Show Notes
Titus 2:7-8
Pastor Stephen Lauer
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] O Lord our God, what wonderful things that you call us to. Justice, goodness, to speak the truth, and to show love and mercy to one another.
[00:00:12] But we confess, O God, that so much of our lives is filled with selfishness and evil desires that lead us in the opposite direction, not to what is good and to you, but to what displeases you.
[00:00:30] We thank you, O Lord, that as the psalm prophesied, not one of his bones was broken, so our Savior went to the cross and died, a whole and complete sacrifice for our sins.
[00:00:48] O Lord our God, we ask that tonight you would quiet our hearts, that you would grant us a sense of your love, your forgiveness, and help us to know that you look upon us in your Son and receive us for his sake.
[00:01:07] So that as we hear your Word and study it together, we might receive it as those who are forgiven, those who are beloved. In fact, that we might receive it as those whom you call to, to come into your presence and to feed on Christ, to receive his words with joy.
[00:01:27] Bless us and help us by your spirit, that your word might be a means of grace to us tonight, that your people would be built up and that we might serve you to your glory and honor, and that all praise would come to Christ our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen.
[00:01:46] Our sermon text this evening is from Titus, chapter two.
[00:01:50] If you want to turn there, Titus two.
[00:01:53] We'll read verse seven and eight together.
[00:02:00] Hear God's word, 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.
[00:02:21] Please be seated.
[00:02:39] We've been looking over the last two months or so at Paul's words that unfold what he says in the first verse of this second chapter, that Titus as a pastor, is to teach what accords with sound doctrine.
[00:02:59] And we've seen how Paul applies this specifically to people, Christians in different situations.
[00:03:09] To the old, to the young, to men and to women. He takes the same gospel, the same sound doctrine, and he applies it to each of us in our specific areas of life. And we've been going through each of these verses carefully.
[00:03:26] And now we've gotten to the part where Paul applies this to pastors. He's applied it to the old men.
[00:03:34] They were supposed to be dignified, sensible, sober, right? The young women, they were to be mothers, to love their husbands, to love their wives and so forth. Very specific to each age and sex. But now he applies this to the pastor.
[00:03:54] As he's taken off the list of different categories, as Paul's thinking about and writing this letter, he says, okay, now I'm going to apply this whole concept, this idea that the Christian is supposed to live in a way and be the kind of person that fits the gospel that he's believed.
[00:04:18] What does that look like for the pastor?
[00:04:21] That's what he's getting at here, that there's a way that pastors are supposed to live and to carry out their teaching ministry that is itself shaped by the gospel. I know that I'm supposed to preach the gospel. That's what I'm supposed to share from the pulpit and share with each of you in private. But Paul is saying that there's a way in which the man and his ministry are to be shaped by the gospel itself, by this sound doctrine. I want to look with you this evening at this is just a part of the Bible's teaching on how the gospel should shape pastors.
[00:05:00] But I want to look with you this evening at the gospel shaped pastor in verses seven and eight of chapter two.
[00:05:10] First, I want to look with you at how the pastor is supposed to be a model, the pastor's model. Secondly, the pastor's teaching and how that should be shaped by the gospel.
[00:05:22] And thirdly, the pastor's opponent.
[00:05:26] There's an opponent that the pastor has and how the gospel should shape his dealing with the opponent.
[00:05:35] So first, the gospel should shape the pastor as a model.
[00:05:42] Now the pastor is first a Christian before he becomes a pastor. And that's at the heart of what's going on here.
[00:05:51] The pastor should be a man whose life has been changed by the gospel. He's heard the gospel. He's come to faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus has taken him and begun to change him.
[00:06:03] Jesus has delivered the Christian out of sin and darkness, not just from the guilt of sin by giving forgiveness to us, but he's taken us out of the power of sin. He's delivering us from the practice of sin.
[00:06:16] And he's taking the Christian pastors and all Christians and he's making us into people that now instead of engaging in sin, live lives full of good works. You find that in chapter two, verse 14, it says that Jesus 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.
[00:06:49] And Paul says the pastor is to be a model of good works. Where does that start? It starts by him being changed through faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:07:00] He's A follower of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus. And that means he needs to be changed. And his life now needs to be one of pursuing good works and turning away from sin, just like every believer.
[00:07:15] But Paul says, now you've accepted the gospel, and now in your calling as a pastor, we take that one step further.
[00:07:27] The gospel for you as a pastor means that you aren't just to practice good works, you're also to model good works. You're to be an example for others in the Christian living.
[00:07:41] Now, there's an important point here.
[00:07:44] It's not just that the pastor is supposed to practice what he preaches.
[00:07:50] It's not just that the pastor is not supposed to be a hypocrite. That's true, too.
[00:07:55] That's true, too. And it isn't just that the pastor isn't supposed to live in sin so that he wouldn't lead people into sin.
[00:08:05] That's also true.
[00:08:07] But what Paul is saying here is very positive.
[00:08:11] It's that the pastor, Titus and all other pastors are supposed to teach God's people, not just with words, but by living out the gospel, by filling our lives, in every area of our lives with good works. Jesus wants his pastors modeling good works for the flock first. Timothy 4:12, Paul says to Timothy, another pastor, he says, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity, or as Paul says it more briefly here in verse seven, in every respect, be a model of good works.
[00:09:01] Now, the pastor's being a model of good works is a gospel matter.
[00:09:07] It's a gospel matter. What do I mean by that? He's been shaped by the gospel so that he might be used to shape others in the gospel. That's what's going on.
[00:09:20] The pastor isn't a moralist.
[00:09:23] He isn't a life coach or a motivational speaker to help you live a better life.
[00:09:31] He's here to model Christ for you. Hopefully, that's what we're supposed to strive at, not so that you would have a better life, but so that you might draw closer to Christ.
[00:09:47] It's about the gospel.
[00:09:50] What does that look like in specifics? It could look like lots of things, just about everything. Because it's in every respect, right, that the pastor is supposed to model good works.
[00:10:00] It could be that the pastor. You see the pastor using his words in a positive, helpful way to build believers up, and you say, wow, I grew up in a home where we used words to tear each other down.
[00:10:14] But now that Jesus has changed me, there's a way I can use my words to edify and to encourage my family members. It might be something like that.
[00:10:24] It might be that if he's being faithful, if he's fulfilling his calling here, that you might see him dealing with difficult people that are hard to deal with. Everybody has those in his life, and some of us are that difficult person.
[00:10:39] Maybe you see the pastor dealing with a difficult person and by God's grace and the power of Christ through the gospel working in his heart, you see him dealing with that person with patience and gentleness and with the grace of Christ. And you say, wow, I haven't seen that before. There's a little glimmer of Jesus in the gospel and I can learn from that. I think this is the sort of thing that Paul is encouraging Titus to and us as pastors too. And you can see it's something all Christians are called to. But pastors are called especially to serve as a model in these things.
[00:11:18] And I would be negligent if I didn't point you especially to one more idea that should be a part of this example.
[00:11:29] You know this. And if you don't know this, you need to hear it. Your pastor is a sinner. That's me, that's Christopher. He'll agree with me. We are sinners and we are great sinners. And because we are great sinners, we need to repent and to turn to Jesus every day. And in our dealings with you, we will sometimes set a bad example. In other words, we might hurt your feelings. We might be impatient with you. We might be impatient sometimes with that difficult person I was just talking about.
[00:11:59] We need to model for you. Repentance, humility, turning from our pride and telling you and telling the person whether it was you or someone else that we wronged. I'm sorry. Would you forgive me?
[00:12:12] I need your forgiveness and I need Jesus forgiveness.
[00:12:16] Yes, we're called to model good works, but we're also called to model repentance and humility and what it's like to turn to Christ when we screw up, which we do all the time.
[00:12:30] So the pastor is supposed to have a gospel shaped life, and that's supposed to serve as a model.
[00:12:36] Let's apply this a little bit first of all to pastors.
[00:12:43] Paul says in First Timothy 4:16, speaking again to a pastor Timothy, he says, take heed to yourself and to your doctrine. Take heed to yourself. That means your living, your good works, your character. Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine. Continue in them.
[00:13:03] For in doing this you will save both yourselves and those who hear you.
[00:13:11] Jesus wants pastors to be diligent in good works, to take heed to ourselves both for our own sake and for the sake of those whom we serve.
[00:13:24] That means we need to be diligent every day in studying both God's Word and our personal living and examining them and saying, am I living up to God's word? Where do I need to repent? Where do I need to seek God's grace to grow so that I might serve the Lord better, honor him better for myself as a Christian, but also so that I might serve my brothers and sisters by my example.
[00:13:53] We're called to devote ourselves to this day in and day out.
[00:14:00] Secondly, how does this apply to you, God's people?
[00:14:04] To quote Paul Again, 1 Thessalonians 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.
[00:14:14] Brethren, pray for us.
[00:14:17] Pray for your pastors. Pray that God would keep us from sin and temptation. Pray that God would keep us diligent and faithful in this calling to devote ourselves to love and good works.
[00:14:30] Pray that God would bless our relationships with you so that we would be able to be a part of your lives and serve as that example and model.
[00:14:40] Brethren, pray for us.
[00:14:43] Secondly, God has given you pastors to set an example for you to model good works.
[00:14:57] You're called to follow that model.
[00:14:59] In what way Follow that example Insofar as we follow Jesus.
[00:15:07] If you see us doing things that look like Jesus, that fit with what you read in God's word, follow our example.
[00:15:18] Jesus has appointed us to be. You see, we all have role models in our lives and pretty much all of us are always following somebody's example.
[00:15:28] Here's an example God's given you at were called to serve you in this way.
[00:15:34] Jesus wants you to follow it.
[00:15:37] Philippians 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example and note those who walk in the Same way or First Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me as I also imitate Christ.
[00:15:58] And if you haven't caught it yet, the point of all of this is not about me and it's not about Christopher. The point of all of this is about Jesus. That's why it's a gospel shaped pastor and a gospel shaped ministry. It's about leading you to Jesus.
[00:16:15] We want you to follow him, not us ultimately. So where you see us following him, follow along so that you would be led to to him.
[00:16:26] First, the pastor's model.
[00:16:28] You can see how that's to be shaped by the gospel. Secondly, the pastor's Teaching, ministry. Our teaching and preaching is also to be shaped by the gospel.
[00:16:40] It needs to fit with sound doctrine. Now maybe you're wondering how does this work?
[00:16:48] Isn't he supposed to be preaching the gospel?
[00:16:52] That's the heart of his teaching. How in the world is that supposed to be shaped by the gospel?
[00:17:02] Look at what he says in your teaching. Show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned as you go to teach, teach with integrity, dignity and use sound words.
[00:17:20] The things that you're doing and as you do them need to be shaped by the gospel.
[00:17:30] We're to teach with integrity.
[00:17:33] A clumsy word in English, but a closer word to the original is that the teaching is to be uncorruptible.
[00:17:45] Integrity means, on the one hand, no compromise, nothing that would compromise the teaching of the Gospel.
[00:17:54] On the other hand, the teaching needs to be carried out in a sincere fashion. That is our motives and our reasons. What's driving us to teach? Even though we're teaching the gospel, we could do so with the wrong motives.
[00:18:09] That's a way that we could lack integrity.
[00:18:12] We need to not compromise and to teach with the right motives.
[00:18:18] Paul adds to this dignity that we need to have a seriousness or a gravity about ourselves as we teach the gospel.
[00:18:29] And sound speech or sound words is probably the easiest part to understand that we use the word of God in our teaching. That what we're teaching, the words we're using, the ideas we're conveying to you, need to come from the Bible.
[00:18:46] Why does Paul say all of this?
[00:18:50] Well, what happens as pastors carry out our ministry is that we're tempted in all sorts of directions.
[00:18:58] Think about the motives.
[00:19:00] We stand up here week after week. It's very easy for us as sinners to become compromised in our motives.
[00:19:11] We're men, we have selfish desires. We want to see ourselves do well with people and in our careers perhaps. And that begins to motivate us in a more earthly, self serving direction.
[00:19:26] We want to please the people that we're preaching to, right?
[00:19:31] We want people to like us. We have to stand in front of you day after day, week after week, Right?
[00:19:37] It's a lot easier when people like you, we become people pleasers. We want the. It's related. We want the pews to be full.
[00:19:48] Maybe we come to desire a legacy for ourselves that when we retire we can look back and go. I served a large congregation that grew and flourished under my ministry. We built beautiful buildings, we did all sorts of things. It was popular, I was successful.
[00:20:07] What's motivating there? Pride Self serving ideas.
[00:20:16] That's compromise. That's a lack of sincerity in teaching.
[00:20:20] You can go a different direction though as you get to know people and you work with people, particularly groups of people. And I'm not the first to observe this.
[00:20:32] You realize very quickly that people are very easy to manipulate.
[00:20:38] It's easy to manipulate groups of people like yourselves to achieve our goals.
[00:20:46] In Paul's day, he talks about this. If you look at 1st Corinthians, chapter 3, 4, 2 Corinthians, 3 and 4.
[00:20:55] In Paul's day there were great orders.
[00:20:59] Marvelous public speakers. You can go read their speeches. You can read the manuals of rhetoric from the Greeks and the Romans.
[00:21:10] Marvelous public speakers that could move groups of people, whole cities and societies to go to war, to do this or to do that.
[00:21:22] People can be moved powerfully to emotion and to action.
[00:21:29] And in our day we're no less immune.
[00:21:35] We live in a day where communication has been finely developed.
[00:21:41] Advertising, marketing, television, movies.
[00:21:45] It's a combination of art and science that you can go to school and study.
[00:21:51] They've carefully studied how words affect emotions and psychology. And they've learned to use all of these things to manipulate people, groups of people as well as individuals.
[00:22:04] And it's very tempting, particularly once you're goals have become less than sincere and compromised, to then begin to compromise how you preach the gospel.
[00:22:18] And so preachers begin to tamper with the gospel message. We remove the little things here and there that maybe aren't going to go over so well, the stuff we think people don't want to hear. And then we begin to adopt the tools and the strategies of oratory.
[00:22:37] If we're a little more tasteful or of marketing and advertising, if we're a little more crass, people leave our sermons feeling good. They feel like they got something, they come back again and again, more people join them.
[00:22:51] But guess what's not happening?
[00:22:54] People aren't being led to Christ.
[00:23:01] You can see how very easily pastors can fall away from gospel shaped preaching and why our teaching needs to show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned.
[00:23:17] What does gospel preaching look like? Gospel shaped preaching look like?
[00:23:23] Well, there's this dignity business.
[00:23:27] The preaching needs to reflect the weightiness of the message and of the person, the king, who we represent. Every time we stand up here and speak, we speak in Jesus name as his messengers.
[00:23:42] We need to carry ourselves with dignity.
[00:23:45] No cheap tricks for us.
[00:23:49] Pastors themselves need to teach as men who've been changed by the gospel.
[00:23:57] Jesus came to set us free from sins.
[00:24:01] He came to set us free from man pleasing and the fear of man. He came to set us free from worldliness, from being self serving and from seeking earthly goals to gratify ourselves and build ourselves up.
[00:24:18] Jesus came to set us free from that. That means we in our ministry need to be shaped by being set free from those things.
[00:24:27] We're called to integrity, dignity and sincerity in gospel preaching.
[00:24:34] The very beginning of Titus, chapter one. You may remember last fall we looked at how Paul laid out the gospel aims. I'm sorry, the aims of the gospel ministry.
[00:24:45] The faith of the elect, the knowledge that accords with godliness and the hope of eternal life. That in all of our preaching and ministry we are aiming at those things.
[00:24:57] That you would come to faith, that you would come to know God better and you would live in godliness and that you would be built up in the hope of eternal life. When those are our aims, you see, we set those other things aside.
[00:25:17] The Gospel speaks to men about life and death, about rebellion against God, and about Jesus the King who comes to crush that rebellion and to reconcile sinners to God.
[00:25:32] That's weighty stuff.
[00:25:36] When we talk about those things, we're called to talk and speak to the consciences of men and women.
[00:25:44] That means we need to speak to you plainly with words that you can understand.
[00:25:50] Not to manipulate, not to move your emotions, not to help you feel better about yourself. So you'll come back to hear us again.
[00:25:58] No, we need to speak plainly to you about these things so that the Spirit can work on your heart and God would have his way with you, not me. And my motives and and aims and teaching needs to be in sound speech.
[00:26:16] Why?
[00:26:17] Because sound speech or sound word, it's the word for word here. Sound words are the words of Jesus.
[00:26:27] That's what Paul is saying. First Timothy 6:3. Paul says that we need to use the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:26:40] Paul says, Titus, when you reach for something to speak about, when you have ideas you want to present to God's people, you reach for Jesus words.
[00:26:51] If the example you follow and present to the people is to be the example of Jesus Christ, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Then when you go to teach, teach them Jesus words.
[00:27:02] That's what he's saying. Jesus was the greatest teacher that ever lived. He came and he revealed the teaching and wisdom of heaven itself.
[00:27:12] Jesus came from heaven and he revealed the Father and his will to men.
[00:27:19] In him was life and the life was the light of men.
[00:27:22] As people came to know Jesus, the darkness was Driven out of their hearts. And they came to know God the Father through the Son.
[00:27:31] And he did that through his preaching as he went around speaking the word of life to men and women.
[00:27:39] Paul says as preachers of the gospel, you use sound words, Jesus words.
[00:27:47] Why?
[00:27:48] Because if you use Jesus words, you will lead men to Jesus and they will be saved.
[00:27:58] Think about it this way.
[00:28:00] Nothing else leads people to Jesus.
[00:28:05] Nothing else will do it. This is the only thing. His words lead you to him.
[00:28:15] There's gospel shaped preaching and it comes with a gospel shaped warning sound words that cannot be condemned.
[00:28:32] Pastors are saved by Jesus.
[00:28:35] They're called by him. They're called to serve him. They're called to give his words to his people.
[00:28:46] And there's one thing that pastors should be concerned about. As we go to preach to you.
[00:28:53] We should not be concerned about what you're going to think about what we're going to say.
[00:28:58] We are to be concerned with pleasing our Master so that we would not be condemned.
[00:29:10] What matters is not to aim to please you. What matters is that we aim to please our Master.
[00:29:20] We're called to preach so that we would not be condemned not by you, but by Jesus.
[00:29:28] One day we're going to stand before our King and we will give an account for every careless word that we speak. Now if you know what I'm talking about, Jesus says that's true of every person, but it's especially true of every preacher who stands and claims to speak in Jesus name.
[00:29:51] We will stand before Jesus and give an account for every careless word that we spoke in his name from his pulpit.
[00:30:00] We're called to aim to please the King with our words. And if we do so, not only will he be pleased with our sound speech but but you will be edified and built up and led to him and all glory will come to Jesus.
[00:30:20] You pray with me.
[00:30:25] Our gracious God and our Savior, we thank you for the great mercy and love that you have shown us.
[00:30:36] That you took us miserable rotten sinners, wallowing in our sin, delighting in our sin, going further and further into it.
[00:30:49] You took us and you had compassion on us.
[00:30:53] And you came and did what no one else would do or could do on the cross. You died for sinners so that you might take us out of that muck and mud and wash us clean in your blood.
[00:31:10] Lord Jesus, we thank you that because you suffered and died you are now our King and you have purchased us with your blood and we belong to you.
[00:31:20] Lord Jesus. We ask that you would pour out on your church gifts, we read that you have ascended on high and given gifts to men.
[00:31:36] We ask that you would bless this congregation and your church all around the world with men who will serve your church faithfully as pastors, as elders, who will lead your people by godly example and with sound words that cannot be condemned.
[00:32:00] Through Jesus, we confess that we are all sinners. And we who are pastors confess the great depths of our sin.
[00:32:10] We fail in every area that we have just heard about from your word.
[00:32:15] We so often lack diligence.
[00:32:17] We lack a concern for you and for your people. We so often lack sincerity in our motives, and we constantly fail to do good works.
[00:32:32] Lord Jesus, we ask that you would forgive us and help us to serve you faithfully. Raise us up out of our sin and carry us forward that in your strength as pastors and elders, but as Christians and believers, all of us, raise us up so that we might serve you with love and with fear.
[00:32:56] Fill our hearts with joy that we would see the life that you've laid before us, the great freedom that you have bought for us and brought us into, that we would feel in our hearts the power of your spirit and that new life surging in our veins, and that we would go forth serving you faithfully.
[00:33:22] Lord Jesus, we thank you that all of this depends upon you and your almighty power and that you are motivated by your infinite love and so you will do what is best for us and exactly what we need.
[00:33:37] We thank you and our hope is in you. Amen.
