Speaking Good Things

SPEAKING GOOD THINGS

TITUS 2:15

As some of you know hunting season began last Sunday, that is turkey season. You may have notice a little more shotgun blasts in the woods this past week. This morning I want to share a little hunting story with you.

These two guys Joe and Frank decide to do a little turkey hunting. Now they have been noticing these turkeys always seem to be on this one farmer's land. Well be good hunters they go to the farmer to ask permission. As they get to the gate Joe tells Frank to wait there as he goes up and knocks on the door, this way they don’t get the Farmer to nervous.

So Joe goes up and knows on the door, and the farmer answers. Joe explains that they would like to go hunting on the farm. The old farmer replies that “it’s fine for you to hunt on our land, but I have one request. See that old gray mare over there. Well she been really sick, and she dying. I hate to see her suffer. Could you shot her for me. She had been so good to me that I just cannot bring myself to do it. IF you shoot my horse you can hunt on my land.”

Well Joe tell that farmer that it will be hard for him as well but that he would do it. Now as Joe is walking back he figures he will play a little joke on Frank.

As he get to Frank, Frank ask, “Well what did he say.”

That no-good lousy farmer, He said no. Well I teach him a lesson. See that mare over there?” POW POW Joe shoots the mare. Just as he is bring his gun down he hears two shots behind him. He turns as see Frank lowering his gun.

“Good job Joe!” Franks says, “I just got two of his cows lets get out of here!”

Now while that joke as a lot to do with hunting, it actually has little do to with my sermon, but I do have your attention.

Today we are getting back to our study on the book of Titus. So I am going to ask you to turn there. Titus chapter 2.

Now before we go into our discussion on humility and being a servant, over that past two weeks, we had been talking about the things that grace as brought to us as found in Titus 2:11-15. In verse 11-4 we see some of the wonderful things that Grace as brought to us. Through grace of course we have salvation through the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We also saw that grace teaches us to deny ungodliness, and to live righteous lives in the power of that grace. We saw a future blessing of grace with the return of our King Jesus Christ as he well come again for his saints and to judge the world.

Today I want our focus to be on verse 15, let me read that to you, “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”

In the verse we see once again how grace works in us. It is by the grace of God that we are to “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority.”

Now as we look at this passage we must realize that Paul is writing to Titus. And in the narrow context this passage is speaking to those who are pastors, or elders of the church. But in a broad sense this passage is speaking to each one of us. Because as we look at this passage we will see that in other places in the Word of God these things are commanded to all of us.

Three commands we see here.

The first is that we “Speak these things”. Now the first question that should come to our minds is “what things?”

To answer that we need to look all the way back to 2:1. Where Paul states, “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.” The “these things” Paul refers to is sound doctrine. We are to speak the truth of God. In all things.

In regards to Pastor they are commanded to preach sound doctrine, they are commanded to preach Biblical truth. And if they move away from the Word of God, then they become unqualified to be a preacher, unqualified to be a teacher of the Word of God. The sad thing is we see this a lot in our society. We see a lot of church that claim to be Christian yet they distort the word of God, the do not preach sound doctrine, but a doctrine that is politically correct, a doctrine that is based on the current trends of society or perhaps a doctrine that is based on traditions and not the word of God.