Sound Doctrine Backed by Sound Living

And what makes a healthy church is not many programs it has or how much money it has or how big it is what makes a healthy church is holy character is very, very infrequently ever even suggested in the area of church growth known preacher Charles Spurgeon offered a clear warning to those whose, but do not live a righteous life. He said the man who talks about his experience as a Christian, but who never does anything for Christ is only an idle dreamer. John MacArthur helps you avoid that kind of spiritual hypocrisy with a lesson titled sound doctrine backed by sound living. It's part of his current study that's taking you through the New Testament beginning to end and out with the lesson.

Here's John.

What makes a church healthy holy living fruit of healthy doctrine. I can't emphasize this enough because there are so many options being offered today in building a church, what the Lord wants has nothing to do with the size of the church what he wants has to do with the virtue of the church, the character of the church. As I've said through the years. My job is to concentrate on the spiritual depth of the church and let God take care of the breath of it. The size is not an issue to me. The character is and what makes a healthy church is not many programs it has or how much money it has or how big it is what makes a healthy church is its holy character, and yet that's very, very infrequently ever even suggested today in the area of church growth is just so very important to understand that the Lord is concerned about the quality of the church, not the size of the size of it is all bound up in his own sovereign purpose and the size of it all go a step further and say is directly related to the virtue of it were continually told that if we want to build the church would gotta come up with technique, strategy, marketing savvy, etc. etc. etc. that does not concern the Lord.

What concerns the Lord is the character of the church, the virtue the godliness.

Now before we look specifically at the flow of the chapter in the specific commands that are here there's another key element to be acknowledged in this chapter.

It gives you the feeling of this chapter powerfully. The commandments are given here in the standards for behavior that are given here are required and it is true that if you obey them, and I obey them will be blessed. But that's never pointed out in the chapter that's just a given.

We know that we know that obedience brings blessing. That's a given. That's taken for granted. The issue here is not the effect of our holiness on us. The issue here is the effect of our holiness on others. That's the issue for all that virtue does for me.

The compelling issue here is what it does for somebody else. Obedience to the requirements in this chapter are essential. Paul points out not only for their own sake, which is a given for.

You can then know the blessing and the joy of Christian living, but because it has such powerful effect on others. Now this is stated in three purpose clauses in the chapter 1 is in verse five. The second is in verse eight, and the third is in verse 10, and they are potent.

Let's look at verse five.

All of this matter of behavior in the verse five is in order that or for the purpose that the word of God may not be dishonored. That's it. The first compelling issue here is the honor of the word of God back in first Timothy 514 younger widows are instructed to get married and bear children, keep house, why to give the enemy no occasion for reproach for some of already a turn and turned aside to follow Satan.

In other words, how you live is going to impact how people view Christianity, and it makes Christianity attractive or turns them away into the path of Satan, the word of God, he says, may not be dishonored. That's what holy living produces the word here is really the word for blasphemed at the end of verse five, disdained, rejected, treated as a lie disregarded marked shunned, ignored. In other words, how you live will directly determine how people feel about the word of God amazing Christian wife, who is not what she ought to be a Christian young man who is not what he ought to be a Christian older man who is not what he ought to be a Christian older woman who is not what she ought to be is going to give reasons for people to blaspheme God's word. You see the world doesn't judge us by our theology. The world judges us by our behavior right and they judge the validity of the Scripture by our behavior. They judge whether Scripture is really true and powerful and life-changing by whether it changes our lives. I remember Sam Erickson telling me that time some years back that he had invited a lawyer. He was working for a law firm in LA invited a lawyer to come to church and he said want you to come because our church teaches the Bible we have a pastor who teaches the Bible and and I think you depreciated in. He said what church is it and Sam said Grace Community Church. He said ha he said I don't go to any church, but I sure would go to that church. The most crooked attorney I know in the city goes there. End of discussion. The word of God was blasphemed in that man's life, and consequently this man turned his back on the truth. I mentioned that by the way, on the following Sunday to our congregation without naming which lawyer it wasn't. I think 25 lawyers repented, but that's the simple illustration of what happens when you don't live the life you bring reproach on the truth if it's life-changing truth in it. To change your life. Why should people believe it's life-changing truth of your life is changed and unbelieving husband or other family member may reject the gospel and mock the Bible because of the failure of the Christian wife to do what God is called her and empowered her to do.

William Kelly translates this little phrase so that God's word may suffer no scandal. Listen, the world will judge the validity of the gospel, which is certainly inherent in the term. The word of God, they'll judge the gospel word by the character of the people who believe it and a claimant and say they're transformed by you. That's why it's so absolutely devastating when some well-known evangelists are caught in gross kinds of sin and immorality in the world just says all the transforming power of the Bible.

They preach on the credibility of the Christian gospel is tied to the integrity of the life of those who claimant the impact of the lives of men and women who carry the Lord's name is vital to the credibility, the faith in the effectiveness of personal witness in preaching and becomes a determiner as to whether someone turns and comes to Christianity or falls away and follows the path of Satan there some graphic illustrations of this. Perhaps none more vivid than the story of David in second Samuel 12 who was confronted by Nathan confronted because of his gross sin with Bathsheba and then the consequent murder of her husband, and he is confronted by Nathan in the 12th chapter of second Samuel and it's an incredible account.

I won't read it all but down into verse 13.

David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. David is here honestly confessing and Nathan said to David, the Lord also has taken away your sin, you shall not die, there is forgiveness for the sinning believer K want to make that clear. There is forgiveness. However, because by this deed you have given no occasion to the enemies of the Lord, to blaspheme the child.

Also that is born to you shall surely die. God will forgive your sin but your sin made the Gentiles the pagans the unbelievers blaspheme God. What you think the world thinks when they watch Christians prominent well-known Christians and they read about them in the newspaper as adulterers and fornicators and whatever. What do they do they blaspheme the Lord.

They blaspheme the word of God by depreciating its power by marking it in Romans you have another powerful statement tragic but powerful statement with regard to Israel when it says in Romans 224 for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you will. That was the opposite of what they were supposed to do. They were a nation called by God to be a witness so that the name of God would be glorified, but because of their crimes and their sin. The name of God was defiled. That's a quote by the way, from Isaiah 52 five where Isaiah says, and my name is continually every day blasphemed because of you and Ezekiel 36 there is an equally poignant text. It's in verse 17, a place to start. Son of Man God says to Ezekiel when the house of Israel was living in their own land.

They defiled it by their ways and their deeds.

Their way was before me. Like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity or her. Therefore, I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land because they had defiled it with their idols and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands according to their ways and their deeds.

I judge them when they came to the nations where they went. They profaned my holy name because it was said of them. These are the people of the Lord, you get the picture was bad enough they were so bad in the land when they got scattered everywhere. They defiled the name of God, by the way they behave and the comment of the nations was look. Those are the people of the Lord so you can see what kind of God he is. He's either immoral or impotent. He either doesn't do anything about it or he can't, and his name was dishonored because of the sins of Israel. Their crimes were attributed to the influence or the impotence of their deity, or God, so that the pagans were looking at God in blasphemous perspectives. You see that's why Jesus said, let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 516. That's why Paul wrote in second Corinthians 3, two and three. You are our letter about Christ, known and read by all men. You are the gospel they see you are what makes the word of God, believable or unbelievable.

So when Paul says to Titus, here are the standards older men live like this.

Older women like this. Younger women like this. Younger men like this and everybody out in the workplace like this. Here is the reason because if you don't live holy lives than in the word of God will be mocked and shunned and disregarded and dishonored and thought little of, and that constitutes a form of blasphemy. You see how much is at stake in the way you live, and it isn't just for your own benefit. We've got to get Christianity somehow beyond that, because that's where we're stuck right now. What can Christianity do for me and the question is what can your kind of Christianity do for everybody else.

That's the issue I want you to notice in verse eight, a second purpose clause gives us the heart of what Paul is saying verse eight. Toward the end that the opponent may be put to shame. The Greek word literally means to blush because he so embarrassed having nothing bad to say about us. That's the issue here again the issue is locked there examining us and we want to so that those opponents of the faith will blush in sheer embarrassment because there is no just criticism, don't you think that the opponents of Christianity will love it when Christians scandalize the faith. What they love to pick up the magazines and the newspapers and read about the fornication and the adultery on the and the fiscal irresponsibility in the thievery and all other the Conning that goes on and in the fakery's of Christianity in all of the sin and iniquity, and leadership. Sure they do and I'll tell you something else.

The people in your little world would love those who who deny the Lord don't know Christ, who at this point, have a come to faith in him. They would love to see you fail significantly so they can justify their unbelief. They don't want to see God transform your life and then rebuke them, but that's exactly what you want to do you want to make him red-faced.

You want to make him blush. When they criticize because they can't find anything to criticize you see the issue here is evangelism and again I say just to put it into context the proper strategy for evangelization is not methodological. It is not some kind of strategy is not some kind of marketing technique. The way we reach the world is through virtue, godliness, holiness, purity of life that makes our faith believable makes God's word believable Peter seeing the very same issue at hand wrote words that fit right into the same thought. First Peter 211 beloved, I urge you, as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts. Don't get caught in them, why keep your behavior excellent among the pagans, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, on account of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation and what that means. How can you glorify God in the day of visitation the day of visitation is the time when he visits when he comes. How can you glorify God in that day by receiving him. You can only receive them. If you come to know him.

That's exactly what Peter saying let him look at your life and whereas, on the one hand, they come to criticize. Let your behavior be so excellent that there criticism turns to curiosity and their curiosity turns to conversion and there there to greet the Lord with you when he comes, you lead people to the credibility of Christianity and the conversion by the virtue of your life will stay away from fleshly lusts and let your behavior be excellent. So the issue here in chapter 2. Again, is the evangelistic strategy of the church we reach the world by holiness but by technique and then there is 1/3 text verse 10. 1/3 purpose clause the end of verse 10 in order that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect that moves from a more negative tone in the first two to a positive one.

First in verse five he says we want to make sure the word of God is not blasphemed. Second, in verse eight we want to make sure that anybody who opposes Christianity will have their mouth mouth closed and stand there in absolute embarrassment because there's nothing bad to say about Christians and here he says on the positive side verse 10 we want to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior never respect. This is such a powerful, powerful point. Let me ask you something. What is our primary message to this world about God, but we try to tell the world that world of God is omnipotent, what's true. Are we trying to get across to this world of God is omniscient God is omnipresent to God is immutable. I would try to get across to this world that God is the creator and the sustainer of the universe. God is sovereign, that God is eternal, yet all that is true, what were really trying to get the world to understand is that God is a Savior is netted were trying to get them to understand that God is there to save them and that's verse 10. How can we adorn the teaching about God and Savior in every respect. If we don't look like we've been saved. I'm in if I tell you about my barber and you look at me and say your hair is a mess. You are going to my barber now obvious is that if I tell you I have found a wonderful place to eat and I've been eating there for 15 years.

I want to eat there till I'm dead. I have a terminal illness that came from food poisoning business are not going to that place. It doesn't do me any good to commend something to you that doesn't show up in my life if I am going to adorn the doctrine of the teaching about God as a Savior that have to demonstrate that I've been saved saved from what soon soon we make salvation attractive.

When we demonstrate deliverance from sin, power over sin and temptation lives characterized by purity, power, joy, blessed by the way, that word adorn is great. There's a hairspray name that adorn and that really does speak about what that word means is from a Greek word because Mexico from which we get cosmetic, it means to make something beautiful with a woman adorned herself with Jules and it was used that way. In ancient times the word cosmology put on cosmetics to make beautiful, in fact, in the Greek one made Cozumel out of chaos and that's what you ladies are doing.

Basically, you're turning the chaos into the cosmos, the disarray into beauty and order some of you are doing a wonderful job at it as well and the true chaos will never be known. I'm sure but that is precisely what the word means.

And when we show the order and the beauty of the power of a saving God in our lives we make salvation beautiful. We make God as it were attractive and he says you want to do that in all things in every respect. You see what's at stake here. Souls eternal souls you see wrong conduct on the part of Christians leads non-Christians to slander God holy conduct on the part of Christians leads people to glorify God. The issue in holy living. And again I say is not just self-centered. I want to be happy.

I want to get Jason. The issue here is the whole matter of evangelization, all bound up in this and again I say what makes the church powerful in the world is not it. Strategy is its virtue.

It's holiness. What we believe is linked to how we live and how we live is directly linked to evangelism. So Paul in this chapter is going to set some standards down there. Not negotiable.

Their absolute. He says to Titus. Don't let anybody get around this. Don't let anybody circumvent this. Don't anybody rationalize and justify themselves and invade these things there crucial keep on talking. Keep on talking and do it with authority, because what is at stake. The word of God saving power of God. That's all at stake, and if were going to have an impact on the world is going to be the impact of our holy living.

Starting in verse two come the commands they run down through verse 10, and then in verses 11 to 14.

The reason for them is a powerful chapter and I believe God is going to instruct us in powerful ways my prayer that the results will be many will come to know Christ. Because of your life and your testimony. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary. Today's lesson is part of his current study on grace to you titled the New Testament beginning to end. John, I want to go back to something you said today you you said that the credibility of the gospel is tied to the integrity of the life and the character of the one who proclaims it and of course, fallen humans are inclined to sin and unbelief. Muscle Holy Spirit opens their spiritualized to understand and believe the gospel, but Christians can hurt their usefulness for the kingdom by living in a way that doesn't really correspond to what we say we believe is that a fair statement. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. If they're going to glorify your Father who is in heaven. They have to see evidence of your father working in you, otherwise you completely undercut the message. If you can't be saying I trust God.

I trust the Lord. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and then your life is in disarray. Your you're having nervous breakdowns you you don't you don't seem to have your life together.

There is sin in your life. There's a responsibility in your life. There is going to say what the philosopher in Germany said years ago, show me a redeemed life and I might believe in your Redeemer major claiming God can transform your life, then show me your life and that means that your life of integrity that that is that your life is one whole reflection of the divine work of God in your mind and in your heart that has power and that's why wrote a book called the power of integrity when when your life is one single whole testimony to the power of God that has power to influence other people in a day with very few heroes at least heroes that can stand the test of time.

The person who stands out with an exemplary life and an unknown compromising standard has a great opportunity to influence people the power of integrity can take you to the word of God help you build that kind of life.

Life of real influence. It includes chapters on the consequence of an uncompromising life. The golden rule. On closer examination, doctrinal integrity also includes a character study of Daniel, a man whose integrity's still has an impact on people thousands of years after the fact is a built in the study guide and icebreaker questions for small group. It's a great book for young people heading into college careers and marriage available from grace. Do you get a copy of the power of integrity yes do friend. This book examines the lives of exemplary people who faithfully serve the Lord, even under constant pressure to compromise and it will show you how to do the same thing to pick up the power of integrity.

Contact us today. You can reach us at 855 grace or visit our website TTY.org.

The title again the power of integrity is a practical resource that will help you develop the character Scripture calls for to order, call 855 grace or visit TTY.org and thanks for remembering that it's friends like you who help us connect people around the world with biblical truth through radio, television, and thousands of online resources, including 3500 full-length sermons available for free download to help bring daily spiritual nourishment to people in your community and beyond. Express your support when you write to us at grace to you. Box 4000 panorama city, CA 91412. You can also donate online@tty.org or when you call us at 855. Thanks also for your prayers for John and the staff is really the most important way you can help strengthen this ministry now for John MacArthur and the entire staff on Phil Johnson encouraging you to be here tomorrow when John considers a living lesson on forgiveness. That's the title of the sermon that comes your way with another half hour of unleashing God's truth set a time on grace to you