Teaching That Accords with Truth

[0:00] Come to Titus chapter 2 and I'll read it to us and then we'll spend some more time looking at it. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

[0:35] 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.

[0:50] 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.

[1:06] 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.

[1:20] 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.

[1:32] They are to be world-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

[1:43] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and unworldly 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.

[2:19] Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Well, let's pray as we come to God's word, let's pray.

[2:30] Our Father in heaven, thank you for giving us your life-giving word, and as we hear it this morning, please work in us by your spirit, to grow us and change us to be more like our Saviour, Lord Jesus.

[2:42] We ask it in his name. Amen. Well, you all know what it's like to wait for something. So, you're waiting for a phone call to be returned, or maybe the service in a queue, or the plane to arrive, or the project to finish, or the study to finish, for the exams to be over, for the rain to come, for the flowers to bloom, for the home loan to be approved, the anticipated holiday, the inheritance.

[3:08] We're always waiting for something. It's interesting what you do while you wait. Oftentimes, you just pull out the phone, aren't you, and fiddle on the phone to keep yourselves busy, pretending to get something done.

[3:21] Or we walk up and down the hallway, pace up and down the hallway, waiting for the news to arrive, or we're checking our emails while we're waiting for something to happen. And sometimes we prepare while we wait.

[3:31] We fix up the bedroom. We get organised for the kid to come. We read the parenting books. We might even study for the exam. We might prepare a budget. We might pack a bag. There's things we might do while we're waiting for this thing to happen.

[3:44] I understand that the firemen and the ambos and the officers in the police force and the military, they do things while they're waiting to be called into action. They have the physical training. They have the ongoing proficiency training.

[3:56] So they're ready for the challenges of the job when it comes. Christians, you and I, are people who are waiting. And just like the birth of a child or being called into action of the servicemen, we're waiting.

[4:13] And while we're waiting, this thing that we're waiting for is going to absolutely radically change things. And change the way we live.

[4:24] And it should change the way we live now as well. So when it comes to reading the Bible, we need to be good at reading the Bible. And we'll spend some time thinking about what needs to change as we look at the first half of chapter 2.

[4:38] But when it comes to reading the Bible, it's important to recognise that there's some key words. To be good Bible readers, there's some little words that are profoundly important to get a hold of. Particularly the word for.

[4:51] F-O-R, not F-O-U-R. Notice it last week in verses 1 to 9. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instructions to our doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

[5:07] And then verse 10. For, right? For there's many who are insubordinate and empty talkers. So the reason he's to be like this is for there is a problem to address.

[5:23] That's the reason to be like that. And in today's reading, we're told that everything that Titus says in chapter 2, verse 1 to 10, is because of verse 11.

[5:36] See verse 11? For the grace of God has appeared. So the bottom line is that we have been saved. Have a look at verse 11.

[5:50] 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.

[6:09] So the bottom line, we've been saved, right? And while we wait for Jesus to appear again, which is going to be an earth-shattering, incredible thing that happens in this world, right?

[6:23] We need to be on about changing the way that we live. We need to live as God saves people. It's always the way, right? Salvation first, and then good works later.

[6:37] Good works do not lead to salvation. Salvation leads to good works. That's the way it works. So God works, good works in a way of life that need to be taught and then modelled, right?

[6:54] That's what happens to happen about the way that Christians live. So let's get into it. So just to be clear, first we're going to look at the reason for the way that we're to live and then we'll look at this distinctive godly life and drill down to that second.

[7:07] So Titus is told to teach or to speak what accords with sound doctrine. See there, chapter 2 verse 1? But you teach what accords with sound doctrine. So what he tells the Cretans to do is based on sound doctrine is first and foremost, and we're going to dig into that now in chapter 2 verse 11 following.

[7:25] It's this sound doctrine, it's this healthy teaching, this wholesome teaching that trains us, urges us, compels us to live rightly.

[7:37] Unhealthy doctrine leads to unhealthy life. You can be sure that when you hear of men and women behaving badly, it will be because there's a degree of unhealthy doctrine lurking nearby.

[7:54] So when a house has been eaten out by white ants, you can put your finger through the paint, can't you? You can poke it through. It might still be standing up, right?

[8:04] The house might still be standing up. It might look good around the doors and windows, but you can push your finger through the paint. You can't do that when the building is solid, right?

[8:20] When the walls are firm. So sound teaching, sound speaking, sound instruction will line up, will accord with sound doctrine, will lead to sound, healthy lives.

[8:37] And unhealthy teaching, unhealthy speaking, unhealthy instruction will line up with, will accord with unhealthy, unhealthy teaching, unhealthy lives, ungodly lives lead to sickly lives.

[9:00] So the place to start is with sound doctrine. And there it is there in verses 11 to 14, a clear part of that. So look at it with me.

[9:10] So first of all, in the sound doctrine, Jesus has appeared. So we live between two appearings. We all live between two appearings right now. Two appearings of the Lord.

[9:22] The first appearing is when the grace of God came, which brings salvation. The second is the blessed hope, right? The appearing of Jesus, which is yet to come, verse 13.

[9:35] And we are waiting in the meantime. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. It appeared in the life and the death of Jesus.

[9:47] God the Father demonstrated his love to us by sending his son into the world, the man Jesus Christ. And Jesus was God's gracious gift to the world.

[9:59] The undeserved kindness of God, dealing graciously with people. He didn't insist on his own rights, but he took on the role of a servant.

[10:10] He didn't snuff people out, but encouraged and built up his people. He wasn't looking for glory, but he associated with the little ones, the marginalized ones.

[10:27] He welcomed and valued children to himself. And the ultimate demonstration of God's grace is in the death of his son, the Lord Jesus, who gave his life for us.

[10:39] You see that in verse 14, to redeem us. He gave himself for us to redeem us. That is, he died for us. He became sin for us. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21.

[10:52] In 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 22 to 24, he bore our sins in his body on the tree. In 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18, Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.

[11:12] Not only that, but Jesus appeared alive again, raised from the dead. He appeared over 40 days, presenting himself alive to the disciples, to Paul, to over 500 at one time.

[11:31] We read about him in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He appeared, right, after he died. And this salvation, notice, is for all people. It's for the Jew, for the Gentile, for the Cretans, for the Arabs, for the English, for the Chinese, for the Korean, for the whatever nation, the California, whatever nation.

[11:51] It's for everyone. Everyone here in St. Lucia. Everyone that we know. Everyone of our colleagues. Everyone of our families. The Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of God, has appeared, to bring salvation, for all people.

[12:06] And he's redeemed us, bought us, paid the price, for our sin. And, God's saving grace, will appear, again. Because Jesus, will appear.

[12:19] There's a future aspect, to our Christian life. We are waiting, for the appearing, of Jesus again. Now, most of you will know, that I've got a dog, named Scruffy.

[12:32] And, when we go out, from home, there's one thing, we can be assured of. And that is, that Scruffy, is waiting for us, to appear again, at the door.

[12:43] Right? And he's waiting. He's longing, for us to come home. More for Karen, than for me. And when we do, get home, he goes, absolutely nuts.

[12:56] He's so happy, to see us. He does cartwheels, and screams, and bellows, and the whole neighborhood, hears him. Now, this second coming, of Jesus, is something, that we don't think, enough about.

[13:10] Something, that we're prone, to forget. Or, it may be, that we've never, even heard of it yet. Right? But it will be, an earth shattering day, and it's the day, that we are looking, forward to, and that we'll do, cartwheels over, when it comes.

[13:26] And we'll be, speechless, when we see it. And right now, we are waiting, for the return, of the Lord Jesus Christ. But his return, is going to be, actually more of, an appearing.

[13:39] Right? For he hasn't, completely left us. He has sent, his Holy Spirit. And his Holy Spirit, dwells in us, now. It's sort of like, going to the theater.

[13:52] I've used this illustration, many times. One day, the curtain, will be rolled back. Right? And we will see, the play, that's already on the stage, ready to go.

[14:07] We can't see it there, right now. But when the curtains, on the stage, go back, and the props, and the people are there, we just can't see it, at the moment. It's all set up.

[14:17] Jesus now is King. He is reigning on the throne. We are looking forward, to the glorious appearing, of our great God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It will be, an awesome appearing.

[14:28] This world will stop. This world will cease. Everything will stop. And it will be there. You'll know times, and you've been somewhere in life, and you go, I remember where I was, when that happened.

[14:43] I can remember, where I was, when I heard of, Princess Di dying. Right? And you can too, if you live long enough.

[14:54] You will know, where you were, when the Twin Towers, got bombed. When you heard that news. When something, earth's shouting at us, you will remember, that that happened.

[15:06] The world stopped, and looked at the incredible devastation. One day, the world will cease, and be utterly, awestruck, by the appearing, of our great God, and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[15:20] And we will see him, in all his glory. He's all conquering, almighty, eternal King, there. And everything, that we have lived for, everything we have struggled for, everything we have fought for, in this world, will be seen, for what it is.

[15:37] Much of it, very, very small, in comparison, to what is going to be revealed, and be of eternal significance. We will see him, in splendour, in incredible power.

[15:52] We will see the one, who created the world, by his very word. Spoke, and it was. Note with you something, pretty impressive, about this verse.

[16:09] We have in this verse here, verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing, of the glory, of our great God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[16:19] You can read it fast, but then miss, the significance, of the very phrases, that are there. Right? We have in this, one verse, the clearest reference, or one of the clearest references, to Jesus, being God, in the Bible.

[16:38] It's very helpful, when we're speaking to those, who deny that Jesus is God, when we're speaking to the, Jehovah's Witnesses, or when we're speaking to the, Mormons, or when we're speaking to the, Muslims. We can tell them, and show them, from the scriptures, that yes, we follow Jesus, who is, God.

[16:55] Well, notice here, that he, this sound doctrine goes on, he redeemed us, for good works.

[17:05] God has paid the price, for us. We belong, to Jesus now. He has changed us. We are his people now. We have a distinctive way, to live, while we wait, for his return.

[17:18] We have been rescued, from lawlessness, and from insubordination. He has purified us, we belong, to him, verse 14. Have a look at it with me there.

[17:29] He gave himself, to redeem us, from all lawlessness, and to purify, for himself, for people, for his own possession, who are zealous, for good works. We belong, to him, and so, we now live, for the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the good work.

[17:49] We're to be zealous, about good works. Not to be saved, but because we have been, been saved. And that, is sound doctrine. That is sound teaching.

[18:00] That is wholesome teaching. Now, it may be, that there's some here, who haven't actually, responded to the grace of God yet. His great kindness.

[18:10] The first thing to do, would be then, to thank him for it, and tell him you're sorry, for ignoring him, and rejecting the one, who came to save you, all this time in your life, and to trust him, and rely on his, sacrificial death now, and receive salvation, which is on offer, for all people, and to follow him, and serve him, and go with him, wherever he would take you.

[18:31] That would be, the appropriate thing to do, now that you are hearing, about the incredible, kindness and mercy, of God. But for those of us, who know the saving grace of God, we are told, there's a distinctive way to live, and this is, primarily the good work, that we are to be involved in.

[18:56] We are told in, Titus chapter 2, verse 1 to 10, the things that, we are to listen up for, and it was great, to have the blokes together, and the women together, thinking about Titus yesterday, as well.

[19:07] Okay, well let's have a look, at this teaching then, that accords, with sound doctrine. Chapter 2, verse 1 following. When he speaks, to various groups of people, this is what he is to say, as he does so.

[19:22] And he will be putting things, in order, in the churches, as he does so, in Crete. And he will do this, explicitly as he speaks, and implicitly, as he lives.

[19:34] And brothers and sisters, this is God's timeless word, this is God's true word, which never lies, for us to hear, down the ages as well, in the church, in St Lucia.

[19:47] So, explicitly older men. What we have here, is a classification, not so much of older men, but old men, literally, old men.

[19:58] Of course, old men, will be older than others, that's okay, but the question then, is what puts a man, in the category, of an old man. So, yesterday morning, I spoke to the blokes, about this, there's a bloke, named Hippocrates, he was an ancient Greek, philosopher, and the father, of medicine, so they say.

[20:19] And, he said, if a person, was over the age, of 56, right, you were, an old man.

[20:36] All right. Now, he didn't write, the Hippocratic Oath, but they attribute, his name to it. The medicos, will know all about that. So, if you're over 56, right, that's his classification, but if you feel old, that's all right.

[20:52] All right. If you're over 56, and now I'm over 56, so I'm now, and officially, an old man. All right. Not a grumpy old man, but an old man.

[21:04] All right. And so, from one old man, to other old men, let's listen up here. All right. Be sober-minded. That is level-headed.

[21:16] Think rightly. We're not 18 anymore. All right. Just so you know, we're not 18 anymore. So, don't act, like an 18 year old anymore, old men.

[21:30] We're not to be led, by our emotions. We're to be led, by our convictions. We're not to be given, to extreme levels of highs, and extreme levels of lows. You can also, refer to being moderate, in, how much alcohol, we might consume, if any.

[21:51] All right. One way to sure, lose control, of rational thinking, is to have too much to drink. Alcoholic beverage, to drink. So, we need to be dignified.

[22:04] That is, whole. We can stand upright. We can, know that we've got, we've behaved rightly, and there's nothing that someone, can actually then, bring up about, and accuse us of.

[22:16] We've behaved righteously, in the past, and we continue, to behave righteously, now. There are no, shameful secrets, to be, revealed, to be rolled out.

[22:29] That's been dealt with. We are, purposeful, in our actions, and, worthy of the respect, of others around, about us. And, self-control, is the characteristic, that is to be, the character of all God's people, for old men, old women, younger men.

[22:46] Knowing what to do, when to do it, how to go about it. That's self-control. Being able to be in charge, of our desires. And, we're to be solid, in the faith. See that, we know what we believe.

[22:58] We know what the gospel is, we know what the gospel isn't. Picture a tree, roots growing, deep down, into the soil. The solid trunk, the core, which is strong, and tall, that won't be blown, around by the westerly winds, that have just been, around the place.

[23:16] Won't be thrashed over, when the cyclone comes. Brothers and sisters, if you find a church, like this, you'll find a church, that has good order, in it.

[23:31] Okay, that's the old men. Similarly, the word here, is for older women. Notice it's Titus, who should tell the older women, to be reverent, in behaviour.

[23:46] It's a life, of becoming, someone, who belongs to God. We are told, what this life looks like.

[24:00] Okay, let's have a look at it. Not slanderers, that is, speaking about people, badly behind their back. Not slaves, to much wine.

[24:12] I think it's important, to consider this one, reading during the week, that it's becoming, more and more common, for women to be, self-medicating, on much wine. You go to, some event, it's inevitable, that it won't be comfortable, unless there's wine flowing.

[24:34] Have you noticed, how many bottle shops, there are around? you can't drive, you know, a couple of kilometres, without seeing a bottle shop. There's plenty of them around.

[24:45] If you watch any TV show, it seems that, everyone's got a glass of wine, in their hands. If not wine, it's beer. Not slanderers, not slaves, to much wine, instead, here we go, the old women are to teach, what is good, verse 3.

[25:05] And notice the scriptures, encourage us, to have women teaching, right? We did it yesterday, that's exactly what we did, we had women, teaching women, older women, teaching younger women, younger women, in the presence of older women, it was fantastic.

[25:21] We encourage the women, to understand the Bible, and we encourage women, to teach the Bible well. And we need more and more women, to be able to be, teaching the Bible well, and instructing the Bible, to other women, and to children.

[25:36] Now that is over, 50% of the world. Big job, for women. And yes, this goes against the grain, of our culture.

[25:48] But it just means, that our culture, needs to change. Our culture, is out of, world's culture really, is out of step, with God's word.

[26:00] So older women, are to train, to urge, to encourage younger women, to love their husbands, and children. And let me tell you, that takes supernatural help, because husbands, can be hard to live with.

[26:12] I know, because I can be. And children, can be difficult to love, and cause all kinds, of heartache, and heartburn. You know, because you were a child, once.

[26:26] It's a conscious, decision, of the will, to love, the husband, at times. And it's a conscious, decision of the will, to love children, our children at times.

[26:44] Which is why, we need older women, to help the younger women, showing, urging, encouraging, training young women, to do this. Modelling it, showing it.

[26:56] And, be self-controlled. We have seen that, what is being self-controlled, is for all Christians, and pure, and holy, and devoted to the husband. And, here we go, working at home.

[27:12] The idea of, workers at home, is keeping the home, in order. Which means, well it means, women, need to have time, to be in the home.

[27:27] to do it. So they can love, the children, when they come home, from school. They can provide, and protect, the children, and not farm it off, to others to do, on their behalf.

[27:44] And be kind, and submissive, to their own husbands. And notice the reason, for this. See here? Verse 5, that the word of God, may not be reviled.

[28:02] So the word of God, the very basis, of our sound teaching, may not be reviled, may not be despised, may not be spoken of badly. And the way that we live, is to commend the truth, we say we believe.

[28:18] And these instructions, which are called, with godliness, were true then, and these instructions, which are called, with godliness, are true now. So, old men, how are you going, at making it easier, for, your wife, our wives, to love us?

[28:43] And old women, how are you going, at loving your husbands? And old women, how are you going, at loving your children? How do you do that? And if you are managing, to do these things, are you passing that on, to the younger, women around about us?

[29:01] It all takes time, and it's being zealous, for good works, that will bring it about. Being submissive, to your own husband, can be a difficult thing. But it's a necessary thing, that can't, we can't always have, husbands and wives, locking horns, about wanting, to have the final word.

[29:19] Someone's got to have, the final word, in the household. Being submissive though, is not being walked over, but being willing, to follow.

[29:31] There can only be, one leader in a marriage, and that is, to be the husband, which puts a lot, of responsibility, on us men. Submissive means, being under authority, not trying to usurp, not trying to be, insubordinate, overturn the authority, of the husband, but trusting the husband, to be doing the best.

[30:00] Submission starts, with an attitude, of respect, and honour, for the husband. And submission, comes easiest, when the husband, is respectable, honourable, and trustworthy.

[30:14] So husbands, would make life, a lot easier, for our wives, to submit to us, if they knew, that we would lead, themselves sacrificially, if we would, lead them towards Christ, if we would, lay our lives down, for their welfare.

[30:30] It's an, ungodly thing, for the wife, to usurp, the authority, of a husband. It happened, in the garden, didn't it? when men, failed to lead, according to the word, of God, which brought about, the fall, of all mankind.

[30:49] Now, please see, that what's being said, is not my word here, but it's actually, God's word, we're saying. And notice, not just old women, and young women, in view, but it's also, the younger men, who've got just one thing, to do, in particular, because that's all, the younger men, can cope with, just be self-controlled.

[31:11] Be able to rule, over your emotions, your passions, and your hormones. So there's, the explicit teaching, that Titus, is to give, and then there's, some implicit stuff, for him to do.

[31:24] Titus is to model this, what he teaches, explicitly, he's to model, implicitly. He needs to teach, and model the truth, that leads to godliness. He is to be the type, that others look up to.

[31:38] He is to be the model, of Christ, that others can see. Titus is the model, everything that he teaches. You see there, verse 7, show yourself, in all respects, to be a model, of good works, and in your teaching, show integrity, show integrity, and sound speech, that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent, may be put to shame, having nothing evil, to say, about us.

[32:06] Titus is to model, what he teaches. When people look at him, they are to see godliness, see submissiveness, to God, and to those in authority.

[32:18] They're to see self-control, they're to see him, showing dignity, just as an old man, needs to doing as well. His speech is to be sound, just like the doctrine, he's to teach, wholesome, solid, good, and healthy, not loose, not lurid.

[32:38] He's to set an example, for the overseers, that he's going to appoint. He's to be the model, for the overseers, so that there will be order, in the church. Modelling's powerful, isn't it?

[32:49] I mean, we'll remember, the way that people treated us, related to us, often, a long time, after, we heard, what they said.

[33:03] So Titus is to declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, no one's to disregard him, you see verse 15, declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard you, which means, we're not to disregard, what we hear either, which then brings us, full circle.

[33:26] Titus is to teach these things, so that the church in Crete, might be put in order. Order will come, by establishing appropriate, authority structures, in the church. An order will come, in clarifying, how people are to behave, and to live, in the church.

[33:42] And there's a pattern of life, isn't there, that men and women will have, while we wait, for the appearing, of our great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. A pattern of life, which adorns, the Gospel of Jesus.

[33:54] A pattern of life, which shows, we are living differently, to the world around about us. Different to the culture, of the world, in all kinds of good ways, the way we live.

[34:05] And it will be a pattern of life, which is expecting Jesus, to appear again, at any time. Okay, I'm going to pray, we'll finish, and we'll have a question time afterwards, let's pray.

[34:21] Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for your word, and we do pray, that you'd help us, to hear your word, as your word, and not man's word. and that you'd help us, to obey your word, and to have your spirit, at work in us, and empowering us, by your spirit, to live the way, of the Lord Jesus Christ, would have us.

[34:43] And we pray in his name. Amen. Amen.