Titus lesson 7

Okay, we are in Lesson 6, and I think we've kind of gone through and talked about the terms that older women should exhibit within the body of Christ. Help if I didn't keep dropping the mouse on the ground. And we talked about it should be sensible, chaste, modest.

This author says a worker at home, kind. So the next part of this is kind of interesting because it has to do and it's, you know, I'm going to say this. In 2023, this is a terrible word in society, and the word is submission. And so the verse 5 says, be sensible, pure workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands so that the word of God will not be dishonored. My question in question eight was, is submission a license for the husband to always have his will? Boy, come on, speak up. Well, it could be. What's that? It could be. Would that be what the Lord would have it be? Yeah, that's right.

Submission is not slavery. What's interesting is, way back when we were studying Ephesians, in the role of a husband and a wife in a marriage and a mom, I think sometimes, especially in our society today, where there are so few strong men, good leaders, godly men, that that's how they look at it, you know. And you hear the term, the wife, like it's a Chevy in the garage. and that you get in and put the key in it, turn it on and drive it away. That's the mission is that it should be responsible every time. So what's the purpose of submission?

Notice he says in this verse, it's kind of interesting. He says, he goes through this list in verse five, sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, comma, so that the word of God would not be dishonored. So that the word of God would not be dishonored. Or maybe you could say it another way, respectively or reproachably spoken of. Well, you can only have one head, right? You can only have one head. That's right.

And I mean, I don't know if, you know, we need a long discussion about this, but the roles of a husband and wife are not, I mean, we seem to look at it from peace and harmony within the house, but here This letter to Titus is the reason their submission is so that you won't dishonor God's word. How would you dishonor God's word? By not being submissive if you were a wife? By being a slave driver if you were a husband?

I mean, the point is this, that the Bible lays out a life. We're going to talk in the main service about grace. And, you know, the more I study grace, the more I realize that it is the one thing within Christianity that we're so ignorant about. We don't really think it does what it's supposed to do. We think that it's, you know, something that is more of a social grace than it is what God's grace is really all about. Grace is the greatest motivator there is. So if a husband and a wife, a mom and a dad live in an environment of grace, then these elements of submission are not a problem. Donna?

Well, I was thinking too about that sometimes we're the only Bible that a person ever sees. Yeah. And people do observe your neighbors. They do. They observe the good things about your life and they also observe the inconsistencies of your life. Give you a good example. We have these neighbors across the street from us. Uh, they moved in about three, four years ago and they're young, young compared to us and probably in their late twenties, maybe.

And when they moved in, they had a brand new baby boy and the mom used to walk him all the time. And that's how we got acquainted with her. And, you know, but about six months ago. She wasn't around anymore, and neither was the little boy. And now the guy is, we think he's living by himself, and the lights are on, observing, the lights are on at all different hours. We hardly ever see him. We don't know what's going on, but obviously they've split.

And so we're noticing, I'm sure others are noticing, On the contrasted with that, if you have a Bible based marriage, people notice that too. You know, I mean, I can tell you and the neighbors that I know, the one on either side of us and the one that we're talking about there and the one across the street and the one next to them. So I'm talking about five different families. I can kind of tell you what they're all about, each one of them. And not because I'm buddy buddies with any of them, I'm not, but just observing, just observing stuff. Well, I think sometimes we don't know that people are watching us, like Donna says.

And how we live is attractive to some people because there's rest and peace and things that go on and harmony. And we'd like the people across the street from us, there's harmony as long as they're smoking weed. The little girl that they have, I don't, you know, this is just the weirdest thing. So the purpose of submission is that the word of God would not be dishonored or spoken of negatively.

In other words, to borrow a phrase, if you talk the talk, then you should walk the walk. And the walk, how were you saved? Under what principle? Huh? Under grace, should you live under grace? Should it be obvious that that's what you do? So, okay. Now, unbeknownst to you guys, I added another question that's not on your sheet. And this is one that you'll have to think about.

This one, it says, how is the word of God not dishonored in the Christian home. And I have seven things. The first one is, and Paul lists the seven things, and they are, first one was women are to love their husbands. to put their husband's welfare before their own self-interests. That's how the word of God is not dishonored in your house.

The second one is real simple, to love your children. And I think that goes for both the husband and the wife. The third one is to be sensible. In other words, controlled. The Bible uses self-control, but we know it isn't self that really controls us. It's the spirit of God and grace to be pure. And this is an interesting one, number five, to be workers at home.

Producers of orderliness in the home, 1 Timothy 5.14, not necessarily occupied exclusively with the household chores, but to keep a good house.

Somebody look up 1 Timothy 5.14, see what it says. I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. What do you guys think about in 2023, this whole idea of the wife and mom taking care of the house? That somehow has become not too cool to do that. What do you think? You moms, grandmoms.

Is that something that's valuable in terms of God's word? It's interesting that, you know, God puts such value. in the family unit, what do they call it? The nuclear family. The way it's structured is the basic building block of society. And if you destroy the family unit, you've destroyed the society you live in, which is what we're really trying hard to do in our society. And we complain about the top and the middle, but where we really where we really have been attacked and where we're really weak is in the nuclear family. That's the part.

I mean, now they're talking about nobody even thinks about getting married anymore. You know, and you look at these athletes, they got six kids from six different moms. And no one seems to think that, you wonder, you know, Why you have flash mobs and all this other nonsense that's going on is because the family isn't there. And you listen to athletes that become very successful in what they do.

They all came from decent homes. How would you like to be a kid in Deion Sanders' home? I wouldn't mind it. It'd be great because he's disciplined and he's a godly man. When you look at a lot of those people, there was one, I was watching a football game yesterday. What was the team?

Kentucky had this running back who at 12 years old, both of his parents were in prison. So he was a ward in the state. And he threw, and his dad was a drug user and so was his mom. And he, through some circumstances, became a believer. And then, you know, his relationship with his dad grew. His dad became a believer. And so when his dad got out of prison, his life was turned around and This guy, this player, he's a player in college, but he's already really involved in helping other young men, you know, that are in similar... Well, what happened there? At least in that life, there was a recreation, at least partial, of the nuclear family. God's design, you know, okay?

Be kind, be subject to their own husbands because he is God's ordained authority over the family. So would you say a wife's first responsibility is to the home or to her husband? Interesting, Warren Wiersbe, who used to be on Back to the Bible. He says, a wife's first responsibility is to her home. The wise husband allows his wife to manage the affairs of the household because it's her ministry. I mean, think about that. I like that. And he said, I assume Wiersbe meant that the home is the primary ministry, not necessarily her only ministry. So to finish up this lesson, I put some contrasts together.

The worldview as opposed to God's view. The world's view is home is a boring drudgery. God's view, home is a haven to come to from the world. The world system says homemaking and children are a burden. God's view is they are God's good gifts. The world view is value, material success, and self-gratification now, right now, as much as you can. Should I tell them about your observation? Value character and godliness and invest in the future.

We were really excited about how the Dragers worked with their family and worked with the kids. You know, they were, they're Bible-based. You know, when they spent the night at our house, Miles read the Bible to his sons before they went to sleep. You know, so.

The world says place children in childcare rather than caring for them yourself. God says parents should teach and fulfill their responsibilities to train their children. I think you see a lot of that in the Christian community today with homeschooling. The world says children, homemaking, and often marriage get in the way of. God's view is raising godly children is one of the It's one of the self-achievement ways to fulfill God's purposes and is one of the highest callings in life.

I've told you this before. Years and years ago at the Tuesday Men's Bible Group when Miles Stanford was teaching it, one of the guys there said, And, you know, Miles was one of those guys that didn't like to be complimented. But this guy spoke up and said, you know, Miles, when we all go to the BEMA judgment, you're going to be one of the first guys in line. And Miles said, no, I'm no brother. I'm not. He said, all the moms are going to be in the first row.

And the reason was, is they did what God told them to do. and wanted them to do and that's all they did. And that made a huge difference. You know, so Miles Stanford who, you know, in my mind is one of the great Christian men of the 20th century stepped behind the mothers and he knew and he and Cornelian didn't have any children. But he knew about moms. Last one. Demand your rights to be to fulfillment. But God's view is give up your rights and become a servant to attain true happiness. I think that's true for everybody.

So. That's the end of lesson 6. So I'm going to start in on lesson 7. So to do lesson 7 like we've been doing, which I think is really a good way to do it, lesson 7 will cover Titus chapter 2 verses 6 through 10. So that's what I want to do. Let's start off by reading Titus chapter 2 verses 6 through 10. Anybody who can read English is invited to go ahead and read it. All right, I'll go.

Likewise, urge the young men to be sensible. In all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity and doctrine, dignified, sound in speech, which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. urge bond slaves to be subject to their own masters and everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. Cool. So Paul's not leaving anybody out here. And the first thing he goes after is young men. What's the word he uses to describe the behavior of a young man?

Right in front of you, I just read it. Be sensible. That's right, Russ. You get the gold star. So it's real brief when he talks about young men. But there's no better word than meaning self-control and mastery of himself than this one word. Sensible. The word in Greek is S-O-P-H-R-O-N-E-I-N, and I'm not going to try to pronounce it. But really what it means is self-control.

Again, it's one of those things that, especially for a young man, control is important. because they're full of life, human life. The second question goes with the first. Should we anticipate maturity on the part of a young man? Or should we just say, well, you know, he's just a young guy. acting like young guys act. Yeah. I wrote, since Paul anticipates maturity on the part of young men, we can learn that there is nothing inherent in youth to block maturity. You know, some young men that are mature, you know, We know a lot of crazy ones too, but there's a lot of young men that are mature and they should be.

I'll tell you a boy that was mature that I, lately is Miles's son, Tim. He was really mature. 13 years old, 13 years old. And he was so interested in everything his dad was doing. And his dad said one time we were talking about grammar and diagramming sentences and he turned and he said, well, if you want to diagram a sentence, ask Tim, he knows how to do it. 13 years old.

In fact, those words teach that maturity is expected in Christian youth. I agree. One is mature when his actions are determined by the will of God rather than by the pressure of one's peers. You know, it's interesting. You see in families today, young Christian families, there are, how do I say this? The family doesn't get sound teaching or the father and the mother don't get sound teaching. And so the kids really struggle with what a mature young man or young woman is supposed to be as opposed to what a mature young man or woman should be in Christ.

The maturity of a young person is based on their ability to understand God's grace. Agree with that? And if the parents know grace and teach grace and function under grace, then the kids will pick it up and they will understand. And so when they're confronted, confronted with some worldly decision, They at least will refer to God as to how they should make that decision rather than just making it. You know how kids are, they're spontaneous and they live in the now. And that's when you listen to contemporary anthropologists that talk about how kids think today. that everything is now. Well, that's the way their parents think. There's no future, there's nothing vast. Why do you think suicide is such a problem in society today? It's because if now is all there is, and it's the pits, what does the future hold for me? Not much. It's just more of the same. It just gets worse.

You see that? And so how do you change that? How do you change that in a Christian? That's what we're talking about. In other words, if I wake up one day and I realize as a dad, my son isn't very spiritually mature, how do I change that? You're teaching, once you understand it. That's right. That's exactly right. And I think there's another element in here too.

Not only do you teach him because that's your responsibility, but you trust God to do what God's going to do to put a sense of value in him about God's word and about what life is really about. And he does it, he does it through the study of his word. You know, I think a dad primarily is a teacher. You know, not only for his wife, but also his kids. And not only a verbal teacher, but also an example teacher.

Am I walking the walk? Do I really believe, do I really have, reckon that what I know is true? And then is that the way I function? And I'm not talking about a perfect, a hundred percent conformed believer. There isn't such a guy, but there are maturing men. Maybe I may put it that way.

And you find that young men do pay attention. You know? I've noticed with young men that kind of are loose, loosey-goosey as you look at their parents and you see why. Because they're loosey-goosey. Peer pressure is a huge thing. A huge thing. You know, the old, we talk about sinning. We not only, if we sin, we not only like doing it ourself, we want to get you engaged in it too. Because it makes us feel like it isn't so bad. So teenagers are masters at that.

It's like these two kids, three kids that threw their rocks through the windchills. six months ago or so, and then finally one night they did that and it killed a woman. And you could tell at the first hearing that they didn't get it. They were just out having fun, you know, throwing 10-pound boulders through car windshields as it came by, you know. That's, uh, that's because the parents didn't teach him, you know, about that kind of thing. Of course, I remember when I was a kid growing up in Illinois, we used to throw snowballs at cars that went by until a guy stopped one day and ran, chased us and ran us down. I never threw him one after that.

So I think it's good. I think we as older believers should anticipate maturity on the part of young believers, young men. We should see, we should anticipate that. We should think that that's what it should be, you know. Okay, I'm going to do, oh, I got a couple of minutes. Why did Paul address this to Titus? So let's talk about this for a minute. This is, this is actually kind of funny for us.

If you were an old man or an old woman at this time in history, how old were you? 40 or 50. So, uh, in that culture, if you were a 40 year old man, you were considered old. Okay. Which means you started having kids probably when you were a teenager and started working and all of that. And that the younger people would have been between 20 and 40, maybe even less than 20. And Titus was one of the young men. He was a young guy. He was in his 20s. So he wasn't an older man. He was a young guy, a young, mature man.

So Paul addresses him personally that he and Timothy, who also was young, That they should be sensible and they should be mature. When you read 1 Timothy, one of the things that Paul tells Timothy, don't let those old guys run you over. You know, because you're a young man and you're mature and, you know, God has put you in a position of authority. Use it. Don't let an older, immature man intimidate you. By older, he meant 40. And older men sometimes, you meet older guys that their whole life is based on intimidating people.

So that's the answer to the question, why did Paul address Titus this way? Because Titus was a young man. But then he says to Titus, I want you to be an example to younger men. Why would he do that? Why would Paul say, look, Titus, I exhort you to be an example to young men? He says in verse six, urge the young men to be sensible in all things. Show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity and doctrine. dignifying sound and speech and on he goes.

Why is he telling them to do that? What do young men often have? They often have heroes. Don't they? Athletic heroes, usually athletic heroes or neighborhood heroes or military heroes, but they're hero worshippers. I mean, you want an example? How about who's that? Who's that? LeBron James has been a hero worshipper.

And one of the great things about Jokic in our society is that he's not, he's a mature man and he's only 22 or three years old and he's a mature young man. But a lot of these athletes, you know, they never had good examples to follow and they're not very mature. They can play basketball really well, but they're not mature. We looked at Tim Tebow as a guy who was a mature young man. And with some people he was a hero, others he weren't.

How about this, what's her name? Who's the singer, the woman that's bald and skinny and she's hanging out with a guy from Kansas City Chiefs. Oh, I think so. Huh? She's a cult hero. Taylor Swift. Does she fit this pattern? We don't know enough about her, I don't think.

But the point is, is that if you look at 1 Corinthians 11.1, Paul says, this is an incredible verse. He says, be imitators of me just as I am of Christ. So who does Paul look to for the mature example in his life? The Lord Jesus Christ. And he knows that as he grows spiritually, people watch him. So you can never forget, no matter how old you are, if you walk with the Lord that people pay attention to what you're doing and who you are.

You know, Miles hated this every once in a while. I'd say to him, Miles, you're my hero. You tell me to be quiet. We're done for today. So we'll pick up probably question four next time and go on from there. Let's pray. Dear Fathers, thank you for this time to spend in your word. We thank you how practical your word is in terms of how a community of believers functions as parents and as leaders. And it's all about raising a family over the body of Christ to a mature stature that people would know that there's so many things about believers. in terms of their relationship, one with another, and especially with relationship with you, Lord Jesus, that is admirable and can be identified as such. So we thank you, Father. We pray in your Son's precious name. Amen.