1. What we believe will have a strong effect on our behavior.
2. Our creeds will determine our conduct.
• That’s why criminals break in and steal things… they don’t think they will get caught so they go for it anyway.
• That’s why sin seems so attractive to folks, because they don’t believe it will hurt them… until it does.
It brings to light the powerful truths taught to us by Jesus:
Matthew 7.16 "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
Luke 6.45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
• David understood this connection 1000’s of years earlier.
Psalm 19.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
SO SPIRITUAL HEALTH in a believer comes from within.
• The key questions to ask are not, what do you look like on the outside? How do present yourself at church? No rather…
• How’s your heart? How’s your belief? How’s your doctrine?
• Answers to those questions will reveal just how healthy we are.
• The collective answers reveal the health of any given church.
NOW health is a good thing to the human body
• A healthy body will purge out poisons, naturally & powerfully.
• And just as a normal body purges itself of poisons, a healthy church will naturally purge out false doctrines & false teachers.
• So it’s important to find in any local church:
• Sound Doctrine which makes Solid Believers.
• Serious Commitment which leads to Strong Fellowship.
FOR young Pastor Titus, it didn’t’ take long for false teachers to show up in the church there… and they caused serious problems.
• They were creating havoc & confusion among the believers.
• So Paul lays out the solution… giving Titus a few ingredients of what makes a healthy church… He starts with the pastor!
I. (2:1) PASTOR/LEADERS: Sound Doctrine
1. (1) Teach them the truth.
a. This is what you’re to be doing Titus, speaking sound doctrine, feeding the flock, giving them the truth.
b. Surrounded by error, make sure you don’t get sidetracked!
NOW we read in 1st Timothy that there is a time coming…
2 Timothy 4.3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
• People just won’t want sound doctrine. Folks in churches will no longer be interested in BIBLE TEACHING… instead looking for teachers who give them what they want to hear.
• It’s happening all over the country… The Bible no longer being taught, Doctrine not really being emphasized.
• Programs & Policies, Business Models & Church Growth Techniques!
APP: BUT, gang, there’s nothing that will satisfy you more than His Word.
• A walk through Psalm 119 will convince you of that!
• Victory over sin will convince you. Spiritual strength!
• Hearing, studying, drinking in the truths of God.
NOTE: I commend you guys for having ears to hear and taking in Sound Doctrine week after week…
• It’s not just a pastor who can communicate them, but a body of believers who will receive them.
• Teachers require anointed listeners… and you guys sure are!
• That’s what Titus was told to do and now I believe it’s what I’m supposed to do… speak things concerning Sound Teaching.
II. (2.2-8) MEN/WOMEN: Be Obedient
1. (2) Older Men
a. So notice, Sound Doctrine will affect people’s lives.
b. God’s not interested in us becoming people who just have theories… He wants to see His Word in action.
NOW: There’s a place, a need for every age group in the church.
• It’s not enough to start a church and say, we will only reach Generation X or Generation Y or Generation Z.
• There is a great need for mature, older, seasoned believers.
• There is a great blessing in having younger, and newer believers too. The church is a picture of heaven…
• And in heaven there will be GREAT VARIETY for sure!
So OLDER MEN… be:
Sober – the idea of not drunk, but clear headed & sincere.
Reverent – respectful & helpful
Temperate – Exercising self-control; not careless.
Sound in faith, love & Patience – the older men should know what they believe and extend it to those around them that need them.
2. (3-5) Older women.
a. Likewise, the older women in the fellowship have a ministry to fulfill too.
b. Reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine.
NOTE: The older women aren’t to spend their time gossiping & backbiting others in the church or outside of the church.
• Slander & Gossip has literally destroyed so many lives!
• Slander here means, “falsely accusing, opposed to God”
1 Timothy 5.13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.
• Literally: uttering silly foolish or empty things.
• Webster’s: “A person who HABITUALLY reveals personal or sensational facts about others.”
RATHER the older women are to be ‘teachers of good things’.
• Specifically, teaching the younger women to love their husbands.
• Fulfill Ephesians 5, submit to your own husbands.
• Teaching the younger women to be good home makers.
• You know why this is so needed today?
• Because Oprah preaches to millions saying it’s not needed.
• Because Cosmo, and co-workers… are saying it’s not needed.
• The world is crying out to women that being a mom, and loving their husbands, & raising the next generation is old fashioned!
• And, many young women are beginning to believe it!
NOTE: And so our goal has become to teach younger women to be keepers of the home, lovers of their husband, pure & good.
Old Spanish Proverb says, “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. “
I found an interesting recipe for raising children.
1 Cup of Proverbs 22:6
Prov. 22.6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
2 Tablespoons of Proverbs 19:13
Prov. 19.13 A foolish son is the ruin of his father, And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.
A Dash of Proverbs 23:13
Prov. 23.13 Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
1 Teaspoon of Proverbs 3:5
Prov. 3.5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
A full measure Titus 2:3 through 7
Mix all ingredients, add a pound of persistence, one cup of love, and whip until right consistency. This recipe is recommended by the Creator of Mankind. Please add a pinch of Ephesians 6:4.
Eph. 6.4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Billy Graham once said, “Let your home be your parish, your little brood your congregation, your living room a sanctuary, and your knee a sacred altar.”
3. (6-8) Young men and you Titus.
a. Make sure the young men stay sober-minded too.
NOTE: I believe of all things, this is a stern word to not be drunk, to stay away from alcohol. It ruins everything!
• Certainly you can disagree with me, but prayerfully consider the dangers of being under the influence of something other than the Holy Spirit of God!
