Adorn the Doctrine of God

Good morning. We're continuing on through Titus. If you're new with us, we just want to walk through books of the Bible. And for the most part, we have some occasions where we have sermons that are not walking through a specific text. But here we are in Titus 2. And a helpful text on Baptism Sunday. This is a helpful Clare to what it means to be a disciple. It's one of the many places where God clarifies for us what it looks like, what is expected of us as disciples. This is about baptism. I want to go to one of my favorite authors on baptism, and some of you will appreciate the irony of this. It's John Calvin. John Calvin, in his Institutes, chapter 15, I think gives one of the best teachings on baptism. He says there's two main purposes for baptism. First, to encourage the faith, to be encouraged in your faith. And so this morning we pray, Natalie will be encouraged in her faith, and that means she sees that being united with Christ by her faith, she's put off sin, sin's power has been destroyed, she's been given new life, she can walk in the newness of Christ, as Romans 6, 4 teaches. She has a confidence now in her faith, and we have a confidence to be reminded of salvation, that sin and its consequence has been washed away by the power of the blood of Christ. The second purpose of baptism, first to encourage our faith, the second is to confess Christ before men. I'll read point 13. Baptism serves as our confession before men, inasmuch as it is a mark by which we openly declare that we wish to be ranked among the people of God. By which we testify that we concur with all Christians in the worship of one God and in one religion. By which, in short, we publicly assert our faith so that not only do our hearts breathe, but our tongues also. And all the members of our body, in every way they can, proclaim the praise of God. In this way, everything we have is made subservient to the glory of God. which ought everywhere to be displayed. And others are stimulated by our example to the same course. To this Paul referred when he asked the Corinthians whether or not they had been baptized in the name of Christ. Intimating that by the very circumstance of having been baptized in his name, they had devoted themselves to him, had sworn and bound themselves in allegiance to him before men. so that they could no longer confess any other than Christ alone unless they would abjure the confession which they had made in baptism. Notice there the sound doctrine and good works. Over and over again, we continue to see this in Titus in that the church needs to be ordered and blessed by God with sound teaching, the truth of God that would actually order Elias to be devoted zealous for good works, growing up in godliness, having been baptized, now devoting yourself to him. Baptism is a great assurance. The church gives the baptizee the assurance of Christ and his forgiveness and his salvation. And it's a promise. One being baptized is now saying, I will not be numbered among the world. I am numbered among the church. I'm committed to That's helpful this morning because we all need that reminder and that commitment is really in large part what we're going to be studying this morning. Our text is Titus 2, we had the whole chapter read because the whole chapter really needs to be understood together. We see that Paul is making a transition, he's told Titus to go and make sure that every church in all the different towns, about 110 towns we think, that's a lot of travel, that's a lot of re-reading this letter. It's a lot of orderliness. Needs to hear the gospel, have the right men leading. In chapter one, verse nine, the men leading, they need to have a firm faith so they'd be able to teach and to rebuke. Last week we looked at the rebuking aspect. This week we're looking at the turning towards the church, building up a healthy body that grows. So this is about us. church, Christians, united together. It's about how we grow. And I just want to point out a few simple little observations. There's expectations. We see it's ordered around older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and then bond servants. And we'll get to the bond servants next week. We see that it requires character, conduct, behavior. The home is meant to be a place where Christ makes a change. At work is where Christ expects there to be a change. There's some purpose statements that are very important. Look at chapter two, verse three. Older women are to teach what is good. Look at verse four. So that they might train the young women. There's purpose. Training. The church is a place of training. Here, specifically, older women and younger women. Training. Why would there need to be training? Look at the end of verse 5. So that the word of God may not be reviled. Blaspheme. So that in our conduct, in our behavior, we would actually take away from the gospel rather another purpose. Look at the end of verse 10. So that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. We want to be on guard against reviling the word of God. We want to be purposeful and adorning, making it attractive. What we teach, what we say, it needs to be practiced. As that quote from Calvin declared, it needs to be displayed and stimulated so that our example would actually go out and not distract from the gospel. This morning, I pray we're reminded of these kind of commitments. Notice the grounding of it all, verse 11. This isn't something we do to earn God's favor. This isn't something we do because we have the strength on our own. No, it's something we do because the grace of God has appeared. The gospel. That's what we're looking at next week, verses 11 to 14. The gospel truth is the grounding for why we should expect to grow up and expect one another to grow up. Two ways to say this. The God who saves us from our consequences, the consequences of our sin, calls us out of the pattern of sin. Or the God who gives his son for our salvation now calls us to new life. Again, if you are new with us, if you look at chapter one, verse one, Paul is writing, notice, for the sake of the faith of God's elect. He wants the church to be built up and growing in more trust in the truth of God, notice there, the knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Sound doctrine, good works. God's truth, godliness. That's the axiom. Those are the two ingredients that help a church grow up in health. Okay, now let's also just notice there's a way in which Paul is addressing different There's older men, younger men, older women, younger women. Something interesting. Older men have six charges. We're gonna count sound and faith, love, and steadfastness as three, because there's three qualifiers. Older women have really four. There's a charge, be reverent. There's two warnings, and then a job, teach. Younger women have seven charges, that's the most. Younger men have one. All right, why? He doesn't tell us, but we can kind of step back, and if you're with us back in Titus 1, 7 to 8, that's not an exhaustive list of expectations for elders. We know that because 1 Timothy 3 has other expectations. We also can look at this and think, all right, since older women are told not to be slanderous, well, that means older men can be, right? Well, that's ridiculous. Most of these expectations are universally expected of all believers. Now, some of them are relational here with submitting to husbands and so forth, but there's a way in which we're all growing up to the same head, the same glorious head of the church, Jesus Christ. The mark of maturity is being more like Christ. Now, that looks different depending on our relationships and roles, but notice self-control. It's an all but one. Self-control is listed as something expected five different times in Titus. So we're gonna hang out there at the end. It's where we're looking at what God expects of us, what should we expect from one another, what the world should expect from us. Why? So that we can adorn the doctrine of God, so that we can not revile the word of God. How? Because the gospel has saved us. It trains us to be more like Christ. If you're taking notes, the first point is expectations for pastors. Expectations for pastors. We've already looked at this once in chapter one, verses five to nine, but he states it again. Notice that transition, but as for you, he's telling Titus, the pastor who's gonna be appointing and teaching the other pastors on this island, This is what you do in contrast to those false teachers. You teach what accords with sound doctrine. You don't teach what ought not to be taught. That's what the false teachers did. You don't teach what is unfit for God. You don't teach what is not in accord with sound doctrine. You are to proclaim the truths of God You were to proclaim the good works, to proclaim the godliness, because notice there's some doctrine, those are the beliefs he's supposed to insist upon, the kinds of behaviors, conduct, character, and actions that adorn the doctrine of God. So the first thing we see, you should expect of pastors, is they teach. Now, the first thing you need to do is rebuke those who are denying the truth. And that makes sense. If you're looking for sound doctrine, the word sound is really a word we get hygiene from, it's healthy. But before you start training, you wanna fix what's broken. You wanna get rid of the disease so that you can then start teaching what's good. There's an emphasis here on this medical language in that you don't start doing physical therapy while your bone's still broken or your ACL's still torn. No, you go and get it fixed and then you start training. Here is the logical order. He tells Titus, rebuke those, silence those who are teaching the wrong things, and now you start teaching what is right. Sounds like a coach, because it says teach, and then notice verse seven. There's an emphasis for elders to be teaching, teaching, teaching, but notice verse seven, show. It's not like a coach, right? A coach tells you what is expected and then he shows you what's expected. He doesn't just tell you something and then leave you alone to do it. No, there's a modeling here. Verse seven, show yourself, that is the pastor Titus, in all respects to be a model of good works. In your teaching, show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned. There's a way in which Titus is not just left alone to talk about the things of God, but he's urging and inviting and modeling and walking alongside of those who are supposed to also grow in the grace of God in all respects of good works. We said this back in Titus when we were talking about appointing elders. What's really remarkable, that list of of qualifications for an elder is that's what you should expect of all believers. And I think the reason it's emphasized in chapter 1, what you expect of your elders is what they're going to expect of you. That's why they have to be models of it. And notice that it's not just showing in all good works, it's showing in the way you talk. We're handling the holy things of God here. God's inspired words. This isn't a myth. This isn't some story that we just want to make jokes about. There's a reverence in which we want to try to cultivate here. The one attribute of God that's repeated in scripture, holy, holy, holy. We hope as elders we're actually presenting a reverence in the way we talk about him. The word glory, it has the same root as weight. These are weighty matters. We don't want to be flippant. We don't really want to be casual. We want to come with clear confidence that the one who is holy, holy, holy has sent his son so that we can know him and call him father. He's not distant as holy, holy, holy. He is loving and pursuing us. Notice the purpose of being sound in speech, that is healthy, same word, that the opponents may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Those opponents could be those inside the church that we just talked about at the end of chapter one, those who are fighting against the elders and the truth of God, or it could be those who are speaking against the church outside. The early church, the first couple centuries, we called them the apologists because they had to explain things like, no, we're not cannibals. We do talk about eating the body of Christ and taking the blood of Christ. It was confused that we were actually literal cannibals. They thought we were atheists because we didn't have idols because God said not to make an image. There's a way in which the church tried to present as reasonable as possible what the truth of God is that was being completely misunderstood because twisted people take things and twist them. So those are what you expect of your elders. You're pastors. Now, these next two, older men and older women, I wanna first say something here about just how he is emphasizing and starting with those who are not elders in the office of the church, but elderly in their physical age. Older is important. The Bible presents seasoned, aged, elderly as worthy of honor. It's very important for us to recognize and to take in because we live in a Peter Pan culture. I don't ever want to grow up. Everything about our culture is pressing in. You could be and you should be forever 21. No, God designed us to grow up. We should want to Grow up. Older is dignified. So when you think about it, it's not about real physical maturity. And we know what this looks like. We know what physical maturity looks like because we see it in the body. It's natural. Metabolism fades and we add those LBs. Hair goes away or goes gray. We see the physical beauty and physique, it changes, it goes away, but what's supposed to take its place is the beauty of the soul that's been steadfast in Christ. The beauty of confidence in a God who loves you and a God who's called you. Trying to grasp some fountain of youth is foolish, because there is no such thing. But there is a fountain. washes away sin. There is a fountain that cleanses your conscience. There is a fountain, it's the blood of Christ that takes us away from unrighteousness and puts us in the realm of righteousness so we can pursue the things that truly make us beautiful according to God. We need older people in our lives because they have refined character. They have reliable wisdom, and they've learned to recognize what is right. Young folks, we should be asking our grandparents about the world's dilemmas. More than our peers, more than our young pop culture icons. Your parents, your grandparents, it happens, it's inevitable. They're gonna at one point feel out of touch. No amen there? We all felt that, right? Mom, dad, just out of touch. Grandparents, they don't know what they're talking about. I wanna urge you that at that moment, that's probably where you need to listen most clearly. Do not dishonor your parents and grandparents. It is the promise of the Old Testament that's repeated in the New Testament that has the promise with it. If you are older today, the call is to be older. To embrace it as good and right. This glorification of youth is juvenile. Grow up in the wisdom and the dignity. If we do it right. Older men. Hear the call for the older men. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-control, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Super-minded, that's related to alcohol. There's a seriousness, not a looseness. Dignified, that's worthy of esteem. Self-controlled, again, that's an overarching word that just drives drautitis. Being able to control words and temper and actions. A child who is impulsive needs discipline. An adult who is impulsive is just embarrassing. Sound, healthy, and faith in what they believe. Healthy in being able to prioritize their loves. Healthy in steadfastness. I want to linger here on the word dignified. That doesn't mean pompous. It doesn't mean prestigious. It's a powerful life that has reverence and is respectable. And I praise God, because I'm going to just choose two out of many, because they have three things in common that I've just been meditating upon on what makes them dignified. I want to point to you two men, Peter Dutnell and Don Richardson. They have a few things in common. They're both farmers. They're men of the earth. They love God's good creation. These are two men who are members here. They're incredibly intelligent, they've committed their minds to studying truth in God's word. They're men who are committed to the cross and the church of Christ. When I think about how they're dignified, when I'm around them, there's something about it where I'm just much more self-aware in the way I'm carrying myself. I don't want them to know the goofball that lies within. Being around them, it's literally that because they are such respectable men, I want to be a better man. They're dignified. They're kind and generous. They have a warmth in their posture and in their face. When I'm around them, I want to honor them. My favorite thing about, I think, how I see their dignified characteristic is that they're with my children, they look my children in the eye, they talk directly to my children and invite my children to talk to them and they expect my children to talk to them and look them in the eye. They're not intimidating, they're not judgmental, they're gracious in their way, they're caring themselves in a respectful way that they're wanting young children to grow up and be part of their life. Oh, how important that is for us. have older men and older women who are going to expect more of us. And what's great is I never feel judged when my children don't look them in the eye and talk to them. They take the opportunity to train me to help them. We need men and more men and men and more men committed to carrying out this kind of dignity that's respectable because it's a dignity that's recognized the glory of God and they're both stewards of all that God has given them and they want to give it away. They don't lower the bar so we feel welcome. They welcome us up to a new bar of life. The other thing I wanna highlight here is sound that is healthy in faith, love, and steadfastness. Their faith is firm. The older men are supposed to have faith that is firm. They don't waver. They know what to prioritize. Their lives are simply put on the cross and the gospel truths and the clarity of which God has spoken. Love. A wise life is one where your loves are all properly ordered. They're not everywhere. They're not undisciplined. They've properly ordered their loves. They're steadfast. This is a compound word that I just love. It means remain under. They don't try to throw off trials. No, they've learned that if they ask for wisdom in the midst of a trial, whatever it may be, whatever various kind, they know God helps them. They endure the race. Our order, folks, the call is to Be these older people. Don't lower the bar. Don't be silly to attract. Be full of a steadfastness in faith, love, kindness, dignity. Young folks, college students, it is really comfortable to spend a lot of time with our peers because we can be more comfortable. My encouragement to you is to spend time with your peers, but make sure you are in a local church where there are older people that you can look at and say, that's who I want to grow up to be like. A couple ways you can think about doing that. Be present regularly. Don't leave soon after. Look for the agent. Now, it'd be funny to watch, you know, outside how many people are swarming the folks with gray hair. That'd be awesome. Do it every Sunday. Look for the same person that you say that has a friendly, dignified, gentle smile and try to learn more about how they became beautiful in their old age. You can't do that if you're not present. A faithful disciple, a good disciple is faithful, available, teachable. Be present. We need help growing up. Notice the next category, older, Women. Older men. Older women. They just have that one positive calling, that one positive charge. Reverence in behavior. And this is also a word picture. Fitting of the temple. You don't go into holy space and act casual. No, the temple was a place where there was reverence. The temple was a place where you're aware of your words and actions and thoughts and desires. There's a reverence. There's a godliness. They've learned how to live their life Coram Deo. I mean, they realize that their real audience is God himself. They're seeking to live a life before the face of God. They're seeking to live a life where they've practiced and practiced and learned how to be beautiful in the eyes of God and therefore exemplifying true beauty to all because they're living for Christ. Now then there's two negatives, not slanders. And this just makes sense. The tongue that is tearing down. The word here for slander is the same for the devil and accusing or diabolical. Not a slander, not someone speaking evil. Well, that's not reverent. You can't speak evil of others and gossip and tear it down and then bless your God. And then not throwing too much wine. There's no loose behavior. The fourth one is teacher of what is good. It's not a true verb, teach. She is to be a teacher of what is good. It's important to see the structure here. She's reverent. She set her mind and her heart on what is good, and that is God. And that's what qualifies her to actually be a teacher of what is good. And there's two purposes. She's to be a teacher of what is good. There is something unique here for Christianity at this point. We all do realize that women were not invited to be disciples of great philosophers. Jesus invited women to be disciples. Jesus invited women to use their hearts and their minds for the grace of God, for the glory of God. Jesus invites this privilege, image-bearing opportunity for women that the culture did not do, and that is to know what is good so that you can actually teach what is good. They're gonna teach what is good with a purpose. The older women are gonna teach what is good so that they could train the young women. Here it is clearly a generational emphasis. Those who are reverent and have had a life committed to what is good or to teach what is good so that young women know how to live the good life. It's a stewardship. This is a high calling. There's another purpose. That the word of God may not be reviled. There's a way in which older women have learned to trust and meditate upon and memorize and then apply the word of God in these very difficult homes. The younger women are trained. The younger women learn to live a life that doesn't revile, blaspheme the word of God. Young people, we all learn one way or the other. There's two basic camps, two basic ways to learn. There's trial and error, which is gonna happen. Well, there's wisdom. We will all learn through trial and error, and it is a costly education. There's another way. Seeking wisdom from those who have gone before us. It's a better way. I want to point out here that the pastor is to expect the older men to live this way, and the pastor is to expect and equip the younger women to live this way, and the pastor is called to expect and equip the younger men to live this way. But notice, I appreciate how clearly it is that There are things I'm not supposed to teach and the younger woman to say, praise God for that. That's where it's so practical and clear. Why would I want to get in the home and handle this wisdom on submitting to husbands and caring for children for a wife whenever she has such a great resource and an older godly woman? I also love the fact that it's just Pastor, stay away from the younger women. Love your own wife. Younger women, what's expected of you? Now this is what's logically following. There is a way in which I should be and pastors should be teaching what this is and older women go and help apply it, help explain it, help model it. Here's the Word of God and here's what I do as a pastor. I walk through and explain what this means to equip you. There is something we need to just point out very clearly about what is expected of a younger woman. The home is central in everything he says. It begins with love, husbands, and children. It ends with submit to your own husbands, and in the middle, working at home. There is a priority of the home here when it comes to young women. Now we need to step back and ask a very important question so that we are postured properly to hear the word of God. Are you ready? Are you ready? Alright, alright, I don't, that was so unconvincing. Two options. Is Paul reducing a woman to her role in the home? That's one option. Or is Paul elevating the honor and dignity of the home? What's he doing? The way we look at this text and approach it with our pre-understanding is going to change the way we appreciate it or not. Is Paul reducing the role of the woman to the home? Is Christ reducing the role of the woman to the home? Or is he elevating the honor and dignity of the home and saying, woman, I fit you. be in the home, which is one of my two institutions that I promise will be here until I come back, and it's an institution that God blesses. The world rages against God, His anointed, His church, and the home. We need to realize that these teachings are making it clear the home is a special privileged, powerful training ground. The home is a place where God is honored because it is a place of dignity and truth if we treat it properly. A quick theology of the home. If we go to Genesis 2, Genesis 2, 24 is a verse that is, I think, clearly sanctifying the home. The man shall leave his father and mother and he shall be joined to that wife. They shall leave in cleave. They are one flesh, that is the beginning of the home. Notice Genesis 2.24, that is the last declaration of goodness before sin. The home is created as something good in the good creation before sin. It's the last thing. There's this great climactic way in which God orders the creation order of man, it's not good yet, you need a helper, and then the woman is brought to him, and there's a great praise for God. The home is blessed. Deuteronomy 6, 4. That is one of the most important verses in the entirety of the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament. Here, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. And then it goes on to talk about we should love God, and the home is the beginning point and the foundational place in which we teach the one God. And then we see in the epistles, the home is always in view. Here, the home is in view. Ephesians 5, there's a household order. How wives and husbands and parents and children should conduct themselves. Ephesians 5, Colossians 3. The home is a place ordained by God. It is a worthy investment. It is not meant to be read that men should not be invested in the home. We can go elsewhere in scripture and know that. Men are supposed to be the leaders of the home. Men are supposed to be taking primary responsibility for the home. Why that's not said here, I don't know. But we know from all the scripture that men are supposed to be committed to the home. Here, the emphasis for us to meditate upon is how women should know how to commit themselves to the home. I do wanna maybe do a hypothesis here. Why is this emphasized? I'm gonna throw out a possible hypothesis, right? A possibility. In 1 Peter 3, Peter gives instructions for the household order, wives and husbands. And one of the startling things Peter says there at the end is, and it's charged to women, wives, do not fear what is frightening. There's an amazing honesty in that statement. There's an amazing pastoral moment that Peter takes as he's talking to wives. What does he mean, do not fear what is frightening? I think he's fully recognizing that the charge for wives to have to submit to a husband is frightening. I've got three daughters. One day some dude is going to woo one of them away and she's going to submit to that guy. And that's frightening. My wife has to submit to me. That's frightening. There's a hypothetical here of just recognizing a human submitting to another human is frightening. The reality, though, is every Christian submits. There is no way or no world in which we don't submit. The call here is not to point out the woman's inferiority. The call is to point out the woman's importance in her role in the home. If you have questions about that, please don't let them fester or linger. Please come talk to me or I know, don't talk to me, talk to one of our wonderful older men or women afterwards. One of the great lies of our culture, one of the commandments of men, the myths that we're supposed to silence is this. The happy life is one free of consequence and commitments. The happy life is free of all consequences and commitments. That's why people don't grow up. That's what the sexual revolution since 1960s has been pushing. And what is it left in its wake? More drug use. More depression. More loneliness. More broken homes. Commitment. Godly, focused, promise-making, promise-keeping commitment. That's God's way to help us grow up. The whole world lies, you need to be free. Jesus says you are most free when you are bound in me. Notice here, the first charge, the women need to be trained to love their husbands and children. I kind of want to back up here. That's an odd way for us to talk about love. Love, and the way we talk about it, is usually something we fall into by accident. How do you train something you fall into? Talk about two different kinds of love. Love is a powerful affection that we do choose to put on people or things or God. There's a way in which we can be trained in love. We can be disciplined in love. We can practice love. If you are not being trained in love, if you are not disciplining love, your heart is just going wild and you can feel the full effects of it. It's an unruly life. There's a way in which we can discipline our affections, we can train and be trained in what we love. Pure. This is a high calling. Matthew 5.8, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. The purity with which we live blesses us as we put off sin so that we might see God. We've sung about that. It's not lowering women. There's a high position, invitation to Hold your Creator and Savior. All right, now this phrase that we've all been waiting on, working at home. What does that mean? Does this mean that a woman cannot have work outside of the home? That is how some have used it, and I do not believe that is what Paul intends. Let me state that very clearly so that there is not misunderstanding. I do not believe Paul is saying this is negating women from working outside the home. So what does it mean? Well, this is where we need to let scripture interpret scripture. One of the great texts for women, Proverbs 31. That's actually a text to show men what kind of wife you should be looking for, and I think it's a text that shows women what kind of wife you should want to become. Well, that wife, according to verse 13, works with her willing hands. She's a laborer. She's going out and buying fields. She's a real estate investor. She's planting vineyards. She sells her garments to the merchants. She's a designer and in sales. I believe this is much more about the character and the priority. I don't believe what Paul's doing here is drawing a line and saying you cannot work outside of the home. I believe he's making a target. Make the home a priority, the priority. Working outside of the home comes second to making sure the home is a place of honor and dignity and glorifying God. If there's a negation, it's that women do not negate the home. It's not saying you can't work outside of it, it just says you cannot work outside of it in a way that negates it or does it focus on it. Again, the home is an honorable place, a place ordained by God. The last command here, we'll look for women, submission, that they would submit to their own husbands. At one level, there is a protection here, the submission of a A younger woman is to their own husbands, not to every man. Submission is a word that's used throughout scripture, and submission happens when there's disagreement. Submission is, I will show deference when there is a disagreement. Submission is, I recognize that God has given you the responsibility of making significant decisions, and I'm going to do my job. I'm going to help when you ask for my help. And I'm going to trust that God will use you to lead this home in the right way according to how he's going to use you. We all submit to somebody. We all should be showing deference, actually, to one another. And here, submission isn't that he gets to rule you because everybody's authority has limits. The whole point here is that the husband is the one who has to be responsible fully, finally, for the home. That's what that is assuming. Her submission is trusting God in that He is responsible for making final decisions where the Word of God does not give clear instruction. Women who are not married, what does this mean for you? The calling is to put on Christ's character. The code of discipleship is for all men and all women to put off sin, to put on Christ, to put on purity, to put on kindness. Obviously, there's a different relationship because there's not a husband to love, there's not a husband to submit to, so what does this mean? Let me be very clear. If you're not married, your completion, your being a whole person doesn't happen when you get married. It happens when you believe in Christ and you're united with him. If you're looking for peace and security, marriage does have a earthly kind of security. But if you're looking for the peace and joy and wholeness that God has promised in his word, it only comes through one relationship and it's with Jesus Christ. Marriage just helps us see our sins so we can repent more. Marriage is a way that gives security in this earth There's a benefit of being unmarried, and it's that you can give more attention to Christ and his church. Church, there's a call here that I'll make sure is clear. We should be a place that provides security for those who feel insecure. This should be a place for training and love and kindness and security, and that means we're all growing up to be stable, a faithful body. Regarding young men. Regarding young men. The one thing, self-control. Let's be honest, if young men could do this, we'd all be happier. If we all could do this, the world would be such an amazing place. Self-control. Now self-control needs to be clearly defined, and we look down to verse 12. I'll read verse 11 for context. 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. Notice the gospel. The grace of God has appeared. The solution, the means to self-control, it has appeared. It comes from outside. Well, how does it happen? Well, we're trained to first put off what's wrong with us inside. our ungodly passions, our worldly desires. As we put those off, we become more self-controlled. Now, that's interesting because we live in a world of self. Self-help, self-esteem, self-identity. Self-determination or self-determining self-control is not what he's talking about. Because everybody thinks they have self-control. Because they think, we all think, I'm true to myself. How do you know if there's something wrong with yourself that you shouldn't be true to? It's by having a source of truth and goodness and light that says, that's not good. Don't be true to that. The heart is wicked and it's deceptive. Those desires he's talking about, the ungodly worldly passions, he also talks about them in Ephesians as deceptive desires. Being true to what we desire in our own self, that's a certain kind of self-control, but that's not what he's talking about. Now the self-control here begins with submitting to God and letting Him have control. The self-control we're talking about here and elsewhere throughout Titus begins with recognizing the problem is in here. I need to not trust my heart because it's deceptive. I need to trust him who does not lie. That's Titus 1-2. He's the one who makes promises. He's promised that I can grow up. He's promised I can see what's wrong, I can put it off, and I can grow up in Christ. Self-control in the Bible means you actually have a lot of self-doubt. You have a confidence in God's word that says, I will show you the hidden sins. I will protect you from the presumptuous sins. Here's your verse, if you're a child, here's your verse. Proverbs 3, 5, 6. Trust in the Lord, your God, with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your path straight. Lean not on your understanding. Self-control does not come from getting more of yourself. Self-control comes from submitting yourself in all ways to God. This sounds fun. God desires the best version of you. That's true. God desires for you to be the best version of you. God created you to be His image bearer, to know Him, to walk with Him, to be known by Him, to love Him and be loved by Him. He sent His Son to die for us so that we would be able to put away the sin, to have a risen life. He created us for a full, blessed life. To be the best version of you because what we just said in the garden is that God's way wasn't good enough, we would want to figure it out on our own. His one rule not to eat the one tree, the fruit of the one tree, it was too limiting. We'll figure it out. And ever since then we have just caused more destruction and more damage. God in his grace has appeared so that we can actually be who we're supposed to be. By His grace, we can put off sin. By His grace, we can be trained up to be the best version of us, which is being more and more like Christ, the perfect image of God. Here's the two ways to live. This is how I feel, and God needs to agree with me, or this is what God said, how can I make my life more aligned with His word? That's it. Either God needs to agree with us, or we need to ask God, give me the grace to be more like Christ. Deny the sin. Carry the cross. Persevere in the persecution and the trial. Follow Him in obedience. Christ has come to make you complete. Today we've seen the high calling. If you're not a believer, when we look at God's perfect law, we see our sin, and it can overwhelm us with guilt, and here's the truth of the gospel, in that Christ has come to become like us in every way, so that he can die for us in our sin, so he can wash it away, he can take it away, so we no longer have to bear the consequence of sin, which is God's wrath, and we can live a new life. or celebrate a day in baptism is that Natalie has put her faith in Christ. He has united her with himself and so his death took away her sin. His life is now hers to live and enjoy. The best version of you is the most blessed version of you. God gives us blessings and we obey them. When we obey him, we enjoy those blessings. You're a witness. Church, four questions to think about as we conclude. First, we've asked this question once, we'll ask it 50 more times. Where am I withholding obedience and seeking blessing? We cannot say I'm going to disobey you here and still expect God to bless us there. He will not bless disobedience because he's a good God. Second, who am I seeking help from to grow in grace? Can't do it alone, shouldn't do it alone. Who am I seeking help from? Who am I asking? I will be committed to be here at this time on this day and I just want you to share the Bible with me. Open it up, teach me, help me, spend time with me. Who are you seeking help from to grow in grace? Third, who are you helping to grow in grace? It's a whole church effort. It's a whole body effort. Who am I helping to grow grace? Is there somebody who's dependent upon you to just hear regularly a reminder of grace and love and prayer? Am I withholding obedience? Am I seeking help to grow? Am I helping others grow? And then finally, the one we'll look at more next week. Did my neighbors and coworkers see the glory of God in my life? Do I adorn the Word of God or do I revile it? Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for your Word and that you have not left us alone. We thank you for your Word and that you have sent your Son. The Word became flesh, truth perfectly revealed, and yet we still denied him, crucified him, murdered him. and you ordained it, so that by his wounds, we could be healed. By his resurrection, we could be given new life. By his ascension, we can now come before you, Father, in the name of the Son, and we can ask for the grace we need to grow up in Christ. To grow up to gather, to set aside our sin, to put on Christ, to glorify him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As we've been meditating upon the gospel that calls us to grow, I want us to look at the last line of when I survey the wondrous cross. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Will you stand and sing?