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May 4, 2021 12:00 am
These older women that have ever lived long enough to figure out the why of Madison Avenue. They know is one answer the data and despair of women who are all about high fashion on the outside and bargain-basement on the inside finally been, it would probably have our sisters and our mothers out tremendously and we honor not so much because of the condition of their face, but the condition of their God's word presents a completely different standard in God's economy, a beautiful heart is infinitely more important.
The apostle Paul opened the second chapter of his letter to Titus by challenging older men to be godly leaders in the church.
Now he moves on to urge older women to do the same. This is wisdom for the heart and today Stephen dating has a message for you called rare words for rare in our last study, we began to explore one of the most significant family talks recorded in the New Testament. The apostle Paul is encouraging Titus to gather the church family together and to effectively have a family talk with all the older men all the older women all the young women and all of the young men and even the household servants and the reason is clear. Paul wants to make sure that the culture of the church is not dictated by the lifestyle of the cretin goes live on the island of Crete, but that the cretins are impacted by the lifestyle of the Christian and isn't that really in every generation, the desperate challenge of the hour, ringing in my ears is still the comment of George Gallup who said over 25 years ago. Never before has the Christian church made such inroads into society, while at the same time making so little difference now is 25 years ago. What Paul is doing in his family talk is not telling Christians how to fit another culture or how to be appreciated by their culture. He's telling them how to radically create a new culture with new relationships and new objectives new goals, no distinctives effect, a new lifestyle and this text becomes and still is today one of the most politically incorrect chapters in the New Testament because it flies in the face of everything. Culture says we are to pursue everything. Older men ought to be everything. Older women ought to be everything. Young mothers ought to be in everything young men ought to be, and strive for effective UF carveouts were the key verse, Titus is found in chapter 2 down in verse 14 willing to more carefully closely later, but this is it.
Jesus Christ gave himself for us in our given two reasons why first to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a possession. The people of his own possession who secondly are zealous for good deeds that the church tends to stop with the first reason we been redeemed grade was better. There way for the rapture.
No keep going with not only been redeemed. We have been assigned to a totally different way of living. In our last study we noted. First and foremost a challenge given older men. Verse two to be temperance, dignified, sensible, sound in faith in the love and perseverance.
Now, pausing to move on and begin to address another part of the family. Verse three that is older women he's going to tell Titus look at what to tell older women what to do. That's one thing to tell an older man what to do another thing entirely to tell an older woman what to do and to make matters even more challenging. Titus and Timothy are both young pastors.
This would be quite an assignment to challenge the older man and the older women we basically selling Titus to have the audacity of the courage to go into an existing church after being there for well established. Those men who will be elders, leaders in the church and then letting a breather tell the older men how to live and now find a way to leave them out, tell the older women how to live out of whack. Paul told Timothy.
In fact, earlier to treat younger men like brothers younger women like sisters, and all purity to treat older men as fathers and older women as mothers for 75 to there's great insight in the text for every one of us. If you want to know how to treat the person around you and the family there older.
Treat them like a father or mother.
If you're younger. Treat them like your sister or your brother Titus, no matter how old you are delivered to them. This message tell the older men that they need to model what matters in life there. Perseverance and faith and love needs to spill over in the lives of others.
Certainly younger men, older men don't be ashamed of acting your age.
We need more of that not less show if you're with us. We studied the dignity of your station in life and now Titus talk to the older women.
The word by the way.
Likewise, in verse three older women likewise does not mean that older women would act like the older men that he is a few more things to add to them the word likewise actually points back dramatically to Titus and he's being told to teach older men and just like you teach them. Make sure you don't leave older women out likewise teach them to teach the old women don't leave them out of this family. So here's the same critical question we face last who qualifies to be an older woman in the church family who classifies here as an old woman. I'm not answering that if Paul is that Augustine clarify why should I okay the context here actually reveals that Paul is focusing on married women who may be actually younger than you might think she's only old enough as it relates to the fact that she has raised her children. She's older in that in our modern vernacular would say she's an empty Nestor she could be anywhere from her early 40s to her early 60s, and frankly, in the mind of Paul.
I think that he would say the older is better because he is referring to women who live a lot off like older men to know what matter church.
Frankly, in every generation in a variety of ways is incredibly blast by the effort and the energy passion in the service of older women.
They have earned the right to turn around and teach the younger women who are right in the middle of raising their family and they know better than anybody else that the challenges and the dangers in the discouragements and the pitfalls of being in that stage of life experience, but they have earned that right only if these four distinctive are part of their lives. The first distinctive basically covers all the rest. Paul writes in verse three older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior to the just these distinctives by the where positive to our -1st they are to be reverent. This way there.
This first distinctive there.
There is a sacred about her there to be reverent. One author asks the question and what is Paul expecting mature women in the faith to project through their posture or their personality, their department, their demeanor in a word holy just serves as a go article description of this older woman. These older women that have ever lived long enough to figure out the lie of Madison Avenue that happen to know by now effect the growing concern enough to get involved in the lives young women because they they learned by now that younger women are in the process of being ripped off and left empty. They know as one man said the dead end of despair of women who are all about high fashion on the outside and bargain-basement on the inside by knowing then it would probably help our sisters and our mothers out tremendously if we honor them and respected them. Not so much because of the condition of their face, but the condition of their faith that will take great courage and great encouragement. I got an email several months ago from an older woman in our congregation. I bet it is just a little bit to read some of the tissue rights as I've been reading Titus to get ready for our series. I note that godly character must be lived out in godly conduct. I need this reminder. All capitalization when I step out of my domain I become a counterfeit message and not a complementary message and am praying that our study of Titus will help me become a more godly older woman for the Lord. She gets this is the first distinctive there something sacred about her that Paul as the first of two negative distinctives which would disqualify a woman from entering younger women verse three older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not not not malicious gossips. If I can put this distinctive in a positive frame of reference which I want to do for all four distinctives there's not only a sense of sacredness about her. There is a sweet about her. The opposite of which is described here as a malicious gossip.
Simply put, she is going to is a godly older woman refused to tear someone down. She's focused on building someone out. She refuses to be a great on the grapevine and she here's a story. The story stops with her. She refuses to keep the story going.
What happened to that story I told so-and-so to just it just stop there literally. Paul is saying that she's not to be among the older women who are malicious gossips and I gotta tell you, Paul, again, doesn't pull any punches or back the word he uses for gossip can be literally translated. She devil Titus, go tell those older women is not being she devils the masculine singular form of this word is always used in the New Testament for the devil himself, supposing older women shouldn't talk like the devil will how does the devil talk. He's always running you down. He's always accusing you third. There is also a sobriety about her. The third distinctive is equally negative.
All right, they should not be malicious gossips nor enslaved too much wine and hours. They should be in control of what comes out of their mouth and what goes in regular we can broaden alcoholism to any addiction, the Masters life habit to put the distance between yourself and in wholesome relationships and in ministry godly living might be something good you just allowed to grow and access to just dominate your life found it interesting in reading some of the biography of John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's progress that on one occasion, he wrote that he stopped playing cricket because he found he loved it too much. What are we allowed to get in the way of holy living good or bad. Here's a rare woman then who is not dependent on a substance to face the day. She is dependent upon the spirit to face the day.
You see this rare Christian woman of creators of sacredness about her. There's a sweetness about her.
There is a sobriety about her number four there is a seriousness about her notice what Paul writes in verse three teaching what is good. This is why she's living this kind of life so that therefore purpose causes. This is one of the it is so that she can teach what is good and what would that be that young women love their husbands and their children. You see, this is the ripple effect of godly woman's life in this kind of teaching is referencing. Here's both formal and informal, both by word and by deed by example. Paul isn't really talking about teaching here is as a matter of a position like a professor isn't talking so much about a position as much as he is about a pattern. These older women have earned the right to speak to mentor to disciple to pattern what it means to follow Jesus Christ in their particular world or their particular sphere of influence for the last several years.
My life is developed and work with the mentoring process of our seminary wives even last mentoring is available for them. These will become pastors wives and missionary been a real delight to watch our women's programs here church developed tremendous outlets for discipling and mentoring and eventually evangelizing the women of archer back. I got an email just a week or so ago from one of our women's ministries leaders telling me, and is of an event where the date they had to not only teach younger women but they invited unbelieving women to come in at the end of the program.
They they delivered the gospel of Jesus Christ and seven women accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The curriculum now for what happens next in their lives is rooted in Titus chapter 2 work women are going to be given seven disciplines of a godly young woman that will be our focus. Next time, but for now, Paul asks and answers the question.
Where does a younger woman lock the final model.
I find it a decree where the people they can look up to and say you are the kind of woman I want to come in our culture.
Ladies and gentlemen, the pedestals are virtually empty, who there is worthy of admiration. Gotta be in here. I find it interesting to see in this text. A disconnected Titus is pastoral ministry. Did you notice he is to teach and preach. Obviously, to all ages as I am going to the but you'll notice in this chapter with these categories of people.
He is to directly teach older men, older women, young men and bond servants but not younger women. Effect of the word Paul uses here in verse four for older women encouraging younger women I think is best translated training at the Greek word that translates in a different form to self-control infected, it could be Woodley translated to bring her back to her senses interest. Older women are to bring younger women to their senses.
So this this requires close personal life on life training and would be very improper to tell Titus, a young pastor to do that with younger women they need up close training why because their culture in Crete has totally messed them up. They have been saved by the grace of God, and they have no idea what it means to live for somebody other than themselves because that culture and hours is teaching young people to love who yourself to believe in who yourself and now they're married and now they have children then guess what, that doesn't work, according to a recent study if that is interesting. There is a computer program guys develop to evaluate song lyrics over the past 30 years of guises have a lot of time to develop programs but I'm glad they did this because it is interesting, count the percentage of words in songs which refer to first person plural pronouns like we us and our our compare that to first person singular pronouns like I me mine. They did this they just got dumped music over the last 30 years into this program. The lyrics and I found and I know you will be surprised that over 30 years, we and us, and our have declined dramatically and I he and mine has increased dramatically. One reviewer summed up the study by writing this rather bluntly, we might as well face it, we are dictated to self love and the first thing the first thing older women are to train younger women to do were married is to live a life that is not about self-love it's about self-sacrificing love which ultimately brings fulfillment and joy and emergent hope he is an older woman to have lived through that kind of realization she's grown in Christ to be able to turn around and say that I work it won't. This is hard, but it pleases Christ and you'll find strength in him see the fact that Paul tells older women they needed to teach younger women to love their husbands and children is because there comes a point in that younger woman's life or she realizes both of them are possible. I member my wife and I push in a twin stroller. We decided to go to the mall. My sanity break no money, just go to the mall and we were pushing the twin stroller. Back then, they did have a lot of equipment twins on the all kinds of stuff but side-by-side just to get through doors was quite a challenge and coming out the door was an older woman who said something she said. I've raised twins another 20s and she looked at my wife and she said, you'll make it that we just floated on just that one word of encouragement that was wonderful to see these young women have been married also just long enough to learn the fact that I mean they they learn how stubborn and difficult and insensitive and hardheaded. Her husband can be. This is not a personal illustration.
By the way she's come to the conclusion that she married the only man God made that way they can only come along and say they're all that way, but hearing them laughing at that point was all women. That's how men come out of the box. Got to do a lot of work on them as he purifies them and makes them energized for good works and is going to do a lot of work on you to to do the same is gonna qualify to be this kind of older woman. These are the four distinctive discovery in this. These are also women who are submitting daily to the purifying work of Jesus Christ is not perfect, women they are progressing with that he is making sellers for good deeds. I close with this testimony for nearly 20 years.
Elisha Morgan served as the president of mops, mothers of preschoolers internationals wonderful mentoring program. We have it your colonial going full speed.
Elisha writes I'm probably the least likely person to head a mothering organization that impacts thousands of mothers lives for the gospel as I grew up in a broken home. My parents were divorced when I was five. My older sister, younger brother and I were raised by my alcoholic mother only mentoring she would receive was in the church while my mother meant well. Most of my memories are of my mothering her rather than her mothering me alcohol had altered her love. I remember weaving down the hall of our ranch home and Houston Texas. A glass of scotch in hand, I would wake her up at seven each morning to try to get her off to work.
Sure, there are good times like Christmas and birthdays. When she went all out and celebrated with us children, but even those days ended with the warped glow of alcohol when I was asked to consider leading mops international of vital ministry that nurtures mothers. I went straight to my knees.
How could God use me to nurture other mothers.
The answer came. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Segment installed on God would take my deficits and make them my offering and I would find his grace to be sufficient in my wings. The kind of woman God can and will use in this ripple effect of godly. She has about her sense of seriousness, sense of sobriety, sweetness, and overall demeanor of sacredness, her lips and her life are a testimony not to herself. By the way, thank godly older woman will never see anything in herself worthy of imitation.
So if you meet one of them you'll know immediately she's going she will ultimately testify the sufficiency of grace, that we want to grow to be like ladies. I hope that as you age you're looking for opportunities to invest in younger women, and you're committed to helping them grow in godliness by your teaching and your example you tuned into wisdom for the heart with Stephen Davey Stevens in a series from Titus two called family talk. Today's lesson is called rare words for rare women here at wisdom international. We have additional resources. Besides this daily broadcast to help you grow in your faith and in your understanding of God's word. One of those resources is our monthly magazine heart to heart each month. The magazine provides you with a daily devotional guide to help you start or end your day in God's word. If you've never seen heart-to-heart magazine give us a call today would like to send you the next three issues as our gift to you. Call us at 86 648 Bible or 866-482-4253, and of course join us tomorrow for more wisdom for the heart