God’s Transformed People

0:50They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants 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 a 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 for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. This is God's word. You may be seated.

2:32If I say the words, move that bus, nearly every adult in here will get that reference. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was just one of many shows about transformation that marked what we could call the golden age of transformational TV, the early 2000s. And many of these shows featured heartwarming stories of people who were in need of a majority. Could be a personal makeover, a financial makeover, a home makeover. And when each episode ended, you felt happy for the individual or the person who received the makeover. But the myth that these shows perpetuated was that transformation is quick, easy, and comes at little or no personal cost.

3:25These shows are called reality TV, but the reality of transformation is much less glamorous. See, lasting transformation is almost never quick, easy, or free. Today we're covering Titus 2:1 through 15. And in this chapter, Paul is going to explain how Christians should live in light of the gospel. His message is simple. If we've been saved by grace, then we will live lives that have been changed by grace. Transformation will be obvious. Now, that's not to say that we still don't fight against our flesh, against the sin dwelling inside of us, as we seek to honor God and point others to Christ. We certainly do, and we certainly will. But the good news that we find in this passage and elsewhere in Scripture is that we don't fight this battle alone, but we fight it by the power of the grace of God. And so today what we'll learn from Titus chapter 2 is that God transforms His people by His grace for His glory.

4:30So let's look here at the beginning of chapter 2, verse 1. He begins and he uses this phrase, but as for you. Now, in the previous section, Paul had just been talking about the false teachers. And the false teachers were people who professed to know God, but they denied him by their works. In other words, their lives did not match up with what they said that they believed. So what is Titus to do? Look what it says. Teach what accords with sound doctrine. Well, the word sound can be translated healthy or even correct. And so it's important to understand that what follows in this passage are not merely suggestions, things that apply to the first century culture on the island of Crete, but don't apply to us today in 21st century America. Rather, these are timeless commands from God to us, and they represent the way Christians are supposed to live their lives. And so what we're going to do is we're going to structure the sermon, which I'm just going to tell you right now is not short, so just prepare yourself.

5:37We're going to structure this sermon the same way that Paul structures the passage. He's going to go through the why at the end. First, he establishes how. How are we supposed to live as men, as women, as Christian leaders, as employees? And then, after he says this is how we're supposed to live, will he give us the reason why? Why are we supposed to live this way? So let's look at the how first, beginning with older men. Look at what he says. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and steadfastness.

6:15So, friends, the picture that we get of an older Christian man is a man whose life is worthy of respect and imitation. It's a life who's worthy of respect and imitation. One of the things that you notice is he doesn't think of himself too highly. He's sober-minded. But he does think very highly of God. He's a self-controlled man, meaning he's able to control his various appetites without external coercion or pressure. I think we can agree that it's always sad to see older men who lack self-control. That's one of the things that we've talked about a lot in the pastoral epistles, this idea that self-control is the ability to say no, to say no to things that are going to harm us or harm others around us. Self-control is really all about learning to say no, but many older men haven't learned to say no. In contrast, he says godly men, mature men in Christ, are those who have self-control. They've learned to say no for the glory of God and the good of others and for their own good. And he goes on and he says, they are sound, they're healthy in faith, love, and steadfastness.

7:29I love it. Starts with faith. They're sound in their faith. They have theology that is biblical, that informs the way that they live. Their view of God, their view of themselves, their view of others and the world, all of it is healthy because it comes out of the Word of God. It's not coming from the culture. It's not coming from themselves or their own opinions or interpretations. It's coming straight from the Word. These are men who are marked by love. Their love is healthy. In their homes, in their workplaces, in the church, they're asking, How can I give? How can I serve? They're not asking the question, what's in it for me? Because love is the conscious choice that we make to do good to others, even at cost to ourselves. That's what love is. And these older men are characterized by this great word, steadfastness.

8:24Steadfastness is the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances. The capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances. And so what that means is a godly man perseveres through adversity. He doesn't give up when things get hard. And it's important to note that for a lot of us, much of our life isn't hard. And so being steadfast isn't only about not giving up when things are hard. It's also about what Eugene Peterson calls a long obedience in the same direction.

8:59Living a life that Is a long obedience in the same direction. A godly man is steadfast. He's not constantly changing course in his life. Pursuing one thing one day, a career, a girl, a hobby, an interest, pursuing one thing one day, and then the very next day changing his mind about that. That's not to say you should feel condemnation if you've ever changed careers or if you didn't marry the first person you dated. It's simply to say that a godly man is steadfast. His life is characterized by perseverance, a long obedience in the same direction. He's not constantly changing direction, but he's a dependable man. He's one that you can count on.

9:40And men, I think it's important for us to recognize that we live in a culture today that idolizes youth and youthfulness. Those things are very important to our culture, but we get a very different vision from Titus chapter 2. I mean, as older men, our lives should be marked by sobriety, by a certain seriousness and weightiness that's sorely lacking in our culture today. It is true that many young men grew up in homes without Christian fathers.

10:11So they didn't have an example of what it looks like to be a Christian husband or a Christian dad, a Christian employee, a Christian neighbor. They just didn't have that example. And so that falls onto us, the men of the church, to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to set an example for these younger men and to train them. Up, this is what it looks like to be a Christian man. This is what it looks like to be a Christian husband or dad. And so we need to take advantage of that opportunity. And all it requires, older men, all it requires is that you make yourself available. You just need to make yourself available to read scripture with and pray with younger men. You just need to make yourself available to answer their questions and to counsel them and advise them. You need to make yourself, your family, your home available so that they can come in and see what a godly marriage looks like. And even when you mess up and when you sin against your wife, they can see what it looks like to confess sin, to repent, to ask forgiveness, to apologize.

11:15And your parenting, it's the same thing. They need to see examples of godly men who are leading their children, praying for them, leading them spiritually, leading them in devotionals, guiding them and directing them, disciplining them. They also need to see you screw up as a parent because they need to know what it looks like to not be a hypocrite with your kids, but to say, you know what, it's not just that you guys, kids, need a Savior. Mom and dad need a Savior too. And Jesus is that Savior. They need to see you apologize and ask forgiveness from your kids too. So, older men, that falls on us in the church to set that example that they need to follow. And so now skip down to verse 6, and let's look at what Paul writes to Titus about younger men.

12:01He says, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Now, you might be thinking, one command, that's it? But if you have boys or if you work with boys, you're probably thinking, this list is too long. How are we ever going to do all of these things? Urge them to be self-controlled. Now, boys are awesome. I love my boys. I have two sons. They are so much fun. I'm proud of the young men that they're becoming. But young men are a work in progress. That's what they are. And God tells us that the primary character trait that they need to cultivate is self-control. Now, let's stop and think about that for a minute. Why would the one thing that young men need to work on be self-control?

12:52Well, let's ask this question. What is the essence of manhood? What does it mean to be a man? Our culture will answer that question in many different ways that we are familiar with. You're a man if you are tall, dark, and handsome. You're a man if you are an accomplished athlete who can lift a lot of weights. You're a man if you can fix things, fix cars, fix houses, fix stuff that breaks. You're a man if you can get what you want from women. You're a man if your deepest desire is to live. In the woods and chop things with an axe.

13:33This is what the culture tells us that manliness is, but we understand intuitively none of those things inherently makes anyone a man. So, what is the essence of manhood? I would propose that the essence of manhood is responsibility. The essence of manhood is responsibility. It's the willingness to take responsibility for yourself and for others in your life that depend on you. I mean, when you think about it, isn't that the difference between the men in your life that you deeply respect and the men in your life that you don't respect? When we hear of an irresponsible man, what do we think? We think to ourselves, he's not a man, he's a boy. He doesn't take responsibility for himself or others.

14:19When you ask a boy, why are you doing that? He will probably say some variation of, because I felt like it. When you ask a man, why are you doing that? it will be some variation of, because it needed to be done. That's the difference between boyhood and manhood. It's responsibility. And that's why the main character trait that young men need to cultivate is self-control, because you cannot be responsible without self-control. Self-control is the first step toward responsibility. And so, young men, ask yourself this question: where do you need to cultivate? Responsibility and self-control in your life. Where is God calling you to learn to say no to certain things so that you can take responsibility first for yourself and then for other people around you?

15:16Well, Paul doesn't leave the women out either. Let's back up to verse 3 and he addresses them and let's talk about how women are supposed to live. He says in verse 3 that older women are to be reverent in behavior rather than slanderers or slaves to much wine. Now, I want you to see the word likewise. He says the older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior. So the standard for older men and older women is roughly the same. We're all going for the same thing. We're to be reverent. Our lives are to be marked by a devout and pious posture toward the Lord that results in living our lives differently. So women need to cultivate those same characteristics, sober-mindedness and dignity and self-control, soundness and faith and love and steadfastness. That's for men and women. And then he says that women need to avoid particular sins that can be common among them. So the temptation to slander, to talk about other people behind their backs, the temptation to drink too much wine. He says, make sure you avoid these things.

16:22But Paul doesn't spend a whole lot of time fleshing out what women are not supposed to be doing. He spends most of his time on what they are positively supposed to be doing. And the first thing that he says is they must teach what is good. They must teach what is good. I think it's very significant that Paul holds Titus responsible for teaching the older men and the younger men, as well as the older women. But he holds the older women responsible for teaching the younger women. He says this is a responsibility that falls to them. And so it's just like with young men, many young women did not grow up in Christian homes. So they don't have a model. What does it look like to be a godly Christian woman? What does it look like to be a godly wife, a godly mom? They have never seen that in their lives. So they need older women who will make themselves available to teach them by their words and actions what that looks like. And friends, this is the primary reason that our ministry here at New Life is multi-generational.

17:28This passage was critical in how we laid out the groundwork for New Life Baptist Church in 2008 and 2009. The reason that our worship services are integrated, we don't have a children's church or a college service, but everybody is together. The reason that our life groups are not broken up by age and life stage, college groups and young single groups and married groups, the reason that we do those things all together is because we are commanded in Scripture for older and men. Women to train younger men and women. And that simply can't happen if we're never around each other. We have so few hours together in the life of the church that we want to make sure that we're spending that time together as much as we can so that we can learn from one another.

18:17But I think for a lot of the older women in the room, you know, you've thought to yourself or you're thinking to yourself right now, I just don't think I have very much to offer. I don't know why any younger woman would want to come to me for advice about marriage or parenting or living the Christian life. And I think if you're a younger woman, you might be thinking to yourself, well, she's busy. I mean, she's married, she has kids, or she's got a career. Like, why would she choose to spend some of her valuable time with me?

18:47And what I think you need to understand, if you are a younger woman, older women come to new life and join this church because they want to invest in younger women. It would be so easy to go to another church where there would be lots of programs for them. There would be many more people their age. But the reason that they come and they stay is because they want to pour into you. They want to make themselves available to help you become a godly wife, a godly mom, a godly woman in the business world, in the community. That's what they want. And if you're a younger person here, or rather, You're an older person here, you need to understand the reason that young people come, college students and young singles, the reason they come to New Life and stay is because this is what they want. If they wanted only to be around college students or only to be around people in their life stage, they would go somewhere else. That's not hard to find. But they come and they stay because they want you to pour into them. They need you to pour into them. And so just understand that from both perspectives. So don't be discouraged if the very first person that you approach isn't available or it doesn't work out for some reason.

20:07But continue to believe that the reason older and younger men and women are here is because we believe in this vision. We believe this is a biblical way to live. And so that's why we're encouraging people to do that. So older women must teach what is good to the younger women. But then he goes on and he says, older women must train. They must train younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands.

20:38Now, I think we understand the need to train to be self-controlled and pure. Nobody becomes holy by accident. You don't wake up one day and you're like, ah, I'm totally sanctified. I don't know how that happened. That does not happen to anybody. We understand if I want to be self-controlled, if I want to be pure, if I want to lead a godly life, I have to work hard at that. I've got to pray. I've got to read and memorize scripture. I've got to be around other godly people. We understand that. What I think is counterintuitive is what he says first. Older women need to train the younger women to love their husbands and children.

21:16I mean, that's not what we've been told in our culture at all. Love is something that just happens to you one day. You aren't in love, and then you are in love, and then you live happily ever after. But the Bible says that we actually have to train to love our spouse and to love our kids. That it doesn't come naturally to us. What comes naturally to us is selfishness. The natural bent in marriage is to say, hey, listen, I will do for you as long as you do for me. You put in 50%, I put in 50%, that makes up 100%. You don't get a biblical vision of I'm going to give 100% as a spouse, even if you give 0%.

22:00We have to be trained to love our spouses, and we have to be trained to love our kids. Man, I think that's more and more apparent. In 2018, here in America, there's this view that is being developed in the parenting world that is basically like, kids, if you perform, if your grades are good enough, if your performance on the athletic field or on the dance floor or wherever else, if that's good enough, you will have my approval, you will have my praise, you will have my love, but otherwise. Otherwise, you don't get those things.

22:33See, it's natural for us to be selfish and selfishly motivated. We want even our children to be trophies, not of God's grace, but of our greatness as parents. And so we have to be trained to love our spouses and our children. He says, older women need to train the younger women to be working at home. I think a more... Maybe a better translation would be busy at home, because Paul is certainly not forbidding work outside of the home for Christian women, for Christian wives and mothers.

23:09I mean, Proverbs 31 paints this beautiful picture of this woman who is certainly busy at home, but she's also busy in the marketplace. She's made things. She's selling them. She's blessing her family with that income. That's a great thing. And so I think busy at home is a little bit better translation because what Paul is doing is he's saying, I want you to be busy at home rather than a busy body. I don't want you ladies going from house to house and talking about people behind their backs. I don't want you going from house to house and drinking wine all day rather than serving other people. I want you to be busy at home. Even if you choose to work outside the home, I want you to make sure that you are taking care of your responsibilities just like the men have to do. I want you to take care of your responsibilities as a mom, as a wife.

23:55And so that's what he's getting at there. And then lastly, he says, train them. To be kind and submissive to their own husbands. I think that rubs a lot of people the wrong way in our culture today. But keep in mind, God has set up the household to promote human flourishing and order. And he set up the household to mirror the Trinity itself. In the Trinity, we worship a God who has expressed Himself in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And each one of those three persons is fully God. There is equality in the Godhead, just like there is equality in marriage. Man and woman are both equally created in God's image. But there is also submission in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit submits to the Son and the Father. The Son submits to the Father. So even though they're equal, there is submission, there is order, and all of that is to promote flourishing, both in the Godhead and in the home. And so, ladies, when you read this verse, I want you to understand that what he's calling you to do is the same thing that Jesus Himself did. He submitted himself to the Father, going even to the cross, being obedient unto death. And so, this is a high calling that you have. It should also call us husbands to consider our leadership, our love for our wives. Are we leading and loving in a way that's worth following, that's worth submitting to? And so, ladies, you're to teach and to train these younger women. To be godly lives, to be godly women whose lives are marked by holiness and obedience to the Lord. So we've looked at men and women. We've looked at the how there. And now Paul is going to pivot to two different types of people: first, Christian leaders and then bondservants. So look at verse 7 now. How is Titus to live as a pastor? Verse 7 says that he is to be a model of good works.

25:56I just love that phrase. A model of good works. In other words, Titus as a pastor is supposed to be living his life in the way that you could look at him and say, that's what it looks like to be somebody who is devoted to good works. The way he loves his wife, the way he loves his kids, the way he serves inside the church and outside the church, the way he is a member of the community, that's a model of good works. That's what Titus is called to be. See, the Pharisees, they were condemned by Jesus again and again, not because they taught the wrong stuff. The Pharisees, by and large, were teaching the right stuff. Their problem was hypocrisy. They didn't lead lives that showed they actually believed what they taught. And so Titus, in contrast to that, is supposed to be a model of good works. Second, Paul says that his teaching must show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned.

27:00Well, as we know from our study of the pastoral epistles, pastors are primarily teachers. That's what they do. That's why they have to be able to teach. So their teaching should be marked by a few things. First, integrity. There should be no question that they are telling the truth, or at the very least, that their intent is to tell the truth. There should be no question that their sermons are not plagiarized, that they're not taking other people's ideas and passing them off as their own. That should not be a question.

27:29They should have dignity. That word means gravity or weightiness. So the way that a pastor handles the word of God shows that he takes it seriously. And then his teaching is to be marked by sound speech that cannot be condemned. So, in other words, it's both what he says and how he says it that leads people to say there's no way that anyone could condemn that. I think every teacher, myself included, has been guilty of saying things. What I have said has offended people, as well as how I've said things, maybe that were even true, has offended people as well. And so, this is a correction, it's a rebuke at times to even men who teach. It needs to be sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that outsiders looking in can say, man, there's no reason in what he says or how he says it that I could condemn him for that. And so, he puts all of that before Titus as a Christian leader. And then he concludes this section in verses 9 and 10 by addressing bondservants. Your translation might say slaves, because that's essentially what the word means. And we've talked many times about this in the pastoral epistles. In the ancient Roman world, estimates are from 33% to 50% of the Roman population that was enslaved. 33% to 50%, a third to a half of the people who were in Roman society were slaves. Now, it's important to say, again, nowhere does the New Testament condone or promote slavery. Never. In fact, it was Bible-believing Christians in England and then America and then elsewhere in the world who abolished slavery based on scriptural teaching and principles. So the New Testament is not condoning this. Paul is simply recognizing reality. He's saying, listen, a third or a half of you or more in these churches, you are slaves, either by choice. Some of them were indentured servitudes. They went into slavery to pay off a debt for three or five or seven years. Others were forcibly enslaved. And he's just saying, this is the reality. And because this is the reality, let me teach you, let me train you how to live as a Christian if that's where you find yourself. So rather than kind of tuning out in this section, just understand every single thing that he says here applies to Christian employees as well.

30:00So, all of us can learn from this. First, he says that we must be submissive. So, in the workplace, Christians should never be known as disrespectful troublemakers. But I have known Christians who, in their workplace, had that reputation. They brought reproach on the name of Christ. He says that they must be well-pleasing and not argumentative. So, masters, managers, leaders of companies, they should be delighted to employ Christian people. What you want is them coming to you and saying, Do you have any more Christian friends? We need to hire more people.

30:42You're such a delight to be around. You're such a hard worker. You're so committed. You do everything as you would say unto the Lord, and we want more people like you at our company. That's what he's going for here. And he closes by saying they must not be pilfering. I love that word. We just need to use that word more: pilfering. They must not be pilfering, but showing all good faith. That word pilfering can actually be translated embezzling or misappropriating.

31:12And man, what an important word to hear today in our society. I don't know statistics or numbers on this, but how many people have you heard of or do you know of who have falsified expense reports? Who have said, you know, I went out to eat on behalf of Company, or I was doing entertainment on behalf of the company when you know that's not what they were doing. Many people have embezzled funds from their company by doing that.

31:43Other people have stolen, not necessarily money or resources, they've stolen time from their employers by spending. I think the last number I saw was roughly 50% of the day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix. Up to half the day is stolen from employers by workers, some of whom are Christians. And so Paul says very clearly: they must not be pilfering. They can't embezzle. They can't misappropriate funds. They can't steal in any way so that they can't be accused of doing wrong.

32:21Now, I mentioned at the outset of this whole section that we were going to talk about how first. So we've looked at how. How are men and women, how are leaders in the church, how are bondservants or employees supposed to live? And now we want to get to the why. Why are they supposed to live this way? Well, you probably noticed that we skipped over a couple of key phrases. So I want you to look back at the end of verse 5. Why are women supposed to live like this? That the word of God may not be reviled?

32:51Look at the end of verse 8. Why are pastors supposed to live this way? So that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing. Evil to say about us. And look at the end of verse 10. Why are bondservants supposed to live this way? So that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. You see, when people know that we profess to follow Jesus, they start paying attention. They want to know, does your life match up with what you say you believe or not?

33:28That's what the world wants to know. The number one charge leveled against the church is that we're hypocrites, and so they want to see, are you a hypocrite? The world is not asking us to be perfect. They know that they're not perfect, so they wouldn't hold us to that standard. What they want to know is, is there congruence between what you say you believe and how you live your life? So in general, as Christians, our lives should be marked by obedience, should be marked by holiness, and when they're not, we have an excellent opportunity to go to them and to humbly confess our sin to them, to repent and change our ways, to ask for forgiveness and to apologize. That's all the world is asking for. They're not asking you to be perfect. They're asking us to be consistent, to bring glory to God through the way that we live our lives.

34:22So that's the first part of the why. The second part of the why is what Paul picks up in the last section here in verse 11. Look there. He says, For the grace of God has appeared. Why are we supposed to live like this? First, because it points non-Christians to the glorious gospel of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. But second, because the grace of God has appeared to us. And what has it done? Look what he says. It has brought salvation for all people.

35:01Now, understand, Paul is not saying all people are going to be saved. The Bible does not teach that all people are going to be saved. What he means is that salvation has not come only for the Jews, only for those physical descendants of Abraham, but has come both for the Jews and the Gentiles. You see this in the Old and the New Testament. God first comes to Abraham and he says, I'm going to bless you to make you a blessing to all the families, the nations of the earth. Rahab and Ruth, who were descendants of God's enemies, they are brought into God's family. Jonah goes and preaches to the Ninevites, the sworn enemies of Israel, and many of them come to repentance and faith. We see this all throughout the Old Testament and then also in the New Testament in the book of Acts, where many Gentiles come to saving faith in Christ.

35:53And so the grace of God has appeared. That's why we do this. It's brought salvation to all people. And then look at verse 12. What else has it done? It has trained us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. That's what the grace of God has done for us. It's trained us. I think this part of the gospel message is just missing in most Christian circles today. Most people would tell you that Christianity is a message of forgiveness for sin. And that's true. That's right. It's just incomplete. It's a message of forgiveness of sin and radical life transformation. That because we have received the grace of God, because it's appeared to us, we are no longer the same as we were before. Our sins have been forgiven, but our lives have also been transformed. And so Paul says here in verse 13 that we are to live these lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

37:07I love that line because he's saying these holy lives, these are not just supposed to be things that are lived in heaven. These are to be lived now in the present age. And the motivator for doing that is that we have our eyes set on the coming of Christ. His coming again and again in the New Testament is listed as a primary motivator. For why we lead holy lives. Because Jesus is coming back. And he's coming back to fulfill this great vision that he has. Look at verse 14.

37:43Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. That's a beautiful vision. And God's vision has not changed. When he came to Abraham in Genesis 12, this was the vision. I'm blessing you so that all of the people of the earth will be blessed through you. You're to be a pure and holy people. That's what he told him. And that's what he told Moses and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. That's what the commandments were all about. Be a pure people who are zealous for good works. And now that vision is being realized. Jesus has come. Grace has appeared to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify us. A people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. That's why we were created. That's why we were saved from our sin. So that those things would be accurate descriptions of the way that we live. So I want to recap what we've seen so far here in Titus 2. How are we to live?

38:51We're to live holy lives, lives that are marked by worship and reverent obedience to God. And why are we to live? That way, to point others to Christ and to glorify God, whose grace came to us, to change us from self-serving sinners into selfless worshipers who live for the glory of God and the good of other people. The last verse in this passage is verse 15, and he tells Titus, I want you to declare these things. Exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

39:34And the reason that he closes with that is because that's what we need. You read all of this stuff and you realize we need someone who is going to declare these things. We need faithful pastors who will do that. See, what faithful believers like you and me need is authoritative encouragement. Because I think it's so easy. You read this list and you just think, man, my life just does not correspond with all of those things. And you start to get discouraged. That's why we have to be pointed to the grace of God that appeared to us in the person and work of Jesus. He died to save you from sin. He died to purify your heart and your life so that it would honor him and glorify him. We need to be encouraged and reminded of that all the time because we get our eyes off of Jesus so quickly.

40:22And Titus also has to do these things for the unfaithful Christians and for the false teachers. They need authority. Authoritative rebuke. They need to be told again and again: it's not okay to profess one thing and then to live in a completely different way. You can't say that you love God and then not live your life to honor Him. So He says, exhort them, declare these things, rebuke with all authority. And when you're a young leader, it is really tempting to just let those things go. It's just so much easier not to have those hard conversations, and every one of us knows that. I mean, how many hard conversations have you avoided having with other people because you know it's going to be difficult and awkward and might result in the loss of a relationship?

41:09But, friends, Paul did not leave Titus on the island of Crete to ignore problems and to put off having hard conversations. He left him there to teach and model godly living for these Christians. And the message that they needed to hear in the first century is the same message we need to hear today. And that is that God transforms His people by His grace and for His glory. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would encourage us this morning as we meditate on the beautiful gospel of grace.

42:00Your grace was poured out on us through the appearing of Jesus Christ, who did everything that he did in his life, death, and resurrection to reconcile us to you, so that we would be forgiven and declared righteous, and so that we could enjoy the process of sanctification by which we become more and more like you. God, we need to be sanctified. We are painfully aware that our profession and our behavior do not always match up like it should.

42:40And so we ask your forgiveness for that today, God. We know that Jesus died for our sins and failures. And we know that we are accepted by you. Not because of our good intentions, not because of our work, but because of the work, the finished work of Jesus. And so, God, I pray that more and more your grace would be the motivating power, the motivating influence in our lives as Christians to help us become more and more like you.

43:15I pray for the older men and the older women. God, would you make us holy so that these younger men and younger women have godly examples to look up to? I pray that for the younger men and the younger women, That they would not delay taking responsibility, that they would not delay pursuing sanctification now, but that all of us together would pursue that so that our church and other healthy churches in our community and around the world would point with our lives and our words to the beautiful gospel of grace that has saved us and that is changing us.

44:02In Jesus' name, we pray all these things. Amen.