Stamp Collection Series

Titus 2 Expository sermon

“Ashland A/G: A Stamp Collection”

Introduction: last week I talked about unfinished work needing to be done and we talked about who Titus was and what he was up against.

He was a Greek who was brought up in heathenism. He most likely was saved in the preaching and missionary work of Paul. Paul speaks of Titus very affectionately. In Titus 1:4 he is called "a true son in our common faith:" Paul also refers to Him in 2 Cor. as his brother. He is esteemed by Paul who trusts Titus to handle even the toughest assignments.

Paul receives word from Titus that the letter of 1 Cor., along with Paul’s authority had been well received by the Corinthians. Paul then sends Titus back to Corinth bearing the letter that we know as 2 Cor. Sometime after that, Paul and Titus once again are together, Paul leaves Titus on the island of Crete to as Paul states, "that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you."

Titus was a man who did what was asked of him and had to fight against the same things that we do now in a culture very much like our own. A society were the main goal was to acquire wealth, to fulfill whatever lust you might have. A society were ones word meant very little, what mattered was how much stuff you had. A society were moral were disregarded in search for wealth and material gain. What I really want to stress today is how he was to reach these people-remember from Titus 1:10-14 that there where people who where directly opposed to Titus preaching sound doctrine because they, being so culturally inclined, wanted to make personal profit from teaching false doctrine and twisted truths. The way that he was to battle against these enemies was to be an example of what a good Christian should be and to broaden his attack in this manner he needs to do it on a wider scale, this is one of the many reasons for his need to appoint elders, so that they would be such a visual standard to measure against that those who disputed sound doctrine would be ashamed. Chapter two of Titus gives specific advice to Christians to aid them in this-remember-this is something that is still badly needed in our culture today. (re-read Titus 2:2-10) I am going to come back to cover verse 1 in a few minutes. It starts off with the word “but” and is thus tied to the previous passage, so we will look at that as a whole in a little bit.

I. Advice to church members about XN living.

a. Men-should be temperate (sober and vigilant), worthy of respect (of good character), self-controlled, sound or wholesome and healthy in three cardinal virtues;

i. Faith toward god

ii. Love towards all

iii. Endurance until the end

b. Women-should be reverent (a word that is used in a specialized sense to mean literally “acting like a priestess,” they must not be slanderous or diabolical (the root of this word is diabolos and translates literally as Satan-the one who accusses or tells lies,) older women should not be addicted to wine (in the first century the culture –like our own –prompted people to be heavy drinkers) instead their lifestyle should be characterized by teaching what is good, they should love their husbands and children (ask my wife-this is often hard), they should be self controlled and modest, keepers at home (Paul said it not me!-that’s a sermon for another time,) good, obedient, and not speaking evil

c. Youth-Paul exhorts both young men and women to be self-controlled.they should follow the example of the elders (this means you elders should be walking correctly), have integrity (webster’s dictionary defines this as: Purity; genuine, unadulterated, unimpaired state,) seriousness that inspires respect (there is a time for fun and a time for being real), have soundness of speech (know what you are talking about and be ready with an answer)

d. Servants-the term given here for slave is doulos; a slave literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency.

i. Doulos (I leave it in this term and you can then apply it in a parent-child relationship, boss-employee relationship, or whatnot,) are instructed to be subject to their masters. This subjection has a reflexive voice in the greek and thus carries a connotation that they should “subject themselves” to their master, not just be subject because you have to be.

ii. Doulos are instructed to be pleasant, obliging, not talking back, not stealing. The apostle says that doulos should demonstrate trustworthiness so that they are a witness to others. This attitude should be something that they can decorate the Word of God with, by this I mean that it should be the first thing people see, that you want to show it off, and that it is appealing to others. Think of a young lady who just got an engagement ring and it’s got a nice big rock on it-she wants to show that piece off; that is what is implied here.