THE ELDERLY REFUSES TO HONOR THE WORK AND WORD OF GOD - TITUS 2:2-5 - 8/4/12
"2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 3 Older women
likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what
is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be
sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be
dishonored."
Responsibility is not always desirable to those who have to fulfill them. Sometimes it is easier to forsake one's responsibility and join the crowd while they seek to have fun. As men and women in the world and in the church gets older they sometimes shun their parental responsibilities and give in to the things that are less demanding of their attention, time, and effort. In response to their bodily function, illnesses, likes, wants, lusts, weaknesses, and desires. God has held a tight leash on the elderly in the church. In the world they are free to do as they please, so it seems. But in the body they are called by God to maintain the same standard of holiness as that of the younger Christians in the body. The sixty, seventy and eighty years old must yield to the scriptures teachings as the young married couples with children also do. The elderly must not shun or refuse God's word and God's work to say that it is only for the young to do, because they are to old to meet God's call to be responsible. Therefore, the Apostle Paul pens a letter to Titus on the Island of Crete, instructing him on how the elderly must meet the responsibilities entrusted to them by God. As the leaders of the church must also rise to the standard of character to be-come leaders in the church of God. Let's look at what Paul has written to Titus in the church on the Island of Crete, and then we will look at how Moses warned the Israelite's prior to their entering the promised land of the consequences they would suffer if they did not obey the Lord, which is similar to what Christians suffer when they disobey God and he disciplines them on account of their disobedience.
I. RESPONSIBILITY OF OLDER MEN - (TIT. 2:2) "2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance."
Paul commanded the Older men of the church to be "temperate (moderate, not excessive, self-restraint), dignified (moral and ethical), sensible (good sense and sound judgment), and sound (free from flaw, defect, or decay, solid, firm; also: stable, free from error, fallacy) in faith, love and perseverance." Why would Paul call the older men to such a high standard of living? In answer to that question I came up with these 7 answers:
1. They've already been youths who have broken and lived the opposite of these characteristics.
2. It is God's desire and requirement for those who are aged.
3. It fulfills God's call for men to be holy, sanctified and pure.
4. These are the proper characteristics of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
5. It qualifies them to become elders (leaders, overseers) in the church and faith.
6. It gives Satan and the demons no opportunity to enter into the life of the elder to mislead him into sin.
7. It provides a standard and an example for unbelievers to follow when they live this way.
God wanted the men in Paul's day to maintain a godly life and also be influential in the lives of others, so he called them to a higher standard of living through these characteristics. Many of these men may have been husbands and fathers whose example were followed by younger men, and their example set the course for the liberty of the church and the youth that followed the direction of the elders and the elder board. The author of Hebrews counseled "7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." Thus, the older men in every generation are to possess these characteristics because the younger men will "imitate their faith" and example.
If this is true, then why would someone like MacArthur do what he did to my life as an elderly man? why would he betray me and violate this command that Paul had given to Titus on the island? Even if he concluded that I was an unbeliever, that should not have stopped him from being a godly man, in the sight of God, nor stopped him from trusting God's will for my life outside of Grace. Am I not an Adam, a child of God created in God's image to do the will of God? What was wrong with me wanting to do the ministry? or wanting to continue the ministry for him when I had first made mention of it? Does not scripture teach that we are to take the gospel to all the nations? If that is the truth then Grace did not receive me right, in that the nations came to them and they rejected it. I think it's unfortunate for God to have given someone like MacArthur so much, and for him to have limited his sphere of influence by discriminating and choosing those who should, and those who could rise up to his level of service in the ministry of Christ and in the standard of holiness that God has called his church to maintain in their personal lives. MacArthur should of continued to play the role of the apostle Paul both on Grace Community Church property and off Grace Community Church property, at all times. But to do it on the property and then switch is poor leadership. Then, the character flaws that Paul warn the elderly avoid will be displayed outside of the fellowship, and at some point will affect the lives of those in the fellowship when they cannot hold it in anymore.
II. RESPONSIBILITY OF OLDER WOMEN (TIT. 2:3-5) "3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishono-red."
Paul also had words of exhortation for the older women, they likewise needed to be reverent ("worshipful, honorable, respectable"), not gossipers ("idle talkers or rumorers, especially about the personal or private affairs of others: the endless"), drunkards ("one who is habitually drunk"), teachers ("one that teaches; especially: one whose occupation is to instruct"), encouragers ("to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence"), sensible ("having, using, or showing good sense or sound judgment"), pure ("Free from adulterants or impurities: "), homemakers ("one who manages a household especially as a wife and mother"), kind ("Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature. Showing sympathy or understanding; charitable"), and submissive ("inclined or ready to submit ; unresistingly or humbly obedient"). These characteristics likewise were to be of great encouragement to the younger women in the congregation. The older woman having gone through the process of being a wife, a mother, and then some a grandmother or great grandmother has a weighty responsibility in the church. Perhaps that is the reason why God has called them to such a high standard of living. Why should a woman maintain such a dignified position in God's church?
1. She's the mother of this life, who have born children of her own and reared them either in the faith or outside of the faith against
the Lord.
2. She's the example of what younger women will imitate in her dealings with the leaders, pastors, men, young men and children in
the church congregation.
3. She's been through what younger women are going through, thus she can counsel them in their relationships with their husbands
and single men.
4. She's sets the standard for purity with the brethren, her character will influence other women in the faith.
5. She has a responsibility before God to be obedient to God through the Word and to live it out trusting that her life is in God's
hand.
6. She cannot be sexually driven by her own lusts, passions, and sins for this will have negative affect on the churches fellowship if
she is an immoral woman as Solomon warned in proverbs.
7. She cannot be a sinner who is bound for hell living in rebellion against God, but a saint who has yielded her will to God's will.
Many more reasons can be given to justify why an elderly woman ought to be so godly. Sin is creeping at the door of the heart of older women, some to be sure are seeking the companionship of younger men outside of the marriage bed and defile the body of Christ with their sin. Not taking the issue of sin seriously, and thus, bringing judgment upon others and themselves. Not seeing God as the final authority, but Satan and sin. It was the woman who brought down the entire human race in Genesis 3. They were the one's who separated God and man in Eden. It was they whom Satan used to destroy the eternal plans of God to give us eternal life. Thus, they were the weaker vessel and were challenged by the adversary to submit, and this they did which misled Adam to follow in their footsteps instead of Adam leading his wife. Thus, the older woman at times can have a spiritual connection with the men of the church and again mislead them, use them through sinners and take sexual advantage of them as Gabrielle Franklin an older woman took advantage of me for 30 years. I have never known a more godless woman then Gabrielle. She is a great grandmother and the worse example of what a christian woman should be. Her influence in my own life led me to sin, almost death and destruction. If the government had kept her at a distant, I would have been a godly man. However, on account of her lusts, sexual deviations, and rapist mentality she has costed me a future in full time ministry and has destroyed the only reputation that God has given me, as victim of her sensuality, sexual immorality and perversion. It is women who walk in her shoes that God opposes, like Jezebel of old who still have the spirit of Eve, or rebellion in them to oppose the righteousness of God and Christ.
III. THE CONSEQUENCE OF DISOBEDIENCE IN MISLEADING THE NEXT GENERATION (Deut.28:15-29:28) 15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me."
In the Old Testament time of Moses God warned Israel that if they disobeyed what you have just read in Deut. 28-29 was what was going to happen to them. They would suffer the consequence of their sin. To disobey is to bring consequence upon ones head. So it is in the church. When the elder has been instructed to live righteously and they decide to do other wise there is retribution against them. They will be turned over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh (2 Cor. 5:5). The immoral will suffer death, and the Lake of fire (Rev. 21:8). God is not pleased with sinners, how much more those of his house hold when they also sin and not repent. If God sends sinners into hell, the forgiven saint should be careful not to entice God to anger and suffer his discipline (Heb. 12:5-6). Therefore, the consequence of disobe-dience in these elders on the island of Crete and here in America is as the scriptures teach. There will be judgment, God says, "vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord." When an elder mislead a youth, or those in his congregation he is due to suffer the wrath of God. Even David the king didn't get away with adultery and murder, how much more these people in Paul's day if they had sinned that way or even today if they are guilty of adultery as Gabrielle and John are.
IV. THE RESTORATION OF GOD'S WORD (2 Kings 22:8-13 - 23:1-20) "8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. 9 Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delive-red it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
Restoring God is the proper position of any sinning elder. If an elder sins against God he is to repent, turn from his or her sin and obey God's word. If he truly loves his life and the Lord himself he will fear God's wrath and humble himself or herself before God and restore his word back into their lives as the final authority and submit to him again by faith. If these elderly people do not restore God or his word, then they will suffer the consequences that Scripture has promised. Some are proud and have no fear. They boast that God has never judged them nor will ever judge them. They make up their own rules as they go along life's narrow path. They do as they please, or as they have been instructed to do. They don't see the scriptures as God's word written to man for his edification and for God's defense. God has put his word here on earth in a book, recorded so that man may know how to conduct themselves as the children of God and the church of God (2 Kings 22:8-13 - 23:1-20; 1 Tim. 3:15). Not as the rebels who don't need God or his instructions.
For example, it's like the kid that pulls away from his mother at the supermarket and begin to run through the isles, bumping into racks and causing things to fall from the shelf. When the manager ask's who his parents are that brought him in no one could identify who they were, because they judged the child by walking out of the store and leaving him in there by himself to teach him a lesson. When the child realized that he was completely alone and that his parents were no longer with him, he began to cry. The clerk ignored his crying, the store manager ignored him, until a patron decided to call the police and it was the police who came in to resolve the issue. The manager explained to the police that the boy has a bad tendency to pull away from his parents as soon as he walks into the supermarket. So this time his mother and the manager planned to teach him a lesson. The police took the boy and placed him in the back of his vehicle and took him to the station. When he gets there his mother refused to answer the phone and it wasn't until his father got home that he heard the story and stopped by the supermarket to speak to the manager. The manager then sent him to the police station where he found his son still sobbing, that he wanted to go home. When he saw his father he stopped crying and alerted the police officer that his father was in the lobby. The father spoke to the officer, and the three conferenced. The father spoke to the boy explaining to him that he could no longer run off by himself in any store when he goes shopping with his mother, or else the jail house will become his new home.
Our relationship with God is very much like this story. As soon as we're able to run, we pull from God and start doing whatever we want on the earth. We live as we please, we do as we please and expect there to be no retribution to how we live. We think that God is not angry at us and therefore we continue to live apart from him. Just like the mother walked away and refused to answer the phone. So does God walk away and refuse to answer the prayer of sinners who run from him and do as they please. If a man or woman is caught in a trespass it is because he or she has run off from God and gotten himself caught in that bad situation. However, if he had kept up with the Lord and his word perhaps he would not have gotten himself into trouble. The only one that can deliver us from a bad situation is Jesus, that is why he came down from heaven to earth. The Father like the mother in our story would not respond. But like the father of the boy who responded, Jesus responded and came down to die for our sins. Let's be wise and discerning and listen to the counsel of Jesus who has come to deliver us. If we keep running from the Father to do as we please, next time the Father may not send Jesus to deliver us. Next time it may be that this trespass will bring us to our death, and into Hades, or Hell. If a mother can walk away from her child to punish him, so can God walk away from us and let the devil punish us. Do not doubt it. Thus, be sure to be a people who restore God, keep close to God, follow God, draw near to God, pray to God, hold his hands through life, do not run ahead of him thinking that you know where you are going and you know what you are doing. Trust in him and remain the child while he maintains his position as the God of your life.
In 2 Kings Israel had walked away from God, but God some how brought himself back to the nation by giving them back what they had lost, which was his Word. King Josiah took the Word of God so seriously and to heart that he reformed Israel back to the standard of the Mosaic Law. Taking down all the idols and worship places that were build to practice idolatry. When elders in the church or in the nation act like the child or as a generation walk away from God's Word because they think that their old age gives them some sort of leverage or edge on the rest of the world. They lose sight of the truth. The key to aging and living is keeping up with God at all times, not walking away from him and acting like your in no need of him, and you will do fine independently by ourselves. No one came into the earth alone, no one maintain life on earth alone, nor do anyone know where they are going, and if they'll be alone. So until we can rise up to the level of divinity and figure out life on earth from God's point of view. I suggest that we all, elders included humble ourselves before God and like King Josiah reform back our lives to God's divine biblical standard. Those who choose not to, will discover the other side of God is his hatred, wrath and judgment just like the other side of the mother was a judge who forsook her own child in a supermarket to teach him a lesson.
V. CONCLUSION
Let all elderly men and women take heed to the words of Paul to Titus in his epistle. Let the youth of every generation be reminded that even the elders have to keep God's law and his word is to be obeyed in their lives. For just because a person is older, it does not mean that they are free to do as they please in the world or in the church. The only one who does as he pleases in heaven and on earth is God (Psalms 115:3).
