Godliness begins with the God of Truth

Good morning. What if you were to show up to a new job tomorrow? They show you to your new workstation, or maybe they show you your Zoom schedule for the day. There's a declaration, there's a clarity that you'll be paid based upon your productivity at the end of the month, but there's no to-do list, no job description. No clarity for what is actually expected of you. Or if you're a student, you show up to class Tuesday. There's no syllabus. All you know is you're gonna be great at the end of the year, or the end of the semester, and you don't know what is expected of you. Or even more terrifying, you're a child. Your parent doesn't tell you what they expect, but then they discipline you, calling it disobedience. Well, that's called abuse. I think we're gonna think of all these situations, they're unfair, probably an understatement, unhealthy. This morning, I really wanna think about what is a good, healthy relationship, and most of all, that clear expectations are necessary for a healthy relationship. I think we could look at any wisdom of the world and gather that. This morning, though, we're gonna be looking at what God says what God's clarity is, what God's expectations are, and how he pursues a good relationship with us. The theme is how godliness begins with the God of truth. This is important for us today. It's important for all ages. As we look at Titus, it's going to open up with lines such as God, who never lies, promised, manifested his word. Truth is the beginning point. And we want to start with a real clear doctrine of God, as Paul does, because there's one thing God gives us. It's true truth. True truth. Now, I say it like that because we live in a society, we live in a culture where we talk about my truth and your truth and their truth and our truth, and we relativize it. No, when God speaks, it's the truth. It's true truth. It's not to be dismissed, it's not to find a loophole, it's not to find a way around it, it's true truth. And it's important we start there because the crack that began to ruin our relationship with God, the crack that began a great destruction of our relationship with God was the simple question, has God said? That crack that Satan put into our relationship with God where we began to doubt him and his power and his clarity, and his kindness. Has God said? That's what lies in the heart of sin. What Ben preached last week in 1 Corinthians 6, all those sins that are unbecoming of the kingdom of God, very simply stated, we want to replace God's standard with our standard. And we do that by first asking, has God really said? Is it that clear? Is it that authoritative? Is it for me? Certainly that must be for somebody else. We're beginning a new book, Titus. If you're new with us, we try to walk through books at a time. We're gonna be here in this letter to a pastor for some time, but I also be very clear, this isn't just for pastors. I wanna say first and foremost, this letter is for all of us who are the church. If you look at that first line, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect. If you believe in Jesus Christ, this is for us. How to be ordered according to God's word. How to have good works according to sound doctrine. The message of the whole book, if you were to think about the entirety of all 46 verses, three chapters, it's in the back of the bulletin. God's word has come to save God's people and train them in godliness. That's good news. God's word has come to save us and to train us. God's word has come to save us and to train us. I'm gonna read the entirety of the letter this morning. There's two word groups I want you to hear because we're gonna hear them every week over and over again. word groups, the key ideas that Paul keeps insisting upon for his pastor, Titus, and for the church. They're the same ideas we see in all of his letters, but they're very clear. The two word groups refer to, first, what we believe. Truth, sound doctrine, teaching, instruction, rebuking, correction. There's a number of different ways in which we see that one word group of truth, teaching, sound doctrine. The other is good works, godliness, conduct, character, adorning the doctrine of God. It's how we behave. It's what we do. True religion is practiced. It's what we believe, what we do. So I'm going to read all 46 verses. Now, I'm going to encourage you to do something if you're going to be with us in this study. Try to read all 46 verses, 46, each week, more than once a week. And just let it resonate over you how often it's clear. God speaks the truth to save you. God gives good expectations and laws and precepts to train us in godliness. Hear the word of the Lord. The book of Titus. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior, to Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Savior. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure. But the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They're to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity, and sound teaching that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything, they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify himself, a people of his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things. Exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy to all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Christ Jesus our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things. so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him. Knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self-condemned. When I send Artemis and Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speak Xenus, the lawyer, and Apollos on their way. Say that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and to be fruitful. All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in faith. Grace be with you all. That is the whole book of Titus. I hope you heard over and over again the exhortation of teaching leads to right doctrine leads to right living. And that's what we'll be looking at for the upcoming weeks. This morning we're gonna be looking at probably just verses one to four. When I say probably, we'll see how ambitious we get at the end. There's three main points here that I wanna draw out from verses one to four. I'm not gonna take the verses in order, I'm gonna pull out kind of an order of progression, not from verse to verse to verse. The first thing I want us to see is that the gospel is from God. First point, gospel from God. The second is gospel through leaders. Gospel through leaders. And finally, the gospel for the church, the gospel for the church. Paul in this very short introduction packs in incredible truths about God in terms of how God communicates his truth and that the church has been built up on this truth. There are two gospel statements that are very clear. I hope you heard those and I encourage you to commit those to memory. Chapter 2, 11 to 15, that's one of those clear sound doctrines gospel clarity that Jesus Christ has redeemed us from all lawlessness to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for good works. The other is three, three to eight. We were those kind of people. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, we were washed. So the gospel first from God. Let me read the text that we'll be focused on. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to Titus my, I'm sorry, Paul, for the sake of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, and here's where our first point comes in, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began, and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior. Titus, my true child, and in common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. The gospel from God. He's writing for the church, he's writing to a pastor, but we make it very clear, he's basing everything, everything is grounded in this declaration about God. This is really the beginning point for anybody who wants to know what life is really about. It's especially true for a church. There's three basic questions that Paul is going to answer in these very short verses. Who is God? How do I know him? What does he expect of me? Who is God? How do I know him? What does he expect of me? Well, that first question is answered, he's a God who never lies. It's interesting, that's a negative statement. You realize that, it's negating. And sometimes the most powerful statements that tell us the most important truths about God are statements that deny something about God. He never lies. He cannot lie. Just like James 1, he cannot sin. He cannot tempt us to sin. God never lies. He's the God of truth. Everything he says is true. He keeps his promises. His commandments are good. Now I also want you to notice that the God who never lies is contrasted with the false teachers in verses 10 to 15 who always lie. Verse 12. God never lies in contrast to those who are corrupting and upsetting whole households who always lie. This world is full of liars. This world is full of deception because Satan is the ruler of this world and he is the father of lies. This is why it's so important to think and ask who is God, what is truth, what has he said that I must believe? So the first question, who is God? Well, he's the God of truth. He doesn't lie. The second question, how do I know him? Well, you know God just like you know anybody else. He speaks. This is a remarkable truth that we take for granted. God speaks. He never lies, but when he speaks, there are promises that he's made, and then it makes it very clear that in the right time, at the proper time, he manifested his word. He is a making known God. He is a disclosing God. He's not a mystery God. He's not a mythical God. He's not a God who you need a magic eight ball with. He's not a God that leads you to guessing games. He's a God who speaks with great clarity. If we just go back to Genesis 1, he speaks and what does he say about us? The very first thing, he takes counsel of himself. Let us make God in our own image. And he blesses us by speaking to us. We're designed to hear God and to know God and to be known by God. We back out a little bit further and we actually must say God has spoken to every single human being. Everyone has revelation from God. We call this general revelation. It comes from Romans 118. Everything that can be known about God, especially his divinity and his power, is made evident to everybody. Can we believe that's true? Is that word true? Because if it's true, how come no one is worshiping God? How come there are so many people who hate God and are going against everything about God? What Paul tells us in Romans, why, even though what can be known about God is evident to all, this is a scary truth. It's because we, in our sin, suppress the truth. We, in our sin, suppress the truth. We, in our sin, have a disposition to put away God and to be self-consumed, to be self-focused. We love to ask the question, has God really said? Now, we're speaking of all people at all times in the way that we suppress the truth, but we have to ask ourselves, Christian, are there times we suppress the truth? Are there times we avoid a difficult doctrine or a difficult teaching because it runs up against what we really like? our own convenience, our own comfort. We love to find loopholes. That's what has God said is. It's just a masterful loophole. How can I get around what God has said? I'll be very clear. God is the most competent communicator. You hear words coming out of my mouth, and I hope they make sense. I hope there's some way in which I am saying something and you're hearing it and I'm communicating. There's Lord willing a competency for what I'm saying and what you're hearing, but understand, God, who wants to make himself known, he is the most competent communicator. He desires to be known so much that he not only declares truths, he puts them in words, and then he gives us his own spirit. that illuminates our twisted mind so we can read it and understand it. He's on both ends of understanding. He speaks clearly. And then he gives his own Holy Spirit so that we would actually read it clearly. So just ask the question, how often do you say something that just comes out all the wrong way or lands completely inappropriately? Just me? I'm the only one that has the foot and mouth problem? Right, you say something and as it's coming out of your mouth, you're like, oh my word, I can't believe that just came out. Can I pull it back in? Or you see the facial expression of the person you just spoke to and you realize what you just said just destroyed them. We have a hard time putting together just the right words and just the right sequence at just the right time that'll have just the right effect. God does not have that problem. He's a perfect communicator. So why is there so much confusion? How come there's so much division and confusion? It might be our listening problem. Are we suppressing the truth? Are we avoiding the truth? God says, and if he never lies, if you seek me, you will find me. Christian, when was the last time you prayed, God, I want to see you more truly? I want to know you more fully. I want to see your glory. Overwhelm me. With your love, guide me by your law. When have we truly sought him and asked him recently, let me see you as you are. Let me see more fully your glory. A warning, be prepared. It's God you're talking to. When he speaks, it's with all authority. When he speaks, it's demanding. When he speaks, it's good, and it trains us to renounce ungodliness, and it trains us to respond to him more fully, to see him as he is, and to put off sin, and to purify our lives so that we might see God. He commands absolute allegiance. This is a high calling, a phrase we should just be memorizing here. From 210, adorn the doctrine of God. Let your life adorn the doctrine of God. That means we must first see the glory in the doctrine of God. So God does not lie. He is the God of truth. He is the competent communicator. Are we listening? But now look, verse three. declares promises. Notice there, the God who never lies, he promised before the ages began, at the proper time manifested in his word. The Old and New Testament, that is promise and fulfillment. If you have questions about the Bible and its trustworthiness, one of the most amazing things to do is look and see how many promises God made over hundreds and thousands of years sometimes. and how he fulfilled them. How the book is one story written by one God over generations and different authors and different cultures, but one story of promise, fulfillment. We go back to Genesis three when that crack hit, the words hit, the cause of the crack rather. Has God said? That led to a rejection of God, that led to us doing the one thing God said not to do after he gave us everything we could ever want. It's amazing. What did man do after he realized he had sinned and was full of shame? What did Adam do? He'd do what we often do. He ran and hid. He tried to hide in shame. He tried to hide his shame. What should he have done? Run to the God of mercy. What did God do? He came looking for Adam. To keep talking to him. To keep that relationship. He came pursuing Adam. He spoke to Adam. And it's amazing, just a few words after they had destroyed everything. God makes the first clear promise after the fall. Genesis 3.15. God promises our enemy, Satan, that he will be crushed. That a child will be born of Eve that is going to crush him and his dominion and the death and sin. How quick to mercy God is. And then after adding to that promise, after generation after generation, At the right time, as our text, at the proper time, the word became flesh. God sent his son to be born of a virgin. He then lived the perfect life, revealed God like no one had ever revealed God because he is himself God. God makes promises. God keeps promises. So who is God? We wanna ask, he's a God who makes promises. Now here's the reality, we hear promises all the time. If you ever hear a commercial or experience a commercial, it's making a promise. If you'll just buy this thing or if you just add this to your life, you'll be happier. There are promises constantly being pushed upon us that somehow your life will be made better. And we know how to evaluate those promises because we don't go by everything, right? We know how to evaluate a promise because a promise is only as good as the one giving it. God promises if you seek me, you'll find me. God promises if you believe in me, I'll bless you, and I'll bless you, and I'll bless you, and I'll bless you. The one thing I want to make sure you hear today is that He is the one God, He is the one and only. who makes the promises and can keep them. He has the power and integrity to keep his promises. The proper beginning point is that God is a God of truth. He's a God who speaks. The pressing question is, will we listen? Will we listen to know the truth to be then ordered according to the godliness of God's truth? Or will we be like the people that God speaks of in Romans 10? It's one of the most amazing passages there in Romans 10 where he declares, how can they believe if they have not heard? Someone must go and tell them. And then it ends with God saying, all day long, I have held out my hands to a contrary If we wanna doubt the communication and relationship with God, it's our listening. God is speaking. Will we believe the truth? Will we commit to the godliness that he calls us to? If you're not a Christian this morning, I'm so glad you're here, listening, observing from afar. The good news of Jesus Christ is that he has come to fix the problem that we cannot fix, Our inclination is to see a problem and think there's just something inside I need to dive deeper into, that inside I can find the solution I need. Inside is where the strength is that I need to find to overcome whatever problem is pressing in on me. The Bible reverses everything about that inclination we have. God says the problem isn't outside, the problem is inside. The problem is that our hearts are deceptive. Our hearts are wayward. Our hearts reject God. Our hearts are now in a disposition to deny God. And what God does is he comes from outside. He comes from the heavens. The son has come. And he died on the cross. as an innocent man, but he died paying the penalty for everyone's sin who believed in him. He died to take the wrath that we deserve so that we can now be forgiven even though God is just. Because Jesus, the righteous one, died for our sin. He then rose again, he ascended on high, and then he sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to wash and purify and regenerate that heart. How do you receive this? You believe you're a sinner who needs saving. You believe and recognize that that heart inside does twist, it is self-consumed, it is constantly causing the problems, and you realize there's nothing you can do about it, so you look to Jesus and ask, can you, will you, please forgive me. Wash me. If you're not a believer, please not leave here without talking to someone nearby, Email us if you're not here as to how to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel comes from God. The truth comes down from above. And our next thing we're gonna look at, our second point, the gospel comes through leaders. The gospel comes through leaders. We're gonna be looking at verse one and verse four. a servant of God, an apostle of Christ Jesus, dropped down to Titus, my true child in the common faith. We have an apostle handing over authority to a pastor, and this is actually what happens in the book of Acts. You have heavy weight on the apostles early on in the Acts, and then you see that being transferred to the local church and to pastors by the end of Acts. Here in the pastoral epistles, Paul, who is an apostle and that is an authoritative unique position of the first generation of the church, he is handing over leadership to local churches and their pastors. Let's consider who Paul is. First, we know him from Acts as a man who persecuted the church. Jesus shows up and when he's going out to the road of Damascus to destroy the church, and Jesus says to him, why are you persecuting me? Take it very personally, that his body belongs to him, his bride is at stake, and so Jesus says, why are you persecuting me? And Saul has his conversion. He's turned away from fighting the church of Christ in Christ, and now he's fighting for Christ in his church. Paul was Saul. That's his conversion. Secondly, we see Paul describe himself as a servant of God. This is the same word that's bondservant in chapter two, verse nine. As he thinks about himself as a servant, let's just jump down to verse nine of chapter two and think about how he would see himself in relation to God. He's to be submissive to his own master, that is God, in everything. He is to be well-pleasing, not argumentative. He's not to be pilfering, but showing all good faith, that in everything. Do you hear the universality of that? Well, we'll get to the bondservant and Russell what that means, but for now, if Paul is saying, I am a bondservant to God, this is how he sees himself. He owes God everything. Jesus had paid it all, therefore all to him is owed. Martin Luther says that we are the most free people. We're no longer bound to sin. We're no longer slaves to sin, but he also says we're the most bound people because we are now in a covenant with Christ, Almighty God, under his authority, called to be submissive and obedient in everything. showing all good faith and everything we may adorn the doctrine of God. When we believe in Christ, we're called to a new vocation, to serve Christ. This is the honorable service of every Christian, to put away sin and to put on Christ. Service is actually a word used to describe worship in the Old Testament. Here's the big question. It's not, do you serve in worship? It's, who do you serve in worship? Who we serve reveals our worship. Serving in obedience and submission and all good faith and all things is our worship. The second word he uses to describe himself is an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now this is a unique office. If we recall in the book of Acts, One of the disciples, the 12, Judas Iscariot, he was a son of destruction. He had sold Jesus for pieces of silver. He needed to be replaced. And so the qualifications to be a capital A Apostle were to have been with Jesus for three years, walking with him during his ministry and see the resurrection. Well, Paul calls himself, who has equal authority as those men, as his letters are throughout the our New Testament, and he was a key figure in Acts. He's untimely born. He came to Christ after Christ's resurrection. But then he did go to the school of Christ in the desert, according to Galatians. He spent three years learning from Christ. He waited and was educated in the ways of Christ from Christ. He saw him resurrected, and he specifically is the apostle to the Gentiles. And what's happening here with Paul to Titus or Paul to Timothy is the same thing that happens in Acts 20. He calls the elders. He commissions them. You're now responsible for the church. Watch over yourselves. Watch over the flock of God that Christ purchased with his own blood. The gospel, as God has designed it, comes through leaders. Notice there, the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior. The end of verse three. He is a servant apostle, he's writing to Titus, doesn't call Titus a pastor here, he just simply says, you're my true child, and what's most important, the common faith. They have believed, they hold firm to the common faith, they teach the common faith, they're saved by the common faith. There's one truth, there's one faith, there's one gospel. Here we see this glorious transition in the history of the church. Apostles who've laid the foundation with their words, handing over to the church. And specifically here, Titus. And what are we gonna make of this? Where's an application here? Well, we receive good words from God, And something we're gonna have to recognize is that the good words to be shared. Just like sound doctrine must be practiced, good words must be shared. And it's not just elders and pastors that give instruction. If we go down to chapter two, verse three, older women are told to teach what is good. The elders are meant to simply insist upon the gospel truth, to declare the gospel truth, to rebuke those who are contradicting the gospel truth. Church, everyone, should be hearing the gospel truth, holding fast to the gospel truth, and caring for one another with that gospel truth. Here's a question. What are we most often thinking about, and what are we most often talking about? You see, a culture is created through conversation. What kinds of things define what we most often think about? What kind of things define our relationships we often talk about? You see, those two gospel truths I pointed out earlier, two, 11, 15, and then three, three to eight, declare these things, insist upon these things. Why? They're profitable. They're worthy. Church, may we be the people, it's actually described in Deuteronomy 6, where every home is described as a place where the gospel truths are penetrating, husband, wife, roommates, children. May we be the people of God who are sharing it with our neighbors, our coworkers, but most of all here, one another, building one another up. Teaching one another. The role of elders is to simply make sure that what is insisted upon and regularly heard is the gospel truth that should then be reverberated among all the members. Finally, our third point, gospel for the church. The gospel from God, God speaks it. It's the gospel that comes through leaders and through all of us at some level. Third, gospel for the church. Look at that first phrase after Paul introduces himself. For the sake of the faith of God's elect. Paul begins his letter with a clear purpose. He is writing for the sake of the faith, that is the beliefs, the object of beliefs and a belief also included there, the subjective agreement of those beliefs of God's elect. Now we have to deal with this word elect. A lot of folks have a lot of caution about the word elect. It's almost impossible to read the Bible and not see it everywhere. Gonna have to choose not to. But what does it mean that God elects? It's simply this. God chose to put his affections on a people and save them. God chose to put his affections on a people and his affections are very focused. His affections are purposeful. His affections save. We can ask the question, well, who is the elect? And it's simple. Everybody who believes in Jesus Christ. Who are the elect? It's the church who know the truth and walk according to it in godliness, in the hope of eternal life. Who are the elect? It's the church who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who saved them from their sin. Notice here, Paul is not writing for all people at all times. He is writing to specifically say, these are truths for us, the church, so that, verse five, we might be put into order. Because of sin, we have a propensity towards disorder. God writes so that he can help us be ordered. Look what that is. There's two parts. We've already talked about this a little bit. There's knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Those are the two parts we're going to see over and over and over again. I wanna be clear here, faith is not anti-intellectual. Faith is not a leap into darkness and unknown. Faith is hearing God speak and saying, God's right. Faith is merely aligning ourselves with God. It's not mystical, it's not anti-intellectual, it's not unreasonable. God will say things we don't understand, and that's where faith seeks understanding. If we'll only believe what we understand, just put the Bible aside. Because His ways are higher than our ways, as we heard from Isaiah 55. Faith is holding firm to what God has said and agreeing that whatever he says is right and better than my best thoughts and even corrects my thoughts. It's not contrary to knowledge, it is true knowledge. It's agreeing with true knowledge. The church of the elect are meant to be set apart and as Jesus prayed in John 17, sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. I wanna run through the book again. I really wanna encourage you to think about this whole simple letter because it has such simple, helpful instructions for us. There's truth and there's good works. There's what we believe and what we do. Chapter one, verse nine, is a key passage that sets up what's going to happen. This is how order takes place. The right godly men teach the right godly truths. Verse nine. Someone is to be an elder who puts the church in order, he must hold firm to the trustworthy word is taught. Someone who's not teachable cannot teach. It's received. It's stewardship. So that they may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine. The word sound, it's hygiene. It's cleansing. It's washing. And rebuke those who contradict it. 1-9 is a key verse. 111, it says, sell us those who are teaching things that ought not to be taught. Chapter two, one to eight, the word teach is mentioned three times. Titus, you are to teach what is accord with sound doctrine. Older women are to teach what is good, and then make sure you show integrity, dignity, and sound speech in your own teaching, verse seven. Chapter two, verse 15, declare these things. Insist upon these things, chapter three, verse eight. And then 310, warned. We can't get away from the importance of God gives truth, that we must believe, it must be taught, it must be received, it must be believed. And then let's look at the other main section, and these two things have to go together. There's teaching, and then look at all the different declarations about good works and godliness. Verses two to six, verses eight. I'm sorry, chapter one, verses six to eight. Notice that the character of the people teaching is first and gets more attention. The wrong people teaching the right truth is not going to put the church in order. That quality of character matters. And something here to be clear There is not a single godly qualification for elders that is not expected for every Christian to grow up in maturity of Christ. What he's describing is to simply identify those who are already growing in maturity. They're not super spiritual. They're just already matured in Christ. He then warns those who are teaching and upsetting all families. Well, what marks them? They deny God by their works, verse 16. They're unfit for any good work. Chapter two, verses one to six, Titus' own character and his own self-control are necessary for his teaching. If you look at the whole book, the word self-control is mentioned five times as necessary for every single believer. Chapter two, 10, adorn the doctrine of God with good works. Chapter 2, 14, God, Christ has purchased a church that would be zealous for good works. Chapter 3, verse 1, be ready for good works. Chapter 3, verse 8, be devoted to good works. Chapter 3, verse 14, be devoted to good works. Am I being unnecessarily repetitive and redundant? There's a reason Paul repeats this over and over again. We need teaching from above so that we ourselves might rise above our own limited minds, hearts, and capacities. God gives us his truth. God gives us himself so that we might actually rise up better than we can understand to live in godliness, to renounce our own passions. Those things inside that drive us, renounce the ungodly ones and put on godly passions. See, these two things have to go together. Worship is practice. What we believe leads to what we practice. We are worshiping based upon what we believe and what we practice. There's a danger in insisting upon right doctrine that doesn't have good works. And that is articulated very well in James 1.22. The fear of being a hearer but not a doer. To look at the law and then walk away and just forget it. Jesus says, you show me your love by your obedience. There's also a danger in saying, no, I'm gonna do good works, but I don't want doctrine. I wanna be a peacemaker, and doctrine divides, and we need more unity, and the way to resolve the problems that might cause disunity is to avoid doctrine, or the way to make the gospel more accessible for those who would hear it and believe is to reduce the demands of the gospel. You don't have that authority. We receive what God says, in faith, in practice. Our job is to protect, guard, promote, teach, train as a church according to the gospel. The call today, church, how might I change the way I think, the way I desire, The way I act, according to the gospel. According to sound doctrine. Again, those sound doctrines are that the grace of God has appeared. God, our Savior, appeared. He's washed us, he's purchased us, so that we would be devoted and zealous for good works. I encourage you, read the entirety of this epistle every day. Continue to mark up the teaching, the good works. What if, what if, let's just play a fun hypothetical game that may get nowhere, we'll see. What if your spouse, roommate, employer, neighbor committed themselves to studying something like Titus, and the fruit of it was that they became like the person described in chapter one, verses seven and eight? Not arrogant, not quick-tempered, Not a drunkard, not a violent, not greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. See, those are just marks of what identifies a mature believer. What if we got to live with people who function like that? What if we ourselves are somebody who function like that? The way we can love our spouses better, our children better, our God better. We can love one another better. You see, the end goal isn't just to become better in ourselves, it's to be more used by God, to see how we can actually affect others, to grow in the love of God as we ourselves grow in the love of God. Let's just make it simple, self-control. Again, it's listed for every single kind of person. What if we all just gain more self-control? The truth is, Jesus has come to be our light. He himself has identified himself as the truth. He sent his spirit of truth. We are not helpless in this. God, by his grace, washes and transforms and trains and makes us more godly for his purposes. It begins with listening and holding firm and believing that the God who promised, I will sanctify you, he will surely do it. As we conclude, verse five, we'll come back to this verse and think about it a little bit more, but here, I left you in Crete to put what needed to be put into order. Orderly lives are lives that prioritize the right things. An orderly life is one that loves what is most lovely first. Like I said, I tried to give a structure to the book. The goal is to have orderly lives so that we have orderly homes and an orderly church. Here are some questions that I hope we press in on as we walk through this book together. I pray you will walk through this book with me. Okay, so as we think about right doctrine, right living, as we think about how these two come together, here's how different sections are going to press into our hearts, and I pray we'll be open and ready to be challenged. First, those verses I just read, verses six to eight of chapter one. What keeps us from growing up into Christ Maturity. What is delaying maturity? What kind of Peter Pan lie do we believe? It's okay not to grow up. It's okay not to be dependable. It's okay to remain independent and just function like a youth. What keeps you? from loving something that is delaying maturity. Chapter one, verses 10 to 16. What lies, what distraction is turning your focus away from the gospel? What kind of unprofitable things are you really focused on in your own mind that you put on your social media and you're really enthralled with that are not tied clearly to the gospel that is profitable? Where are we letting our minds go? Chapter two, one to eight. This is how the whole church is to function. Older men. taught according to sound doctrine. Older women taught according to sound doctrine. So they teach the younger women. Young men taught according to sound doctrine. Again, one question from all these different statements. Where am I letting my lack of self-control keep me in an unhealthy self-love? Where am I not letting God have control over what I think and what I do? If we could just get a little more specific here and think about lies that distract. There's a lot here about husbands, wives, homes. One of the most dangerous lies that women have been told is that the home is not a place of honor. Is the home worthy of priority? Is loving your husband and children a place of priority? Is submitting to your husband, is that just old-fashioned or is that sound doctrine according to good works? It's a question we're gonna have to wrestle with. Men, are we growing up to be the kind of men who take responsibility in self-control? Chapter 2, 9 to 10, talks about bond severance. be translated over for employment. Are we the kind of workers that our bosses, our coworkers, those who directly report to us, would they say we adorn the doctrine of God with our labor? Are we being trained in ungodliness? Chapter two, 11 to 15. Three, one to two, am I ready for every good work? Who do I have a difficult time showing courtesy to? my holding firm to the most worthy and profitable teaching. That's verse nine, chapter three, verse nine. Those are questions we'll be looking at, pursuing. I pray that as we wrestle with them, we'll see the good God who speaks, the good God who transforms, the good God who saves. God, our Savior, repeated over and over again. He didn't save us from sin so we can remain in it. He saved us from sin so that we might grow in godliness. Will you pray with me?