Sermon Tone Analysis

DEVELOPING SPIRITUALLY MATURE BELIEVERS

THE BEST DEVELOPMENT IS THE BEST DEFENSE

Titus 2:1-8

AIM

To teach God’s desire in developing spiritually mature believers is for older men and women to live Biblically ethical lifestyles and teach the younger men and women how to live in the same manner.

INTRODUCTION

Paul stressed the importance of building up the spiritual life of believers as the best defense against error.

Paul stressed the importance of building up the spiritual life of believers as the best defense against error.

Verse one serves as the basis for Paul’s instructions.

Paul told Titus to “teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.”

Sound doctrine must lead to ethical conduct in the lives of all the people in the church.

Since there were no chapter divisions or verses in Paul’s letters.

These were added later and are beneficial in helping us easily find things throughout the Bible.

This means there would have been no division between chapters one and two when Paul wrote his letter to Titus.

This is very important in understanding Titus because Paul had written about false teachers in chapter one and followed in the second chapter with instructions for Titus to teach others to use sound doctrine in their speaking.

Sound doctrine produces health in the individual, making him fit for service and spiritual development.

Before we begin our study, let’s take a moment to revisit something Jesus asked His disciples to do when He gave them The Great Commission.

One of the reasons we see so many believers an inch deep and a mile wide is because we have pushed sound doctrine to the back burner.

Rather than base our thoughts and actions on the infallible Word of the Lord, many have chosen to abandon those solid principles and have accepted whatever may be the latest trend.

We need to refocus our attention on sound doctrine so we can be successful in developing spiritually mature believers.

Before we begin our study, let’s take a moment to revisit something Jesus asked His disciples to do when He gave them The Great Commission.

Matthew 28:

Matthew 38:20

What Jesus was teaching His disciples, both then and now, is we should study the things He commanded and teach them to other believers.

8:20

THE EXAMPLE OF THE OLDER MEN

Being temperate is showing good judgment and self control.

Teach sound doctrine

Temperate

Being dignified teaches us a believer should live in such a manner in order to gain respect from others.

No one respects a person who professes to have a relationship with Jesus when their lifestyle is far from the expectations of Jesus.

A good Christian example will open many doors of opportunity for evangelism.

Being sensible means being in charge of our body and mind in order to have godly attitudes, thoughts and behaviors.

Being sound in faith is the foundation of a believers faith in God which is based on his or her relationship with Jesus.

Any believer who is sound in love has a harmonious relationship with the Lord and other believers.

When a believer is sound in perseverance

By example

A believer gains the respect and listening ear of others when he is sound in perseverance.

Life is filled with obstacles meant to shatter our faith in the Lord and

THE EXAMPLE OF THE OLDER WOMEN

Reverent in their behavior meant they were to devote lives to the Lord and display the character of His holiness each day.

The call upon a Christian’s life comes not from the neighborhood or nation, the mores of consensus, but from the divine personality and nature of God.

The older women we instructed to not be malicious gossips in their conversations with others.

Our conversations should build up people rather than tear them down.

The bad things we see in the lives of others should drive us to our knees to pray for them rather than broadcast their weakness or problem to the whole world.

Not malicious gossips

It is always heartbreaking to see older people, especially women, who are addicted to alcohol.

God wants the older women to live by a higher standard than the world and not enslaved to much wine.

I don’t think it would be wrong or do an injustice to the Scriptures to include being addicted to drugs of any kind.

It is considered wise to talk with your doctor if you are struggling with a prescription from them.

No good doctor wants to see his or her patients addicted to prescriptions they recommend.

I have found doctors will work with you if you will be honest with them.

Teaching what is good is much more than teaching in a class setting.

It means teaching by example as well.

The responsibility to teach the younger women falls on the shoulders of the older women.

THE EXHORTATION TO THE OLDER WOMEN

Jesus once remarked to his disciples, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” (Matt.

10:24–25).

The teacher or master sets the tone, defines the curriculum, and exemplifies what the student aspires toward.

This is why the older women must be sound in their inner spirit, their outward lifestyle, because these women were to train the younger women.

By living in a godly manner, they would be qualified to pass on the life of faith and godliness to younger women.

There are some in this room who have given a wonderful testimony to the things you learned from the older women when you were much younger.

Each generation must teach the next how to live godly and honor the Lord with their lives.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE YOUNGER WOMEN

The older women were responsible in encouraging the young women to love their husbands and their children.

There is a great need for this kind of teaching among Christians today.

It is so unfortunate to know many in our world have based their relationships on lust rather than love.

The end results have been devastating to our homes.

A relationship based on lust will never build a solid foundation in a home or stand the test of time.

True love can and, most of the time, will weather the storms of life and be standing when they pass.

The word love in this instance comes from the root word phileo, or “brotherly love.”

It emphasizes the strength of companionship, of pulling together toward a goal, of devotion measured by kindness and mutual friendship.

This forms the basis of a secure and solid marriage and home.

At times spouses and parents must exhibit agape, or “sacrificial love.”

But the fundamental strength of home life is the intertwining strands of kindness, companionship, and friendship.

There exists among the household shared values, shared interests, and, among Christians, a shared Lord and vision of life.

To be sensible and pure is most likely a reference to sexual control and purity.

This is very important in our generation with the number of women working outside the home.

It is very easy to get caught up in a relationship that will take you down the wrong path and destroy your home.

Encouraging the young women to love their children

To be sensible

To be pure

To be workers at home is a very sensitive subject in this generation.

Let’s see if we can learn from the wisdom of another.

Paul also wanted the younger women to be busy at home.

To modern readers this statement may conjure visions of a young woman chained to the kitchen sink with six crying children at her feet.

Paul has been accused by some interpreters of male chauvinistic tendencies.

The context, however, does not support such notions.

In first-century cultures, the home was the domain of the woman.

This instruction by Paul would not have sounded foreign or oppressive to anyone in the Greco-Roman culture.

He was not defining or limiting a woman’s place; he was addressing women where they were.

This is not a picture of enslavement but of useful enterprise.

There have always been families in almost every church I have pastored who sacrificed greatly for the wives to stay at home while the children were young.

I have never met any person who regretted the sacrifices they made for their families.

It is a wonderful testimony when Christians choose to be kind.

Kindness is considered as the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The older women are to encourage the younger women to be subject to their own husbands so the Word of God will not be dishonored.

Again, we are going to look to the study and wisdom of another to help us to understand what the Bible is teaching.

It should also be noted that Paul’s directive for submission was given in the middle voice.

This means that the woman was to submit herself.

The husband must not take it upon himself to make his wife submissive.