Show Notes
Titus 2:1-2
Pastor Stephen Lauer
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Our gracious Lord and Savior.
[00:00:04] How we thank youk that in youn mercy youy not only deliver us from sin, but yout remain patient with us.
[00:00:16] You know that we are still weak because of the sin that indwells us.
[00:00:24] Our nature is still corrupted and we are often like little children, or like sheep, as you call us.
[00:00:37] We fumble about, we wonder, and we cause all sorts of trouble for ourselves and others around us.
[00:00:47] So we thank youk that in youn mercy youy lead us.
[00:00:53] You, Lord Jesus, are the good shepherd, and having purchased us with your blood and gathered us to yourself, you will not let us go, but you promise to lead us in this life and to carry us through it safely, that you might lead us into everlasting life.
[00:01:15] We thank you then for your Word, which is a lamp to our path.
[00:01:21] It shows us where you would have us go, how you would have us live, what you would have us believe.
[00:01:28] We ask then now that you would, by your spirit, open our hearts as we meditate on your word.
[00:01:35] That we would understand it, that you would clear away our doubts and confusion, and that you would show us clearly what it is that the Lord Jesus is doing in us and for us.
[00:01:53] We thank you for him.
[00:01:55] And we thank you that we have his promise to complete the good work that he has begun in us.
[00:02:03] For the last day.
[00:02:06] Hear our prayers for Jesus sake. Amen.
[00:02:16] Sermon text is from Titus chapter two.
[00:02:20] We made it.
[00:02:23] Titus chapter two. We're going to read verse one and two together.
[00:02:35] Hear God's word. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
[00:02:41] Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self controlled, sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness. As far as God's word. Please be seated.
[00:03:11] There are things in life that aren't just don't quite fit right.
[00:03:16] And then there are other things that are good and proper. You look at it, you say that's the way things ought to be.
[00:03:26] That happens in all sorts of settings in life. It could have to do with how we dress. It could have to do with the way a person speaks or how he carries himself in particular settings or circumstances.
[00:03:38] It could have to do with how you decorate your living room. Boy, that fits. Or maybe that's not quite right.
[00:03:47] Here's a couple maybe silly examples of things that don't fit.
[00:03:53] If you wore a suit and tie to a pool party, that just wouldn't fit, would it? You'd say that's in almost a silly way, that's not proper.
[00:04:06] What would be proper would be to Wear a swimsuit, right?
[00:04:12] Or other clothing along those lines.
[00:04:17] Something else that really doesn't fit would be an older gentleman, maybe a man in his 80s, say.
[00:04:29] If he were to be giggling and babbling in words that don't quite make sense, if he were to babble like you would expect a two year old to now, maybe you might think it'd be kind of jarring, right? It wouldn't be fitting or appropriate. It's not proper on so many levels, right?
[00:04:57] Maybe it's okay for an 85 year old gentleman to be silly every now and then, but to behave like a two year old. After all, that's that. How many of us have heard that expression from our parents or used it with our children, with, you know, with a 12 year old or a teenager. Stop acting like a 2 year old.
[00:05:18] It's not proper, it's not fitting, it's not right.
[00:05:23] There's things in life, you get this now, right, that are appropriate or fitting.
[00:05:29] And Paul tells Titus as a pastor that he is to teach his congregation the things that are appropriate, the things that accord with the things that are proper or fitting for sound doctrine.
[00:05:46] That's what I want to look at with you this evening, what Paul has to say about the things that are fitting or proper for sound doctrine that Titus and pastors today are to teach.
[00:06:00] What is proper, proper for Christians.
[00:06:04] We'll look at that under three headings. Our three points this evening will be proper teaching, proper teaching.
[00:06:12] Secondly, proper character, proper character, and thirdly, a proper heart.
[00:06:20] Proper teaching, proper character and a proper heart.
[00:06:27] Titus is to teach the things that are proper and that begins with the proper or fitting teaching. Speak what is proper for sound doctrine or what, as our translation says it, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
[00:06:47] Now, Paul and Titus came to the island of Crete. They went around and they preached sound doctrine. They preached the gospel. They gathered these new Christians who heard the gospel and believed. They gathered them into congregations. And Titus work was to finish organizing those congregations, training and appointing elders. We've read about and looked at all of that.
[00:07:09] But here Paul tells Titus that he is to keep doing that.
[00:07:14] The very thing that he began with teaching sound doctrine, he's to keep doing that.
[00:07:21] It wasn't just good enough to start with it to bring people to faith in Christ, but that as a pastor he had to continue teaching sound doctrine. We looked over the last couple of weeks at one truth in particular by which Paul summarized the true Gospel.
[00:07:40] You find it there in chapter two, verse 15, where he says to the pure, all things are pure. We saw that this had to do with how a sinner had to be purified of his sins and impurities, purified through Jesus and his sacrifice, so that he could come into God's presence. And once he had been purified by Christ and his work through faith in Christ, then he could live a pure life.
[00:08:09] That's sound doctrine that Titus was to inculcate God's people with, to teach and instruct them in that Jesus is the way of salvation, that purity and everything we need comes as Christ works in us and as we receive him and his work through faith. Titus is to continue teaching this sound doctrine.
[00:08:33] And he adds the word sound. Why we hear that and we might think that Paul's talking about sound doctrine over against error, something that's not quite right. There's parts of the doctrine, but there's mistakes in it. Well, that wouldn't be sound doctrine. That's true.
[00:08:52] But he calls it sound doctrine here with reference to what you might call the end result or the effects that this teaching produces in the people who hear it and believe it.
[00:09:07] It's sound not just because it's faithful and true, but it's sound because it makes the person who receives it sound. In other words, the effects in the person. It makes him healthy.
[00:09:21] The word sound here is being used in the way that we talk about a person. When he goes to write his will, he says, the being of sound mind and body. I write this will, right.
[00:09:31] It's. It's a. The idea of healthy, that sound doctrine is a thing that results in health, soundness in the person who receives it and believes it.
[00:09:46] So Titus is to instruct God's people in sound doctrine, doctrine that results in healthy Christians.
[00:09:54] And as he teaches them the doctrine that results in healthy Christians, he's to instruct them in what is fitting for sound doctrine. In other words, for those who have received sound doctrine like Paul. Titus ministry doesn't end with men coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:10:16] It isn't that's the beginning, but there's the whole Christian life ahead of the believer.
[00:10:23] You've been purified by faith. Now you have to continue in that purity. You have to learn to live as God's people.
[00:10:31] And we saw this was one of Paul's ministry aims. You look back at the beginning of chapter one, where Paul laid out the aims for his ministry. He said that he aimed at the faith of God's elect, them coming to saving faith, and then also the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with Godliness, that people, God's people, would grow in their knowledge of the truth so that in such a way that it would result in godly living.
[00:11:04] Godliness is what is fitting or proper for sound doctrine.
[00:11:11] It's appropriate that those who've had their sins forgiven and who've had their hearts changed by the Holy Spirit, that they should live in godliness.
[00:11:24] Maybe an example here would be helpful. We looked at some examples already. But an example of what's proper or fitting of someone who's in a particular role.
[00:11:37] Now, if you're an officer in the U.S. army, there's certain things that you're called to do and other things that you're not supposed to do. And both of them have to do with who and what you are as an officer in the military. You have authority, you have duties, you have responsibility to lead other men in war, in battle. That's a heavy responsibility.
[00:12:00] And because of that, there's things that officers in their own personal life and how they carry themselves and speak to others, things that they're allowed to do and not allowed to do. There's a whole set of rules they have to follow.
[00:12:14] But then there's this catch all rule that if they break this catch all rule, then they get charged with. You've probably heard the phrase conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
[00:12:29] There's this whole category of speech and of behavior that officers can't engage in because it's unbecoming them as officers and gentlemen. It's not fitting or proper for them. And of course, on the positive side, there's ways that they're supposed to speak. They're supposed to set an example for the men whom they lead and so on.
[00:12:52] Paul is saying here that there's a way that's becoming for Christians who've been changed by the Holy Spirit, who, who've been purified through faith in Christ. There's a way that is fitting and proper for them to live.
[00:13:05] You can think of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. So the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, this is in a way what Jesus focuses on in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 4, he starts preaching the Gospel. He calls men to repent. There's these disciples that begin following him. He takes them up on the mountain. In Matthew chapter five and, and then five, six and seven, he teaches them how a disciple in his kingdom is to live.
[00:13:34] It's not just good enough that you don't murder people. But he says, in my kingdom, my disciples, who I've forgiven, whom I'VE saved.
[00:13:43] My disciples aren't to be angry with each other.
[00:13:46] It's not just good enough that my disciples not commit adultery, but I also don't want them lusting after other women.
[00:13:56] It's not just good enough that they not take vengeance.
[00:14:05] But he says, I also want them to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. You see what Jesus is doing there? He's instructing us as his disciples, how what's proper and what's fitting for us as those who've been saved, forgiven and changed. How it is that we're called to live before him as Jesus did, as Paul did. So Paul instructs Titus to do, and Titus as the motto. Pastors today are to follow him. We don't just tell you the way of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ. We're also called from the Scripture to show you how to live as Christians. What's proper and fitting.
[00:14:48] Now, it isn't just this general principle.
[00:14:52] There are ways in which all Christians are to live, no matter who you are, boy or girl, man or woman, young or old.
[00:15:02] But Jesus teaching, we know, reaches the whole person.
[00:15:07] He says, the first and great commandment is that you are to love the Lord your God, who with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your might, your whole being, is to be engaged in service and love to God.
[00:15:26] And people are different, even as Christians have a great many things that we share. We're all people. We're all made in God's image. We're all called to love and forgive and so on.
[00:15:38] We're all sinners who've been saved.
[00:15:41] There's also differences amongst Christ's disciples. Some are men, some are women, some are little children, some are young people, and some are old people.
[00:15:52] And each of us has different circumstances and walks of life.
[00:15:57] And what you see Paul doing here with Titus is telling Titus that he is to give specific instructions to Christians in their different, specific contexts. So if you glance over the next few verses here in Titus chapter two, he tells Titus to instruct Christians both by different age groups and by their sexes, whether they're men or women. So he speaks to old men, old women, then young men, young women, and then to Titus as a pastor, and then to those who work for other servants.
[00:16:38] Paul gives examples of people in various kinds of situations because he wants pastors to take God's word and apply it to people in all different walks and situations of life.
[00:16:53] Now, there's something very important that we can all draw from this.
[00:16:58] This tells us that there is no area of our lives, no time in our life which is exempt from Christ's call to godliness in obedience.
[00:17:11] No matter who you are, where you are, how young or old, whatever your circumstances of life, Jesus has a call on your life in that moment. Always think about it this way.
[00:17:26] Jesus didn't just purchase part of you, he purchased all of you.
[00:17:32] Your whole person, body and soul, your whole life, from beginning to end. All of it filled with sin. All of it he purchased and forgave.
[00:17:45] All of it at all times belongs to him.
[00:17:50] And he wants you to live it in a way that pleases him that's fitting as one forgiven in Christ.
[00:17:58] So our whole life is to be lived in a manner that's proper or fitting for sound doctrine.
[00:18:07] Proper doctrine, teaching. Secondly, proper character.
[00:18:13] In his list, we said there's a list of people of different situations, ages, and so on. Paul addresses the old men first.
[00:18:21] Now, if you look at the things he says about old men, you'll immediately see these are things that really apply to all believers, right? He says they're to be sober minded, dignified, self controlled. They'd have faith, love and patience. If you look at other places in the Bible, you see these are, these aren't just for old men. These are for all Christians.
[00:18:44] Well, what he's doing here is, I don't know if this works.
[00:18:49] It's a bit like, have you ever seen Russian nesting dolls?
[00:18:54] They're, they're nested. So there's the doll on the outside with a face that's painted. And then you open it up and there's another doll inside and, and you can open that one and so on till you get the littlest one.
[00:19:05] Most of these things he says to each of these groups of believers is for all Christians. But in a way he starts with the oldest who set the example for all the other believers. And so we're kind of looking at that outer Russian nesting doll, you might say. And so that's kind of his approach here.
[00:19:28] So you see there already, we've already hinted. One of the reasons he starts with the old men is because they serve naturally as examples for all other believers.
[00:19:39] But if you look at the things that he calls out regarding old men that they are to be, these are things that are particularly appropriate for old men.
[00:19:49] The older men should be maturing in their Christian faith and in godly character. In other words, they're going to be serving the Lord Jesus for many years. They've got a lot of life experience and they should have A lot of experience living out the Christian life.
[00:20:07] With that ordinarily would come some maturity.
[00:20:12] The things that he talks about here in particular are things that take some time to develop in terms of character traits, to become dignified. You start out a toddler, not very dignified, you fall over, you babble, you say and do things that are silly. It's appropriate for a toddler. But it takes many years to grow up to become dignified, right?
[00:20:33] It takes time to develop patience, little children, again, not very patient.
[00:20:40] But after many, many, many years of living the Christian life, you've had many opportunities to grow in patience. So he chooses things that are appropriate for older men to have grown and matured in.
[00:20:55] As believers, we'll take each of the three character traits that he encourages older men to grow in. We'll take each of them in turn. He says that old men are to be sober minded, dignified, self controlled. These are all things that have to do with a man's character. Again, remember in the back of your mind the things that all Christians are called to.
[00:21:21] But he chooses older men to focus on them with because of their particular point in life and the example that they serve for the rest of the congregation. So really it's for all of us.
[00:21:35] The word sober here, or sober minded, much like our English word, sober has kind of two meanings. It's got the literal meaning that you're not drunk, you're not under the influence of alcohol.
[00:21:51] But here it's used in that broader sense you might call the figurative sense. One who's not drunk with alcohol is sober.
[00:21:59] And one who's sober minded is a clear headed, clear minded, a clear thinker, not under the influence of all sorts of things. That's the root idea that Paul's getting at here, is that older men should have grown and are called to grow and demonstrate this kind of clear thinking. Clear headedness.
[00:22:22] What's the opposite? Well, lots of things can cloud our minds and our judgment, right?
[00:22:29] Particularly our passions.
[00:22:32] Bitterness, anger, jealousy, fear, all sorts of fears. Fear of man, fear of problems in life.
[00:22:40] These can all very quickly cloud our thinking in our mind.
[00:22:46] But we're called to clear headedness to be sober.
[00:22:51] How does that come about?
[00:22:56] A mind and heart that are purified by the work of the Holy Spirit as he applies Jesus work to our hearts and minds, he can purge our hearts and minds, clear them out of the things that cloud them.
[00:23:13] He can purify them of drunkenness, literal drunkenness, but he can purify them of all sorts of other passions, things that would cloud our minds.
[00:23:26] The man in view here then is a man who has grown and should be growing in by the power of the Holy Spirit, growing in this clear thinking, clear mindedness.
[00:23:38] He's a man who, because of the work of the Holy Spirit in him, is able to think clearly about his life, to think clearly about his relationships with those around him.
[00:23:49] And as he contemplates them, with a mind cleared of all this clutter and passions, he can say, now, what does God's word say about my relationship with so and so? Or how I'm called to live in this particular circumstances? And he can soberly live life.
[00:24:11] A man with proper character, an older man, is not just to be sober, clear headed. He is called to be dignified.
[00:24:19] Boy, that's a word, dignified.
[00:24:21] We have other words here. There's a string of English words that we could use here. He's to be venerable, honorable, grave.
[00:24:31] They all get at similar ideas.
[00:24:34] If we were to describe this in a sentence, it would be something like this. A man whose character is such that he is worthy of the respect of others.
[00:24:47] The way in which this man thinks and acts and speaks, the way in which he carries himself is with dignity.
[00:24:56] The way he behaves is such that the people around them are drawn to him, to respect him.
[00:25:03] That's the idea that the word here is getting at.
[00:25:08] Now how does that happen in a Christian sense that befits sound doctrine that's proper to sound doctrine?
[00:25:19] Well, maybe the easiest way to put it is you know it when you see it in a godly manner. And most of us have known godly men who carried themselves with dignity by the grace of God.
[00:25:33] We were to describe it with words as a man who's not given to worldliness, not given to foolishness. He's not a silly man.
[00:25:44] He's a man who's been gripped with a vision of God and his holiness, with the weightiness of eternal life and of the glory that we have to look forward to. He views his life through the lens of faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:26:02] This, like a lens, colors everything that he says and does.
[00:26:08] Everywhere he looks, he's thinking in terms of my faith in Christ. How does this affect my situation and who I'm called to be?
[00:26:19] Or he's a man who reflects deeply on God's providence.
[00:26:26] He's always, as he looks at the situation around him and the things that he's called to do, he says, God has put me here. God has put these people in my life.
[00:26:39] He's behind this person saying this or that. To me, God's providence is guiding me and the people around me all day long. Now, how do I respond to God at work in my life?
[00:26:52] Very, very different than this person said that rude thing. This person wanted to offend me. This person was thoughtless and careless.
[00:27:01] How do I respond to them?
[00:27:03] But in each of those situations, saying, now God is the one guiding this. He gave me, this is a divine appointment.
[00:27:11] How do I respond to the providence of God in my life?
[00:27:17] He's a man whose heart has been filled with the peace that passes all understanding.
[00:27:25] Whatever people say and do, whatever happens around him, he knows God's care for him is certain.
[00:27:33] He's gripped with the peace of God. He's unflappable, he's dignified and grave.
[00:27:43] He's learned to follow Paul's admonition, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue, anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.
[00:28:04] He is reverent, reverent because of the work of the Holy Spirit in his heart.
[00:28:11] And his progress in these things is evident.
[00:28:14] And so others respect him, they want to follow him as he follows the Lord Jesus.
[00:28:25] Paul adds to sobriety and dignity self control, and that's a very good word to translate the idea in the Greek word here, self control, especially of a mind and heart that are rightly governed.
[00:28:42] Not just that you're restricting your outward activities, but that from the mind and heart you're governing your desires and passions in a way that pleases the Lord.
[00:28:58] That's hard.
[00:29:00] Where do most of the things we do in the moment and even the things we pursue in the long term that are sinful, they're often connected to our sinful passions.
[00:29:12] And those passions and desires relate to all sorts of things, to our relationships, to physical things like money, food, belongings.
[00:29:21] Our passions come out in anger.
[00:29:26] But this idea of self control or temperance, it governs the passions in such a way that the man's life is lived orderly, in a godly way that pleases Jesus Christ the Master and blesses everyone around Him.
[00:29:44] Now, where can such a thing come from?
[00:29:49] Comes only from the Holy Spirit.
[00:29:52] The fruit of the Spirit is self control.
[00:29:59] This and really the other first two, being sober, being dignified, it's the same thing. These things don't come because of how hard we try. We work at it and work at it, work at it and we become dignified, sober and self confined. Now that isn't how this works.
[00:30:16] This comes because the Christian depends On Christ in faith.
[00:30:23] That means we're considering the day that's ahead of us, the struggles, the things that weigh us down, the difficulties in our lives. We're taking all of them. And we're taking our sinful passions that well up within us as we contemplate life. That's what happens, right? You think about things, you get anxious. You think about what somebody said, you get angry. Why did he say this? We think about life. As we think about life, our passions well up and we say, now what do I do with this?
[00:30:50] I need to bring these things to the Lord in prayer. I need to lay them before the throne, before my master, and say, lord Jesus, I confess my sinful desires. I confess that I've sinned in this area many times. And I confess that I need your help with these things.
[00:31:06] Lord Jesus, help me.
[00:31:10] Help me put them to death. Help me live a new life that you call me to.
[00:31:15] And Jesus answers. He puts his spirit in our hearts. He washes them clean.
[00:31:21] He gives us new desires, and he leads us. He guides us into these things.
[00:31:28] That's where self control and all these other wonderful things come from.
[00:31:34] Well, old men, old Christian men are to pursue a character that is fitting and proper to the gospel that they've received, and fitting and proper to their age.
[00:31:48] Guess what?
[00:31:49] The Bible has lots of promises for you.
[00:31:54] Gray hair is a crown of glory.
[00:31:58] It is gained in a righteous life.
[00:32:03] Proverbs 16:31.
[00:32:06] Proverbs. I'm sorry. Psalm 92, verse 14, which we read earlier, says that the righteous will still bear fruit in old age.
[00:32:15] They are ever full of SAP and green.
[00:32:20] They may be an old tree, but it's a fruitful tree that bears fruit in season.
[00:32:27] Why?
[00:32:30] Because it's connected to Christ.
[00:32:33] He says, I am the vine and you are the branches. Abide in me and you will bear fruit.
[00:32:42] That's where it comes from.
[00:32:44] Doesn't come from you. It doesn't come from your efforts. It comes from. From trusting in Jesus, abiding in him and in his love.
[00:32:56] So, Titus and pastors, today we're to instruct you in proper doctrine, proper character. That's fitting, but also a proper heart.
[00:33:08] There are three things relating to character. Now, there's three things relating to your heart.
[00:33:14] You are.
[00:33:15] We are to instruct you to be sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.
[00:33:22] That word soundness is the same idea, one of wholeness and healthiness.
[00:33:28] A sound mind and body is a healthy body and mind. So here, a healthy whole heart, that's healthy in faith, in love, and in patience.
[00:33:42] Healthy in faith. Faith is the beginning of the Christian life, isn't it? That's where you start.
[00:33:50] You were drawn to Christ, you trusted in him, you entrusted yourself to him.
[00:33:57] Faith is the beginning. But faith is also. The whole Christian life is lived in faith. We walk by faith, not by sight.
[00:34:08] And faith is how we end the Christian life.
[00:34:13] Which is another way of saying the whole of our Christian life depends on Jesus in whom we trust.
[00:34:21] A baby is born at birth, right? It comes to life.
[00:34:27] But mothers have to feed the baby.
[00:34:30] And we don't stop feeding the baby until it grows up and the adult has to continue eating its whole life long until it dies.
[00:34:40] Faith is the same.
[00:34:42] It has to feed and it has to feed from beginning of the Christian life to the end of the Christian life in order to stay healthy. And if it feeds on bad doctrine, what happens? It gets sick, it begins to doubt, it needs to be fed sound doctrine.
[00:35:05] You're called to walk, to live by faith.
[00:35:09] You're also called to finish by faith.
[00:35:13] You've made it this far, trusting in Christ.
[00:35:17] Don't let your faith grow weak and sick because you stop looking to Jesus. That's the source of the strength of your faith. It's not yourself, it's the one to whom you look.
[00:35:29] And the Christian life is one of endurance, isn't it? Endurance.
[00:35:36] We read in Hebrews 12, let us run with endurance, the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
[00:35:47] Sound faith is faith that looks to Jesus, continually feeding on him.
[00:35:53] The proper heart is to be sound in faith. It's to be sound in love. And the whole of the Christian life, our duty, if our Christian life, the whole of it, is to be lived by faith, the whole duty of the Christian faith can be summarized in love, can't it?
[00:36:07] Paul says the whole law can be summarized in one word. To love, to love God and to love your neighbor.
[00:36:15] The whole life of the godly Christian old man then, is to flow, be lived by faith. But to flow out of a heart filled with love, love for others, love for God.
[00:36:27] And it has to be a healthy love, a love ordered by God's word, a love that's informed by Jesus commandments.
[00:36:35] But it's a love that has to come from God. If our faith comes from Christ as a gift it feeds on Christ, it's strengthened by Christ.
[00:36:46] Then when your love grows cold, when you feel your tank is empty, how do I love this person?
[00:36:52] How do I keep on going in this situation? Boy, it's hard, isn't it?
[00:37:00] You look to Jesus.
[00:37:02] Your faith is to look to Jesus. If you want to learn to love, to feel God's love again, you look to Jesus. Because that's where God has poured out his love for you by sending his Son to the cross.
[00:37:17] Boy, I don't feel very loving today. I want to be irritable. I want to dismiss this person.
[00:37:22] What do you do?
[00:37:24] Well, God so loved the world, and that includes me, that he gave his only begotten Son.
[00:37:33] That's the depth of my Father's love. That's what you say to yourself. You look to Jesus and there you see the goodness and kindness of God bless poured out for you. Titus 3, 4 and 5.
[00:37:46] When the goodness and kindness of God, our Savior appeared, he saved us not by works that we had done.
[00:37:54] Sound in faith, sound in love, both which flow to you from God in Christ.
[00:38:01] And Paul says, sound in patience. Life is hard, isn't it?
[00:38:06] And the more you've lived, the more you know that truth. The older you are, the more of life's difficulties you've experienced.
[00:38:14] And guess what? When you become a Christian, life gets that much harder.
[00:38:20] Now you're not just dealing with the curse and problems with other people.
[00:38:25] Now you're starting to fight sin within and without.
[00:38:31] You gain new enemies. The world, the flesh and the devil.
[00:38:36] And as you struggle with this, God calls you to endurance, to be sound, healthy, whole, in faithfulness, in patience.
[00:38:50] I don't know who you've known in your life, but I've known a variety of old men in my life. Some of them have cultivated patience, endurance, faithfulness. Others, it seems the older they get, the shorter their temper is, the less patience they have for people being silly and stupid, difficult. They just don't have any time for it.
[00:39:13] That's a tendency. The more we experience of difficulty in this life, the less patience we have for it.
[00:39:21] And just imagine all of that. Not just experience, but your body grows weaker, you have less energy, you're not sleeping well, the outer man decays.
[00:39:33] And yet you're called to patience, to persevere. To persevere in what? To persevere in faith and in love.
[00:39:44] How?
[00:39:45] By looking to Jesus.
[00:39:49] As old men come to the later years of life, I think the temptations just get stronger. The temptations not just to sin itself, but the temptations to give up, to give in.
[00:40:03] As you grow weaker, they can grow stronger.
[00:40:08] The temptation especially to persevere in these three, which is why Paul calls them out in sound, healthy faith. Love but here's the exhortation of Scripture that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience, inheritance the promises.
[00:40:31] This is what Jesus calls you to do. And he doesn't call you to do it in your own strength, but by his strength, looking to him in faith, experiencing his love.
[00:40:42] And you see how the whole person, from the inside to the outside, is called to be fitting.
[00:40:49] And we picked this week, picked this week to pick on old men. But in the coming weeks we're going to get to look at the whole rest of the congregation.
[00:41:00] Let's pray.
[00:41:02] Our gracious and glorious Heavenly Father.
[00:41:05] As we look within ourselves and we consider our day to day lives, and we look to what lies ahead of us, we confess that we feel our weakness.
[00:41:21] We feel our sinful passions welling up in us.
[00:41:26] We see the troubles and we know that they're coming.
[00:41:30] And the silly part of our mind confirms for us that, oh yeah, definitely the worst is probably going to happen.
[00:41:38] And then we become anxious.
[00:41:40] Oh Lord our God, we confess that we are so quick to look to ourselves and not to trust in you.
[00:41:50] We ask that in your kindness and mercy you would forgive us, that you would renew in us not only our faith, but renew in us that vision of Jesus our Savior.
[00:42:06] Show us when we are tempted to sin and when we struggle with the guilt of our sins. Show us again Jesus death on the cross, that he really paid for it, that he's really broken the power of sin.
[00:42:21] When we struggle with temptation, show us Christ sitting on the throne.
[00:42:31] Show us Christ in all of his power and majesty, governing every molecule in the universe.
[00:42:41] Help us to see him in everything, that we might be strengthened to serve him.
[00:42:50] O Lord our God, we confess that you are truly enough and that you are all that we need. We thank you for this. We thank you for the hope that wells within us as we consider your promises that you have sealed with the blood of your Son.
[00:43:10] So we ask then that as we go to live our lives, that you would keep our eyes on Jesus.
[00:43:20] That we would not turn to the right nor to the left, that we wouldn't get distracted by worldly things, but that we would fix our eyes on Him. That you would fix our eyes on Him.
[00:43:30] That we might follow after him by faith, with perseverance, for his sake. Amen.
