A Pattern for Young Men, Part 2

Show the world.

Another way to live in. It is about yourself by doing something good for somebody else. I don't misunderstand the Paul is not the finding how you become a Christian. He's describing how you live like Paul is not telling Titus to urge unbelieving young man to live this way so they can be redeemed.

He's telling young men who are redeemed to show the world how they have been and gets its impression of the church in many ways the reputation of the church becomes the reputation of all the members of the church. The church is made up of diverse age groups and in Titus two, verses six through eight, Paul turns his attention to the younger men in the congregation so join Stephen in this message to hear what Paul has to say to the leaders of tomorrow.

This is wisdom for the heart and today's message is called a pattern for young I went on our website just surfed around looking for good deeds found a lot of opportunities. What is working with a rescue mission.

Whether it is this bumper crop in filling bags up for food for those who are needy and along with that will come the gospel serving with converting hearts ministries working with college students taking crafts and games to local mobile home park serving on a crisis response team where when a natural disaster strikes. His teams ready to go, and volunteers working with them and you will believe the agony they went to to be able to do that all the license saying them and all of the governmental codes and regulations, they're finished there ready to go there if they're praying for hurricane the common can't wait to get started then internationally to teams touched down just a little bit ago that our team to China just touched down safely. The team heading to Africa. They're still in the air, dedicating their own time and energy and help to do good things for people who need help and with that comes the gospel which demonstrates the grace of God who reached us, we could not help ourselves. This happens to be the pattern for how young men are to act. I don't misunderstand the emphasis.

Paul is not defining how you become a Christian. He's describing how you live like a Christian to Paul is not telling Titus to urge unbelieving young man to live this way so they can be redeemed. He's telling young men who are redeemed to show the world how they have been and that they have let show the world. Another way to live in.

It isn't about yourself by doing something good for somebody else. Secondly, you talk now about a pattern for how young men are to think that is the end of her seven Titus to use an example in all the young men likewise are to have surety in doctrine, pure doctrine literally means uncorrupted on tainted doctrine to young men and young people at large are more likely to be carried away by doctrinal novelties, then the older set arrived at their conclusions after years of study that a dedication in into the word of God.

Would Paul is effectively telling all young men to do that is to get a head start. Don't assume that one day you'll understand sound doctrine is going to happen get I get a head start on it get started on it today. Understanding truth. The truth of God's word and this is not, by the way, knowing some answers developed on the doctrinal examination this is a reference to literally developing a Christian mind set a Christian mind to have minds of the reform. Paul knew would be impossible like a Christian unless you think like a Christian Christian thinking a Christian mind is governed by determined by directed by sound doctrinal truths that are discovered, not in ourselves, not in our world, but in this book and our generation of all generations while our culture digresses. The church is digressing because in modern church history.

Now more than ever we are in the process of abandoning doctrinal instruction. Mention the word doctrine the eyes is glaze over. I want church to be fun in a relevant you know we we we want an event we want doctrinal preaching and teaching. Everything has to be either funny or relevant or quicker or whatever is our generation. One author said is suffering from spiritual anorexia as they lost their appetite for doctrinal substance that a guy I think a mission is to before come from a seminary just finished the semester visiting back only came up to me after a priestess remedies that you did exactly what our professor said not to do and how melodic so what I do is you you preach verse by verse and he mentioned theological terminology were told not to do that. That's an evangelical seminary. By the way, listen to the thinking process of this almost to Roto, how I love your law, your commands make me wiser than my enemies the river with me. I have more insight than all my teachers. I meditate on your statutes. I more understanding than those older than me, for I obey your precepts. My soul weeps because of grief strengthen me according to your word. Remove the false way from me graciously grant me your law. I claim to your testimony the Lord. Do not put me to shame. I shall run after your commandments, you will enlarge my heart.

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe them to the end. Give me understanding that I may observe your lawn. People with all my heart make me walk in the path of your commandments right delight in it.

I shall not forget your word for passion. You cannot act like this you can think like this, you will never think like this unless our minds are saturated with that which reforms our minds. Titus urge a young man to become devoted to the word of God, tell them they cannot have the wisdom of God.

Apart from the word of God you cannot be profoundly influenced by that which you do not know we had well on the subject.

Men just read the word obviously meditate on the word memorize the word but then read Luke read widely on subjects related to the word that illustrate the word to dramatize the truth of the work that illuminate the word.

Good devotional works books that inspire Christian leadership Christian thinking and living. You only have so much time, why read junk.

Did you know that in the Christian community, three out of every four books are purchased by women. The truth is our generation of men stop reading the average man buys a book and never gets past the third chapter I read severe author put it all into the first three chapters. That's all they're going to get me think about you decided to redo the Bible probably decided it a few times and so the book of Genesis you read more often than any other book in the Bible you get to the Leviticus love through numbers.

It might be better advice to young men rather than try to read the Bible through a year.

Pick one book of the Bible and study it for a year, which is what we happen to do together as a congregation we study a book every year. Sometimes we take a wee bit longer to become knowledgeable in sound doctrine, unless we study it and read it become acquainted with it and become saturated with. I recommend no go by the devotional. My utmost for his highest Bible chambers it it's devotional some teeth to then when he finished, I don't bias biography and be inspired by what he and encountered and accomplished before he died in his early 40s, read a book that many leaders are Christian communities that influence them. One of the top three books Hudson Taylor's spiritual secret read AW toes or is the knowledge of the holy and the pursuit of God, pick up a copy of Charles Reilly's basic theology. If you want more than that, you can buy one volume theologies about that sick you can buy 10 volumes of systematic theology to just sort of puts it all their free to follow read a biography of some Christians from the past. I'm making my way slowly, among other things, through war and wears these classic compendium simply called 50 people every Christian ought to know just the chapter on different men and women that impacted the world for Jesus Christ purchased John MacArthur's book right-thinking in a world gone wrong that'll keep you up at night biography is doctrinal reading. In addition to the study of the word of God. All of them have a way of creating a biblical filter through which you were friends. Your thoughts and your decisions and your perspective.

We don't have that filter word, I believe, whatever our decision, whatever our thoughts whatever our perspective sounds good to me when I developing a filter as our minds are reformed and you got a stay at it. One author said the mind is like a garden. If it is not carefully looked after and cultivated it quickly becomes a wilderness like my front lawn.

So it is with the Christian mind you leave it alone. It will swiftly become worldly in its thinking. Why do you think the apostle Paul is telling Titus to tell older men and older women and younger women and younger men to live like this because the implication is what they're not. Or they may not.

The mind apart from the guidelines of untainted truth can justify anything when I can something be wrong is bringing me so much happiness God's will is for me to be happy. So what I'm doing as I know the will of God. We need to accept everybody in the church no matter what they're doing and the problem with Christians. I'm coming to believe is that there's way too judgmental.

I'm no bigger sinner than anybody else, and that your that's was rethinking's and perspectives that are unfiltered. They have been purified.

The problem with the church is not the word teaching too little teaching enough. You want young men to think correctly in the grown Christ they got alert of Christ to become acquainted with the doctrines of Christ and the commands of Christ which come from the work I noticed Paul as of the universe. Seven. Another aspect of how they are to sink, which of course is reflected in how they act. Young men are to be dignified know we've already encountered this word as well. I find it interesting that older men were told be dignified and the younger men are told be dignified to that had if you remember the aspects of living with a sense of gravity sanctity, respect, ability, the word speaks of a willingness we challenged older man grow up and act like their age. Remember that and it was hard. I got a three-page email from submissive men. You were just well let the woman have like that way too hard on Holden.

I preached older women, the neck, sending a roaming apologies that we were so hard on the older women I probably just what is it about the older men think that serious now talking about young men describe someone who is worthy of respect.

This doesn't mean the Christian young man is it all cold washrag.

Whatever you do don't invite that guide. Anything just comes in and just sucks the energy out of the room doesn't mean he can't have fun and laugh. What it does determine is what he considers fun and that which he laughs the dignity that Titus is the model for young men over young men the model to the world has this aspect of seriousness that earns you the right to be heard.

The world is not to take your Christianity seriously, if you don't, it's trivial to you, it will never be significant. Just exactly what Paul has in mind as he talks about what your world is hearing from you in this next dimension of patterning godliness.

He not only delivers a pattern for the way young men act in the way young men think, but thirdly now Paul talks about the way young men speak verse eight when he sound in speech. Young men are, which is beyond reproach sounded comes from that word again hi Jean, healthy, clean analog costs. The word you are known for your clean words now for the Greeks, the term lot costs could have a number of connotations. Jesus Christ is called the law God. The explanation of God in Ephesians 4. However, Paul uses it in a very daily kind of context and here also in Titus.

This is the context of normal day to day speech. This is how you talk it's a reference to your vocabulary.

I mean we been scaling the heights of true doctrine now is to get down to how we talk see a pattern for godly living is not just how young man acts or thinks. But even down to the nitty-gritty of how he talks, I can't help but wonder what kind of example we as older men are in modeling for the younger do we pray now understanding. At our age with the psalmist Lord you need to set a watch guard before my mouth. You need to keep the door of my lips. Psalm 14 three because our world out there says is unbelievers are quoted some plovers for our lamps are our own, who will be the lord over us is the unbelievers unit until we had a talk, and in fact I know immature believers who would say you you can tell he had. I got liberty budget of the First Amendment freedom of speech.

Yeah, I do. But the maturing Christian understands that our freedom of speech is not a license to speak. Anything we we are not free to say things that discredit the gospel or hurt the reputation of Christ which is by the way, the direct motive of clean speech.

Paul gives us here at the last phrase of verse eight look there, so that your opponent will be put to shame, having nothing better to let us you know I am talking with clean language so your opponent can't have anything dirty to say about you, so don't say dirty things and he does a dirty things I can say dirty things about you and that your now I think it's surprising if I do want you to notice that the other verse eight, a rather surprising pronoun. There you think Paul would have written so that you young men speak with clean language so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about you. What he says is having nothing bad to say about this. See you develop a godly reputation.

And guess what the church ends up with a godly reputation and works the other way around.

Whatever you are like in your world, your world, things that were all the same way, how you think, talk and act on my campus are in the board room or the Corporation then they were, they just assume if you're part of this church, than that's the way we all are. We all think that what I will talk that way. We all act that way. Our reputation as a body of believers. A local assembly is directly tied to each of our individual reputations out there. So if you're not acting like a Christian not thinking like a Christian not talking like a Christian, you have my permission to never tell anybody where you go to church, keep it a secret.

God's method Howard Hendricks used to love to say this.

Never forget it. God's method has always been to take a clean person and drop him in the middle of a corrupt culture strewing.

He takes a clean person drops into the middle of a corrupt culture where they reveal through their everyday conversation, which is clean through their thinking process which is governed by biblical truth through the way they act, which is self-controlled and dignified through all of that, this clean person is been dropped into a corrupt culture is able to demonstrate what it means to follow the true and living God, you live young men you live with a growing sense of awareness. Paul wants you young men to grab it by the collar. Now it isn't just about you.

It is about us, and ultimately, it's about the character and honor of the one who leads us Jesus Christ. I love the way the apostle Peter, put it in his first letter what he wrote. Keep your behavior. Excellent among the Gentiles is unbelievers keep your behavior excellent so that in the thing which they slander you as sinners they may because of your good deeds end up glorifying God.

We ultimately show our world by talking and living and thinking differently than our world and in so doing showing them something far better three months ago when I close with this. I met a former professional football player used to play for the Chicago Bears is not offensive to you big guy 6768. I just knew I talked to Mike this after some initial conversation. I steered the discussion the spiritual things. He denies a pastor, I invited them to church and he immediately began to smile so I don't have time thought, man, this is great. So, what immediate lifetime he said well you know why I am a businessman, but on Sunday I have a circuits and I travel around the state of North Carolina giving my testimony and in delivering the gospel to juvenile detention centers in jails and prisons. So I said wow is fantastic.

Would you share your testimony with me. He said would be glad to do so. He told me.

Fast-forward the tape to his professional career he said I was living the dream I signed I was signed early in the NFL draft had several years winning seasons to the pinnacle of my career was breathing. The Dallas Cowboys said. Praise God I'm so glad that happened. He said we won that game, because on one play. I rushed Troy Ake in causing the fumble. I picked up the fumble and ran for a touchdown. He said I can remember, this was the ultimate he said. I said I would II can member spiking the ball in the end zone right on top of the star in the carpet the Dallas Cowboys logo. I said, man, I'd love to live the dream for just a moment, he said, but in the hotel room that night.

The euphoria of all of it in on said I was sitting there alone and he said I was overwhelmed with a sense of emptiness. Should this have been my dream and in my position. This is the ultimate play and he said I realize then there had to be something bigger and better so it wasn't long until I picked up a Bible and begin to read it. God connected me with some believers, and I eventually understood the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and he told me that Granny said in that moment in the Dallas Stadium cannot compare to seeing some young man give his heart to Jesus Christ. Paul was saying, the young man knows you as you live your life in chase your dreams and you might be playing football.

Just remember there's nothing more important than the credibility of your testimony is nothing more vital than the delivery of the gospel is nothing more critical than the reputation of the church, brothers and sisters. His reputation nothing more.

All glory in bringing honor, attention Ray to our great save Jesus Christ.

This is been a powerful reminder and challenge us today. I'm glad you were able to join us. You've been listening to wisdom for the hearts the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey, the lesson you just heard is called a pattern for young men and it's part five in a series called family talk if it will bless you to have a copy of this lesson, or if there's a young man in your life that you'd like to share this lesson with we be happy to help you get a copy this and all of Stephen sermons are freely available for you to download from our website, you can listen online or you can download either the audio file or Stevens printed manuscripts.

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