Introduction: Titus was the pastor of the church in Crete. Titus was sent unto Dalmatia according to II Timothy 4:10 and II Corinthians 7:6-7. Titus was Paul’s “partner and fellow helper concerning you” II Corinthians 8:23. Paul was showing Titus the things that he needed to be (Titus 2:7 “shewing thyself a pattern of good works”) and the things he needed to teach (Titus 2:1- “speak thou the things which become sound doctrine”.)
The purpose of this lesson is to see those things that Paul taught Titus regarding the aged men that you and I can learn from. Paul wanted Titus to speak the things which become sound doctrine, so let’s take a look at those things, Titus 2:1-2.
The aged men should be:
1. Sober- (Don’t be drunk or under the influence. To be in control of one’s mind and life to the end of obeying the Lord in all things). Spiritual alertness and seriousness of purpose.
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- Be Sober or Be Devoured- I Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”. The devil will see an open opportunity of a person who seems to care about the things of this world over the things of God. Don’t over-indulge in anything this world offers, over-indulge in the Bible.
Be Sober and Deny worldly lust– Titus 2:12-13 “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world’…) When you over indulge in the affairs of this world, you seem to forget about the things of the Lord and you become susceptible to the wiles of the devil. This is the reason why we shouldn’t get too comfortable with this world. Instead we should recognize when we are not being sober or moderate, and are being swayed with the cares of this world, and find the right balance in having a passion for this Bible.
2. Grave- (Solemn; serious, reverent, honorable) Seriousness of purpose and life. Commanding respect by being serious minded. The opposite of flippant, shallow, non-purposeful, uncommitted). I Timothy 3:4 – Pastor is to be grave and I Timothy 3:8- Deacons must be grave. There are older men that act and dress like children in many aspects.
- Be Grave not a Jokester- Proverbs 26:18-19- “So is the man that deceiveth his neighbor and saith, Am not I in sport?” Ephesians 5:4 “neither filthiness, nor foolish taking, nor jesting”. Life is not a game; the things of the Lord are not a game. People that are not grave and seem to be making a joke of everything all the time can’t be taken serious about anything. Beware, this attitude might cost you your testimony when you finally get serious and try to share something about the Lord with someone.
- Be Grave and have a purpose- Philippians 3:10-14 “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before”. Paul had a purpose in life, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. When we have a purpose in life, we tend to be serious about the path that we are in so that we are not easily distracted in what we do.
3. Temperate- (Moderate; not excessive; self-controlled, disciplined, moderate in the indulgence of the appetites and passions; balanced)
Temperate in all Things- I Corinthians 9:24-27 “and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things”. All these deal with the Christian walk in this life.
We do this to:
- ) To obtain an incorruptible crown vs 25.
- ) To have a purpose in life, vs 26.
- ) To be a doer of the word, vs 27.
Produced by the Fruit of the Spirit– Galatians 5:22 -23 temperance is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit of God manifested in the life of the Believer.
A product of the Christian growth– II Peter 1 3-8 “and to knowledge temperance”- what is learned need to be put to practice or else “knowledge puffeth up” I Cor 8:1.
4. Sound in Faith- (understanding the truth of what God has revealed / the firm belief in God’s Words). We need to be strong in the Christian faith- in Christ and in the Word of God. The only way our faith is going to become stronger toward the Lord is by being in the Word of God as much as possible, the older we get the more our faith grows.
- Growing Faith- Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. Our faith is strengthened by hearing the preaching of the Word of God and by reading the Bible itself. Because our faith in God and His Bible is ever-growing, we should be able to please God more by doing what He calls us to do in His Word. Hebrews 11:6 “but without faith it is impossible to please him”.
5. Sound in Charity- (love in action). Greater than faith and hope is the charity spoken of in I Corinthians 13. Part of the instruction that we receive is to be sound in charity. Charity is something that is easy to be forgotten, especially when we focus on our faith and hope in Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 13:13-“and now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity”.
I Timothy 1:5-“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” This is how this charity is shown to others:
- Out of a pure heart- (holy, without spot, free from moral defilement).
- Of a good conscience– I Peter 3:16 “Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ”.
- Of faith unfeigned– (not counterfeit, not hypocritical, real sincere.) II Timothy 1:5 “when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also”.
6. Sound in Patience- (Christian submission to the divine will).
- God in Control- Hebrews 10:36- “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” God chooses to bless us according to His word and he does it when He wants to do it, be patient. God knows exactly how to dispense his wisdom for decisions that need to be made.
Galatians 6:9- “and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”. Don’t quit in the Christian life, be patient and allow God to be a help in time of need.
Conclusion: As you can see, if we just read through this passage of the Bible in our daily reading, but never actually study what each word means, by default, it’s easy to not do what we are instructed to do as aged men. Knowing and doing these things will help us have a good testimony among those people we deal closely with and perhaps those that we have just met. These things give us a better chance in witnessing to others by them seeing “the way we are”. Hopefully the study of these words has encouraged the men in our Sunday school class to be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, charity and patience for the sake of being a credible witness.