Titus 2

Well, good morning, Christ Family Church, and again, happy Mother's Day to our moms in the room.

If you would turn with me to Titus chapter 2.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

Titus chapter 2.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

And this morning we're going to take a short break from our normal study in Acts.

One week break from the study of the book of Acts.

Nathan asked me if I would share something special this morning since it is Mother's Day.

So we're going to take a brief depart from the book of Acts.

We'll come back together again, I believe, next week.

We're scheduled to do some more in the book of Acts.

So this morning we're going to be talking and focusing on biblical womanhood,

which is exciting for all those guys who are in the room saying,

yes, I'm glad I came here this morning.

I'm so glad that we're talking about biblical womanhood.

Before you go there, in your minds, stay with me, guys.

This is going to be important for you because whether you are a young woman,

whether you're an older woman, whether you have kids, or whether you don't have kids,

this message should apply to you because we all have moms, right?

We all were born to someone, and we all have moms.

And at the very least, men, we can pray toward or for our mothers

and for the people that we know in our lives who are moms,

who are trying and working toward what these biblical truths have to teach us this morning.

My hope this morning is that you're encouraged in at least two ways.

The first, that you, and by you, I mean the mothers in the room this morning,

that you are encouraged by what you're doing well,

because so many of you are doing so many things so well,

and that you would continue down that road of doing those things well,

refining what you've done well and continue to do those things well.

Secondly, I hope that everyone will be spurred on toward godliness in the areas where we neglect.

And we all have areas that we neglect, right?

Every single one of us, every person in this room has areas of neglect.

Until we have achieved perfection, and biblically speaking, I don't think any of us are there yet.

Until we achieve perfection, we have stuff we can work on.

And so I hope that you will keep your mind and your heart open to God changing you through the power of His Word

and the conviction of the Holy Spirit this morning.

Now, Titus 2 has much to say to us this morning.

And in the context of Titus 2, we have instructions to younger men, to older men, to younger women, and to older women.

And we have a section in there also about speaking about servants.

And so I want you to look at me at verse 3 to begin with, Titus 2, verse 3.

Titus 2:3

And we're going to dive right in because we have a lot to cover this morning.

We have a lot of ground to cover.

We've got to do some groundwork before we dive into this.

And I just want to go ahead and jump in.

And then we're going to jump to the end of the passage because we have to connect some truths within the context of those passages this morning.

So Titus 2, verse 3 says,

Titus 2:3

Now, skip with me down to Titus 2, verse 11.

Titus 2:11

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,

and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness,

to purify for Himself a people for His own possession,

who are zealous for good works.

Declare these things.

Exhort and rebuke with all authority.

Let no one disregard you.

So what I want to do this morning to start off with in working through this passage,

we're going to start with the end and work backwards

because it's important for us to understand what we have going on here in the context toward the end of this chapter.

And when we talk about biblical context, we have to keep in mind that our context exists both before and after the passage that we were looking at.

So we're going to start by looking at the context afterwards.

And he says at the very end of the chapter,

And listen to the confidence here.

Declare these things.

Verse 15.

Exhort and rebuke with all authority.

And so what I want to do this morning is I want to walk us through a few reminders.

And these reminders are not just for this morning, but for every morning that we gather here as a faith family at Christ Family Church.

These are important things for us to remember.

And the first reminder is this, that the Word is the preacher's only source of authority.

The Word is the preacher's only source of authority.

It says to exhort and rebuke with all authority as you declare these things, as you declare the Word.

Now we live in a day where there are men and women, for that matter, who are standing up probably right now in front of faith families, their own faith families.

And they are standing up before the people of God and speaking nonsense.

They're speaking non-truths.

They're speaking things that are outside of Scripture.

And they will stand up before a gathered people and proclaim things that the Word does not say.

This is one of the things that I'm most burdened about in our church culture today.

That people would stand up and not speak truth to people.

When a mega church leader not far away from us can proclaim before thousands of readers and listeners that expository preaching is lazy.

That all the research that expositors do, researching the Greek and Hebrew and getting down to the minute details of what each individual word means.

And to extrapolate the meaning from the text, that that is somehow lazy.

He further goes on to say that he finds no example of expository preaching in Scripture.

Which is so far from the truth.

We've already seen this in the book of Acts over the last several months that we've been in the book of Acts.

So many examples.

So many great biblical examples of expository preaching.

And really great examples from Peter's life and from others.

So the question that's ringing in my mind is on whose authority are people like this speaking?

From where do they get their truth statements?

What are they basing their statements on?

Because it certainly isn't on the Word of God.

And you might say, well what makes you think that you have any authority?

Well what makes Nathan or Clay or Jonathan or any of our community group leaders who teach the Bible on a regular basis?

What gives anyone authority to teach the Word of God?

And this is what I'll say because this is what the Word of God teaches us.

First and foremost, the preacher's authority is not personal.

The preacher's authority is not personal.

It's not based on who he is.

Some people think, well if the preacher said it, then it's got to be right.

Right?

Not necessarily.

The preacher is a fallen human.

Others go to the opposite end of the spectrum.

They say, well if the preacher said it, then it's got to be wrong.

And I could almost live with that because they are fallen.

They are human.

It's not on their own authority.

It's not personal authority.

If I said it in an imperfect, broken image of God and I'm standing on my own authority, then I could just as easily be wrong, as wrong as the next person.

And this is why.

When preachers go out on a limb and start preaching on their own authority, they fail every time.

And if I stood before you today and I began to preach on my own authority, then I would fail.

The preacher's authority is not personal.

The preacher's authority is also not organizational.

There's a lot of organizations and denominations and cults, and we won't mention anybody specifically this morning,

but there are a lot of denominations and cults out there that teach that their organization somehow has authority.

Or at the very least, that they have authority in addition to Scripture.

And it's not true.

The Word of God is the preacher's only authority.

It's not organizational.

And finally, the preacher's authority is not experiential.

And this is one that seems to be the most dangerous and maybe the most dominant in our culture today,

is this key idea that people believe is prevalent in the church culture,

that someone can only speak to something if they've experienced that thing.

And that's the only way you can speak with authority on that subject.

So we've got this idea that if we've dealt with a particular sin,

the best person to help us through that particular sin is someone who's experienced already,

experienced that sin somehow.

And this is ludicrous.

If this were the case, then Jesus himself would have nothing to offer us in his ministry.

Praise God that Jesus didn't once give in to sin.

He didn't once fall to the same temptations of immorality and lying and cheating and adultery

and all the things that we deal with in our lives as humans.

He didn't once give in.

And that's why he alone is able to help us through these sins and through these things.

It undercuts the whole foundation of the gospel.

And that is why he is able to help us.

He is able to help us because he is free of sin.

The preacher's authority is based on none of these things

because the preacher's authority is only biblical.

And I want us to be reminded of this this morning.

As long as someone speaks the Word of God,

he speaks what is in line with the Word of God,

then he, as Titus 2 says, has all authority.

But the minute he goes beyond the Word into thoughts or desires or psychology or experience,

at that moment he has lost his authority or she has lost her authority.

Everything we do, all teaching, all preaching, all authority is wrapped up in the Word of God.

And so I understand that probably every person in this room by now is thinking,

well, Kyle, this sounds more like a preaching lesson than it is a lesson on biblical womanhood.

So what's the point?

First, it's represented in a text.

So I'm going to teach it.

It's represented in a text, and it's important for us to understand.

We're going to teach it.

And I hope that every believer in this room can understand the context of this

since as believers we should be teaching.

Every person in here, as a believer, we should be teaching Scripture at some level.

Second, I want to remind you that I'm not speaking on these things on my own authority,

but on the authority of Christ.

It isn't based on who I am or my personal opinions or my experience.

If it were, I'd be in a lot of trouble this morning because, quite frankly, I'm not female.

In case you were wondering.

And that would make it really, really hard for me to preach on biblical womanhood

if it was based on who I am.

I'm not claiming to be the wise one that has all the biblical answers to biblical womanhood

or who has all the answers to personal struggles in your marriages

and your relationships with your children or in your relationships with other people.

I realize that there are a plethora of different situations in this room, circumstances,

people with different struggles, with different pasts.

And at times when we're confronted with the Word, we're confronted by the Word.

We all need to be confronted by the Word from time to time, hopefully on a regular basis.

And in those times, the adversary will sometimes begin to whisper into your ear.

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

He doesn't know what you're going through.

This doesn't apply to you.

And then you'll go and try to find someone else who agrees with what you think.

And you can easily find someone who agrees with what you think,

someone who can tell you what you want to hear, as opposed to what the Word of God says.

And I submit to you that those friends or those relatives or those people

who are telling you just what you want to hear and not giving you biblical truth

does not demonstrate biblical love in your life.

I don't know how many times since Amanda and I have been married

that we have had situations where we have spoken truth and love into somebody's life

and they reject it for the lives of someone who told them what they would prefer to hear.

I love a lot of things about my wife,

but one of the things that I love the most is that if you ask her a question,

if you come to her seeking truth, she's going to give it to you.

She's going to tell you, she's going to give you truth from the Word

and she'll do it out of love.

And she's very good at tithes to ministry.

But so often people walk away with unteachable hearts.

Don't let that be you this morning.

Don't let that be you.

I want more than anything to stay as close to this Word as possible.

And if I stray from this Word, you have my permission this morning just to tune me out.

If I begin talking about my own experience,

if I begin talking about my thoughts or anything else,

you have my permission to tune me completely out.

But as long as this Word is being clearly communicated,

then I encourage you and I urge you to listen to what the Word of God says.

I've been praying from the moment that I knew I'd be preaching this morning

that the power of His Spirit would take this Word

and apply it appropriately in each of our lives this morning.

I realize we have all kinds of situations, all kinds of varying situations,

and we have to apply this Word to our personal lives and our personal situations.

So as we jump into biblical womanhood, we must first understand this,

that the foundation of biblical womanhood is the Gospel.

The foundation of biblical womanhood is the Gospel.

And this is true for every aspect of the life of a born-again believer.

The Gospel is foundational.

The Gospel undergirds everything.

It is the foundation for everything we talk about.

And as what He is saying here in Titus 2, 11-14,

you read that the grace of God has appeared,

bringing salvation for all people,

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions

and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

waiting for our blessed hope,

the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,

who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness

and to purify for Himself a people, His own possession,

who are zealous for good works.

That is the Gospel.

He just spent ten verses saying,

young men do this,

older men do this,

younger women do this,

older women do this.

And He says,

the reason He says that all these things

is that the Gospel is foundational for all of it.

Everything that we do.

How is the Gospel foundational?

Three reasons this morning.

Real quickly, before we jump into biblical womanhood,

and by the way, this does connect.

We're going to connect these things back to biblical womanhood,

and I hope that you'll see how that works in a little bit.

God's grace covers our past.

We see this in the text this morning.

God's grace covers our past.

We see it in verse 11.

God's grace has appeared.

He has brought us to salvation.

And here's where I'm going to lose some people,

because typically, believers,

oftentimes we fall into this habit

of when we begin to talk about God's grace,

we begin to tune it out,

we begin to tune out things,

because we've heard it before we know about God's grace.

But the reality is

that God has provided incredible grace for us,

and we do not ever need to overcome

the joy of the reality of what Christ has done in our lives.

We were once dead in our sin

and made alive again by Christ.

This is a gift that we should never stop rejoicing in.

This is a gift that was given to us freely.

We've been spared the wrath of God

through the blood of Christ

and made alive again forever.

This is something that we should always rejoice in.

It's something that we should never get over

in our lives.

We should continually rejoice in this truth.

But God not only covers our past by His grace,

God's grace and powers are present.

This is the picture now.

God's grace trains us,

according to verse 11.

God's grace is our teacher.

It trains us and disciples us on a daily basis

to grow into the image of Christ.

It's a process that we call sanctification.

And this is how this works

for application for us this morning.

There's no woman in this room

that can live up to the picture

of Titus 2 on your own.

In fact, for that matter,

there's no man in this room

who can live up to the picture

of biblical manhood on his own.

Grace empowers our present.

It's grounded in the Gospel

and it trains us for these things.

This grace covers our past.

It empowers our present.

And God's grace guarantees our future.

It guarantees our future.

This is verse 13.

Waiting for our blessed hope,

the appearing of the glory

of our great God and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

So we see God's grace,

past, present, and future,

all wonderfully encapsulated

in this passage.

And we see how the Gospel is foundational

for all that we're going to read about

this morning.

But not only is the Gospel foundational,

the foundation of biblical womanhood,

but it's also the purpose

of biblical womanhood.

And this is demonstrated

no less than three times in Titus 2.

We look at three different times.

The first one that we're going to look at

is Titus 2.9.

He's talking about servants here.

Slaves are to be submissive

to their own masters in everything.

They are to be well-pleasing,

not argumentative,

not pilfering,

but showing all good faith.

And here's the purpose clause.

Paul inserts a purpose clause here

as he writes.

So that in everything

they might adorn

the doctrine of God our Savior.

So we have a purpose

for the reason why

we're being told to do these things.

Show your second example.

See it again in verse 7.

If you back up.

This is speaking to younger men.

Show yourselves in all respects

to be a model of good works.

And in your teaching,

show integrity,

dignity,

and sound speech

that cannot be condemned.

And here it is again.

So that an opponent

may be put to shame,

having nothing evil

to say about us.

So there again

we see a purpose.

Thirdly,

trained young women.

This is the passage

that we're talking about

this morning,

one of our focus passages.

Trained young women

to love their husbands

and children,

to be self-controlled,

pure,

working at home,

kind and submissive

to their own husbands.

That is that the Word of God

may not be reviled.

So the picture we get

from Scripture

is that you act in these ways.

People have no grounds

upon which to speak

against the Word.

They have no grounds

upon which to speak

bad about us.

And they will all see

the attractiveness

of God our Savior.

This is where I want us

to all think about

what biblical womanhood

is not.

That it's not

for our cultural convenience.

It's not for our

cultural convenience.

It's not to try to fit

into the mold

of the culture

that exists around us.

And so often

we have done this

even in our Christian circles.

We have adopted

what the world says

should look like

as women.

And you have to understand

that Paul is writing

in a time here

during the birth

of Christianity.

Christianity is brand new.

And they are just discovering

what effects

that Christ has,

what effects

the gospel has

on the family

and on the home.

And for the first time

moms, dads, husbands,

wives, and children

are having to consider

how to show Christ

to the world,

to the first century

pagan world,

what kind of difference

Christ makes

in the family

and on the home.

And it wasn't

an easy task for them.

Everything that they're

being told to do

is counter-cultural.

All across the New Testament,

everything that they

are encountering,

everything they're being

told to do

is counter-cultural.

And though it's not

a direct correlation

to us today,

the first century

back then,

there's no question

that the picture

of a Christ-centered

family in our culture

is under attack.

The enemy wants

to attack this

because it's such

an incredible picture

of the gospel.

We have to make

a decision

whether we're going

to mold our lives

into what the culture

says is right

or whether we're

going to mold our lives

into what God says

is right.

This is not about

cultural convenience

and as a result,

there are some

unpopular things

that we're going

to talk about this morning.

I'll go ahead

and warn you,

there are some

unpopular things

that we're going

to talk about

that are unpopular

in our culture.

So biblical womanhood

is not about

cultural convenience

and it's not about

personal preference.

We've got to realize

this, that marriage,

family, kids,

mothering, fathering,

none of this

is for our

individual fulfillment.

I'm not saying

that these things

aren't fulfilling

because they are

indeed fulfilling

when we do them

well and we do

them according to

God and according

to the way that

God tells us to do

them.

They can be

incredibly fulfilling.

We must realize

that God's glory

is the end game

in all of these

things.

We've got to be

seeking God's glory

in all of this.

The purpose of

marriage and

parenting is to

put the glory of

God on display

for the world to

see.

And we sacrifice

our preferences

and our comfort

toward that end.

So if biblical

womanhood is not

for cultural

convenience and

it's not for

personal preference,

then what exactly

is the purpose

of biblical

womanhood?

The purpose of

biblical womanhood

is number one,

to show the

beauty of Christ.

To show the

beauty of Christ.

To make the

teaching about

God, our Savior,

attractive to the

world and

attractive to

believers.

And this is where

we're getting into

the main course

this morning.

We've had the

appetizers, we've

gone through the

salad course, we've

gone through the

soup course, and

now we're getting

into the core of

what we're talking

about this morning.

How can we live

today, women, how

can you live in a

way that puts the

gospel of Christ on

display?

That is a

consuming question.

And unfortunately,

it's not the

consuming question

that most of us

ponder when we're

thinking about our

day-to-day activities.

It's more likely,

the question that we

ask is more likely,

what can I do on a

day-to-day basis to

make my life easiest?

Because things are

difficult, right?

It's difficult day-to-day.

Moms, dads,

everyone.

But as long as we're

focused on that, we

will not be able to

engage Scripture on a

meaningful level.

It's at this point we

must realize that our

purpose is to show the

beauty of Christ that

we are truly engaging

the Word.

So the question for

your life, woman of

God, is how can you

live in a way that

puts the gospel of

Jesus Christ on

display in your life?

So the first purpose

of biblical womanhood

is to show the beauty

of Christ.

Secondly, to advance

the mission of Christ.

To advance the mission

of Christ.

So that no one will

align the Word.

so that no one can

say bad things about

us.

So that people in a

pagan culture, both

1st century and 21st

century, can see the

gospel effect on our

families.

Do we realize how huge

of a need this is today

in our culture?

It's huge.

And I want to be

careful here because I

know that there are

individuals in this room,

situations where the

glory of Christ may not

have been put on display.

At some point in your

past, at some point

along the way, whether

through parenting or

failed marriages or

guilt from past

situations, maybe very

public situations where

you did not display the

glory of Christ, whether

it be in any of these

areas of your life.

And I just want to

remind you, this is part

of the connection going

back to what we started

off with, what I've

already said, that God's

grace covers our past.

It's important for us

moving forward to

understand that just

because we did not do

things well in the past

does it mean that we

have to live in that

way in the future that

we can still put the

glory of God on display

in our lives.

At the same time, I

know that there are

men and women who may

be struggling through

marriages in this room.

There may be men and

women who are struggling

to hold on to

parenting.

Let's face it, moms.

I'm just going to go

ahead and say it.

Your job isn't easy.

It's not easy.

And any person that

says that has never

been a mom before.

And I want to urge you

whether you're struggling

as a spouse or as a

struggling parent, both

men and women in the

room, I want to urge you

to hold fast by the grace

of Christ in your life.

Hold fast by His grace.

Women, whether young or

old, it's time for us to

raise the bar in the

church.

It's time for us to raise

the bar in our culture as

believers in our culture.

And as women say, this is

what the gospel of Christ

looks like in action

played out in the woman's

life.

The world needs to see

this.

And the world needs to see

this in you.

The world needs to see

biblical womanhood and

biblical manhood on

display boldly in the

lives of the body of

Christ.

And they need to see it

in this faith family.

We all need to be on

our knees praying toward

this end on a regular

basis.

All of us, young, old,

men, women, all of us

in the room need to be

praying that God will

show the power of His

gospel and bringing

healing and joy back to

our families.

We need to pray that God

will boldly display His

gospel in us this morning.

And that's the purpose of

biblical womanhood.

So what we have in Titus 2

is biblical womanhood

split into two groups.

Okay?

Two different groups.

Younger women, older

women.

Some have said of this

passage that older women

would be those who are

past the years of having

children in the home,

child rearing years,

while younger women

would be those who still

have children or younger

in their homes.

I don't want to disqualify

any young women in here

from this passage just

because you don't have

children.

That's not necessarily the

case.

But there's no definite

lines, and I'm not going

to say give any ages.

I'm going to tell you

whether you're an older

woman or a younger woman

this morning.

I just don't want to go

there for obvious reasons.

But just know that there's

no defining age point

here.

Okay?

Just as a side note,

this may be one of the

most misunderstood and

maligned passages in all

the New Testament.

One of the most

misunderstood.

Radical feminism has

crept into our church

culture.

And it's claimed that

passages like Titus 2

are chauvinistic and

sexist and outdated.

And since it's outdated,

it's optional for our

lives.

Well, it's not optional.

It's still the Word of

God.

And I believe as we gain

an understanding for this

passage, we'll no longer

believe that it's chauvinistic

and we'll no longer

believe that it's sexist.

We'll look at this and

we'll say this has been

God's plan from the very

beginning in chapter 2 of

Genesis when He created

woman, that this from the

very beginning was God's

plan.

And we want to experience

all that He has for us in

our families and in

biblical womanhood.

So we'll start with older

women because Scripture

starts with older women.

Older women, likewise,

are to be reverent in

behavior, not slanderers

or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is

good.

So older women, command

number one, be holy.

Be holy.

Live your lives reverently

before God.

Older women, set a godly

example for younger women.

Show younger women what life

looks like when lived before

a holy God.

These are important things

older women to teach to

younger women.

Be holy.

Secondly, build up the body

of Christ.

He says this in two ways.

First, he says, do not be

slanderers.

Build up the body with your

tongue.

Speak well of other people.

Older women, speak in a way

that builds up the character

of Christ in others.

Speak in a way that builds up

the body of Christ in the

church.

Do not slander.

And yes, this includes gossip.

Do not do anything that is not

useful, Ephesians 4, for

building up others according

to their need in Christ Jesus.

So the word is saying, do not

be slanderers.

Do not speak in a way that will

not bring glory to Christ.

And not just control your tongue,

but do not be addicted to much

wine.

This is a picture here of

self-control.

Being in control.

Being sober-minded.

This is a picture of guarding

your body as a temple of the

Holy Spirit.

So be holy.

Build up the body of Christ.

And thirdly, make disciples.

Older women still are speaking

to you.

Make disciples.

And this is where it gets

really, really good.

Listen to what it says.

They are to teach what is

good.

Remember this in the context

of Scripture.

Be holy.

Build up the body of Christ.

Why?

Why do we need to be holy?

Why do we need to build up the

body of Christ?

So that you can teach and train

younger women.

Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit,

tells older women,

make disciples with younger women.

Show younger women what life looks

like in Christ.

Christ.

And this is something that God has

entrusted to older women.

And I don't know how much this is

going on in our faith family.

I hope that it's going on.

And I hope that if it's not,

that we will continue to do this

process in our lives.

That older women would train and

teach younger women and mentor.

And I would submit that every

believer needs someone older in

their life to disciple them and to

train them as a mentor.

And every person needs a younger

person in their life that they are

currently training.

This is what Titus 2 ministry looks

like.

So this is the picture.

Make disciples.

That's the three effects of the

gospel on older women in Titus 2.

There are more for younger women.

Seven effects of the gospel that we

see on younger women.

Number one, love your husband.

So train the young women to love

their husbands.

This is typically where we get kind

of a nudge from the husband to

their wife.

See?

It's in the Bible, honey.

It's right here.

But men, we're not going to be

self-serving about this.

We're not going to take this and

shove it down anybody's face this

morning.

But this is how important this is,

ladies, in the room.

The command here, the commands are

really bookended for young women in

this regard.

At the beginning, it's love your

husbands.

And at the end, it's submit to your

husbands.

This is a bookended thing.

It's all encapsulated by loving her

husband.

And Scripture is consistent in this

regard.

In Genesis 2.18, in 1 Corinthians 11,

8, and 9, in Colossians, and all

these places that talks about biblical

womanhood and the command to love the

husband.

It always comes before the command to

love the children.

The command of Genesis 2.18 and 1

Corinthians 11, that women are first

and foremost their husband's helper, not

their children's helper.

And the biblical picture is that the

biblical woman who is a wife and a

mother, her love for her children

flows out of the spring of her love

for her husband.

Does that mean that you should

disregard your children?

No way.

That's not what we're saying here at

all.

That aside from God, I just want to be

clear here, aside from your

relationship with God, the number one

relationship in your life is your

husband for married women.

It's the number one responsibility

aside from your relationship with God.

Now, what I love about Titus 2 is that

it's very quick to say that older women should

train younger women to love their husbands,

which implies, at least in my mind, it implies

that it's not something that just happens

automatically, right?

Let's just be honest here.

There are a couple of men in this room who are

difficult to love.

Not me, of course.

Those guys, again, not me.

Those guys have something to work on in their

lives.

I just want to be clear of being facetious,

obviously.

Let's just be very honest, man.

Who in here, by a show of hands, is easy to love?

And I'm not hands down, by the way.

If you even started to raise your hand, you're

going to get that elbow and the gut there.

But biblical love is not always easy.

It's not always easy.

This love, women, it requires great determination

on your part.

It requires great determination.

I've counseled through enough couples struggling

with love and respect issues.

Again, I'm speaking on experience, so if you want

to tune this part out, that's fine.

Whatever.

But I've spoken with enough couples who are

dealing with these issues to know that there are

probably women in this room who will say,

well, Kyle, you just don't know my husband.

It's difficult.

And I know that there are difficult situations

represented in the room this morning.

There's difficult times.

We go through seasons of life that are difficult,

with difficult circumstances.

And this is where I want to remind you that your

love for your husband is not dependent upon his

worthiness to be loved.

Let me say that again.

Your love for your husband is not dependent on his

worthiness to be loved.

And this is big.

Because this is not what the world says about love.

The world says that if he's not being loving to you,

then why are you even trying?

If they don't do something right,

then they don't deserve your love.

That's not the picture in Scripture.

Scripture says, ladies, love your husbands.

And this is why.

This is why we need to see the picture and this connection

between the gospel and our families,

between the gospel and our marriages.

How can women who live with an unlovable husband

love their husbands?

And the only answer is the gospel.

It's this picture that we see in the gospel.

The whole picture of the gospel is a God who not only loves the unlovable,

but who chooses to love the unlovable.

A God who not only chooses to love the lovable,

but chooses to love the unlovable.

It's the picture of the gospel.

A God who gives his life for us when we were the most undeserving.

So how in the world can you love your husband?

By the love that God has in you.

It's 1 John 4, 19.

We love why?

Because he first loved us.

Ladies, when you love your husband,

because let's face it, guys,

we're difficult to get along with sometimes.

We're unlovable at times.

You're a living, breathing picture of Christ to the world,

ladies, when you love your husbands.

And what may be even more compelling

is that you are being a living picture of Christ to your children

when you love your husbands.

In a culture that says when things get difficult in marriage,

things aren't going the way you would prefer,

that you just move on.

The gospel says when things are inconvenient,

when things are not working out the way that you would hope they were,

or according to your preference,

you buckle down and you show your spouse love.

This is priority.

It requires great determination,

but at the same time,

I believe that as you practice,

as you put this into practice,

this love can bring about great delight in your life.

Because this is the way God designed it to be.

This is God's design for our lives.

So, love your husbands.

Secondly, love your children.

Love your children.

And while this might seem like this is something that comes very naturally,

we live in a culture that simply does not love children at every turn,

it seems like.

The things that we say,

the things that we do,

we limit our children because of finances.

They're a burden to us,

is what we say when we talk about children in that way.

That is so far from the truth,

but at the same time,

we realize that we have to be trained to love our children,

and that's what gospel grace does for us.

It's not always easy.

I've already said it once,

but I'll say it again.

Husbands,

this is your moment to say amen after this,

because this is going to earn you brownie points,

but there's the statement,

and don't miss this,

there is no profession in this world

that requires more work or greater sacrifice

than motherhood on a day-to-day basis.

That was really weak, guys.

Like,

you probably woke up this morning,

and you got here,

and you just realized it was Mother's Day

as the tulips were being handed out,

but I'm trying to help you out here, okay?

I want to say this again and see where we can get.

There's no profession that requires more work

or greater sacrifice on a day-to-day basis

than biblical motherhood.

That's what I want to hear.

That's better.

All right,

although I'm a little bit concerned about your initiative there.

Love involves deep demands.

This love for children involves deep demands.

There's no question for a mom to take a son or a daughter

and to care for them spiritually, physically, and emotionally in every way,

to lead them through the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of their life.

The reality is that Titus 2 is saying,

no woman,

and please hear this,

no woman is up to the task of mothering.

You can't do it by yourself.

It's the grace of God in you that enables you to mother,

to be the mother that God has designed you to be.

It's all based on His grace

and His provision in your life.

And everything about parenting,

by the way,

should drive us to our knees

in prayer to God saying,

God, I need you.

Christ, work in me.

Give me the wisdom that I need as a parent.

Give me the wisdom I need to discipline my child.

Give me the wisdom and the strength

to be able to accomplish your will in my child's life.

And also,

we pray for our children's salvation on a daily basis.

And again,

this love done properly brings about deep delight

and lasting joy.

God will work through you,

yes, you moms,

to accomplish His purpose in your life.

This is how Spurgeon says it.

It's in your bulletin.

Wes has already read it,

but for the purposes of the sermon,

I want to read it again

just so we kind of wrap our minds

around the importance of motherhood

from the mind of Spurgeon.

And there's somehow a wonderful power

about a mother's voice

when she talks to her children

about Jesus and His love,

which stamps itself on the heart.

And the heart is a far better place

for the custody of truth

than ever the brain can become.

Share the Gospel with your children every day.

That's one of the most loving things

you can do for your child

is to share the Gospel with them every day.

Train your children.

Share the Gospel with your children.

And next, discipline yourself.

Discipline yourself.

The Word says,

Train the young women

to love their husbands and children

to be self-controlled.

This is something that is mentioned

with each of the groups in Titus 2, by the way.

This idea of self-control

is all throughout Scripture.

We don't talk about it enough in our churches,

but this idea of self-control

is really important in Scripture.

And in this case,

it comes right on the hills of Titus 2, 5,

talking about children.

And that should make sense to us.

How can we ever expect to discipline our children

if we're not disciplined ourselves?

And this is the connection here

between here and verse 12,

that God's grace disciplines us.

It trains us.

So that when you come home

from an outing that day, moms,

and your kids have been screaming

in the vehicle all day,

they didn't clean the rooms up

before they left,

so they got science projects

growing in their rooms,

the dog got into the trash,

it's after 6 o'clock,

you haven't started dinner yet,

and your mother-in-law

will be there in five minutes.

What gets you through a situation like that?

What keeps you from trying to crawl

into a hole somewhere

to a quiet place

like you really want to do?

It can only be God's grace.

It can only be the grace of God

working on our lives.

You're saying,

God, I need your grace today.

Every single moment of today

to enable me, to train me,

to be the kind of woman

and the kind of mother

and the kind of wife

that I need to be.

You must discipline yourself,

guard your heart,

guard your mind,

guard your body,

and guard your will

for the glory of Christ.

Discipline yourself.

The next,

be faithful to God

and to your husband.

Be faithful to God

and to your husband.

Be, this is how the word puts it,

be self-controlled and pure.

This is a picture

of marital faithfulness

in heart, mind, and body.

I want to say that again

because it's important.

A lot of times we think

of that whole marital faithfulness

as being just with the body.

In the heart,

in the mind,

in the body.

This is purity,

innocence,

uncontaminated purity.

This is radical faithfulness

to God

and to your husband.

And in this context,

the word pure

is really focused

on sexual purity.

We all know

that the adversary

wants to attack this area

in women's lives

and men's lives

and in our marriages today.

There's not one person,

not one person

who can withstand

this temptation.

And if you think

that you can,

if you think that you can

withstand this temptation

on your own,

this is key,

on your own,

then you're saying

that you are stronger

than the strongest man,

Samson,

that you are wiser

than the wisest man,

Solomon,

that you are more godly

than the man

after God's own heart,

David.

All three

fell to sexual temptation.

We can't do this

on our own.

What does Scripture say?

Flee immorality.

Flee immorality.

I can't stress

the seriousness of this.

Do not think

you can withstand it

on your own.

You have to take

extreme measures

against this sin.

Do not put yourself

in a position

where someone can even

call your purity

into question.

This is about being

above reproach.

Not putting yourself

in a position

where even your integrity

can be questioned.

If you find yourself

in a position

where you are alone

with someone

of the opposite gender,

literally take flight.

Flee from the temptation.

Get out of there.

Be awkward

if you have to.

It's better to be awkward

than it is

to succumb

to the temptation.

But here's the deal.

Don't just run away

from immorality.

You're running,

so you're running

toward something.

And so the thing

you should be running

toward is purity,

toward holiness.

You've got to embrace

this idea of purity

in your life.

We need to guard

this area of our lives

and in our marriages.

It will not only

honor God,

it will teach

our children well

as they see you

doing these things.

As they see you

running after purity

in your marriages

and in your lives.

It will also be a picture

of the faithfulness

of Christ to the world.

Faithfulness of Christ

to the church.

Next,

care for your home.

Care for your home.

We have three more things

to go.

We're about to wrap it up.

Care for your home.

And we'll go through

these mostly quickly,

but this one we're

going to camp out on

for a second.

Be self-controlled,

pure,

working at home.

Working at home.

This is an important one,

women.

Managing the day-to-day

operations of the home

is your God-given

responsibility.

It's your God-given

responsibility,

women.

For us,

and my family,

I'll just go ahead

and tell you for us

what that looks like

is that Amanda

stays at home

to be able to train

our children,

to be able to teach

our children,

to be able to raise

our children

in the admonition

of the Lord.

We believe that God

has entrusted us

to that task.

And that's our

personal conviction,

and we sacrifice

a lot along that way,

especially financially.

We make a lot of

sacrifices to make

this happen.

And I also recognize

that there are situations

and some seasons

of lives for other people

that simply do not

allow this to happen.

Single moms,

you're going to have

a hard time

working from home

at least at first.

It's very,

very difficult,

and we all recognize

that.

If you have a desire

to work from home,

in that case,

I know that there are

ways to get there,

but it might take

some baby steps

in getting there.

And this is,

again,

speaking of experience,

my wife is very good

at finding ways

to do this.

So if you're a single mom

or if you're just somebody

who's wanting to look

for ways to work

from home,

then Amanda has

some ridiculously

incredible ideas

about how to do that.

That's just on a side note.

But we all recognize

that there are difficulties

in doing this,

that obviously

different situations,

you have to apply

this word.

There's grace

for these things.

There's grace

that God gives us

for different

and various situations

that we look at.

Now,

this can be carried out

in many ways.

You look at the

Proverbs 31.

It's a great example

of this.

You have a picture

of this woman

who's doing a lot of things,

like so many things.

It's unbelievable

that she's involved

in doing so much.

But it's all

for the sake

of the responsibility

that she has

to care for the home.

But the picture

in Scripture

is that homemaking

is mentioned a lot.

It's mentioned

a lot in Scripture

and it's viewed

as a noble

and high calling.

This idea of homemaking.

So the picture

is that

it is godly,

it is right

to care for your home.

And here's the key

and don't miss this part

because anybody

can care for the home,

right?

Anybody can stay at home

and care for the home.

But it's for the purpose

of creating

a God-centered home.

And don't miss that

this morning.

Anybody can care

for the home.

There's unbelievers

who make this choice

apart from Scripture

to stay in the home.

And you can stay at home

and watch soap operas

all day

and blog

and be on the internet

and watch Netflix

and you are nowhere

near Titus 2.

nowhere near it.

The key here

is that you care

for the home

with the purpose

of creating

a God-centered home.

The picture

that we've gotten

Titus 2

is a responsibility

for what God

has entrusted you.

So I encourage you here

to take a look

at your situation

and apply these truths

to your life.

If you're capable

of doing these things

then you should do this.

This is a noble

and high calling

for women.

Single moms

and working moms

there's grace

for how this looks

in your life.

I'm not going to be

legalistic about this

this morning.

This is your God-entrusted

responsibility

women of God

to care for your home.

God-entrusted responsibility

to take it

and own it

and make this

something that you do.

You work hard

in this area

and it will honor God

and it will honor

your husband

and it will honor

your family.

Which leads us

to the next picture.

Serve with kindness.

The last two

we're going to go by quickly.

Serve with kindness.

To be busy at home

to be kind

amidst all she does.

To be kind

amidst,

let's be honest,

ungrateful kids

and at times

ungrateful husbands.

What does this mean

to serve with kindness?

It means,

number one,

to desire the good

of others.

To desire the good

of her husband.

To desire the good

of her children.

And to desire the good

of those who are

guests within the home.

Those who are visitors

in the home.

Secondly,

to work for the good

of others.

You might want to study

1 Timothy

to dive further into this.

We don't have time

to turn there right now,

but 1 Timothy 2.9

and 1 Timothy 5.9

both talk about

a woman who is marked

or adorned

with good works.

Her reputation

is for kindness.

And instead of

showing outward beauty

like the world

talks about

and the world

values so much,

it's an incredible

picture of this inward

beauty being adorned

for good works.

There are so many

of you in this room

that do this so well.

You're so accommodated

and you're very loving

toward your guests

in your home

and you're very loving

toward those who are

in your home

and you care about them

and I know sometimes

that might seem

to go unnoticed,

but just remember

that your reward

does not exist

in the finite realm

of this world.

Your reward exists

in eternity.

Work for the good

of others

and finally submit

to your husband.

Submit to your husband.

I know we're running

short on time

this morning,

but this is the last

picture of what God

said with the gospel

and how the gospel

affects younger women.

We've already spoken

about loving your husbands

for the sake of time.

We're going to shorten this.

This is not really fair

though to talk about

the role of women

in the church

without talking about

the role of men,

of biblical manhood.

So it's not fair

to talk about

biblical submission

without talking about

the husband's

biblical sacrifice.

And this is where

we have to come

to the understanding

that the feminist

movement has sold us

in the church

a bill of goods.

Because what the

feminist movement

has said to us

is that the role

that women play

as suitable helpers

to their husbands

is necessarily lesser

than the role of leadership.

And this is simply

not true.

Men and women,

I want you to hear me

carefully this morning,

men and women

are equal

in their value.

I'm not teaching

egalitarianism here.

They're equal

in their value.

What separates them

is in their roles.

The roles that they play.

It's very important

for us to understand

this.

Men,

we are not

to lord over

our wives.

We're not to lord

over our wives.

In fact,

we are to sacrifice

our lives.

Ephesians 6

says Christ

sacrificed himself

for the church.

It is the picture

of the gospel men

when we sacrifice

our lives

for our

wives.

It's very important

that we get this,

we understand this.

We are equal

in our value.

God has given us

equally important roles

and in fact,

I would say

in my own life,

a lot of times

I have to come

to the recognition

that my whole family

would fall apart

without a suitable helper.

I'm just going to be

honest with you.

If it were up to me

raising two kids

as it stands right now,

two children

and to be able

to do all that I do

and to be able

to do all this,

it would all fall apart.

Number one,

because men are not

typically designed

to be nourishing

and all these things

like women are.

God has designed

women perfectly

for raising children

and it's just

equally important

in the role.

It's different

in the role.

The fact that I'm

a spiritual leader

in my family

doesn't mean

that I say,

me man,

you woman,

me say,

you do.

It's not the picture

that we get

in Scripture.

It's not biblical

leadership,

men.

We lead in sacrifice.

We lead in love,

which means

that you love your wives

as Christ loved the church

and gave himself up

for her.

We are different

in our roles.

A husband sacrifices,

a wife submits.

That's the summary

of it.

A husband sacrifices,

a wife submits.

And there's so much

more time

that we could spend here

really on all

of these topics.

We could flesh them out.

Each one of these

could really be a sermon

in and of themselves.

We're not going to

keep you here that long,

though.

But let me just say this.

I want to encourage you women,

just in closing,

I want to encourage you.

You have so much

on your plate,

yet you handle it

with such grace.

And it's so wonderful

to see the work

and the grace of Christ

working in your lives

in these regards.

And all these things,

the things that you know well

and the things that you

know you need to work on,

remember that God's grace

enables us to will

and to act

according to His purpose.

And I know

that we don't have

any perfect moms

in the room today.

But we have some

really, really good ones.

We do.

Wonderful moms,

not perfect.

And we have to remember

that by God's grace,

we accomplish these things.

We better ourselves

one day at a time.

And it's all about

better today than yesterday

and better tomorrow

than today.

We're all a work in progress.

We all are striving

for holiness,

to seek God's will

in our lives.

And women,

just know that

one day at a time.

Better today than yesterday,

better tomorrow than today.

And when you do this,

you're going to see fruit

come through your ministry,

both in your home,

in your community,

and across the nations

for the glory of Christ.

Now, we're going to

pray together.

I want to take an opportunity

to pray for our moms

this morning.

And then after that,

we're going to

fellowship together

in the Lord's Supper.

So let's pray together.

Specifically pray

for our moms this morning.

Let's pray together.