WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 all you ladies a very happy Mother's Day. Normally 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.580 we find ourselves in a sermon series. I'm in 00:00:08.580 --> 00:00:11.560 the book of Matthew chapter 13 looking at the 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:13.919 kingdom of God and about every other year we 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:17.000 usually look at Mother's Day. There's not a lot 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.820 of passages there, but if I feel really like 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:21.780 this is something the church needs to hear or 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:24.239 something I had to say, then we will usually 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.980 stop the series and every other year look at 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:28.920 this. And so I want to look this morning in the 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:31.940 second chapter of Titus. And we're going to look 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:36.140 at verses 1, 3 through 5, and verse 14. That 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:41.939 will serve as our text. Paul is writing to Titus, 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:45.579 a young man that's left. To help regulate a church 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:47.460 that's being formed on the island of Crete. And 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:50.340 we'll get to that in a moment. But he writes, 00:00:50.420 --> 00:00:52.140 in the first chapter he's explaining how bad 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:54.579 the culture of Crete was. Second chapter he's 00:00:54.579 --> 00:00:56.259 saying, hey, here's what you do in the church. 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:03.679 So verse 1 he says, And verse 2 he talks about 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.680 the men. Older men, specifically. But then verse 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.040 3 he picks it up in his admonitions to the ladies 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:14.189 in the church. The older women likewise, which 00:01:14.189 --> 00:01:16.709 does mean they're not left out here, that they 00:01:16.709 --> 00:01:21.969 be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not 00:01:21.969 --> 00:01:26.569 given to much wine, teachers of good things, 00:01:26.709 --> 00:01:29.269 that they admonish, and you might have a version 00:01:29.269 --> 00:01:31.329 that says that they teach, that they teach, that 00:01:31.329 --> 00:01:34.810 they admonish the young women to love their husbands, 00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:40.969 to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:48.540 good, obedient to their own husbands, that the 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:52.680 word of God may not be blasphemed. And then verse 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:55.140 14, I think this serves as really the central 00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:59.579 text of chapter 2, speaking of Jesus, who gave 00:01:59.579 --> 00:02:03.640 himself for us, that he might redeem us from 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:08.139 every lawless deed and purify for himself his 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:12.689 own special people. who are zealous for good 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:17.289 works. Let's pray. Father, would you help me 00:02:17.289 --> 00:02:20.210 this morning, Lord? God, I pray that I'd be filled 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:22.930 with your spirit. Lord, what I would say would 00:02:22.930 --> 00:02:27.909 be derived from the text. Father, help me not 00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:30.210 to impose my own views, but Lord God, I pray 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:32.530 that you, by your spirit, would illumine the 00:02:32.530 --> 00:02:36.310 text, show us Jesus and his glory, even in the 00:02:36.310 --> 00:02:38.889 second chapter of Titus. We pray this in Christ's 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:42.460 name. Amen. Growing up, I always heard a proverb, 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.439 and I just assumed it was just that, a proverb. 00:02:46.780 --> 00:02:48.699 And it said this, the hand that rocks the cradle 00:02:48.699 --> 00:02:51.780 is the hand that rules the world. This past week, 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:53.439 I was just kind of looking at that. I typed it 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:55.900 into Google, and I realized it's actually a poem 00:02:55.900 --> 00:03:00.319 written in the mid -1800s, 1865. And it's entitled, 00:03:00.539 --> 00:03:02.020 and it's four stanzas. I'm only going to read 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:05.580 one, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. But I thought 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:07.379 this was really good. All four stanzas are good, 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:10.000 but this is one I chose for time's sake this 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:15.979 morning. Woman, how divine your mission here 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:20.719 upon our natal sod. Keep, oh keep the young heart 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:26.099 open, always to the breath of God. All true trophies 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:30.560 of the ages are from mother love imperiled. For 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.340 the hand that rocks a cradle is the hand that 00:03:33.340 --> 00:03:36.780 rules the world. So this poem was written in 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:40.289 praise of mothers showing how they possess immense 00:03:40.289 --> 00:03:45.389 power and influence. And it's true. In nurturing 00:03:45.389 --> 00:03:48.669 and raising children, mothers shape the future 00:03:48.669 --> 00:03:52.469 for better or for worse. Being a mother is a 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:56.169 blessing, but not all mothers are blessed. Some 00:03:56.169 --> 00:03:59.370 do a horrible job, and they shape their children 00:03:59.370 --> 00:04:02.740 for ill. But God's design, if we look at God's 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:04.979 design for human civilization, not in the church, 00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:08.000 but for human civilization, we have men and women 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.439 getting married, forming a covenant, and rearing 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:14.759 children in the fear of God. That is his design. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.040 So the family, we would say, is the basic building 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:22.699 block, the basic unit of civilization. So what 00:04:22.699 --> 00:04:26.839 happens when that design is broken? Well, necessarily, 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.290 chaos comes. And sadly, we see this in our own 00:04:31.290 --> 00:04:34.350 culture even today. I was looking up some stats. 00:04:34.470 --> 00:04:35.970 I was telling my wife this yesterday, and they're 00:04:35.970 --> 00:04:40.410 just staggering to me. Today in the U .S., 4 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:43.149 out of 10 children ages 6 through 18, so that's 00:04:43.149 --> 00:04:45.790 school -age children, are fatherless, meaning 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:48.329 the father does not, no father, stepfather, no 00:04:48.329 --> 00:04:51.550 father lives in the home. Now let that sink in. 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:56.170 40 % of children who are in school live in a 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.740 home where no father is present at all. And that's 00:04:59.740 --> 00:05:01.920 a tragedy. And you're like, well, why does that 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:06.120 matter? Well, it matters a lot. Children without 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:08.620 a father are four times as likely to be poor, 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.319 twice as likely to drop out of school. If you 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.620 look at 70 % of the high school dropouts, it's 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:17.060 somehow related to the lack of the father's presence 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:21.019 in the home. It affects girls even worse. Girls 00:05:21.019 --> 00:05:23.920 without a father are twice as likely to be obese, 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.639 four times as likely to get pregnant in their 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:30.389 teens. And then if we look at the demographic 00:05:30.389 --> 00:05:34.370 breakdown, poorer communities are even more greatly 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:37.569 affected. And we'll give you the racial demographic 00:05:37.569 --> 00:05:41.129 for fatherlessness in the United States. So 20 00:05:41.129 --> 00:05:44.810 % of white kids live in a fatherless home. When 00:05:44.810 --> 00:05:46.769 you take the Hispanic community, it rises to 00:05:46.769 --> 00:05:49.949 31%. When you go to the African American community, 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:54.389 it's 57%. When you're talking about births outside 00:05:54.389 --> 00:05:59.100 of marriage, today in America, 22 % of births 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:03.500 to white women occur outside of marriage. That 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:07.899 rises to 54 % of Hispanic women give birth without 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:12.120 being married. And nearly 70 % of births for 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.779 black women occur outside of marriage. These 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:17.800 are just stats. You can take them, manipulate 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:20.240 them, do whatever you want with them. But something 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:21.980 has gone terribly wrong in American society. 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:25.589 It's obvious. So we say, what happened? Now again, 00:06:25.670 --> 00:06:27.750 I'm going to suggest to you, before we get into 00:06:27.750 --> 00:06:30.430 the text, I want to give you a cultural overview 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:32.689 that I think this is where it started. If you 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:35.370 start looking at stats, you can go back and see 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:37.269 where things started to dip off precipitously. 00:06:37.529 --> 00:06:40.189 And that was in the 1960s. Where you're like, 00:06:40.230 --> 00:06:42.569 well, what happened in the 1960s? Well, lots 00:06:42.569 --> 00:06:44.569 of things happened. But particularly, it was 00:06:44.569 --> 00:06:47.089 the advent of the birth control pill. So what 00:06:47.089 --> 00:06:49.069 happened? You're like, well, isn't this a stretch? 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:53.029 Give me a second. The birth control pill separated 00:06:53.029 --> 00:06:56.970 sexual activity from reproduction. So that naturally 00:06:56.970 --> 00:07:00.290 invited promiscuity because one of the deterrents 00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:03.129 was their fear of pregnancy. So now the pill 00:07:03.129 --> 00:07:07.290 is giving rise to reproductive autonomy and they 00:07:07.290 --> 00:07:10.490 are closely linked. So that led in the 70s to 00:07:10.490 --> 00:07:13.610 the legalization of abortion. Now you're probably 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:15.290 saying, no, Pastor, you're really making a step. 00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:19.120 No. In 1965, there was a Supreme Court case, 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:21.259 Griswold v. Connecticut, over the birth control 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:23.439 pill. Can you believe that? Like, that was saying, 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:26.420 is it legal? And the Supreme Court decided in 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:29.480 1965, yes, that a woman has a constitutional 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:33.240 right to privacy regarding reproductive decisions. 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:37.079 It's a privacy. Well, in 1973, in the Roe v. 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.939 Wade case, the Supreme Court, taking up the case, 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:44.000 used that precedent from 1965, the birth control 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.600 pill case, As their decision, and they said an 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.040 abortion is a private medical decision between 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:54.860 a patient and their doctor. So now what happens, 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:57.160 you have women able to delay childbearing. They're 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:58.959 pursuing higher education. That's not necessarily 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:01.779 bad. It's good. They enter into the workforce. 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:05.399 This now gives them financial means to support 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:08.800 themselves outside of a marriage. But what we 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.060 also saw at this time is a rise in what is known 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:15.920 as a no -fault divorce. Usually you had to sue 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:17.740 for divorce. You couldn't just end your marriage. 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:20.819 But a no -fault divorce is where neither spouse 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:24.579 is required to prove wrongdoing, blame, or marital 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:27.680 misconduct to end the marriage. So in other words, 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:30.379 a couple can simply claim what is known as irreconcilable 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:34.519 differences and the marriage is dissolved. Well, 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.080 this started leading to a widespread increase 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:40.960 in divorce, which then caused children to grow 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.879 up into homes without fathers. which is leading 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:47.299 to the mess we are currently in. Now, we've sown 00:08:47.299 --> 00:08:51.539 the wind, and we're reaping the whirlwind. Now, 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:53.659 here's what I want to focus on this morning. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:57.259 What are Christians supposed to do as we desire 00:08:57.259 --> 00:09:01.320 to bear faithful witness to Christ in an ever 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:03.940 -degrading culture? First of all, I'd say don't 00:09:03.940 --> 00:09:08.120 panic. God is on his throne. He is still sovereign. 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:12.590 God has providentially placed you here on this 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:15.190 earth at this point in time in history for a 00:09:15.190 --> 00:09:18.470 reason. It's not an accident. It's not happenstance. 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:20.669 It is the providential sovereign design of God. 00:09:21.210 --> 00:09:23.429 So yes, our culture is bad. That's absolutely 00:09:23.429 --> 00:09:26.549 true. But Christians have actually lived in much 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:29.450 worse cultures. If you look at the culture before 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:32.370 the gospel took root in the world. So let's talk 00:09:32.370 --> 00:09:35.549 about a pre -Christian culture. The world... 00:09:35.899 --> 00:09:38.220 was even worse than ours. But the gospel started 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:40.919 spreading. It took root in the Roman Empire and 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:45.320 changed culture. Ancient Rome was absolutely 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:50.220 a quagmire, perverse, absolutely pagan. Seneca, 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:52.379 the well -known Roman philosopher, here's what 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:54.759 he said. Now this is the time when, again, around 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:57.299 the time of the gospel being spread, he wrote 00:09:57.299 --> 00:09:59.059 about, now he's a well -known philosopher in 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:03.059 Rome. Mad dogs we knock on the head. A natural 00:10:03.059 --> 00:10:07.870 progeny we destroy. We drown even children at 00:10:07.870 --> 00:10:11.889 birth who are weakly and abnormal. And he wasn't 00:10:11.889 --> 00:10:15.210 speaking in hyperbole. We know Cicero, the so 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:18.909 -called refined and educated Cicero. He said, 00:10:18.929 --> 00:10:23.049 Deformed infants shall be killed. Now that deformity 00:10:23.049 --> 00:10:26.509 could simply mean an unwanted child, a child 00:10:26.509 --> 00:10:29.370 who is sick, a child born with some deformity, 00:10:29.450 --> 00:10:31.730 or a child born with the wrong sex. The couple 00:10:31.730 --> 00:10:34.029 was hoping for a girl and they got a boy, so 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:37.610 they killed. Roman law at that time saw nothing 00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:40.409 morally wrong with what is known as infanticide, 00:10:40.450 --> 00:10:43.809 killing babies that were already born. In fact, 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:47.970 it was legal at that time for a parent, a mother, 00:10:48.090 --> 00:10:51.309 to abandon her newborn on the garbage dump in 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:54.889 a city. You know what the early church did? These 00:10:54.889 --> 00:10:56.909 women would go through the garbage dumps rescuing 00:10:56.909 --> 00:11:00.350 these babies and adopting them. God used his 00:11:00.350 --> 00:11:03.200 people to change the world. But the gospel started 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:04.799 taking root, started spreading around the Roman 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.679 Empire. Things started to change. And that's 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:10.279 what I want to focus on this morning. So we're 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:12.080 looking at the letter to Titus. So if you look 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:15.080 at 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, those are 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:18.399 known as the pastoral epistles. The Apostle Paul 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:21.100 is writing to these young men how to lead and 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:24.080 organize churches that were being formed. Because 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:25.740 churches are always formed because we live in 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:28.279 covenant. We live in community. We're not isolated. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.580 The church is important. So what they were to 00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:34.419 do, he said, you need to appoint qualified elders, 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.000 leaders. But you're going to have to have some 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.940 combat false teaching, and it was rampant. You're 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:41.620 going to promote sound doctrine, which is what 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:43.600 we're going to look at this morning. And I want 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.240 you to make sure that there's orderly conduct 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:49.440 within the church. Now, Titus was left on an 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.559 island known as Crete. Now, he was there to rightly 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:56.740 order church or churches that had been founded. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.240 And if you look at the island of Crete, it was 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:02.299 absolutely not Christian at all, nor was it friendly 00:12:02.299 --> 00:12:05.600 to a Christian worldview. Stephen Davy, in his 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:07.379 commentary, writing about the island of Crete, 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:10.379 this is what we know. Homosexual marriage was 00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:15.139 practiced by emperors and statesmen. Bisexuality 00:12:15.139 --> 00:12:17.840 was the norm, and heterosexuality, exclusive, 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.840 was considered prudish. Older men were known 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:25.740 to be immature, self -centered. The older women... 00:12:26.090 --> 00:12:31.070 They were drunkards, gossips, younger men, selfish 00:12:31.070 --> 00:12:35.049 younger ladies, abandoned their husbands and 00:12:35.049 --> 00:12:38.769 children. And Paul left Titus in that culture 00:12:38.769 --> 00:12:41.649 and said, you need to allow the church to thrive 00:12:41.649 --> 00:12:45.070 in this hostile environment. Believers were called 00:12:45.070 --> 00:12:48.129 to adorn the gospel, the good news of the saving 00:12:48.129 --> 00:12:50.970 work of Christ, through their transformed lives. 00:12:52.250 --> 00:12:55.669 Chapter 2, verse 14, I already read it. Jesus 00:12:55.669 --> 00:12:59.350 Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem 00:12:59.350 --> 00:13:05.210 us from every lawless deed and purify himself, 00:13:05.490 --> 00:13:08.110 his own special people, his covenant people, 00:13:08.210 --> 00:13:12.649 his chosen people, zealous for good works. So 00:13:12.649 --> 00:13:15.149 Lord Jesus Christ, he gives himself at Calvary. 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:17.129 Why? He's going to purchase a people. He's going 00:13:17.129 --> 00:13:19.250 to buy them, redeem them. That's what it means. 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:21.330 He's buying them from the slave market of sin. 00:13:21.649 --> 00:13:24.110 He's going to purify them because we are impure. 00:13:24.370 --> 00:13:26.870 And then he's going to put his spirit in us and 00:13:26.870 --> 00:13:29.789 make us zealous to perform good works. Now what 00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:31.730 are the good works that Christians are to be 00:13:31.730 --> 00:13:35.970 zealous for? In context of chapter 2, part of 00:13:35.970 --> 00:13:38.669 this would be for Christian men and Christian 00:13:38.669 --> 00:13:41.580 women to fulfill their unique role. They're unique, 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:43.820 exclusive. Christian men have one role, Christian 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:46.740 ladies have another. So believers' lives should 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:49.340 be marked by a stark difference from a pagan 00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:52.139 culture in which we live. You and I live in a 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:55.000 postmodern culture. Let's call it pagan or it's 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:58.299 quasi -pagan. Now this contrast, where is it 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:02.059 going to be most readily seen? In the home. Now 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:05.480 today, because it's Mother's Day, you lucky ladies. 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:08.000 I'm going to focus on verses 3 through 5. You're 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.759 like, well, what about the men? Well, that's 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.480 Father's Day, all right? So we're at Mother's 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.980 Day today. And here we see older women are to 00:14:14.980 --> 00:14:18.980 show younger women how they are to be Christian 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:21.840 wives and mothers. Now, they're already Christians. 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:24.539 Now, for some, I will say, if you're here today 00:14:24.539 --> 00:14:27.299 as a guest, you may see Paul's instruction as 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:30.320 archaic. Perhaps you would say misogynistic. 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:35.179 And yet I would say it's the wisdom of God. Look 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:37.559 at verse 1. But as for you, speak the things 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:39.820 which are proper for sound doctrine. Okay, here's 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:40.980 the sound doctrine. This is what I want you to 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:43.120 teach, Titus. When the church is being formed, 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:45.139 here's what you're going to do. He talks to the 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:48.200 men, verse 2, then verse 3. The older women likewise. 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:49.980 Now here's what I want you to tell them. That 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:52.639 they be reverent in behavior, not slanders, not 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.500 given to much wine, teachers of good things. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:00.440 So Paul begins by talking to older women. And 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:02.720 he specifically wants them to guide and teach 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.690 the younger women. Now he says older women. He 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.250 does not say older mothers. That's a different 00:15:08.250 --> 00:15:11.789 word. Now in context, most of them would have 00:15:11.789 --> 00:15:14.110 been mothers, but that was not the requirement. 00:15:15.029 --> 00:15:17.190 Now the question I ask is who are the older women? 00:15:17.330 --> 00:15:20.090 And the question I was afraid to answer on Mother's 00:15:20.090 --> 00:15:22.110 Day is talk about who older women are because 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:25.769 that's not a safe thing to do. But this is the 00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:27.149 thing. They may be younger than you imagine. 00:15:29.230 --> 00:15:31.029 How would I say it? Let me just say this. Older 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:33.370 women are women who've lived long enough to know 00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:38.309 what matters most. They've got some wisdom. It 00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:40.570 basically, now this is an oversimplification, 00:15:40.570 --> 00:15:43.070 refers to any woman who would have raised her 00:15:43.070 --> 00:15:45.230 children who are now out from the home under 00:15:45.230 --> 00:15:47.850 her care. So that means an older woman could 00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:52.710 potentially be in her 40s. Potentially. And there 00:15:52.710 --> 00:15:56.529 is no maximum age. Now what Paul is saying to 00:15:56.529 --> 00:15:59.309 Titus is, Find women who've already experienced 00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:01.950 the pitfalls and challenges of being a Christian 00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:04.850 wife and a mother and help them help the younger. 00:16:05.350 --> 00:16:07.350 They're to pass on to the younger generation 00:16:07.350 --> 00:16:10.830 what they have gleaned. And let's be honest, 00:16:10.950 --> 00:16:13.409 experience is a pretty good teacher. So the very 00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:14.909 first thing he's talking to the older women, 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:17.470 he says, but not just any older woman. He said 00:16:17.470 --> 00:16:21.450 the ones that they be reverent in behavior. Now, 00:16:21.490 --> 00:16:26.169 the King James says, as becometh holiness. It 00:16:26.169 --> 00:16:29.330 just means to be godly. These lives, these women's 00:16:29.330 --> 00:16:31.450 lives represent the living God whom they serve. 00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:34.389 They're good representatives. See, it's not enough 00:16:34.389 --> 00:16:36.149 that a woman has simply raised children and are 00:16:36.149 --> 00:16:37.769 now out of the home. Lots of women have done 00:16:37.769 --> 00:16:39.370 that, and they're terrible examples, by the way. 00:16:39.789 --> 00:16:43.009 But if this woman is going to help, she's got 00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:45.769 to set a godly example. Just because a woman 00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:48.919 has age does not mean she has wisdom. And I would 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:50.539 say to young women in here, listen carefully. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:53.960 If someone is going to help guide you, make sure 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:57.700 their lives are worth imitating. Be very discerning 00:16:57.700 --> 00:16:59.779 who you allow to speak into your life. Because 00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:02.100 there are many, many voices seeking to influence 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:05.160 young women today. We even hear about influencers 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:09.400 online. People whose whole job is to influence 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:11.900 people. But most of them are young and inexperienced. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.119 So Paul, through Titus, through Pastor Ryan this 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:18.759 morning, would say, Be careful what voices you 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:21.539 listen to. The older women that Paul is speaking 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:23.579 of in the text, he said they're going to be an 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:27.700 example of a Christian woman that you should 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:31.640 aspire to become. These women know what life 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:37.700 is about. And holiness is their objective. And 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:39.359 he moves on and he says, but they're not slanders, 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:44.140 not gossips. What the church needs are women 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:47.920 who honor other ladies. instead of tearing them 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:50.859 down. We don't need what's typically, stereotypically 00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:53.359 called catty women and trying to make one up 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.500 the other. That's not the church. We need women 00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:57.980 who are going to build each other up. Again, 00:17:58.019 --> 00:18:00.039 Dave in his commentary, he said, the word that 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.420 Paul uses can literally be translated she -devil. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:06.940 He is effectively saying the older women shouldn't 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:08.839 talk like the devil. And how does Satan talk? 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:13.220 His primary verbal role is accusing. He accuses 00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:15.119 the saints and running down the believers, Revelation 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.339 12 .10. So when we're talking about not a slander, 00:18:18.380 --> 00:18:21.920 this is a woman who has a faithful spirit. She 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:25.640 can be trusted. Why is this important? Because 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:27.900 if a younger lady is going to open herself up 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:30.200 about her struggles in her life, she needs to 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:31.940 be sure that that information is not going to 00:18:31.940 --> 00:18:35.900 be shared with everyone. Why open yourself up? 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.160 It can be used against you. We need women who 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:44.109 are locked vaults. Nothing gets out. Keep going 00:18:44.109 --> 00:18:45.670 and we'll go through some of these more quickly 00:18:45.670 --> 00:18:48.769 than others. Not given to much wine. They're 00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:51.890 sober. They have control over what comes out 00:18:51.890 --> 00:18:53.890 of their mouth. No gossip. They also have control 00:18:53.890 --> 00:18:57.069 over what goes into their mouth. Not a lot of 00:18:57.069 --> 00:18:59.529 wine. What he's saying is they're not a slave 00:18:59.529 --> 00:19:02.289 of alcohol. These are not the ladies that are 00:19:02.289 --> 00:19:03.890 dependent. I just need a drink to get me through 00:19:03.890 --> 00:19:06.970 the day. Or what time is it? It's wine time. 00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:10.279 No. The island of Crete, and again, this is important, 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.859 this was known in the ancient world for its wine 00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:15.839 production. So drunkenness was very common in 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.759 Crete, both men and women. Even today, right 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:21.259 now, Crete is the second largest wine producing 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:25.220 region in Greece. So these older Christian ladies 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:29.220 were living counter -culturally. They were not 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:31.339 filled with wine, rather they were filled with 00:19:31.339 --> 00:19:34.279 the Holy Spirit of God. And we need them. And 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:36.079 Paul said, make sure you look for these ladies. 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:38.099 Titus, this is how you set the church in order. 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:40.799 And he says they need to be teachers of good 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:42.819 things. When he says teachers, this is not a 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:47.579 position. It's more of a pattern. Because they 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:51.579 have lived as faithful examples, they've earned 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:54.759 the right to mentor. They've earned the right 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:57.859 to disciple. And I think that as a pastor, this 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.490 is so helpful to me. Because women have different 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:03.230 problems, different temptations, different struggles 00:20:03.230 --> 00:20:06.869 than men. You can say, well, yes, husbands, Peter 00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:09.309 tells husbands, we are required to live with 00:20:09.309 --> 00:20:15.089 our wives in an understanding way. But let's 00:20:15.089 --> 00:20:18.250 be honest, by and large, for most of us, women 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:20.289 will still remain a mystery to us. They don't 00:20:20.289 --> 00:20:23.990 think like us. So who better to help these Christian 00:20:23.990 --> 00:20:27.769 young ladies than older ones who've already been 00:20:27.769 --> 00:20:30.519 where they are now? But yet they have godly wisdom. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.920 Okay, so they're to teach. What are they to teach? 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.160 Verse 4. That they admonish the young women to 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:41.920 love their husbands, to love their children. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.859 We'll stop there. It goes on. They admonish. 00:20:44.900 --> 00:20:46.660 Now again, some translations read they teach. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:50.579 So the Greek word here is sophronizo. And it 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:54.779 means to correct. It's to restore someone to 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:58.380 their senses. You're causing them to think correctly. 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:02.599 Now think what Paul is saying here. The older 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:06.420 women were to correct the false assumptions that 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:08.700 these younger ladies had about domestic life, 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:13.180 married life. And he specifically says, teach 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:17.039 them how to love their husbands and love their 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.740 children. So part of thinking correctly is to 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:24.819 understand that being a loving wife and mother 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:28.599 is about self -sacrifice, not self -fulfillment. 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:33.299 Don't get your ideas about marriage from Hollywood. 00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:36.819 The very first command that Paul gives for the 00:21:36.819 --> 00:21:39.619 older ladies to teach the younger ones is how 00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:42.200 to love their husbands. Now that seems strange, 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:44.819 because if there's anything women are good at, 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.460 it's loving. They love naturally. I mean, aren't 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:51.720 women the heart of the home? But the command 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:55.460 here... It's to love, but it's not a romantic 00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:59.160 love. It's not a sexual love. The word is philandros. 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:04.359 It means to be fond of their husbands. To be 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:07.519 affectionate toward them. You can see where our 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.539 English word is philanthropy. So you could say 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:14.059 this. Christian wives are to be philanthropic 00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:16.019 toward their husbands. And you're like, what's 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:19.720 it mean to be philanthropic? The idea... of seeking 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:22.539 the welfare of another. Someone's philanthropic, 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:24.940 they are very generous, usually charitable work. 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:27.500 It's the idea of seeking the good, the betterment, 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:30.119 the welfare of another person. So here's what 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:34.079 he's saying. Wives, young ladies, use your gifts, 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:37.460 and you are gifted, of time and talent and treasure 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:41.920 to make life better for your husband. Again, 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.579 I want to quote Davey. I think he just did such 00:22:43.579 --> 00:22:46.039 a good job. I loved reading him this week. He 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:47.680 said, a younger woman, go to that next slide, 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:52.140 guys. A younger woman has been married just long 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:54.700 enough to learn how stubborn and difficult and 00:22:54.700 --> 00:22:56.619 insensitive and hard -headed her husband can 00:22:56.619 --> 00:23:01.799 be. No amens. And she's probably come to the 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.960 wrong conclusion that she married the only man 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:08.200 God made that way. It takes an older woman to 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:11.440 come along and say, that's just how they come 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:16.069 out of the box. God's got to work on your husband 00:23:16.069 --> 00:23:19.089 as he purifies him and makes him zealous for 00:23:19.089 --> 00:23:21.769 good deeds. And by the way, he's doing the same 00:23:21.769 --> 00:23:24.809 work in you. So the older ladies, because sometimes 00:23:24.809 --> 00:23:27.250 we think we're the only people that's ever experienced 00:23:27.250 --> 00:23:30.450 this. So the older ladies can relate to the frustration 00:23:30.450 --> 00:23:32.789 these younger ladies had in a way that a pastor 00:23:32.789 --> 00:23:35.609 never could. I mean, these are not the first 00:23:35.609 --> 00:23:37.769 women to have difficult moments in their marriage. 00:23:38.569 --> 00:23:40.490 To have marital conflict, let me just say this, 00:23:40.609 --> 00:23:44.130 is common to every marriage. And the older ladies 00:23:44.130 --> 00:23:47.869 can help the younger ladies navigate those waters. 00:23:48.670 --> 00:23:50.910 How do they do that? They're correcting misconceptions. 00:23:52.190 --> 00:23:54.309 There's many misconceptions that abound about 00:23:54.309 --> 00:23:56.990 motherhood and also about marriage. And the younger 00:23:56.990 --> 00:23:58.630 ones are still clinging to that. Maybe they've 00:23:58.630 --> 00:24:00.930 been influenced more by culture than Christ. 00:24:01.789 --> 00:24:03.650 So they need to be taught, first of all, and 00:24:03.650 --> 00:24:05.529 this is a hard lesson, but it's true, ladies. 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:08.359 They need to be taught that love can be learned. 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:12.759 Your emotions have to be governed by right thinking. 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:16.279 The younger ladies, their emotions are not always 00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:20.779 reliable, nor are they ultimate. Truth and commitment 00:24:20.779 --> 00:24:25.279 are. Right thinking should come before right 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:28.279 feeling. What do I mean by that? If you set your 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.759 mind on the truth and you begin to do loving 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:37.039 things, loving feelings will come. But some of 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.920 these ladies, keep in mind this is pre -Christian 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:41.339 era or dawn of the century here of the gospel, 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:44.240 they would have entered into an arranged marriage. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.039 They didn't have romantic love for their husbands. 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:49.259 And by the way, the ancient world didn't care 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:51.900 a whole lot about romantic love or not. So they 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:53.519 needed to be taught, how are you going to correctly 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.400 love your husbands? And Paul is telling Titus 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.240 that it would help them not to wait for the emotion 00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:02.420 of love to be present before they acted in love. 00:25:03.779 --> 00:25:07.089 The truth is, You can serve your husband even 00:25:07.089 --> 00:25:10.750 when you don't feel like it. Loving actions drive 00:25:10.750 --> 00:25:13.990 the train. Loving feelings are the caboose bringing 00:25:13.990 --> 00:25:18.329 up the rear. Our culture has reversed that. We 00:25:18.329 --> 00:25:20.349 are bombarded with this messaging that says, 00:25:20.650 --> 00:25:23.769 first of all, that the feeling of love is paramount. 00:25:23.849 --> 00:25:25.970 That's what life's all about, particularly romantic, 00:25:26.210 --> 00:25:28.890 marital life. So if you don't feel that spark, 00:25:29.029 --> 00:25:31.549 that romantic love, well, get out of the marriage. 00:25:31.630 --> 00:25:33.690 Life's too short. Find someone else who will 00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:36.859 give you that spark. That's why we need an older 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:39.740 woman who can correct that type of garbage and 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:43.359 misunderstanding. God's calling for a Christian 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:45.920 young lady or older lady is that they live distinctive 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:49.619 lives and they adorn the doctrine, and this will 00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:53.259 most clearly show up in the home. Again, I think 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:54.859 of some of these young ladies that Titus would 00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:56.819 have been dealing with. No doubt some of them 00:25:56.819 --> 00:25:59.319 were disillusioned in their marriages. They may 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:01.339 have thought, well, listen, I'm a Christian and 00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:03.579 I married a Christian, so that should protect 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:08.190 us from marital challenges, right? No. See, that's 00:26:08.190 --> 00:26:11.809 a misconception. Yeah, you're a Christian, but 00:26:11.809 --> 00:26:14.569 you're still a sinner. Who's also married to 00:26:14.569 --> 00:26:18.349 a sinner. And guess what? Your children, if the 00:26:18.349 --> 00:26:20.329 Lord blesses you with those, they will be sinners. 00:26:21.009 --> 00:26:23.690 Which is why being a mother is the most difficult 00:26:23.690 --> 00:26:27.289 job in the world. And the older believing ladies 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:30.049 were to help these young ones, not only to love 00:26:30.049 --> 00:26:31.809 their husbands, but Paul goes on, teach them 00:26:31.809 --> 00:26:35.440 to love their children. This seems strange because 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.420 almost all parents have natural affection for 00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:41.779 our children. But that does not mean that we 00:26:41.779 --> 00:26:44.240 know how to love and guide them well. You can 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.700 have emotions for them and not really love them. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:51.000 Because to love does not mean to feel. To love 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:52.299 your children means you're going to seek their 00:26:52.299 --> 00:26:56.460 welfare and guide them into truth. Human flourishing, 00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:59.180 we could say. So the goal of Christian parenting, 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:01.099 this ought to be your goal if you're a Christian, 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:03.700 is to raise your children to be disciples of 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:07.559 Christ. The older ladies teach the younger ones 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:12.039 to love their children in such a way that leads 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:15.359 them to being faithful to Christ. Because, listen, 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:17.099 there's all kinds of mixed messaging out there 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:19.339 now. A lot of really dumb ideas about parenting. 00:27:19.779 --> 00:27:22.460 In other words, older ladies disciple the younger 00:27:22.460 --> 00:27:24.119 ladies who will then disciple their children. 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:28.839 That's what we need. If you're a mom, you have 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:32.380 an important, precious job because you have been 00:27:32.380 --> 00:27:34.500 trusted with the stewardship of your children's 00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:39.359 souls. God's sovereign over salvation, but he 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:42.740 uses means. See, you can love your children and 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:44.279 love them in the wrong direction. You can love 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.740 your children all the way to hell. I mean, you 00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:49.019 can love them too much where you never tell them 00:27:49.019 --> 00:27:50.740 no and they never have a bad day and you're there 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:52.819 to rescue them every second of every moment of 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:56.670 every day. That doesn't turn out well. The goal 00:27:56.670 --> 00:27:58.809 for most parents, sadly, even Christian ones, 00:27:58.869 --> 00:28:00.430 is that their children simply be successful. 00:28:00.650 --> 00:28:02.549 Now, obviously, I want my children to be successful. 00:28:03.089 --> 00:28:05.269 But by success, they mean we'll get a good education, 00:28:05.509 --> 00:28:07.329 get a good job, and hopefully have a happy family 00:28:07.329 --> 00:28:11.009 one day. Christian parenting ought to have different 00:28:11.009 --> 00:28:14.049 goals. We are to love our children so they are 00:28:14.049 --> 00:28:18.349 useful in the kingdom of God. Young ladies, had 00:28:18.349 --> 00:28:21.170 to be taught, don't live by feelings. Because 00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:22.170 your feelings are going to lead you straight. 00:28:22.309 --> 00:28:25.720 Live by faith in God's wisdom. See, it's not 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:28.380 your feelings. It's her devotion to Christ that 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:30.480 causes a Christian wife to be devoted to her 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:32.880 husband and her children, even when, and they 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:37.200 will be, ungrateful and uncaring. She's not looking 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:39.240 only for that reciprocal kickback, if you will. 00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:41.920 But you say, why would a woman live like this? 00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:45.599 This is hard. Verse 5, that the word of God be 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.680 not blasphemed. This is not about us. It's about 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:53.250 him. This adorns the gospel. It showcases the 00:28:53.250 --> 00:28:55.630 beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom 00:28:55.630 --> 00:28:58.609 we serve. And Paul goes on. He says he doesn't 00:28:58.609 --> 00:29:00.529 stop there. Not only do they love their husbands, 00:29:00.650 --> 00:29:03.069 love their children, but they are to be discreet, 00:29:03.089 --> 00:29:05.930 he says. We'll go through this fairly quick. 00:29:05.970 --> 00:29:09.549 It's sensible. Christian women should be characterized 00:29:09.549 --> 00:29:14.089 by sound judgment and good sense. Then he goes 00:29:14.089 --> 00:29:18.619 on. Chaste. Chaste. Chaste there is pure. Now 00:29:18.619 --> 00:29:20.960 keep in mind something. Keep in mind the culture 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.259 that these ladies came from. Pagan culture, Crete. 00:29:25.099 --> 00:29:28.259 Flaunted sexual expression. Heterosexuality was 00:29:28.259 --> 00:29:30.920 considered prudish. This was an anything goes 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:34.000 culture. So most likely these women, if they're 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:36.079 first generation Christians, they would have 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:39.279 come from homes with mothers who did not teach 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:41.960 them how to be pure because that was not desired. 00:29:43.160 --> 00:29:46.099 So they had to be taught. The importance of being 00:29:46.099 --> 00:29:49.799 sexually chaste and faithful. So the older ladies, 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:51.579 now they've walked with the gospel, they've walked 00:29:51.579 --> 00:29:53.900 with the Lord. They could help these younger 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:56.960 ladies with modesty. Help them to see beyond 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:00.380 the cultural lies. Help them to see that their 00:30:00.380 --> 00:30:03.200 value came from the beauty of their faith and 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:06.720 not the beauty of their figure. See, part of 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:10.640 being pure, for a lady and for men, but for ladies, 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:13.259 is to focus more on how you live than how you 00:30:13.259 --> 00:30:17.519 look. But our culture doesn't get that. These 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:19.579 ladies had been bought by Christ. They had been 00:30:19.579 --> 00:30:21.880 washed. They had been made pure by the sacrifice 00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:24.559 of Christ. They had been made new in Christ. 00:30:25.539 --> 00:30:27.779 But they needed help in living out that identity 00:30:27.779 --> 00:30:31.420 in their daily lives. Davy said, Paul is effectively 00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:34.799 saying to these younger women, you may not have 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:38.160 had a reputation for being pure. Again, they 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:40.759 grew up in this culture. But you can have one 00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:44.180 now. Purity may never have been associated with 00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:47.180 your past lifestyle, but that can change in the 00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:51.180 present. This is the gospel of grace. No matter 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:53.819 your past, the word pure can define you now. 00:30:54.460 --> 00:30:57.180 This is what Jesus does. He makes all things 00:30:57.180 --> 00:31:01.359 new. And Paul is saying, teach them. Teach them 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:03.420 how to be pure. Teach them how to be chaste. 00:31:04.059 --> 00:31:06.119 But then he goes on, teach them how to be homemakers. 00:31:07.049 --> 00:31:08.630 That's what the word says, literally keepers 00:31:08.630 --> 00:31:11.250 at home. Now let's just be honest. This word 00:31:11.250 --> 00:31:15.869 right here is anathema to our culture. If we 00:31:15.869 --> 00:31:18.230 were looking at Paul today, he would be called 00:31:18.230 --> 00:31:22.549 politically incorrect, chauvinistic, misogynistic, 00:31:22.730 --> 00:31:26.730 a bigot. His advice, or let's be honest, his 00:31:26.730 --> 00:31:29.529 admonition would seem prehistoric and out of 00:31:29.529 --> 00:31:31.349 step with progress and advancement of women. 00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:35.109 So ladies, let me ask you this question because 00:31:35.109 --> 00:31:38.819 you do have a choice. This word we're going to 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:41.200 talk about, you can believe what the culture 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:44.180 says, or you can choose to believe what the word 00:31:44.180 --> 00:31:48.059 of God says. But you can't believe both. See, 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.259 the word here is oikouros. It means literally 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:54.259 keeper at home, homemaker, guardian of the house. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:55.960 Because it's derived from two words. You get 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:58.319 the word house or household or family. Oikos 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:01.900 and ouros, a watch, a guardian. So the Christian 00:32:01.900 --> 00:32:05.869 mother is to guard the home. And watch over. 00:32:05.990 --> 00:32:07.569 Not physically. That's not what we're talking 00:32:07.569 --> 00:32:10.130 about. And it's not so much about her staying 00:32:10.130 --> 00:32:13.849 in the home, but about her diligent, watchful 00:32:13.849 --> 00:32:18.029 management of the home. She's a steward. She 00:32:18.029 --> 00:32:20.029 stewards the resources that come into the home. 00:32:20.490 --> 00:32:24.150 She watches over the influences allowed in the 00:32:24.150 --> 00:32:26.529 home, particularly as it relates to her children. 00:32:27.710 --> 00:32:29.970 But modern feminists are going to look at this 00:32:29.970 --> 00:32:32.109 and tell women, well, this is bondage. This is 00:32:32.109 --> 00:32:34.599 slavery. This is something you need to be freed 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:38.519 from rather than embrace. But Paul's not showing 00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:41.779 a low view of women at all here. He's showing 00:32:41.779 --> 00:32:44.859 a very high view of the home. God has created 00:32:44.859 --> 00:32:49.880 women incredibly capable, industrious, endowed 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:52.500 them with many gifts. Seriously, my wife is far 00:32:52.500 --> 00:32:55.819 more gifted than I in almost every way. But when 00:32:55.819 --> 00:32:59.200 employed correctly in the home, that leads to 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:05.660 the family's flourishing. is to work hard at 00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:07.420 providing an environment in which our husband 00:33:07.420 --> 00:33:10.759 and children can thrive. Does this mean, what's 00:33:10.759 --> 00:33:12.500 asked the question, does it mean that she cannot 00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:14.859 ever hold a job outside the home? Not necessarily. 00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:18.460 At this time in history, the wife may have helped 00:33:18.460 --> 00:33:21.059 in the fields or in the vineyards. She may have 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:22.960 stewarded or watched over any servants that may 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:27.920 have been employed there. The home doesn't have 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:31.009 to be your only place. But it does have to be 00:33:31.009 --> 00:33:36.849 her first place. Her home must be the priority. 00:33:38.329 --> 00:33:42.289 And Paul is not very ambiguous about this. He 00:33:42.289 --> 00:33:44.970 says, listen, you have to understand this is 00:33:44.970 --> 00:33:47.609 where God, this is the influence, ladies. Don't, 00:33:47.609 --> 00:33:51.529 do not, please, I beg of you, don't outsource 00:33:51.529 --> 00:33:54.230 your influence to others. You guys have the influence. 00:33:55.309 --> 00:33:57.829 Take advantage of that. God's given you such 00:33:57.829 --> 00:34:00.799 a high, noble calling. He goes on saying they 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:02.579 need to be good and the word can be translated 00:34:02.579 --> 00:34:05.819 good is actually kind. This is so important. 00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:08.460 A wife can do her job well and still make others 00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:12.420 miserable in the process. A godly lady will try 00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:15.840 to speak with the law of kindness on her lips. 00:34:17.099 --> 00:34:19.900 Daniel Doriani in his commentary, he says husbands 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:22.840 and children are frustrating. Therefore, these 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:24.719 young women must take care that the constant 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:27.480 strain of domestic duties does not make them 00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:31.320 irritable. Or cruel. They must pray for grace 00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:34.599 to remain kind. We have four children. My wife 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:36.179 stays home with them every day. Occasionally 00:34:36.179 --> 00:34:38.860 I do. And when I do, I usually at the end of 00:34:38.860 --> 00:34:41.400 the day, I tell her thank you. And I'm like, 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:44.159 really? No, I mean that. Thank you. You are so 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:46.619 much better than I. Because I think I'm patient. 00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:49.199 I don't know why I think I am. But I think I 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:51.619 am until I spend the entire day with all four 00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:53.579 of them. And by the end, I'm like, don't talk 00:34:53.579 --> 00:34:55.429 to me. You forwarded the right to talk to me. 00:34:55.570 --> 00:34:57.369 And I'm not kidding. I literally have said you 00:34:57.369 --> 00:34:58.889 cannot ask me any more questions at this point. 00:34:58.909 --> 00:35:00.849 None. And I don't even care if it's a dire one. 00:35:01.250 --> 00:35:03.829 I'm not joking. But my wife does that every day. 00:35:03.989 --> 00:35:05.889 And so I'm surprised she's not in a corner like 00:35:05.889 --> 00:35:08.349 tapping her head or something like that. So you 00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:11.590 can see, are you prone to be irritable? Yeah. 00:35:12.250 --> 00:35:15.730 Are you prone to be naggy? Yeah. So kindness, 00:35:15.750 --> 00:35:16.710 though, ladies, you're saying, well, I've got 00:35:16.710 --> 00:35:18.369 to try harder. Well, try that. It's not going 00:35:18.369 --> 00:35:21.670 to work. Kindness does not come by trying harder. 00:35:22.409 --> 00:35:25.610 kindness is a fruit of God's spirit. It comes 00:35:25.610 --> 00:35:28.769 by being filled with the spirit of God. The very 00:35:28.769 --> 00:35:32.090 last one here, we start to close. This is another 00:35:32.090 --> 00:35:34.449 big one that people will say amen to. I'm kidding. 00:35:34.809 --> 00:35:37.090 The last item Paul mentions, he wants older Christian 00:35:37.090 --> 00:35:39.289 women to teach young ones to be obedient to their 00:35:39.289 --> 00:35:44.349 own husbands. Obedient. It's a military term. 00:35:44.429 --> 00:35:47.219 To range in order under. Subordinate. So it's 00:35:47.219 --> 00:35:49.440 the idea of here placing troops in rank under 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:51.960 an officer. That's what it literally says. They're 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:55.300 ranking under. I'm choosing to rank under. What's 00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:58.659 Paul saying? Christian wives are to willingly 00:35:58.659 --> 00:36:01.559 place themselves under the authority of their 00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:03.639 husbands. You chose to marry a lady. Don't marry 00:36:03.639 --> 00:36:04.920 a fool because you're going to place yourself 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:07.480 under a fool. You better know who you're marrying. 00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:10.679 Husbands are not. Listen, husbands. This is one 00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:12.840 thing I will say. We are not. called to force 00:36:12.840 --> 00:36:15.260 our wives to submit. This whole hupotasso is 00:36:15.260 --> 00:36:17.539 a voluntary submission. It can't be forced by 00:36:17.539 --> 00:36:20.539 you. And by the way, this is not a call for all 00:36:20.539 --> 00:36:23.219 women to be in subjection to all men because 00:36:23.219 --> 00:36:25.860 notice the text, obedient to their own husbands. 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:28.940 A wife has to submit to her husband, not to you 00:36:28.940 --> 00:36:31.679 if you're not her husband. The Christian lady 00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:34.280 voluntarily does this under the protective leadership. 00:36:34.500 --> 00:36:39.119 Why? To adorn the gospel. For the testimony's 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:41.380 sake. See, if society's going to be ordered, 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:44.800 everyone submits to someone. A child called to 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:46.880 submit to his parents. Student submits to his 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:49.599 teacher. Teacher submits to the principal. Employee 00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:52.980 submits to employer. Congregants submit to their 00:36:52.980 --> 00:36:56.860 elders. The wife submits to her husband. And 00:36:56.860 --> 00:36:59.219 let me just say this. Be quick to say this. This 00:36:59.219 --> 00:37:01.380 submission is not based on the character of the 00:37:01.380 --> 00:37:04.460 one you're submitting to. For example. You may 00:37:04.460 --> 00:37:07.039 be more talented, more godly than your husband, 00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:08.739 but God has still placed him as the head of the 00:37:08.739 --> 00:37:11.380 home. You're saying, how do I know that? 1 Corinthians 00:37:11.380 --> 00:37:14.760 11 .3. I want you to know that the head of every 00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:17.840 man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:21.860 the head of Christ is God. The wise husband will 00:37:21.860 --> 00:37:25.159 understand you can help your wives greatly, men, 00:37:25.340 --> 00:37:28.539 by giving loving leadership and placing her needs 00:37:28.539 --> 00:37:31.800 above your own. She's going to have a much easier 00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:34.269 time submitting to you. Michael Foster wrote 00:37:34.269 --> 00:37:36.789 this. He said, men should want a wife who follows 00:37:36.789 --> 00:37:39.949 their lead, but that in no way makes her passive 00:37:39.949 --> 00:37:42.230 or a non -influence. I don't want my wife to 00:37:42.230 --> 00:37:45.250 be passive. I want to hear from her. Quite the 00:37:45.250 --> 00:37:48.070 opposite. A passive and uninvolved wife will 00:37:48.070 --> 00:37:51.550 undermine the beauty of the marital dance. The 00:37:51.550 --> 00:37:54.110 magic of marriage is found in the interplay of 00:37:54.110 --> 00:37:56.730 two individuals who dance according to their 00:37:56.730 --> 00:38:00.250 sex, their unique roles, but yet they dance together. 00:38:01.099 --> 00:38:03.380 So what he's saying, the wife's voluntary submission 00:38:03.380 --> 00:38:06.659 to her husband, it's an act of worship offered 00:38:06.659 --> 00:38:11.980 to her Lord. So ladies, your service to your 00:38:11.980 --> 00:38:14.619 husband. Now listen, get this. As a Christian 00:38:14.619 --> 00:38:18.760 lady, your service to your husband is your service 00:38:18.760 --> 00:38:23.280 to Christ. It honors him. And marriage, that 00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:26.360 beautiful romantic dance, it is mutually satisfying 00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:29.619 when husband and wife both are submitted to the 00:38:29.619 --> 00:38:33.360 Lord. And both make it their aim to please him. 00:38:34.820 --> 00:38:36.699 And again, why did Paul command any of this? 00:38:36.760 --> 00:38:40.420 Verse 5. That the word of God be not blasphemed. 00:38:41.179 --> 00:38:44.440 This adorns the gospel and glorifies the Lord 00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:49.380 who bought and rescued us. Now what? Let's close. 00:38:50.940 --> 00:38:52.820 We read those stats at the beginning and it's 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:54.860 easy to get discouraged because we do see families 00:38:54.860 --> 00:38:57.219 fractured and God's design for the home is mocked. 00:38:57.219 --> 00:39:00.369 It's rejected. It's ridiculed. We live in a dark 00:39:00.369 --> 00:39:03.010 culture, but we must remember, you and I are 00:39:03.010 --> 00:39:04.889 not the first generation of Christians to face 00:39:04.889 --> 00:39:08.809 these problems. Early Christians lived in a world 00:39:08.809 --> 00:39:11.789 filled with immorality, broken homes, moral confusion 00:39:11.789 --> 00:39:14.710 that was even worse than our own. They did. Yet 00:39:14.710 --> 00:39:17.909 the gospel, the good news of Christ, the dunamis 00:39:17.909 --> 00:39:20.590 of God, the power of God, the gospel changed 00:39:20.590 --> 00:39:22.949 the world, not through political influence, by 00:39:22.949 --> 00:39:26.710 the way, but through transformed lives, one life 00:39:26.710 --> 00:39:30.239 at a time. The church will change the culture 00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:34.199 when Christian men and Christian women live differently 00:39:34.199 --> 00:39:36.239 according to the design that God has placed on 00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:38.780 your life. The church will change the culture 00:39:38.780 --> 00:39:41.380 when the marriages in the church look different 00:39:41.380 --> 00:39:44.500 than the marriages in the world. See, the gospel 00:39:44.500 --> 00:39:47.199 is transforming, and its transforming power is 00:39:47.199 --> 00:39:50.019 seen when a husband will lovingly lead, a wife 00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:52.719 will lovingly submit, and when children are raised 00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:55.639 in the fear of God. We don't need to make it 00:39:55.639 --> 00:39:59.269 hard or complicated. Jesus, remember, he died 00:39:59.269 --> 00:40:01.409 to purify us and make us zealous for good works. 00:40:01.530 --> 00:40:05.849 He died not only to forgive us, but to transform 00:40:05.849 --> 00:40:09.750 us. Our ultimate goal in life is not merely to 00:40:09.750 --> 00:40:12.329 have a happy home. That's far too short -sighted. 00:40:13.230 --> 00:40:16.409 What's our ultimate goal? To glorify God and 00:40:16.409 --> 00:40:18.650 enjoy him forever. We don't want the word of 00:40:18.650 --> 00:40:22.429 God to be blasphemed by our lives. Our aim in 00:40:22.429 --> 00:40:25.670 everything in life is that Jesus Christ the Son 00:40:25.670 --> 00:40:28.389 of God who has died and risen for us, might be 00:40:28.389 --> 00:40:31.730 exalted. As a church, the Lord will work through 00:40:31.730 --> 00:40:34.449 ordinary Christians like ourselves, living obedient 00:40:34.449 --> 00:40:37.429 lives in the midst of a very dark and crooked 00:40:37.429 --> 00:40:41.190 generation. May our homes be a strong witness 00:40:41.190 --> 00:40:43.809 to the grace and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:40:44.469 --> 00:40:48.230 May his name be praised. Let's pray. Father, 00:40:48.309 --> 00:40:50.329 we thank you for your word, and Lord, I am so 00:40:50.329 --> 00:40:52.829 very grateful, Lord, for... That you gave us 00:40:52.829 --> 00:40:54.710 your word so that we're not left in the dark 00:40:54.710 --> 00:40:56.789 or uninformed about what you would have us to 00:40:56.789 --> 00:41:02.349 do. Lord, the problem is not ignorance. The problem 00:41:02.349 --> 00:41:04.929 is rebellion. It's not that we don't know what 00:41:04.929 --> 00:41:07.170 to do, it's that we don't want to do it. And 00:41:07.170 --> 00:41:08.730 Father, this is a problem. It's a problem in 00:41:08.730 --> 00:41:11.769 our modern day as we hear with modern ears, Lord, 00:41:11.809 --> 00:41:13.909 secular advice that, Lord, God will lead us to 00:41:13.909 --> 00:41:16.809 hell. Lord, it's a terrible way. And yet, Lord, 00:41:16.869 --> 00:41:20.760 your word. will always, because it's according 00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:22.699 to your design, will lead to human flourishing. 00:41:23.179 --> 00:41:25.300 Lord, I pray that, Lord, we would first of all 00:41:25.300 --> 00:41:29.360 understand the gospel, how God has rescued us 00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:31.480 in Christ, not through any effort of our own, 00:41:31.500 --> 00:41:34.800 but simply by your grace. And Father, that you 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:36.900 have given us your spirit, not to simply forgive 00:41:36.900 --> 00:41:40.880 us and bring us to heaven one day, but to transform 00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:43.800 us here as sons and daughters of the living God, 00:41:43.860 --> 00:41:46.159 to shine as children of the light who live in 00:41:46.159 --> 00:41:48.670 the kingdom of light. Father, I pray if there 00:41:48.670 --> 00:41:52.190 may be one here who's in darkness, whose faith 00:41:52.190 --> 00:41:54.349 is merely a profession that James wrote about 00:41:54.349 --> 00:41:57.429 earlier. Lord, wake them up before it's too late. 00:41:57.489 --> 00:41:59.829 Lord, cause them to see eternal realities. Let 00:41:59.829 --> 00:42:02.170 them understand the day of judgment that is coming, 00:42:02.289 --> 00:42:04.909 Lord. And Father, I pray for Christian ladies 00:42:04.909 --> 00:42:06.670 in here this morning, Lord. Some of this may 00:42:06.670 --> 00:42:08.650 be hard to hear because they do live with a foolish 00:42:08.650 --> 00:42:11.530 husband. Oh God, I pray that you give her courage 00:42:11.530 --> 00:42:14.510 to be obedient to you, to find her strength in 00:42:14.510 --> 00:42:17.099 you, Lord. that the law of kindness would be 00:42:17.099 --> 00:42:18.980 on our lips, and Lord God, by without a word, 00:42:19.059 --> 00:42:21.820 she might win her foolish husband. And then, 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:24.179 Father, I pray for those, Lord, who have marriages 00:42:24.179 --> 00:42:26.099 that are strong, that, Lord God, that they would 00:42:26.099 --> 00:42:28.820 continue, not just for their own aim of marital 00:42:28.820 --> 00:42:30.679 happiness and bliss, but, Lord God, that we would 00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:33.079 live our lives for the glory and honor of Christ, 00:42:33.159 --> 00:42:35.719 to adorn your gospel, that, Lord, our lives are 00:42:35.719 --> 00:42:37.739 living testaments to the transforming power of 00:42:37.739 --> 00:42:41.300 Christ. God, we can't do this, Lord. We're impotent 00:42:41.300 --> 00:42:43.719 on our own, Lord. We have no power. So, Father, 00:42:43.780 --> 00:42:45.800 we're asking, Lord, for your spirit to work in 00:42:45.800 --> 00:42:48.719 us. Give us grace to live these countercultural 00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:50.860 lives for the glory of Christ, in whose name 00:42:50.860 --> 00:42:55.420 we pray. Amen. We're going to come to the table 00:42:55.420 --> 00:42:58.119 of the Lord. We do this every Lord's Day.