Conduct Befitting The Gospel (Part 2)

In 1976, Elizabeth Elliott was invited to be one of the keynote speakers at Urbana,

which was and still is to this day an international missions conference for young adults that are

interested in and learning about and potentially pursuing missions. It's a missions conference for

young adults, essentially. And in 1976, Elizabeth Elliott spoke, and I listened to her address

the other day, and she opened with an illustration that I thought was fascinating and helpful.

She recalled an experience she had in visiting with her husband the north of Wells. And when they

were in the north Wells, they stayed in the home of a shepherd and his family. And one morning during

their stay, she stood outside with the wife of the shepherd and gazed out on the pasture and watched

the shepherd and his Scottish collie named Mack attempt to herd about a hundred rams and ewes.

They were pushing the rams to a pool of antiseptic where they were dipping the heads in the antiseptic

to clean out their eyes and their ears and their noses. And of course, there's a fight that goes

along with that. The rams don't understand. But that's the work that they're doing. And then

eventually, they take the herd and they begin to push them to a different place for pasture.

And Elizabeth Elliott said that as she was watching all of this begin to unfold, she was

especially struck by the dog, the Scottish collie, as he tirelessly circled the sheep and drove them

as the shepherd directed him. It was clear, she said, that this is what the black and white

collie was made to do. Sheep was in his blood, she said. She described watching the dog fiercely fulfill

his duties, listening intently to the shepherd's whistle. And upon hearing the whistle, immediately

responding to the direction that was given. The shepherd could see and understand things that

the sheep and the dog could not understand. He could see danger that was ahead. He could recognize

a sheep that has fallen behind the herd and needs to be recovered. He could see the ram that's caught

in a thicket. He could see all that's happening. The sheep don't necessarily understand. The dog doesn't

necessarily understand. And yet, the dog fiercely, intently listens to the beckoning call and direction

of the shepherd. And Elliott says that she stood at the house gazing on all of this unfolding. She

asked the wife of the shepherd, do the sheep understand what's happening? And she replied, not a clue.

And Elliott said, well, what about the dog? And she said, the wife said something that she's never

forgotten. The dog doesn't understand the pattern. He only knows obedience.

In this address to 17,000 young Christians, she said the dog's trust in the shepherd was absolute.

His obedience, instant and unconditional. And his very meat and drink was to do the will of the

of his master. It was what he was made to do. He was glorifying his purpose as she watched on in the

pasture on that day. You do realize that you were created for a purpose. You have a purpose.

Despite what secular theory will tell you, you are not here by chance. You are not here by accident.

You are not a purposeless being doing your best to survive. You have a creator who has created you

for a purpose. And the Bible tells us that that purpose is to glorify God. And as the Westminster

Catechism tells us, it is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And the Bible tells us that the

way that we glorify God is by loving him. Deuteronomy chapter 6, you shall love the Lord your God with

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Jesus, you'll remember, echoed that same

verse in the New Testament when someone said, what is the greatest commandment? And he said, love the Lord

your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. How do we

glorify God? What is the purpose for which we were created? Why am I here? And part of that answer is

to love God, to see who he is, to understand his being, to understand his ways, and to, in response

to that, show your love for him in everything that you do and in everything that you think.

We glorify him by loving him. We glorify him by obeying him. 1 John 5, 3. For this is the love of God,

that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. You say, well, there's a few

commands that I actually find quite burdensome. Well, it's not that they're always easy. It's that when we

understand who God is, and we understand our purpose in glorifying him, and we begin to love him, it's not

a burden to even go through the most difficult things of life in obedience to him. We glorify the

Lord by loving him, by obeying him, by worshiping him. Psalm 86, I give thanks to you, O Lord my God,

with my whole heart, the psalmist says. I will glorify your name forever. What does he mean? I will

worship you forever. I will give thanks to you forever, with my whole heart, with my whole being,

with everything that is in me. That is the purpose for which we were created. And we weren't created

to do these things out of compulsion, but out of love for our creator and master.

See, in creation, God has revealed his glory to man. And the only appropriate response to that

revelation is to recognize that God is worthy of our greatest affection.

creation. So God creates the world, and then he creates the man, and he shows the man this world.

Not as an end in itself, but as a means to an end of seeing God. He reveals himself in the man.

He reveals himself in creation. He reveals himself to the man directly in fellowship and in relationship.

He reveals himself so that the man will turn and love him and obey him and worship him.

But the fact is that though that is our purpose, that's why we've been created.

Each one of us have fallen short of the glory for which we were created.

Romans 3 tells us that plainly. All have sinned and fall short of the glory.

God. Instead of loving God, we have despised him.

Maybe not in an attitude directly toward him that we're just thinking of,

oh, I hate you, God. It's not always like that.

We have despised him by making gods of our own.

We put other things before him.

Rather than obeying him, we have rebelled not only in action,

we have rebelled in spirit, rebelling against his law, rebelling against his desires for us.

When we should worship him, we glorify ourselves in his place.

The Bible says this makes us sinners.

It makes us transgressors of God's law.

It makes us eternal enemies of God himself.

And our rebellion is so pervasive, the Bible says, that we are blind.

We're blind to the reality of God's wrath.

We're blind to the reality of our own sinful condition.

And the fact that we are at enmity with God,

we are blind and we are without the slightest desire to be reconciled to him.

Again, Romans tells us there's, not only is there none righteous,

but there's no one who even understands that.

There's no one who seeks God.

No one.

That's how pervasive our sin is.

It's how pervasive the condition of our hearts is in rebellion to God.

And so we begin to think about the gospel from those terms.

Martin Lloyd-Jones used to say that in order to really understand the gospel,

you have to understand the magnitude of your debt

and the measure of the payment that was made to satisfy that debt.

And he would illustrate it this way.

He would say, suppose you come to my house,

and before I've got a chance to open the door,

you find a letter on my doorstep left by the postman.

And it's some type of bill.

It's some type of payment that needs to be made.

And on my behalf, you make the payment.

And I open the door, and I welcome you to my home.

And you say, hey, I just want you to know I found this letter on the doorstep.

And it was a little bill, and we took care of it, and I paid it for you.

And Martin Lloyd-Jones said, the only way that I can really understand the magnitude of that

is if I understand what the debt is, what is the reality of that debt,

and what is the measure of the payment that was then made.

And it is only at that point that I can understand whether to cordially say,

well, thank you very much, that was very kind,

or fall at your feet and kiss your feet in worship and in love.

And the only way we can really know that is to understand the true depths of our sin.

The Bible says that the greatness of our debt is so much

that the only way it can be satisfied by us

is to spend an eternity separated from God in hell.

That's the magnitude of the debt.

And the measure of the payment is that the full wrath of God

was poured out on His own Son.

That was the payment.

Ephesians 2 says, but God, being rich in mercy,

because of the great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead,

even when we were dead in trespasses,

He made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved, He says.

And you say, well, I don't really feel that bad.

I know I've not always done things the right way.

I know I've not always probably obeyed God

the way that I'm always supposed to obey God,

but really, eternity in hell?

I haven't been that bad.

You know, it's interesting.

The Bible never commands us to understand,

to feel how sinful we actually are.

It never commands us to actually fully comprehend

the depths of our depravity.

It calls us actually to look at Christ.

That's what gives us the answer.

Do you want to know how great your debt is?

Well, you may not understand it just by evaluating your own life.

You need to look at the payment that was made for it.

That will tell you the answer.

And what was the payment?

From God's perspective, your debt was so great

that the only way He could satisfy it

was by sending His own Son,

His sinless Son,

to suffer in your place.

And even if you don't realize or feel in yourself

the greatness of that debt,

look to Christ.

Look to see the great extent that He went to

to redeem your soul.

And at least from that perspective,

say, I don't really understand it.

I don't feel it in that way,

but there must be something real

to the depths of my depravity

because look at what God has done

to rescue me from it.

Despite your rebellion,

God Himself provided a way

for you to be at peace with Him again.

You were an enemy,

and now you're at peace.

He gave us His only Son

who bore the punishment for our sins

and rose from the dead

to give us eternal life.

And then Christ calls us

to receive this peace that He has won

by turning from self,

by turning from sin,

and trusting Him alone,

trusting Him as Savior and Lord.

And then He promised

that every person who will do that,

all that the Father gives to me,

and by extension,

by gives to me,

means all that will come to me

in faith and repentance,

all that the Father gives to me,

I will never cast out.

I'll never turn you away.

By His grace,

He will save you.

Despite your sin and rebellion,

He will redeem you.

Apart from your own works,

He will restore you to God.

That's the gospel.

But though Jesus saves us in our sins,

He is not content to leave us

in our sins.

To follow Christ as Lord

is to surrender your will to His.

It's to abandon your desires

in favor of His desires.

It's to turn away from your rebellion,

to humbly follow His Lordship.

He saves us then

to restore us to our original purpose

and glory.

glory.

Genuine love,

obedience,

and worship of God.

Do you see that?

God created you for the purpose of His glory.

You have fallen short of it.

You would have never pursued Him,

but in His grace,

He sends His own Son

to pursue you.

He lived the life that you should have lived,

and He died the death that you should have died,

and He rose from the dead to give you new life.

And He says,

if you will come to Me in faith,

I will forgive you,

and I will restore you to the Father.

And by restoration,

He means,

I will transform you

so that you will fulfill your original purpose

that you fell from.

This is His work in us.

Ephesians 2.10,

We are His workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand

that we should walk in them.

That's purpose and glory.

You see,

the gospel is the foundation

of Paul's instruction to Titus

and the churches of Crete here in chapter 2.

True faith produces practical change,

not because we get ourselves together

and we clean ourselves up

and we do all the things

that people say we're supposed to do,

but because Christ Himself transforms us

through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And when a person is born again

of the Holy Spirit,

God changes His affections.

He gives them a new heart.

Rather than living to please and glorify self,

the believer's affections are transformed

to please and to glorify God instead.

And what this inevitably produces

is a counter-cultural way of life,

a counter-cultural community

of God's people who are in the world

and yet they are not of the world,

who are engaged in the culture in which they live,

yet they stand in stark contrast

to the culture in which they live.

And one of the means of this transformative work

of the Holy Spirit,

which is a progressive work

as we understand it in the New Testament,

one of the means of that

is where elders are teaching

what accords with sound doctrine.

That's verse 1.

Titus, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

And then what follows

is all of these behaviors

that should be reflected

in the lives of those

who have come to faith in Christ.

Through faithful leadership

and intentional discipleship,

churches will preserve the gospel

in their belief

and display the gospel

in their behavior.

And that's really what we're dealing with

here in chapter 2.

In this text,

Paul distinguishes the Christians

by age or life stage.

Last Sunday,

we looked primarily at his word

to older men

and older women in the church.

This morning,

we'll focus on his word

to younger men

and younger women,

all with the understanding

that the gospel life

is a different life.

And it's one that must be pursued

by those who believe it.

Let's first look at younger women

in verses 4 and 5.

Paul says that the older women

are to 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.

Now it's curious that Paul says

young women must be trained

to love their husbands and children.

That seems odd, doesn't it?

It seems odd to me.

Julie and I spent the weekend

at a marriage conference

at the beach

and the whole time I'm thinking,

how could she not love me?

How could she not want me?

And yet Paul says here to Titus,

you are not only to train

these behaviors,

the older women in the congregation,

you need to be teaching them

and training them

to train the younger women

to love their husband.

And you say,

okay, well I get why

he would say that

they need some help

loving their husbands

because husbands aren't easy to love.

But then he doesn't leave it

at just the husbands, does he?

He says, no,

they need to be trained

how to love their children.

Well now that one's a little harder

to deal with, isn't it?

One of the marks of love

that we would use metaphorically

throughout our lives

is the love of a mother.

And yet Paul says,

no, the older women

are going to have to train

the younger women

to love their children too.

And you would think

that this love

would come naturally

to a wife and mother

and there is a sense

in which it indeed does.

But the training

that takes place

in the context of the church

is based on the principles

of God's word

and the gospel of Jesus.

That's the significant difference

in Paul's teaching here.

It's one thing

to have a natural affection

for one's husband and child.

It's another thing

to demonstrate that love

in a way that is consistent

with God's design.

Because one person may say,

I really love my kids.

I love them more

than anything else in the world.

And the way that I'm going

to show them that I love

is by giving them anything

that they ask me for.

I never want to have

to tell them though.

That's not a picture

of someone who doesn't

really love their kids.

It's a picture of someone

who is not loving their kids

according to God's design.

Do you see the difference?

There's a difference

between a natural affection

and an affection

that is based on the gospel

and consistent with the Bible.

And perhaps it's the cultural dynamic

of arranged marriages

that made this teaching

so necessary in Crete.

Can you imagine that?

All of us married, quote, for love.

I hope you did.

For the women

that would have read this letter

or heard this letter read

in the churches in Crete,

that probably was not

their experience.

Indeed, for most of history,

that is not the experience

of most people.

In this particular culture,

marriage was,

it was a status,

it promoted a man's business,

it promoted his status

among the community.

They didn't marry for love

and the wife wasn't treated

as if she was one

that was to be adored

and protected in love.

She was there

as something to make the husband

look a little better

to everybody else.

And you say,

okay, that makes sense.

How is a woman supposed

to love her husband?

Should she even love her husband

in that case?

Paul says, yes.

But she's going to have

to be trained

on how to do it right.

Love is generally something

that is believed

in our culture

that can be fallen

into and out of.

A person's commitment

to another

is based on their feelings

of affection

and fulfillment.

So long as I feel affection

for this person,

so long as this person

is fulfilling me

according to the way

that I want to be fulfilled,

then I will remain committed

to them in this relationship.

But at the moment

that this affection wanes

or the moment

that they are not fulfilling me

in the way

that I would desire

to be fulfilled

or the way I feel like

I deserve to be fulfilled

is the moment

that I'll abandon

the whole thing altogether.

I read an article

in the New York Times.

This is probably

two weeks ago.

It was a psychologist

based in Dallas

who married for love

and never had any real problems

or real fights

with her husband

according to her own admission.

But as she was learning

psychology in the university

and graduating

and beginning her practice

and seeing things,

she began to see

that she deserved

far more than what her husband

could actually give her.

So she filed for divorce.

Not because he was a bad guy,

but because he didn't fulfill her

in the way that she

deserves to be fulfilled.

That's a modern view of love.

That's not a biblical view of love.

The problem is that

that is so foreign to God.

Love is not primarily

an emotion that comes and goes.

It's a commitment to another person

that transcends

the ebb and flow of our feelings.

Love involves the sacrifice of self.

It's a sacrifice of self

for the one on whom

you've set your affection.

And that does not come naturally

to any person.

Not one of us.

Which is why from that perspective,

true love must be taught

from God's word

and it must be modeled

by God's people.

So Paul says,

Titus, make sure the older ladies

are teaching the younger women

how to do this.

How can they love their husbands?

How can they love their children?

I think the best way

for us to understand verse five

is as a list of ways,

general, representative ways,

that a young woman

will display her love

for her husband and her children.

So if we have to be trained

to love our husbands and children,

what does that actually look like

in the training process?

And that's where this list

in verse five comes into play.

It's not completely separated

from the previous discussion.

He's really dealing

with this one dynamic

of the home

and God's design for it.

And what I think

I wanted to do here

is maybe just kind of briefly

work through each thing

and then we'll draw some

broader conclusions

at the end of it.

And as we go through this verse,

we need to be careful here.

We can't make it say

more than it says.

Neither can we make it

say less than it says.

And while we need to be careful

not to read modern debates

and modern arguments

into the text,

we can't easily dismiss

what the text says either.

So let's work through these things.

What does he say?

He says,

first,

they need to be taught

how to love their husbands

and children

and to be self-controlled.

And in this context,

self-control likely refers

to restraining the impulses

that would prevent

a young woman

from faithfully discharging

all of her responsibilities

to her family.

There's probably a hint

of sexual fidelity

and self-control here.

There always is.

It seems to be

in the New Testament.

But I think the primary thing

that Paul's really driving at here

is the dynamic

that a young woman

has a priority in the home.

And the way she's going

to love her husband

and the way she's going

to love her children

is by controlling

the impulses of her life,

whatever they may be,

which will tend to pull her

away from her home

and pull her away

from her husband

and away from her children.

She needs to be self-controlled.

Teach them to be self-controlled.

He says they need to be taught

to be pure.

This is more explicitly

moral chastity.

It's sexual fidelity

to one's husband.

So in a culture

where most marriages

were arranged

and the husband

didn't love his wife,

the husband didn't care

for his wife,

there's a greater temptation

to find someone

who will care for me,

who will love me,

and instead of being faithful

to the husband that I have,

running off with the one

that I wish I had.

And he says,

no, if we're going to love

the way that God intends

for us to love,

we can't look at it that way.

We can't follow that way.

We need to be pure.

Thirdly, he says,

teach them to work at home.

Teach them to work at home.

Now, before you get confused,

Paul certainly doesn't have in mind

the cultural dynamic

of a career businesswoman

that would have not ever

even been a part

of his mindset here

because it wasn't something

that would have taken place

in Crete

or in their culture

of that day.

So we need to be careful

not to read our modern debates

back into this text

because it would be very easy

for us to come to this

and say,

well, there,

Paul said it,

women shouldn't work.

That's not what he's saying.

In fact,

there's plenty of other texts

in the scripture

that show examples

of women faithfully working

to support their homes.

That's okay.

We need to be careful here.

But he doesn't indeed say

that they need to be taught

to work at home.

Well, what does he mean?

It's not a total prohibition

against working outside the home.

It's an acknowledgement

that a wife and mother's

primary responsibility

before God

is in the management

of the home.

It's the primary responsibility.

He's not saying

don't work outside the home.

He's saying

don't do anything

that takes away

from your primary responsibility

to love your husband

and love your children

and manage your home well

and care for your home

and raise the kids

and do the things.

And if you can do that

at the same time

that you're working

outside the home,

fantastic.

But if at any point

these other things

become a distraction

to what God has designed

for the home to be,

then they need to be denied

and rejected.

He says

they need to be kind.

And this is almost certainly

meant to be connected

with working at home.

It's a sensitivity of heart

that views responsibility

in the home

as a way to love

husband and child

rather than

a suppressive burden.

that's why

our modern society

tells us.

It says that

any type of complementarity

in the home,

any kind of desire

for the nuclear family

is actually oppressive.

It's oppressive.

But Paul says,

no,

that's not actually it here.

There's a sensitivity

of heart

that sees this.

This is my way

of being the woman

that God has created

to me to be.

This is a way

for me to love.

This is a way

for me to care.

This is a way

for me

to glorify God.

Again,

Elizabeth Elliot

has written about this

before.

She wrote a book

that just said,

let me be a woman

where she talks about this

in great detail.

It's very helpful.

Kind refuses

to resent

a husband

and child

for what their presence

has hindered one

from doing

or accomplishing

on her own.

I have all these dreams

and I have all these ambitions

and my husband

and my kids

are just getting

in the way of that.

Well,

kindness is to see

your priority at home.

Kindness is to see

this is the way

that I love.

My husband

and my children

are the hindrance

to what I need to do.

They are what I need to do.

He says

they need to be submissive

to their own husbands.

Of course,

when practiced biblically,

submission doesn't

devalue the place

of a wife.

It simply places

the priority

of responsibility

on the shoulders

of the husband.

That's what submission does.

It's not,

maybe it's not even best

to view it

in terms of authority

but in terms

of responsibility.

Submission

frees a wife

to help her husband

lead

because it's her husband

that will stand

before the Lord

to answer

for his home

not his wife.

Notice also here

that this is not

a matter of men

dominating women

generally.

This is limited

to the scope

of the home.

Did you catch that?

Teach them

to be submissive

to their own

husbands.

This is not a dynamic

where we say

men are superior

and women are inferior

and the women

have no place

in the workplace.

They have no place

in leadership.

They have no place

in politics.

That's not what he's saying.

He says,

be submissive

to your husband.

He's focused

on the home.

He's designed

for the home.

You see,

the husband's authority

is only an extension

of his responsibility

ultimately.

It's not an authority

that is inerrant

to his maleness.

It is an extension

of his responsibility

as a husband

and as a father.

And Paul focused

on this issue

for young women

because there will

always be a tendency

to rebel

against God's design

for the home.

God didn't create Eve

to be inferior

to Adam

but he did give her

a function

to help Adam

faithfully fulfill

his duty before God

something Adam

needed her for.

He needed her

for this.

Genesis tells us that.

Genesis chapter 2

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

I think I've got the verse

on the screen for you.

Genesis chapter 2

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

and verse 18

The Lord God said

it is not good

that man should be alone.

He cannot function

on his own.

He cannot do the work

that God has called him

to do.

Fulfill the responsibility

that God has called him

to fulfill

on his own.

I will make him

a helper

God says.

Fit for him.

Verse 24

Therefore a man

shall leave his father

and his mother

and hold fast

to his wife

and they shall become

one flesh.

Do you see

the interdependence

in this?

In God's design

he creates man

and he gives him a job

and his job

is to work the garden

and it is to multiply

and it's to fill the earth

and it's to glorify God

and he says

but man can't do that

on his own.

I will give him

a helper

a compliment

to him

standing face to face

it would be a literal

translation of this

face to face

with him

over and against him

a helper

that will push him

forward

in this responsibility

because he needs it.

Now notice

what God said

would be a consequence

of Adam and Eve's sin

if we fast forward

to Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

and verse 16

To the woman God said

I will surely multiply

your pain

and childbearing

and pain

you shall bring

for children

your desire

shall be contrary

to your husband

but he shall rule

over you.

In other words

sin would lead

to an ongoing

relational brokenness

between husbands

and wives

distorting

God's good design

from the very beginning.

Husbands

will always be tempted

to dominate their wives

wives will always

be tempted

to dominate their husbands

the sinfulness

from both men

and women

leads to war

rather than

to a healthy home

but in Christ

God desires believers

to be faithful

to his design

his design

of complementarity

remember

you were made

for something more

the issue

of husband

and wife

and of

responsibility

and submission

was instituted

by God

before sin

this is a creation

design

and all throughout

life

ever since Adam

and Eve

you can read it

all through the narratives

of the scripture

there is this relational

brokenness

this butting of heads

between husbands

and wives

and men

and women

and yet God

redeems these people

and he begins

to transform

these people

and he keeps them

in a culture

that rebels

against God's

good design

but he says

while you're here

I want you to

show my good design

and so he tells

Titus

teach what

accords

with sound doctrine

and then

tell the older women

they need to teach

the younger women

how to love

their husbands

how to love

their children

how to support

their husbands

how to live out

God's design

in their home

we're bringing them

back

to creation

back to purpose

and glory

that's why Paul

emphasized that

giving into

cultural ideas

of the home

is to revile

the word of God

you see it there

in verse 5

be submissive

to their own husbands

that the word of God

may not be

reviled

reviled

believers

in contrast

to the world

are to glorify

God

by living

according to

his word

reviled

here is the same

word used

to describe

the attitudes

of Jesus'

enemies

Matthew 27

it says

so also

the chief priest

with the scribes

and elders

mocked him

this is in the

process of

Jesus'

crucifixion

and it goes

on to say

and the robbers

who were crucified

with him

also reviled

him

in the same

way

Peter says

when he was

reviled

he did not

revile

again

this is the

same word

in the same

way that the

people who

crucified

Jesus

were reviling

him

they were

mocking him

they were

condemning

him

they were

disparaging

him

that's the

same way

that many

of us

treat the

word of

God

when we

rebel

against

its

authority

and its

direction

to revile

the word

of God

is to live

in rejection

condemnation

of its

teaching

in the

same way

that Jesus

his enemies

displayed to

him at his

crucifixion

no matter

how you

look at

it

Paul is

elevating

God's

design for

the home

above

cultural

ideas

of it

our

culture

despises

the

biblical

view

of

marriage

in the

home

it

hates

it

there's

a lot

of

professing

Christians

who hate

it too

and there's

a war

among churches

right now

related to

this very

issue

but God's

desire for

his people

is that we

live in

obedience to

his will

rather than

our own

therefore

it's

necessary

that we

continue to

encourage young

women to

glorify God

in their

marriages

in their

home

the older

women in

the church

they're

responsible

for this

responsible

for training

young women

in this

way

that's the

young women

let's get to

the young

men

verse 6

likewise

urge the

younger men

to be

self-controlled

likewise

is the

key word

here

it shows

a closeness

in comparison

to what

Paul has

just said

this is

exactly what

Paul did

in an

earlier

verse

relating to

the older

women of

the church

he said

they are

likewise

comparing

what they

are to

do

connecting

it

with

what

the

older

men

in the

church

were

also

to

be

and

to

do

and

he

does

it

again

here

he

gives

all

of

these

instructions

for

the

young

women

and

then

he

throws

in

this

likewise

here

bringing

in a

closeness

of

comparison

between

the

younger

women

and

the

younger

men

so

in

case

young

men

were

to

think

that

their

faithfulness

to

their

wives

and

children

was

unimportant

Paul

groups

the

previous

teaching

with

his

final

instruction

and

when

we

take

into

consideration

the

things

that

Paul

mentions

!

for

elders

we

find

that

young

men

glorify

God

by

loving

caring

for

and

being

faithful

to

their

wives

in

partnership

with

their

wives

they

are

responsible

for

the

spiritual

care

of

their

children

men

giving

account

before

God

for

how

they

love

and

lead

their

home

and

it

would

be

a

mistake

to

assume

Paul's

brevity

here

somehow

gets

young

men

off

the

hook

because

that's

not

at

all

what

he's

doing

he's

saying

in

all

these

things

that

I

just

said

the

women

are

supposed

to

be

mindful

of

likewise

so

are

the

men

they

have

a

priority

in

the

home

and

their

priority

in

the

home

is

not

to

be

diminished

because

of

an

ambitious

career

or

hobby

or

some

other

pursuit

in

their

life

it

all

applies

one

specific

instruction

given to

young

men

is

self

controlled

Brian

Chappell

said

the issue

of

control

over

one's

conduct

has

now

arisen

among

all

the

groups

of

the

church

underscoring

the

contrast

between

those

controlled

by the

gospel

and

those

who

are

rebelling

against

it

urge

here

is

what

Titus

is

to

do

emphasizing

the

need

for

constant

moral

reminders

which

tells us

something

about

this

perhaps

more

than

any

other

demographic

in the

church

young

men

struggle

most

with

restraining

their

sinful

impulses

and

desires

and we

know

this is

true

earlier

this week

I spoke

to a

pastor

who

right now

is

counseling

several

men

in his

church

who

have

severe

addictions

to

pornography

their

wives

are

faithful

they

are

merciful

to

their

husbands

they're

also

devastated

that

their

husbands

would

rather

obsess

over

a

superficial

random

woman

than

love

the

wife

that

God

has

given

them

Paul

says

Titus

teach

them

to

have

some

self

control

to

control

their

impulses

to

put

the

things

on

the

computer

and

on

the

phone

that

needs

to

be

put

there

to

guard

your

eyes

to

love

your

wife

in

such

a

way

that

you

would

refuse

to

entertain

yourself

with

another

woman

even

thoughts

of

her

self

control

he

says

my

heart

routinely

breaks

sometimes

it

rages

to be

honest

to see

on social

media

the

insatiable

appetite

for

alcohol

and

the

party

life

that

has

gripped

young

men

that

have

spent

years

teaching

as a

teenager

it

bothers

me

so

much

they

need

to be

taught

self

control

they

might

just

need

the

gospel

far

more

homes

seem

to

be

in

shambles

over

a

man

with

no

self

control

than

a

woman

who

isn't

submissive

and

we

can

look

here

at

this

passage

and

we

may

be

tempted

to

think

man

Paul's

really

laying

it

on

thick

here

for

the

young

women

and

he

says

almost

nothing

to

the

young

men

but

maybe

the

issue

here

is

that

they're

so

out

of

control

and

we

got

to

deal

with

that

before

we

can

really

get

on

to

anything

else

and

don't

mean

to

excuse

one

sin

for

another

but

there

is

a

dearth

of

faithful

Christian

men

in

our

churches

I

think

it

was

Becky

that

said

to

me

last

week

after

the

Sunday

morning

message

she

said

there's

there's

just

not

a

lot

of

faithful

Christian

men

out

there

she

wasn't

speaking

of

our

church

she's

speaking

generally

and

she's

right

there's

not a lot

of

faithful

men

out

there

we

need

to

be

teaching

and

training

these

young

men

in

our

church

to

glorify

the

Lord

that

they

claim

to

know

and

love

as

I

close

I

want

to

be

clear

about

something

behaviors

recorded

in

this

text

are

incapable

of

providing

salvation

and we

need

to

be

clear

on

that

Paul

doesn't

write

these

things

to

say

if

you

will

get

these

things

in

order

you'll

finally

be

a

Christian

these

things

cannot

make

you

a

Christian

they

can't

living

according

to

these

rules

doesn't

make

you

a

Christian

but

someone

who

has

been

saved

by

God's

grace

will

inevitably

produce

the

fruits

of

godliness

that

are

represented

here

which

means

we

got

to

ask

ourselves

two

questions

if

my

life

is

not

producing

the