I'd like for you to open your
Bibles today to the book of Titus, the second chapter. I'm going
to be reading two verses of Scripture, Titus, the second chapter, and
we'll read verses 9 and 10. Now, I'm going to be speaking
on this subject, adorning the doctrine of God our Savior, adorning
the doctrine of God our Savior. Paul writes to young Titus, in
Titus 2, verse 9, and tells him to exhort servants to be obedient
unto their own masters and to please them in all things, not
contradicting or talking back or complaining, not stealing
from them, that's stealing things of small value or considered
to be of small value, but showing fidelity or loyalty that you
may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Now, in 34 years of traveling
over this country preaching the gospel, I've met many church
members who are in love with doctrine. They love doctrine. They love to discuss theology
and eschatology and ecclesiology and all the other ologies. They
like to dig into what they call the mysteries of the Bible. But
I've found many of these people to have little time for sermons
on the grace of godly living, the grace of daily godliness. Subjects such as love and kindness
and peace and joy and faith and humility, they just don't have
much time for sermons on those subjects. They love doctrine,
they love theology, but they don't have much time for sermons
on love and grace and gentleness. Now, you can't upset them with
a strong sermon on God's sovereignty, but preach a sermon on sanctification. That's another matter. They are
sticklers for the right doctrine and the right order, but they
care little for the right spirit and the right attitude. They're
always ready to discipline the wayward offender, but they've
never learned to discipline their own tempers and their own tongues. Yes, in all these years of preaching,
I've met many people who love to hear good, solid Bible doctrine. And then I've met others who
turn their heels and run from any sermon that even smacks of
doctrine. They say, we don't want to hear
doctrine. We don't care for theology. We want to hear about Jesus.
We want to hear about peace and joy and heaven. Let's don't fool
with doctrine. Let's just fellowship around
Jesus. Let's don't study theology. Let's
just fellowship around Jesus. Well, my friends, I must confess
that I don't know how that can be done. That is, ignore doctrine
and fellowship around Jesus. How can you love the teacher
and reject his teachings? Can that be done? How can you
trust the Redeemer and know nothing of the work of redemption? How
can you follow Christ and not know where Christ leads? Actually,
what Christ did depends on who Christ is. What Christ did depends
on who ordained him to do it. Who gave him the right to undertake
this task of redemption? That's most important. And then
what Christ did depends on why he did it. What did he accomplish? Now, here's my conclusion. In
traveling all over this country and meeting people, preaching
to people in nearly all of the 50 states, I meet people who
love doctrine, they love theology, eschatology, any kind of ology,
the deep mysteries of the Bible. I've met others who just had
no time for doctrine, no time for theology, they just wanted
to hear someone's own experience or joy or feeling or Jesus, they
say. Well, let me tell you this. If
we preach doctrine, without obedience. If we preach doctrine and theology
without practical godliness, it leads to dead-letter orthodoxy. There's nothing deader than knowledge
without experience. There's nothing deader than truth
without spirit. Our Lord said, they that worship
him, worship him in spirit and truth, in truth and spirit. And
I find if you have doctrine without experience, Doctrine without
practical godliness, you have something that's nothing but
cold, dead, icy orthodoxy. And then if you preach holiness,
you preach experience and obedience without doctrine, what does that
lead to? That leads to wildfire enthusiasm. That leads to zeal without direction. Someone said religion without
doctrine is like a wild horse without a rider, no telling which
way it'll go. Now, the Apostle Paul was a balanced
preacher. I think, I know that everybody
listening to me will concur with that statement. Paul the Apostle,
he had to be a balanced preacher. Our Lord called him and used
him as he called and used no other man. And the Apostle Paul
was a master theologian. If you read the book of Ephesians,
especially the first chapter, you'll find Paul giving us a
system of doctrine in miniature. not shrinking from the profound
esteem and the deepest subject. He sets forth in Ephesians chapter
1 the work of the Blessed Trinity in Redemption. Listen to him
as he rises with esteem. Speaking of the work of the Father,
he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. According as he chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, according to the good pleasure
of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. I tell you that's doctrine
enough to satisfy the most curious mind. That's a foundation to
build upon that will hold for all eternity. That Paul, the
master theologian, talking about the eternal counsel and purpose
of the Heavenly Father. And then he goes on, and he says
in verse 7, in whom, talking about the Son, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of his grace. And then he talks about how Christ
revealed unto us the mystery of his will. and how that in
Christ we have 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 verse 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. This, my friend, is doctrine.
This, my friend, is theology. This, my friend, is the doctrine
of redemption. This, my friend, is Christology.
If you want to study something, study Christology. I know, I
wish that I could get those who are so interested in ecclesiology
and eschatology, I wish I could get them interested in Christology,
don't you? Well, that's what Paul preached,
and that's doctrine. That's the master theologian. That's the
master teaching the pupils, and yet, and yet, This great master
theologian, in closing this very same book, the book of Ephesians,
in the closing verses of this letter to the Church at Ephesus,
he exhorts the elect, chosen in Christ, chosen by the Father,
adopted in the Son, enlightened by the Spirit, enriched by the
Redeemer, he exhorts them, the sheep of Christ, to personal,
practical, daily godliness. both in conduct and conversation,
especially in attitude. Listen to him in those closing
verses. He says, put away lying and speak the truth. Lie no more
one to another. Put away lying. Speak the truth.
He says, work with your own hands that you may be able to share
with the needy. Get a job and go to work and
do a good job. He says, be ye kind one to another. This is the theologian. This
is the doctrinal teacher. This is the man who's laid the
foundation in the early verses of this book. Be kind, one to
another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God, for Christ's
sake, forgave you. Wives, submit yourselves to your
own husband. Husbands, love your wives. Children,
obey your parents. Servants or employees, do a good
day's work. Masters, treat your servants
right. Pray one for another. Now, my
friend, you see, in this letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle
Paul lays the foundation of doctrine and then builds upon that foundation
practical daily godliness, conduct, attitude, spirit, and conversation
becoming to the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. And then in
our text, in his letter to Titus, he gives the reason Now, this
is what I want to get to in this message. This is where I'm coming
to. He gives the reason for a godly life and temperament and spirit. He says that you may adorn. I read it to you a moment ago.
He says, servants, obey your masters, please them in all things,
not stealing, not answering again, not complaining, doing a good
day's work, that you may adorn. the doctrine of God our Savior
in all things. Now, there are two very important
areas here for every believer. There is, first of all, the name
that our gospel bears. It is the doctrine of God our
Savior. And then there is the dress that
our gospel wears. Now, that's where we're going
to work for a little while. Paul says that you may adorn
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. There's the name
that our gospel bears, and there's the dress that our gospel wears. What is the gospel called? By
what name does it go? And what name does it bear? He
says it's the doctrine of God our Savior. This gospel of redemption,
this gospel of Jesus Christ, is called the doctrine of God
our Savior because he's the author of it. He's the author and the
finisher of it. In Romans 1, verse 1, Paul says,
I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I'm called to be an apostle.
I'm separated under the gospel of God. This gospel is God's
gospel. This isn't man's gospel. This
isn't the church's gospel. This isn't the Baptist gospel,
or Catholic gospel, or Methodist gospel. This is God's gospel.
This gospel under which we've been called, this gospel by which
we've been saved, this gospel under which we're separated is
God's gospel. It's the gospel of God. And it's
called the doctrine of God our Savior because he planned it. That's right. In the council
halls of eternity, he planned it. According to the good pleasure
of his own will, he planned it. For the glory of his matchless
grace, he planned it. And then he executed it. God
sent his son into the world. Man didn't bring him into the
world. God sent him into the world. God so loved the world,
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 redeem
them that were born under the law. And when he died on that
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 you carried
out the determinate will and foreknowledge of God the Father.
He's the author of this gospel. He planned it, he executed it,
and he applied it. He applied it to your heart.
Paul said, God who separated me from my mother's womb was
pleased to call me by his grace and to reveal his Son to me.
It pleased God to reveal his Son in me. He applied it, and
he's not only the author of it in that he planned it and executed
it and applied it, but he sustains it. You and I are kept by the
power of God through faith. Now unto him that's able to keep
you from falling, you don't keep yourself from falling. You'd
be no match for Satan. You'd be no match for one of
the least demons of hell. It's God that keeps you from
falling. He not only gives you faith and gives you repentance,
but he gives you the ability and the will to persevere. And
then he perfects it. It says that he might gather
together in one all things that are in Christ. So it's called
a doctrine, the name that it bears, the doctrine of God our
Savior, because he's the author of it and he is the finisher
of it. And then secondly, it's called
the doctrine of God our Savior because he's the substance of
it. It says in Romans 1, verse 3, and we go back and pick up
what Paul said. He said, I'm a bondslave of Christ,
called to be an apostle. I'm separated to the gospel of
God concerning his son. This gospel is God's gospel,
and this gospel is concerning his Son. Christ is the substance
of that gospel. I want you to listen to me just
a moment, and if you don't hear anything else I say today, I
want you to hear this. If you take the whole truth of
the Bible, the whole truth of the Bible, and you compress it
until you get one substance, until you get the very essence
of the whole Bible, It will come down to one name, Jesus Christ. If you take the whole Bible from
Genesis to Revelation, if you take the writings of every prophet,
the writings of every apostle, and you compress them to get
one truth, or one statement, or one sentence, or one name,
it will come to this, Jesus Christ, who he is, what he did, why he
did it, and where he is now. That's what Luke wrote in Acts
10.43. He says, To him give all the
prophets witness. That's what Christ said Moses
wrote of me. Abraham saw my day and was glad. He looked at those religious
men of his day and he said to them, You search the scriptures.
And they did. They were students of the scriptures.
He said, You're searching the scriptures. For in them you think
you have life, but they are they which testify of me. Christ is
the sum, essence, and substance of the Bible. Christ is the sum,
essence, and substance of the Bible. And I warn you, beware
of any preaching that does not point to Christ. Beware of any
preaching that does not glorify Christ. Beware of any preaching
that does not point you to Christ. Beware of any preaching that
does not give Christ all the preeminence, because he is the
substance of the gospel. He is the very essence of this
book. Yes, sir, it's called the doctrine of God our Savior, because
he's the author of it, he's the substance of it, and because
he's the object of it. Christ is the object of faith.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1.30, he is our wisdom, he is our righteousness,
he is our sanctification, and he's our redemption. He's all
we need. Jesus Christ is made to me. All
I need. All I need. Wisdom, righteousness
and power, holiness forevermore. He alone is all my plea. He's
all I need. That's the reason the prophet
Isaiah could write in Isaiah 45, 22, look unto me and be ye
saved for I am God and there's none else. So the name that our
gospel bears is the doctrine of God our Savior. Don't be afraid
of doctrine. Doctrine is the foundation. Doctrine
is the steelwork. Doctrine is the skeleton. Doctrine
is that which holds it together. Doctrine is the basis. It's the
doctrine of God our Saviour. For He is the author of it, He's
the substance of it, and the essence of it, and the object
of it. Now watch this. The dress that it wears. What
is it to adorn the gospel? The Apostle Paul says to Titus,
now you tell those people to whom you're preaching, those
men who work for a living, You tell them to serve their masters
well and to conduct themselves well. You tell the children in
the home and the wives and parents in the home and people on the
street, behave. And in their conversation and
conduct and in their lives and in their attitude and spirit,
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. Adorn. What does it mean
to adorn something? Well, it means to dress it up. It means to make it attractive.
It means to make it pleasing to those who come in contact
with it. To adorn our doctrine means to dress it up, to make
it attractive. Now, how are we going to adorn
the gospel of God our Savior? Well, we can't adorn it with
big, beautiful buildings. We've taken a shot at that, haven't
we? We built these huge buildings and got the stained-glass windows
and the air-conditioning and the soft carpet and the soft
cushion pews and all the drapes hanging everywhere and put the
cross up on the steeple and said, lookie here, we love God. Well,
nobody's been convinced yet by our buildings that we know God.
And we can't adorn the doctrine of God our Savior with pious
words. Instead of saying you and I, we say thee, thou, and
thine, you know. And that sounds real pious, that
sounds real religious, but it doesn't help much folks and convinces
nobody. And then we can't adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior with clothes. Hypocrisy is the same in a black
suit as it is in a bathing suit. Did you know that? Hypocrisy
is the same. Whether you put on a big black
hat and a black suit, you're still a hypocrite if your heart's
not right with God, if you have no suit at all. So we hadn't
impressed anybody with our clothes. And we can't adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior with flowery sermons and flowery music and
all these other things. How are we going to adorn the
doctrine of God our Savior? You and me, us ordinary fellows,
us people, out there on the street, in the home, on the job, in the
office, wherever we are, how are we going to adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior? Let's take a shot at that. All
right, I say first of all, we can adorn it with love. What's
the greatest commandment? Somebody asked the Lord that
one day, which is the greatest commandment? He said, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and thy neighbor as thyself. What is the evidence of brotherhood?
Christ said, By this shall all men know you, my disciples, if
you love one another. What is the greatest grace? Now,
by this faith, hope, and love, 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 our Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. What is the first fruit mentioned
in the fruit of the Spirit? These are the fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace. Love is first. And Paul wrote,
though I give my body to be burned, though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and though I have faith so that I can remove
mountains, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. So number
one, we can adorn the doctrine of God our Savior with love.
Secondly, we can adorn it with kindness. What was that scripture
I quoted a while ago? It ought to be underlined in
our Bible. Be ye kind, be ye kind. In the home there, mothers
and fathers, be ye kind. In the church, pastors and deacons,
be ye kind. On the job, bosses and employees,
be ye kind. Out there on the street, pedestrians,
motorists, be ye kind. In the store, shoppers and clerks,
be ye kind. In the restaurants, waiters and
waitresses and patrons, be ye kind. One to another, tender-hearted,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another. We can adorn the doctrine
of our God, our Savior, with kindness I wonder how many people,
if your faith were measured by your love and kindness, would
charge you with being a Christian. I wonder how many. I wonder if we were on trial
for being a Christian and the only evidence we had on our behalf
was our love and kindness. I wonder if any else would be
convicted. We can adorn it with forgiveness. One day the disciples
asked the Lord, How many times shall I forgive my brother? Seven
times? The Lord said, Seventy times
seven. If he offends you seven times in one day and repents,
forgive him. Forgive him. Forgive him. And boy, one of the disciples
said, Lord, increase our faith. You know, that was a revelation
to me one day when I was reading that passage of Scripture. And
I came across, I was looking this up, Lord, increase our faith.
And I wondered why the disciple asked that. Why was he so overwhelmed
and overcome that he should say, Lord, increase my faith? Well,
it was after Christ said, forgive your brother every time he fails
and every time he offends and every time he sins, forgive him.
And that's when the disciples said, Lord, increase our faith.
For my friends, it's not faith to stop the mouth of lions that
I need, it's faith to stop my mouth. How about you? It's not
faith to tear down the walls of Jericho that I need, it's
faith to tear down my walls of prejudice and bigotry and vengeance
and all of these things that ought not to be there. It's not
faith to smite the enemy, the Philistines, it's faith to smite
the inward enemies of envy and jealousy and malice and all of
these things that ought not to be there. It's not faith to build
great monuments to God Almighty. I think God's got enough monuments
to Him erected on Calvary's hill, that's enough monuments. I think
God's got enough monuments in the in the planets and stars
and sun and moon and earth, why should I stick some little old
building up somewhere and think that that's a monument to God?
Or a hospital or school or anything else with my name on the front
door. It's not faith to build monuments to God, it's faith
to live day by day for the glory of God in my home and where I
work and on the street and in the office and on the job. That's
the reason the disciples said, Lord, increase our faith. How
do you adorn the doctrine of God our Savior? Well, when you
know it, and when you love it, and when you believe it, and
when you build upon it, you adorn it with love and forgiveness
and kindness. And then something else. Patience
under trial. Patience under trial. Now, we're
going to have trials. Christ said, in this world you
shall have tribulation. How do you react to them? I'll
tell you how Job reacted. He worshiped God. He didn't charge
God with foolishness. He said, whatever he sends my
way, I'm going to still trust him, though he slay me, I'll
trust him. I came into this world naked,
and I'll go out naked. The Lord giveth, and the Lord
hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'll tell you
another way we can adorn the doctrine of God our Savior, and
that is with contentment. How many of you are content?
I'll tell you, most folks I run into are murmuring and complaining
and finding fault with everything from the government to the water
bill. They're finding fault with everything from the world situation
to the weather. They're finding fault with who
they are and where they are and what they are and what they have
and what they know. I wish I could find somebody
who would say with the Apostle Paul, I have learned in whatsoever
state I am, therewith to be content. Our Lord tells us to be content
with what we have. Having food and clothing, be
content. And avoid covetousness, which
is idolatry. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and God will take care of your other
needs. He'll feed you, and he'll clothe you, and he'll put a roof
over your head if you belong to him. David said, I'm young,
I have been old. I've never seen God's seed begging
bread, never seen God's people forsaken. I heard a poem one
time I want to give to you in closing. It was battered and
scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to
to waste much time with an old violin, but he held it up with
a smile. And he said, what am I bid, good folk? Who'll start
the bidding for me? A dollar? Two dollars? Somebody
make it three. Going for three, going once,
going twice, but now from the room far back, a gray-haired
man came forward and picked up the bow and tightened the loosened
strings. He played a melody as pure and
sweet as a caroling angel sing. And then the auctioneer in a
voice that was quiet and low said, what am I bid for the old
violin? He held it up with a bow. 1,000,
2,000, 3,000, going once, going twice, going
and gone, cried he. And the people cheered. And some
of them said, we don't understand. What changed the worth of that
old violin? And he said, the touch of the master's hand. And
many a man with a life out of tune and battered and scarred
by sin is auctioned off by a foolish crowd like that old violin, but
the master comes. And the crowd can never understand
the change that's wrought in a sinner's heart. by the touch
of the Master's hand. That's what does it. The name
of the gospel, it's the doctrine of God our Savior. And the dress
it wears, it's adorned beautifully by the fruit and grace and gift
of God's Holy Spirit that starts in the heart.