Adorning the gospel of God our Saviour

In Titus chapter 2.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

! Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands,

that the word of God may not be reviled.

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works,

and in your teaching show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned,

so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Bond servants 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,

so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

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 our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ,

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

and to purify for himself a people for his own possession,

who are zealous for good works.

My name's Dave, I'm the pastor here, if you're visiting.

You're joining us on the last of a five-week series on men and women,

so I'm sorry I won't be able to give full context,

but just to give you a little bit of bearing of what we're doing today.

All right, well, why don't we come to God's Word?

Let's pray before we do that.

Lord, with everything going on in the world,

and whatever's going on in our personal lives,

we thank you for the truth that we just sang about,

that you are reigning,

and that your agenda for the world will prevail in the end.

You guarantee it.

You've guaranteed it by your blood and your resurrection.

So we praise you for that.

Lord, as we come to your Word,

help us trust that your agenda for our lives is good

and is working towards that same goal

of all of us knowing and being like you.

So give us humility and understanding as we come to your Word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, there is a pattern of life.

I'm going to get rid of this.

Hold on.

I've just got this alien staring at me with these little lights.

There is a pattern of life as men and women that is fitting,

that is the fruit of healthy doctrine or truth.

In our passage, Titus 2, verse 1,

Titus 2:1

teach what accords with sound doctrine.

There is a way of life that goes with Jesus is Lord, believing that.

And these character qualities, Titus is told to teach.

In his own day,

that's right, little Albie,

in his own day,

if Titus didn't teach it,

they would just conform to their society in Crete.

In our own day,

if we don't listen to what this pattern of life is,

our society will teach us.

We need to hear this.

These descriptions that we're going to look at this morning,

they're not premium add-ons

that you can add to your Christian walk.

They're not extras.

These are things for all of us.

They're grace in Jesus, belonging to him.

They don't just make these character qualities possible,

but we're being urged they're necessary.

We're to strive for them.

Now, just to confuse you all,

I'm going to turn to a completely different passage.

I want to start a bit more broadly,

a few pages back,

in 1 Timothy 2,

1 Timothy 2:8–10

verses 8 to 10,

because it speaks to women and men more generally.

And then we're going to come back to Titus,

where it gets a bit more age-specific even.

So, 1 Timothy 2, 8 to 10.

I desire then that in every place

the men should pray,

lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling.

Likewise also that women should adorn themselves

in respectable apparel,

with modesty and self-control,

not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,

but with what is proper for women who profess godliness,

with good works.

Our society has some sort of gender stereotype

of a real man,

probably physical strength,

into sports,

got a bunch of mates,

job titles, money.

Our society can even go a bit deeper and go,

there's such a thing as a good man.

He sacrifices for his family.

He gives back to the community.

But Scripture is calling us to something deeper,

not just good men,

godly men.

There's a focus in here on hands.

Godly men's hands aren't clenched to fight,

whether literally or metaphorically.

So there's something about the nature of men

that we're prone to fight,

to argue with each other.

Men's hands aren't clisped.

They're lifted up.

Now, there's lots of postures of prayer in the Bible,

but they're lifted up,

holy hands in prayer.

Now, there's something very vulnerable about that.

You're not defending yourself as a man.

There's something very humble about that.

It's not self in your own ego.

You're saying there's someone greater.

There's something that creates peace and unity about that.

Men aren't jostling for position

and that their will prevails in a certain situation.

They're praying for God's will to prevail,

his power to manifest.

The older I get, the more...

This is my observation.

See if you agree with me or not.

Reputation means a lot to us men, the older I get.

And look out.

If you slightly offend a man that they're somehow weak

or they're wrong,

it's very easy to slight a man's reputation

and we just get into arguments,

even in churches, even in elderships.

I think our eldership is healthy at the moment, by the way.

That wasn't a subtle jab at our eldership.

The sinful desires for our own reputation

are to be replaced with wanting God's name,

his reputation to be known.

Godly men are men of prayer.

I love King Jehoshaphat.

I don't know if that's how you say his name.

His prayer...

Jerusalem was surrounded by an army

and he was overwhelmed.

He's just like, I don't know what to do.

And he doesn't withdraw from that.

He doesn't crumble.

He leads his people.

He leads his people,

but he does it by praying.

And I love his prayer.

We do not know what to do.

Our eyes are on you.

That's godly male leadership.

I'm not self-reliant here.

I don't know what I'm doing,

but my eyes are on you.

Your will be done.

I think that's the kind of posture of prayer

that we're called to here in Timothy.

Not self-reliant men who use prayer as a last resort.

And I'm talking to myself here.

Don't you try everything and then,

okay, all right, I suppose I should pray.

Imagine if we became men who go to prayer

as a first resort and then decide what steps to take.

Now, I'm not saying we don't do it.

We do do this.

Let's do it more and more.

I'm guessing we're all feeling pretty convicted

about our prayer life.

But I think that's the beauty of friendships in the church,

of being older and younger all together.

because we can just copy you older guys.

You older guys who have years of learning how to pray,

just copy their prayers.

Copy their phrases.

They're usually just copying Scripture in their prayers anyway.

There's no problem plagiarizing them.

Let's follow the godly examples

and learn to be praying like this.

Make us men of prayer.

Please, Lord.

And our society has gender stereotypes

around beauty for women still.

Still today, all those celebrities and fashion magazines,

I don't think they're aimed at us men.

They're aimed at you women to be competing with one another.

Society still puts huge pressure on women.

You don't have to just be talented and skilled.

You've got to be wearing a great outfit

while you are talented and pretty.

What are teenage girls learning?

You walk down the street and your nostrils are just assaulted by perfume.

Girls, don't you know?

What are we teaching the next generation?

Don't they know their value in the image of God?

The message at school and those ads where you've got the competent woman on her own

who's climbed a mountain and looks stunning.

She can do anything.

She's a self-reliant woman.

There's a message in our society, I think, today that you can be anything.

You can have that great career.

You can be prime minister while juggling the children

and you have to look beautiful while doing it all.

I think it's a huge burden that is placed on women today.

Well, I suppose it's all the time, isn't it?

Because even back in Paul's day.

Now, I don't think this is saying that you can't enjoy wearing clothes

that actually coordinate.

You don't have to...

Maybe I shouldn't...

I keep pulling out of things, don't I?

I was going to say...

Everyone was curious last time.

I was going to say denim on denim.

So I'm really nervous if someone's wearing denim on denim today.

You're very welcome.

Who cares what you're wearing?

Look, similar to men who are prone to jostling for position and power,

I think this is speaking into women not jostling for competition

of that ideal picture of the beautiful woman.

In the end, if you strive for the external only,

it really reveals an internal restlessness,

a restless soul that doesn't know its worth.

But Jesus can tell the soul of women,

you are desired as you are so much

that I gave up my life to have you.

Now, if that doesn't fill the soul of you women,

clothes aren't going to do it.

Jesus' good works, I think,

then replace the idea of what is really stunning.

It fills the imagination of godly women,

of what your life should be filled with,

not spending so much money on fashion and things,

but clothing with good works,

compassion for the helpless and sacrificial day in,

day out, unappreciated service.

His good works become,

that's the stunning woman.

So there we have a portrait of godly men and godly women.

So turning back to Titus chapter 2,

Titus 2 · chapter mention

we get a portrait for older men and women

and younger men and women.

I think these descriptions

are explaining the same principle for all of us.

In chapter 2, verse 12,

that we are to say no to ungodliness

and worldly desires

and learn to live self-controlled,

upright, godly lives in this present age.

I think there's a principle implied in this whole section.

We don't grow in godliness on our own.

Just learning doctrine,

as important as that is,

isn't enough to grow in godliness.

We actually grow in community.

There is an enormous power

of being in community

to shape us and mould us.

We need the influence of older saints

to set an example

and teach the younger.

I think that's why

older women are to teach the younger women.

There's a calling there.

It's probably not that younger men

can only handle one thing.

Like, young guys, come on,

just try and be self-controlled.

That's all you can hear.

I think it's more

older men

in the church,

if they are

demonstrating faith

and love

and endurance,

that's going to benefit the younger men

to learn from their example.

It may explain,

this principle of the older teaching the younger

might explain

why the older women

are singled out

for don't be addicted

to wine

and slander

because

same for elder qualifications

earlier in chapter one,

you're a role model.

You're an example.

You have a great position

of influence.

We need that older,

younger

relationship in the church.

That's why we're so committed

to it

as a church,

that intergenerational

churching.

It's how we thrive.

I think it challenges

our,

a bit of our

evangelical church

professionalism.

By all means,

come and talk

to Chez and I

when you want

to,

want help in life,

but actually,

it's a call

on all of us

to be involved

in each other's lives.

We need the older

with the younger.

It's assuming

friendship

and involvement,

serving

side by side

and you,

so getting into

some of the instructions

then,

some of the,

I think it's a portrait

that he's painting.

This isn't

an exhaustive list.

We could add to it.

We could go elsewhere

in scripture

and add things

to this list.

It's not exhaustive.

It's just a portrait here.

Notice that

these qualities

go deeper

than gender stereotypes,

cultural gender stereotypes.

Like for men,

Jesus probably

wasn't into sports.

like,

who cares

if he was or not?

It doesn't matter

if he was into sports.

King David

loved poetry.

It goes much deeper

than cultural

pictures

of men and women.

So for the older men,

despite the many

hardships

faced

over a lifespan,

they're not

indulging

in pleasure

in their retirement.

It's my time.

They're not bitter

and angry

at the world.

they've got a controlled

mind.

Despite

declining capabilities

in older age,

there's still

this deep

inner sense

of

worth,

dignified.

They're worthy

of respect.

respect.

These characteristics,

they've been formed

by years

of learning

faith,

trusting God

in every situation

and learning

love,

what it means

to put another

first,

and learning

steadfastness

because

the hope

of the gospel

gives you

endurance.

these kind

of qualities

come from

faith,

love,

and hope.

And then we've

got older women

now to be

reverent

in their behaviour.

Reverent is

describing

a holy

person.

Some

described it

as she's

to act

like a

priestess

in the

temple.

Reverent

in that

she's

aware

of

God's

presence

in

everything

in

life.

There's

something

about

an

older

woman's

behaviour

that

is

just

so

conscious

of

the

presence

of

God

and

it

gets

into

everything

in

life.

Now

the

negative

instructions

perhaps

we're

to

picture

these

together.

Not

indulging

in

slander

while

drinking.

An

older

woman

doesn't

start

a

sentence

with

this

might

be

gossip

but

I

just

want

you

to

pray

for

this

but

please

don't

share

it.

Can

you

let me

tell you

about

an

older

woman?

No.

She's

using

her

mouth

mouth

not

for

destructive

empty

things

like

slander

and

drink

but

she's

using

her

mouth

to

teach

what

is

good.

So

if

you're

an

empty

nester

in the

room

or

you're

approaching

retirement

I

think

the

call

here

is

look

around

this

room

God

has

lots

of

work

for

you

to

do

investing

in the

next

generation

teach

what

is

good.

For

the

younger

women

there's

an

assumption

that it's

not

straightforward

to

love

your

husband

now

that

one

probably

isn't

a

shock

it's

not

straightforward

to

love

your

children

how

much

of a

shock

is

that

it's

not

naturally

speaking

you don't

have to

be a

Christian

for

this

you

die

for

your

children

I

know

you

would

but

sometimes

they

push

every

single

button

that

you've

got

you

have

nothing

left

in the

emotional

and

mental

and

spiritual

tank

you've

got

nothing

left

you

don't

know

what

to

do

disciplining

a

children

what's

the

right

thing

to

do

!

calling

on

older

women

to

help

younger

women

in

guidance

in

support

in

prayer

some

look

to

the

phrase

working

at

home

to

prohibit

secular

work

I

think

our

interpretation

here

depends

on what

Paul

is

combating

what's

the

situation

there

is

he

emphasising

the

word

working

or

is

he

emphasising

the

word

home

in

ancient

world

there

was

few

avenues

for

work

it's

more

likely

that

we

find

in

other

passages

it's

about

not

being

idle

but

being

busy

at

home

Proverbs

31

woman

is

busy

looking

after

the

home

but

also

running

a

business

at

the

same

time

so

I

don't

think

there's

a

strong

restriction

here

I

think

there's

a

positive

call

to

be

busy

even

if

you

do

have

an

employment

if

you

if

you've

chosen

marriage

and

if

God

has

given

you

children

there

is

a

call

to

prioritise

and

love

and

embrace

the

good

things

God

has

called

you

in

the

home

so

I

don't

think

there's

a

restriction

but

there

is

a

positive

call

as we

saw in

Genesis

Eve

was

helper

in that

she

supplied

everything

that Adam

lacked

the power

he lacked

together

they ought to

have

dominion

over the

world

I

remember

going to

a

friend's

house

as a

teenager

and

it

was

unbelievably

awkward

when

the

dad

gave

a

score

out

of

10

for

the

dinner

to

the

wife

I

think

it

was

seven

I

can

still

imagine

this

now

I

was

shocked

to

find

out

he

did

it

every

night

now

that's

an

extreme

I

know

it's

an

extreme

the

reaction

tells

me

it's

an

extreme

but

I

think

there

is

a

really

awful

burden

placed

on

women

when

their

godliness

is

evaluated

by

cooking

and

cleaning

and

things

like

that

you

guys

work

out

how

to

order

your

home

just

don't

call

it

theology

don't

put

the

weight

of

God

onto

cooking

and

cleaning

is

what

I'm

arguing

for

you

might

have

learned

good

things

from

your

parents

of

how

to

set

up

things

just

don't

evaluate

a

woman's

efforts

as

a

godliness

at

the

same

time

dealing

with

the

tantrum

of

a

young

kid

or

the

rebellion

of

a

teenager

that's

a

high

calling

you're

disciplining

not

discipline

well you

might be

disciplining

you're

disciplining

the next

generation

of the

church

it's

a

high

calling

now

I'm

not

sure

why

husbands

loving

their

wives

isn't

addressed

here

it's

another

indication

that this

isn't

the

full

picture

there's

a

huge

call

we've

already

looked

at

that

I

know

huge

call

on

husbands

laying

your

lives

down

but

perhaps

the

instructions

to

young

men

overlap

!

to

young

marriage

as

well

the

self

control

for

young

men

men

I

think

this

could

look

like

not

being

swept

along

with

the

world's

message

of

career

ambition

just

jumping

at

any

job

or

any

promotion

or

needing

money

to

validate

yourself

but

self

control

weighing

up

maybe

the

self

control

in terms

of your

tongue

and your

temper

self

control

with

sexual

desire

where

your

eyes

are

looking

the

self

control

of

keeping

your

commitments

even

when

it

hurts

maybe

the

spiritual

discipline

self

control

I

know

one

guy

he's

given

himself

the

rule

no

bible

no

breakfast

I

can't

go a

day

without

God's

word

I

think

this

will

help

all

all

people

self

control

I

wonder

if

by

this

point

you're

hearing

all

these

things

and

you're

thinking

why

why

what's

the

reason

what

maybe

this

whole

series

there

could

be

this

lurking

question

what's

the

goal

what's

the

goal

in

all

this

now

obviously

we

trust

God's

word

that

he

gives

it

for

our

good

for

our

flourishing

well

we

should

trust

God's

word

that

he's

giving

to

us

for

our

good

and

our

flourishing

but

God's

made

us

rational

creatures

that

we

want

to

know

the

why

and

we

don't

have

to

invent

the

why

we're

given

it

here

in

Titus

we

find

it

most

clearly

stated

in

verse

10

so

that

in

everything

they

may

adorn

the

doctrine

of

God

our

Saviour

this

whole

section

is

bracketed

teach

what

is

fitting

with

sound

doctrine

and

what

is

that

doctrine

of

God

our

Saviour

we

want

to

adorn

the

message

of

God

our

Saviour

permeates

this

whole

letter

the

goal

of

all

this

series

is

that

individually

whether

single

or

married

together

as a

family

of

God

is

that

we

adorn

the

doctrine

of

God

our

Saviour

adorning

is to

make

something

more

beautiful

or to

arrange

it

so that

the

beauty

comes

out

we

can't

make

the

gospel

more

beautiful

that's

not

possible

we

can't

make

it

more

beautiful

it's

like

this

precious

diamond

a

jewel

and

our

lives

are

like

a

necklace

that

is

the

setting

that

holds

this

jewel

how

we

live

can

bring

the

gospel

into

disrepute

or

it

can

make

this

wonderful

backdrop

so that

the

diamond

shines

and people

see it

and go

what

created

that

life

love

love

I

listen to

this

podcast

where

someone

asked

the

top

hundred

christian

evangelists

of their

best

evidence

for the

existence

of god

and one

of the

answers

is the

power

of the

gospel

to

transform

a

person's

life

how we

live

can

adorn

the

gospel

and make

it look

as beautiful

as it

is

I

think

an

example

is this

there was

a man

describing

why he

had such

a strong

faith

as an

adult

and the

thing he

looked back

on

is the

model of

his dad

his dad

was a

strong

he wasn't

a pushover

he was

saying

but

to see

a competent

man

on his

knees

every

Sunday

in

worship

had a

profound

impact

on him

how we

live as

men and

women

can

either

tarnish

the jewel

or hide

the jewel

or it

can

let it

shine

make it

beautiful

make it

seen as

beautiful

as it

already

is

that's

why

I think

that's the

reason

why

for this

whole

series

we want

to live

in a way

that draws

attention

to the

changing

power

of the

gospel

but where

does the

power come

from

to change

I don't

think knowing

our callings

on us

as men

and women

as singles

and married

as a church

family

ministry

knowing

all these

things

knowing

that they're

profitable

knowing

that our

goal is

to

adorn

the gospel

I don't

think it's

enough

we need

power

where is

the power

to not

just acknowledge

that God's

ways are

good

God's

design

is good

but to

love it

where is

the power

in the

hardships

of being

single

where does

the power

come from

where does

the power

come from

when marriage

is really

hard

where does

power come

from when

the beauty

of these

truths

actually

expose

our failure

even more

I'm not

living up

to being a

prayerful

man

where's

the power

to overcome

where's the

power to

overcome

deep hurts

in our

past

verses

11 to

14

show us

where the

power

come from

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 this

present

age

waiting

for our

blessed

hope

the

appearing

of the

glory

of our

great

God

and

saviour

Jesus

Christ

who gave

himself

for us

to redeem

us from

all lawlessness

and to

purify for

himself a

people for

his own

possession

who was

zealous

for good

works

this passage

is saying

the grace

of the

cross

not only

forgives

and that

is wonderful

news

the grace

of the

cross

teaches

it

trains

I love

Colin

Buchanan's

song

live in

the gospel

it's not

this thing

that you

leave behind

it's

we

we preach

it to

ourselves

every day

or as

someone else

put it

Christians

are learners

in the

school of

grace

this passage

is saying

in a sense

to live

well now

whether you're

single

married

as a

church

family

for us

to live

well now

your eyes

need to

just be

not on the

present

but

looking back

looking forward

so

it'll be

anyway

I don't know

how you do

that

but spiritually

we're called

to

the power

comes from

with one

eye

looking back

and that

this great

and glorious

God

didn't

treat us

according to

our

ungodliness

he died

to make us

his own

possession

he's that

true husband

who died

for his

bride

that kind

of grace

can put us

back on our

feet

whenever we

fail

that kind

grace can

heal the

deepest

of wounds

but we

also have

one eye

looking

forward

to the

hope

that this

present life

isn't

enough

even if we

were to

live up

more and

more to

what we're

called to

as men

and women

it wouldn't

be enough

we're

got one

eye on

our hope

I think

Sam

Aubrey

touches

into this

point in

his book

Seven Myths

About

Singleness

so he's a

pastor in

the UK

he's reflecting

on the

goodness of

friendships in

the church

family as a

single man

but then he

says I

realise that

even if I

had the best

kind of

friends this

world could

offer it

wouldn't be

enough

it never

could be

and then he

speaks of a

married friend

of his who

said his

marriage is

much better

than I ever

expected or

deserved it

to be

but it's

not enough

he was

recognising the

limits of

even the

best kind

of intimacy

whether in

friendship or

marriage it's

not enough

then I like

how Sam

draws the

conclusion

the key to

contentment as

a single

person is

not trying to

make singleness

into something

that will

satisfy us

it is find

contentment in

Christ as a

single person

and the key to

contentment as a

married person is

not trying to

build a marriage

that can make us

content

it's to find

contentment in

Christ as a

married person

it's learning

grace that we

are bought by

him and that

our present

life actually

can't fully

satisfy

we've got hope

of glory

he's coming

that blessed

glory

blessed is that

state of pure

joy and it's

coming when we

see him

so that's

how we get

power to

adorn the

gospel

you've got to

be cross-eyed

something shocking

and looking back

and looking forward

not looking at the

present

to be the men

and women and