Please open your Bibles this morning to the book of Titus.
The book of Titus.
If you're a visitor, a guest with us this morning,
we have been walking together through the book of Titus.
We've made our way this morning to chapter 2,
and we're going to be in verses 1 through 10.
If you're using the pew Bibles there in front of you or behind you,
you can find that on page 938.
You might remember that we've titled this sermon series
A Church of Sound Doctrine.
That's what we, by God's grace, hope and pray and aim to be.
And in chapter 2, verses 1 through 10,
we get a look at exactly what that might look like practically for us.
So Bibles open, Titus chapter 2, verses 1 through 10.
Follow along with me as I read the Word of God.
Paul says,
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled,
sound in faith and love and in steadfastness.
Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in behavior,
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 Savior.
Let's pray.
Lord, again, we pray that we would look like this.
This is a work of your grace, of your doing,
and this is impossible for us in the flesh,
and so we pray that the things that we just read,
that the things that we hear described in Titus,
would move from knowing to being in our lives together,
that we would look like this.
And we pray and we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, if you are a fan of energy drinks,
or have watched television, commercials,
or even walked into a gas station over the past several years,
you are probably familiar with Red Bull.
And you are probably familiar with its slogan,
Red Bull.
Help me.
It gives you wings.
At least that is what they say.
The popular energy drink has built a reputation around that slogan,
and the commercials typically,
they feature somebody who is down in the dumps,
having a hard moment, a hard day,
sad, depressed.
Then they get a sip of Red Bull energy drink,
out of their back sprouts wings,
and up they go, flying away to a better life.
Well, this slogan that has drawn so much attention,
you may not know this,
it was also the basis of a class action lawsuit in 2014.
Consumers filed a lawsuit stating that
the company had falsely advertised.
Despite what they may have claimed,
Red Bull does not, in fact, actually give you wings.
One consumer, Mr. Corathers,
he was quoted saying he drank Red Bull for 10 years,
but that he had not once developed wings,
or shown any improvement either intellectually or physically,
and we can't argue with that, can we?
As ridiculous as that sounds,
Red Bull ultimately agreed to pay off up to $13 million
to settle the lawsuit and to move on.
The lesson?
False advertising is costly.
If you're going to claim something,
promote something about yourself,
say something about who you are,
you had better make sure that the product
matches the advertisement.
That's exactly what Paul is saying here to Titus.
Not about Red Bull, of course,
but about the church.
See, false teachers have crept in
to these newly forming churches in Crete,
and they're leading men and women
to claim to be Christian,
yet live like a Cretan.
And so Paul says,
no, this type of false advertising,
false professing, false teaching,
that is costly.
It discredits our profession.
It damages our witness to the outside world,
and at worst,
it distracts from the glory of God.
So Paul tells Titus,
Titus,
you teach what accords with sound doctrine.
You teach that faith accords with godliness.
You establish elders who will hold firm
to the trustworthy word as taught.
Titus,
you teach them there in Crete
that to say you are a Christian
advertises something about yourself.
It says,
I have been redeemed.
I once was lost,
dead in my sin,
hellbound because of my own rebellion against God,
but God,
by his grace,
has rescued me,
and he has saved me,
but not only that,
he has changed me.
He has transformed me from the inside out.
So now my heart is transformed.
I'm not the same as what I once was.
I am a product of the redeeming grace of God.
If anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
The old has gone,
the new has come.
To say you are a Christian
is to say that type of new heart transformation
has happened right here.
Well,
here in the year 2022,
not much has changed,
has it?
There are many who,
like the Cretans,
profess to know God,
but deny him
by their works.
These verses here in chapter 2,
verses 1 through 10,
they are a reminder for us
that gospel believing
leads to gospel living.
Gospel believing
ought to lead to godly living.
So this morning,
what we're going to see
is four facts about godly living.
Four facts about godly living
in these verses.
This is going to be our outline this morning.
If you're a note taker,
like to take notes to follow along,
I encourage you to do that.
You're going to find four facts
for godly living this morning.
First,
godly living
accords with gospel believing.
Godly living
accords
with gospel
believing.
Some of you are musical,
and so this will make sense to you,
but even if you're not,
most of you have
decent enough ears
to where you may not be able to say
exactly what's wrong,
but when you hear something off,
you can tell,
hey,
that doesn't sound quite right.
A wrong note was hit,
a wrong chord was struck,
something's off here,
musically.
A chord,
musically speaking,
is when three or more notes
work together.
They play nice together.
They harmonize together.
They sound good together.
And interestingly,
the French word for
accord
that you play musically
is accord.
You may not know that.
That's the idea here.
One thing
aligns with something else.
It accords with something else.
They're in harmony.
They go together.
They make music.
They play nice.
And on the other side of that
is discord.
Discord
is a lack of harmony.
And you may not
recognize that term,
but you know,
again,
you know what it sounds like.
It sounds bad.
You can hear
something
is off.
That sounds terrible.
One person's playing
one thing.
One person's singing
another thing.
And it just makes you want
to close up your ears
because it sounds awful.
And what we saw last week,
Paul said,
the behavior of these
false teachers
was not in accord
with what they professed.
You remember what he said.
Cretans are always liars,
evil beasts,
lazy gluttons.
They profess to know God
with their mouths,
but they deny him
with their work.
Something's off.
They say they believe,
but they don't live
like they believe.
So Paul says here
in chapter 2,
verse 1,
he says,
but as for you,
Titus,
see there's a difference here.
Yes,
there are false teachers
saying the opposite,
but as for you,
Titus,
you are to be distinct.
You are to teach
the church to be distinct.
Teach what accords
with sound doctrine.
You see that,
right?
He does not just say,
teach sound doctrine.
As valuable as that is,
he's told us that earlier.
Sound doctrine,
incredibly valuable.
That's the beginning.
That's where it starts.
He does not say,
teach sound doctrine.
What does he say?
Teach what accords
with sound doctrine.
Don't just teach
the information.
He says,
teach the life transformation
that goes in harmony
with the right information.
The sound living
that works in harmony
with sound doctrine.
Teach that godly living
accords with gospel believing.
Now,
this is a warning for us,
church.
This is a warning for us
that it is not enough
to know the right information.
It is not enough.
You see,
the problem here in Crete,
it was not the pagans.
It was not the outside world.
It was not those
who would never step foot
into a church.
The problem here in Crete,
it was church people.
It was people
who know the right answers.
They sat through the sermons.
They read their Bibles.
They would say,
I know God.
I believe in Jesus.
I profess to be a Christian.
But they denied him
with their works.
Their lives
were in tension
with their profession.
Do not buy the lie,
church.
Do not buy the lie
that you can have God
and live however you want.
It's not true.
Do not buy the lie
that your actions,
your life,
your behavior
doesn't matter.
So long as you come to church,
pray your prayers,
say that you believe,
so long as you're not
as far off as this person
or that person.
These are all lies
of the enemy.
If you have been given
the gift of salvation,
then you have been given
the gift of sanctification.
They are a package deal.
You can't separate them.
You cannot have one
without the other.
You can go to church
your whole life.
You can know the whole Bible
inside out.
You can know all the right facts
and still not know God.
Now all of us in Christ
are growing.
We are progressing.
None of us are perfect.
We are striving by His grace
to put sin to death
and to pursue holiness.
But friend,
if there is no godliness,
no transformation,
if there is no growth
in your life,
no distinction between you
and the world around you,
it is right for you to ask
whether you know God
or just know about Him.
See, this is a warning for us.
Church, knowing about God
saves no one.
Knowing God truly,
personally,
through faith in Jesus Christ,
knowing God is the only hope
for sinners like me
and like you.
And you cannot know Him
and remain unchanged.
That's what Paul is telling us here.
Amanda and I,
we celebrated 10 years of marriage
the other day.
10 years.
It's hard to believe
that it's already been 10 years.
We've known each other
for about 14 years.
And we started dating
about two years before that.
So all in all,
about 12 years
of actually being together.
together.
And that's a lot of time
with one person.
A lot of time.
It's a good time.
Okay?
And we were talking
the other day
at dinner.
You have to ask her
her opinion on that.
But for me,
for me,
it's been a good time.
We were talking
the other day
about the fact
that we are different people
than when we first met.
We are different people
than when we started dating.
And we're different people
than when we first got married.
And I hope she would
praise God for that.
But how could you
not be different?
Spending so much time
with one person,
engaging with one person,
how could you get
to know someone personally
at that level
for 14 years
and not be different?
Well, Paul says,
if you know God,
you will be different.
If you spend time with Him,
Paul says,
you will be changed.
Maybe not instantly,
some dramatic,
life-changing change
suddenly,
all of a sudden,
but gradually,
over time,
with prayer
and patience
and pursuit,
you will be changed.
You will become
like Him.
You will become godly,
godly living accords
with gospel believing.
Well, what does that look like?
What does that look like?
Paul shows us
throughout the rest
of this passage,
what godliness looks like
for every believer.
And this is our second point
this morning.
Godliness is for every believer.
Godly living
is for every believer.
These descriptions
in this passage,
they're not exhaustive.
This is not all
that we need to know.
But Paul gives us
an overview here
of what godliness
should look like
for every member
of the church
in verses 2 through 10.
Every member.
There's something here
for all of us.
And Paul speaks,
I think,
to three distinct categories here.
Three distinct categories.
He speaks to men,
women,
and workers.
Follow along with me here.
He speaks to men,
women,
and workers.
Well, first,
he speaks to the men.
He speaks to the old men
and to the young men.
Look here with me
to verse 2.
Titus 2, verse 2.
He says,
Older men,
you are to be
sober-minded,
dignified,
self-controlled,
sound in faith,
in love,
and in steadfastness.
And the order here,
I think,
is important.
Older men,
older Christian men
are to lead the way
as examples of godliness
in the church.
He says,
they should be
sober-minded.
He says,
they're under control.
Their thoughts
aren't clouded by anger,
or by sensuality,
or by greed.
They are not easily
deceived or led astray.
These older Christian men
are rocks in the home,
and in the church,
and in society.
He says,
they are respectable,
dignified,
able to control themselves.
But not only that,
look here.
Look at this.
Paul says,
they are to be
sound in faith,
in love,
and in steadfastness.
Think about that.
Sound in faith,
and love,
and steadfastness.
You know,
that word sound
has come up before,
hasn't it?
And we keep hearing that.
An elder must be able
to give instruction
in sound doctrine.
Paul says,
as for you,
teach what accords
with sound doctrine.
We've titled this series
in Titus,
A Church of Sound Doctrine.
What that word means
is healthy.
Healthy.
These men,
these older men,
are to be spiritually,
morally healthy,
in faith,
in love,
and in steadfastness.
Do you see the picture
of godliness
that he's laying out
for us here,
men?
These men
know the word.
They know the faith.
They know what they believe
and why.
They could pick out a lie
because they know,
well,
God's word doesn't say that.
These men are healthy
in love.
They love God
and they love their neighbor.
But not only that,
it says these are
faithful men.
Reliable.
Steadfast.
They're enduring men.
Do you want to be
a man of God?
Know your Bible.
Love God with all your heart.
Love God with all your mind.
Love God with all your soul.
And love your neighbor
as yourself.
And stick around a while,
men.
You want to be a godly man?
Be faithful.
Don't be a wishy-washy man.
Be stable.
Be reliable.
Be someone that others
can depend on
and know that
what they get from you
is rooted,
not just in duty,
but in delight in the Lord.
That is godly manhood.
I pray for a church
full of men like this.
Are you pursuing
that, men?
He not only speaks
to the older men,
he also speaks directly
to young men here
in verse 6.
Verse 6.
He says,
the young men
just have one job
here in verse 6.
And probably because
mastering this
will take all
of your attention.
So young men,
listen with me.
Young men,
you are to be
self-controlled.
Self-controlled.
We've got to get this right
before we can move on
to anything else.
The fruit of the Spirit
is what?
It's love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
and what?
Self-control.
One of the first verses
that I memorized
as a young Christian,
it was Proverbs 25, 28.
It says this.
It says,
a man without self-control
is like a city
broken into
and left without walls.
I'll say that again.
A man without self-control
is like a city
broken into
and left without walls.
What happens to a city
without walls?
It is open to attack.
It has no defense.
Anyone can come and go
as they please,
take what they want,
do what they want.
And Paul says,
without self-control,
men,
we are open to
all sorts of attack.
A lack of self-control,
young men,
is at the root
of a thousand sins.
But a young man
with self-control,
he has his defenses up.
He's prepared for attack
when it comes,
and it will come.
Does your speech
demonstrate self-control?
Do you show self-control
by the way you use your time?
And the way you engage
with your family at home?
When you go to work,
when you're with your friends,
do you act in self-control?
With your temptations,
men,
do we demonstrate
self-control?
You know,
the greater the access
to temptation,
the greater our need
for self-control is.
I'll tell you something,
we have greater access
to temptation now
than any time ever before.
We better get some
self-control, men.
Are your defenses up?
Second,
he speaks here
to the women,
and just like
with the men,
he speaks to both
older women
and to younger women.
And listen,
I will not tell you
which category
you belong in.
I'm not going to do that.
I'm just going to say
he speaks to both here.
Some of you ladies
prefer to identify
as a younger woman.
Fair enough.
Look to verse 3.
He says,
older women likewise,
just like the men,
are to be reverent
in behavior,
not slanderers,
not slaves to much wine.
And they are to teach
what is good
and so train
the younger women.
And I think you can see
the influence
of the Cretans
here in Paul's instructions.
It was normal in Crete
to slander.
Remember,
Cretans are liars.
It was normal
to be a slave
to food and drink.
Remember,
they're evil beasts,
lazy glutton.
But Paul says,
Christian woman,
you be distinct.
Christian woman,
you let your speech
be seasoned with salt.
Only speaking what is good
for building up.
Only speaking the truth
in love.
Christian woman,
exercise self-control
with food
and with drink.
Don't be a slave.
Don't get drunk
with wine,
but be filled
with the Holy Spirit.
Be reverent
in your behavior.
Does this describe you?
See,
we don't age
out of pursuing
godliness.
I served
at a church
in North Myrtle Beach.
We have a few
visitors this morning
that came from
North Myrtle Beach
to come and join us
this morning.
They're gluttons
for punishment here.
But the mentality
in that community
is I'm retired.
It's a retirement area.
I'm retired.
I've earned the right
to check out
and do what I want.
Live as I please.
I came to the beach
to check out
and to live
the rest of my days
in beach
and sunshine
and sand.
Paul says,
older women,
you don't ever age
out of godliness.
You don't ever retire
from godliness.
You still have
big responsibility
even in your old age.
Great responsibility.
You still have work
to do.
If you're looking
for a way
to serve the church,
if you,
older women
are looking
for a way
to make meaningful
contributions
to the life
of this church,
Paul gives you
two ways right here.
Do you see it?
Live a life
worth imitating
and pass it on.
If you want
to serve this church,
live a life
worth imitating
and pass it on.
Look again
what he says
in verse 3.
He says,
these older women
are to teach
what is good
and so train
the younger women.
So younger women,
this is for you now.
He says,
train the younger women
to love their husbands
and children
and to be self-controlled.
There's that word again.
Pure,
working at home,
kind,
and submissive
to their own husbands.
Most of the focus
here for the young woman
seems to be
on their sphere
of influence
and service
in the home.
I don't believe
that that means
they can't work
outside of the home,
but it does mean
that this is primary.
And again,
it seems like
the influence
in Crete,
the influence
of the Cretans
was toward
a kind of laziness
or indifference
in the home.
And so Paul says,
young women,
young Christian women,
be distinct,
be diligent.
Pursue love
for your husbands.
That is hard sometimes,
I know.
Pursue it.
Pursue love
for your children.
It is easy
to be a half-hearted spouse.
It is easy
to be a half-hearted,
lazy parent.
I'm speaking as a father.
It is easy
to be a half-hearted parent.
It's much easier
to let the television
disciple your kids
than it is for you
to take the time
and the energy
to train up your children.
It's much easier
to avoid discipline
for your children
than it is
to enforce discipline
and godliness
in the homes.
Paul says,
work hard
in the home,
young women,
for the glory of God.
But not only that,
third category here.
He also speaks
to workers.
I want us to see
that Paul is crossing
every box here.
Checking off every box.
Young,
old,
men,
women,
and now he addresses
Titus,
who is a pastor,
an organizer
of the church.
He's a teacher.
He's a servant
of God
and slaves
Titus.
You see that?
The distinction
here.
Godly living
is for everyone
in the church.
Paul says,
verse 7,
you,
Titus,
he's speaking to Titus,
verse 7,
you show yourself
in all respects
to be a model
of good work.
Show integrity
in your teaching.
Show dignity.
Show sound speech
that cannot be condemned.
Don't give anyone
an opportunity
to mock God
by what you say
or by how you live.
Your life matters,
Titus.
Your godliness matters.
Your speech matters.
And we say,
of course it does.
He's a pastor.
Everybody's looking at him.
He's a public representative
of God Almighty.
Everybody's looking
at the way he lives.
But then he goes
to the lowest rung
of the social totem pole
and says the same thing
to the slaves.
Just consider the dignity
that he's giving them
right now.
He says to some
of the lowest members
of society here,
your actions,
your behavior,
your attitude matters.
You think nobody's
looking at how you live?
Think again.
You think that your actions,
because you're not
an older man,
you're not a leader
in the church,
you're not wealthy,
you're not well respected,
that godliness
doesn't matter for you?
Think again.
He says,
your godliness matters.
Your speech matters.
Your actions,
even as a slave,
adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior.
Church,
no one is exempt.
No one is exempt.
Godliness is for all of us.
There's no distinction here.
Male, female,
young, old, black,
white, rich, poor,
white collar, blue collar,
whatever your job,
whatever your role,
no one is excluded.
We share in one
sanctifying spirit of God.
So godliness is for you.
But how will we get there?
How will we become a church
that looks like this?
Third,
godly living requires training.
Our third point this morning,
godly living requires training.
You cannot do this on your own.
Church,
you cannot do this on your own.
Anyone who's ever done
any exercise training,
understands this?
Breeze and Linda did not pay me
to say this, okay?
Just a disclaimer.
There is a limit to how much
you can accomplish by yourself.
You can only push yourself so far.
There's a benefit to having training
from someone who knows
what they're talking about,
who has done the move before,
who can show you
where you're making mistakes,
give you feedback along the way,
push you to where you need to go.
You can lift more,
do more,
and avoid getting hurt along the way
if you have good training
to help you get to your goal.
It's the same with our pursuit
of godliness, church.
You cannot do this by yourself.
We're just,
we're so independent.
We don't want anybody else
in our business.
We think we can do it ourselves.
We think we got this under control.
We don't want anybody to,
nobody needs to judge me.
Nobody needs to tell me
how to live my life.
I don't need help.
You want to know another lie
of the enemy that we tend to believe?
It's that we got this.
We got this.
I don't need anybody's help.
I got this.
Church, that is a lie,
and we've bought it.
The way we will grow up
in godliness
is to love each other enough
to say,
let's do this together.
The way that you will grow up
in godliness
is by linking arms
with everybody else around you
in this place,
your brothers and sisters
in this church,
to say we are pursuing this
together as a family.
That's what Paul says.
Older women,
verse 4,
look there,
again,
verse 4,
are to what?
Train the younger women.
They won't get there
on their own.
They need your wisdom,
older woman.
Have you learned anything
about what it means
to be a godly spouse,
to honor God as a wife,
as a mother,
as a woman?
Share it.
Train them up.
They need your help.
Younger men,
likewise,
verse 6,
they need to be,
what?
Urged to be self-controlled.
He doesn't just say,
be self-controlled.
He says,
urge the younger men
to be self-controlled.
Who's doing the urging?
It's us, church.
Older men,
where are you?
Where are you?
Urge the younger men
to be self-controlled.
Show them with your lives
and urge them
with your words
to live in godliness.
Get in one another's business.
We can't do it
by ourselves.
And young men,
young women,
humble yourself to listen,
to receive words of wisdom,
godly input
from those who have developed
godly character.
You know,
the devil loves our privacy.
privacy.
The devil loves
our love affair
with privacy.
We need one another.
Personal holiness
is a group project,
church.
Who here
is committed
to pray for you?
Who here knows
your sins,
specifically?
Who here
has committed
to follow up with you?
Who here is walking
with you in the word?
Who here is helping you
root your life
in the word?
Helping you to live
what you profess
to believe?
That's what discipleship is.
And we've been talking
a lot about discipleship.
It's very simple.
It's helping one another
pursue God.
Are we doing that,
church?
And if you're struggling
in any way
to pursue godliness,
and we all do,
if you're struggling
in any way
with pursuing godliness,
ask yourself,
have I ever been trained?
Or am I trying
to do this on my own?
Am I being trained now?
And if not,
what will I do about it?
You know,
Treg and I
would love nothing more
than to connect you
with someone.
Maybe that's us.
That's great.
But to connect you
with someone
or a group of someone
who would be committed
to making this happen
in your life.
Ephesians 4,
11 through 16.
We're going to wear out
this passage
in this place.
It says this,
He gave the apostles,
the prophets,
the evangelists,
the shepherds and teachers,
that's the pastors,
to equip the saints
for the work of ministry.
That's our role.
The role of pastors
is to equip you,
the saints,
for the work of ministry.
Well, what's that?
For building up
the body of Christ
until we all attain
to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge
of the Son of God.
to mature manhood,
to the measure
of the stature
of the fullness
of Christ.
So that we may
no longer be children
tossed to and fro
by the waves
and carried around
by every wind
of doctrine,
by human cunning,
by craftiness
and deceitful schemes,
by lies and false teachers
like here in Crete.
Rather,
how are we going
to get there?
What's the key
to this ministry?
Rather,
speaking the truth
in love.
Older men
speaking the truth
in love.
Older women
speaking the truth
in love.
Young men,
young women,
workers of every kind
speaking the truth
in love.
We are to grow up
in every way
into Him
who is the head,
into Christ,
from whom the whole body
joined and held together
by every joint
with which it is equipped.
When each part
is working properly,
it makes itself grow.
So that it builds itself up
in love.
Church,
there's no other way.
Godliness requires training.
But why?
Why does it matter?
What's behind all of this
pursuit of godliness?
Why does it matter ultimately
how I choose
to live my life?
This is our final point
this morning.
Number four.
It's because godly living
adorns the doctrine
of God.
Fourth and finally,
godly living
adorns
the doctrine
of God.
All of this talk
of godliness,
of pursuing godliness,
of godly living,
of the expectation
that Christians
should live godly lives.
Please don't get
the wrong idea.
Please don't mix up
the order here.
This can be incredibly dangerous
if the order
is mixed up here.
We are not saved
by our works.
We are not saved
by our works.
we are saved
by the grace
of God.
Undeserved,
unmerited,
it is a free gift
without any view
towards our goodness.
What did we just,
what did I just read
about justification earlier?
It's not our works.
It's the work
of Christ.
We have no goodness
in ourself.
Any goodness
that comes from us,
any ability
to do any good work
comes from the grace
of God.
It is,
if anyone is saved,
it's through faith
in Christ Jesus alone.
His perfection,
His goodness,
His perfect obedience,
credited to our
bankrupt account
through faith.
For our sake,
He made Him
who knew no sin
to be sin for us,
so that in Him
we might become
the righteousness
of God.
But don't stop there.
That's not the end
for us,
Christian.
We were saved
for good works.
Unto good works,
which He prepared
beforehand for us,
that we should walk
in them.
And that fruit
of godliness
in our life
bears witness
to the fact
that we have been
redeemed
from our sinful ways,
delivered from the
domain of darkness
and transferred
into the kingdom
of His beloved Son
in whom we have
redemption,
the forgiveness
of sins.
Our godliness
bears witness
to the goodness
of God
and the beauty
of the gospel.
That's what it means
to adorn the doctrine
of God.
Church.
Our godly living,
it lifts up
His beauty.
It's meant to
function like
beautiful decorations
or like a piece
of jewelry
that catches your eye
and it draws
your attention.
Your life,
Christian,
your godliness
is meant to
draw attention
to the worth
and beauty
of the gospel.
It's meant to
draw attention
to the worth
and the beauty
of God.
And we see that
throughout the passage,
don't we?
This is the purpose
of our godliness
is that God
might receive
glory in us.
Why does He
give commands
here for young women?
Verse 5.
Look there.
Verse 5.
That the word
of God
may not be reviled.
That it wouldn't
be mocked
or disdained
that our behavior
would give no reason
for anyone
to mock
the goodness
of God.
Why does He
give commands
for Titus
for his speech
and for his actions
to be above reproach?
Verse 8.
So that an opportunity,
so that an opponent
may not be put
to shame,
having nothing evil
to say about us.
And why are even
slaves called
to live in a way
that is honoring
to God?
Verse 10.
That in everything
they might adorn
the doctrine
of God
our Savior.
I remember
when I
bought Amanda's
engagement ring.
I had never
bought something
so valuable
in my life.
And I went
several times
to the jewelry store
back and forth
to get the right ring
and to check it out,
to inspect it.
And then I bought
the ring
and now I had
something incredibly
valuable in my possession.
And I had to protect it
at all costs.
So immediately
I put it
in its case.
Shut it.
There was a couple
weeks there
in between
when I bought
the ring
and when it found
its way onto
Amanda's finger.
And the ring
just sat in the box
in my room.
And every now
and then
I would come
back to my apartment
from class
or from whatever
I was doing
and I would just
go to the box
and I would
open it.
Just take a peek.
Get a look at it,
make sure it's still there.
Then back in the box
and tucked away
in its place.
See, that box
served two purposes.
One, it protected
the ring.
It's valuable.
It guarded it.
It secured it.
It protected it.
It kept it from harm.
Nobody was going to
smush it or step on it.
It was safe
in the box.
And two,
when opened up,
it showcased
the beauty
of the ring.
The point's not
the box.
The point is
what it is
drawing attention
to.
The beauty
of the ring.
Church,
there is nothing
more beautiful
or valuable
or precious
or worth
guarding
or worth
drawing attention
to
than the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
The good news
that the perfect
son of God
has come.
He has lived
perfectly
where we couldn't.
He has died
in our place
on our behalf.
He has risen
from the grave
and he offers
his perfect
righteousness
to any
who would come
to him in faith.
That's beautiful.
Our lives,
our godliness
defends that gospel
from attack,
from mockery,
from disdain,
from hatred.
And when we live
lives that are
worthy of the gospel
of God,
it draws attention
to his beauty.
It brings God
the praise
that he intends
to get from us.
shines a spotlight
on the beauty
of the doctrine
of God our Savior
to say,
look what God
has done.
My life
is proof
of the goodness
of God
and his power
to save.
May God
be pleased
to do that
in you
and to do that
here with us.
Let's pray.
not to us,
O Lord,
not to us,
but to your name
be glory
for the sake
of your steadfast
love
and your faithfulness.
Lord,
we have no good
apart from you.
We have no goodness
in ourselves.
None is good
but God alone.
But God,
you are pleased
to take
wrecked sinners
not because
we're good
but because
you are merciful.
You are pleased
to take ruined
sinners
and to purify
and sanctify
us
through the blood
of Christ
and then to make
us shine
like lights
in the midst
of darkness
in this present
evil age.
Lord,
so we pray,
Father,
that we would
be distinct
not for us
but for the glory
of your name.
We pray
in Christ's name.
Amen.