'm your only
teacher. Because what does scripture say about believers? They shall
all be taught of God. He's the teacher. And what's
he teach them? Christ. Good things. Good? What did our Lord say? There's
none good but God. He's good. Obedient? You want an example of obedience?
Our Lord was obedient even unto death. And why did He do all
that? That the Word of God be not blasphemed. That He'd honor His Father. He
honored and magnified all of God's Word every moment that
He lived. That's our example in that sound
doctrine. Alright.