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
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
I think I've got the verse
on the screen for you.
Genesis chapter 2
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
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
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
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
fruitfulness
that
Paul
is
indicating
here
in
this
letter
is
the
natural
course
that
flows
from
an
understanding
and a
faith
of
in
the
gospel
then
I
got
a
big
question
why
is
my
life
not
producing
that
fruit
maybe
it's
because
I'm
not
actually
truly
trusting
in
Christ
and
his
gospel
maybe
I'm
counting
on
something
else
maybe
I'm
counting
on
there's
no
transformation
in
my
life
maybe
the
question
you need
to
answer
is
do
I
actually
know
Christ
or
maybe
the
answer
is
I
know
Christ
but
man
am I
just
slothful
when it
comes
to a
walk
with
Christ
there's
a reason
Paul
in so
many
of these
New
Testament
letters
and the
other
apostles
as well
have
to
emphasize
so
much
here's
the
indicatives
of
the
gospels
and
here's
the
imperatives
that
should
flow
they
weren't
correcting
all
those
churches
as if
they
were
unbelievers
they
were
saying
no
you're
going
to
have
to
continually
pursue
the
things
of
God
walk
in
the
spirit
not
the
flesh
walk
in
the
spirit
not
the
flesh
he
says
over
and
over
and
over
maybe
the
problem
is
you
have
no
walk
with
God
and
you
need
to
be
in
the
word
and
you
need
to
be
in
prayer
and
you
need
to
be
in
worship
as
you
are
today
and
you
need
to
be
in
discipleship
with
other
people
you
need
to
be
in
discipleship
with
your
wife
you
need
to
be
in
discipleship
with
your
kids
you
need
to
have
a
genuine
walk
with
God
adopting
the
spiritual
disciplines
that
are
that
is
where
all
of
this
ultimately
is
rooted
in
chapter
2
if
you
look
down
at
verse
14
Christ
gave
himself
for
us
to
redeem
us
from
all
lawlessness
and
to
purify
for
himself
a
people
who
are
zealous
for
good
works
that's
what
he's
doing
and
if
that's
not
the
indication
of
your
life
either
you
don't
belong
to
him
or
you
are
living
in
serious
rejection
of
God's
word
reviling
the
word
of
God
reviling
the
God
who
has
created
you
and
who
loves
you
and
has
given
himself
for
you