Well, we're going to be continuing our study this morning in the book of Titus at chapter 2, and really we've come to an intensely practical section of the book. I've titled this message on the first eight verses of chapter 2, "A Healthy Church."

We see several times in the Scriptures the local gathering of believers referred to as a body, as an organism, which is to grow and prosper and exhibit health and vigor, working together as one to accomplish the will and purpose of God. But we also see in the New Testament that the church can become ill, become anemic, useless as to its purpose, even harmful to the cause of Christ when there's no health and growth and life as some members of the body suffer, causing harm to the whole. So in my mind, as a believer and as a pastor teacher, this begs the vital question: how is it that God prescribes, intends for the body to be healthy, for the church to thrive and grow and be producing fruit?

An organism can thrive, exhibit health, and bear fruit only when it is healthy and growing and its needs are met. We see this with the animals on our farm all the time, and it's a learning process. Whether we intend for an animal to produce meat or wool or healthy babies, the key is in the health of the individual and the flock or herd as a whole. If an animal is lacking what it needs—proper nutrition, a healthy environment, a comfortable, warm and dry bed, shelter, love, and attention—then that animal will not be healthy, will not thrive, will not grow. An animal who has all that it needs to grow and prosper will produce quality meat, abundant fiber, and healthy litters of little bacon bits. This is true for all organisms, and the church, the local body, is no different.

So really, if we're interested in being a strong, healthy, growing organism as the body of believers, if our greatest desire is to serve God, have His will done through us, and bear fruit for His glory, then we must discern from the Scriptures how it is that God intends and prescribes that this can be accomplished at Living Hope Church. And that is really what these pastoral epistles are all about: how we should conduct ourselves in the house of God, as Paul wrote to Timothy. And this chapter before us is all about this truth. It's a very practical and straightforward chapter teaching us about how we should conduct ourselves. 

And it all starts, as it does with animals, in having a healthy, growing, fruit-producing environment where there's love and shelter and proper nutrition and provision of good food to feed the heart, mind, and soul. This is really encompassed in the word found in verse 1 of our text, translated "sound." It literally means to have sound health, to be well, to be whole. I've had people ask me, other farmers or people who've raised a pig or two, how do you get your pigs to be so big and healthy in such a short amount of time? It reminds me of an old joke that Jerry Clower told about a feed salesman that stopped at Uncle Versy Leadbetter's farm, and he had those old razorback hogs out there. The feed salesman walked up to Uncle Versy and he said, "How old are those hogs?" And he said, "They're 10 months old." He said, "Well, how much do they weigh?" And he said, "About 150 pounds." The feed salesman said, "Sir, had you fed my feed to your hogs, those pigs would have been 250 pounds in six months." Uncle Versy looked up and said, "Yeah, but what's time to a hog?"

But if we want growth, if we want health, we want them to grow in a certain amount of time. So I'll show them and explain to them how we raise hogs, the proper environment to provide, how we let them move about and play in the pastures and woodlots, scratch their noses, talk to them every day. But I'll say mostly, you have to feed them. I've seen again and again on other farms, little pens with too many pigs in them, mud and feces up to their bellies, no shelter, no dry bed, and they just throw their grain in the mud, skimping on the food to save money. I remember one place I went to help load hogs on a trailer, and the guy was running around in the mud with one of those sticks, shocking the pigs indiscriminately. They were squealing and scared and running into the fences. My friends, there's no health there. There's no growth. There's no abundance, no fruit. Those animals are not in a sound environment; they're not being fed.

But many churches are like this today as well. There's no environment for growth because at the very heart and center of the church, there is no nourishment, no focus on the health and well-being of the body through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. There's no nourishment, proper nutrition or sustenance, no meat for health and growth. If there's one thing we've learned through our study of these pastoral epistles, it is that it is God's clear plan for the church, for the pastor-teacher, to above all things preach the Word, give heed to the doctrine, and feed the flock with the nourishment of the words of God.

The man of God must speak the things that are proper for sound doctrine. And this means wholeness, wellness, sound in health. This is not just what I say when I get in this pulpit. This is the totality of all that we do as a church. How we think, who we trust, a philosophy, a plan for growth as laid out in the Word by God Himself. It's how we sing, it's how we witness, it's how we fellowship, as well as how we teach and preach and encourage one another. 

At the very heart of this doctrine which accords with health, with godliness, and what we will see in our text today, is that this has everything to do with how we live as well. How we conduct ourselves and the consequences this has in our ministry, our witness, and our effectiveness in this world. At the heart of everything we do here is the plan and purpose of God as laid out in His Word, and we believe God and His Word. We desire to do it His way and to speak His truth into every situation. We believe, therefore we speak. And this is the way of growth, of health, of vigor, of subsequent fruit for soundness in the body.

Let's look at our text in Titus 2:1. "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith and love and patience. The older women likewise, that they may be reverent in behavior, not slanders, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility. Sound in speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you."

I've given you three points this morning on the outline: first the contrast, second the commands, and third the consequences. 

Well first in our text we see the contrast. You remember back in chapter 1 at verses 10 to 16, ending that chapter, we saw that there are many false teachers, many insubordinate in the church, influencing and damaging greatly the health, the soundness of the body. In verse 1 of our text we see a contrast, contrasting words for Titus: "But as for you." There are men in the church who are rebellious, who are teaching lies and heresy to draw away the believers, to cause strife and division in the body, to damage the health and growth and fruitfulness of the church. They are evil men, disqualified for every good work, Paul says. But as for you, Titus, you speak those things which are proper for soundness, wholeness, wellness. 

This is a tremendous contrast, my friends, and it speaks to the influence of the world, of men, of Satan and his ministers in the church. And so many churches, so many pastors and teachers have bought into another way, a man's philosophy, a better idea than that of God to accomplish His will. I remember years ago I was sitting in a church, and the pastor said from the pulpit, "It is no longer good enough to just preach the gospel." That was, I believe, the last time we sat in that church. You see, that man, those men who were overseers in that church had bought into another way. They believed that the postmodern age and the culture in which we live demands new methods, marketing, music, and ministry that appealed to the new generation of people and the new culture in which we live. They thought relevance was the issue, and that through slick methods appealing to the felt needs of men, they could draw in and win the lost in the church, relating to them in a way that appealed to them and their desires. 

This is a church growth movement, the philosophy that has done so much damage to the evangelical church. And if you believe in methods, if you believe in emotional entertainment, manipulation, and meeting the felt needs of unchurched Harry and Mary, then you will come to the conclusion that just preaching the gospel is no longer good enough. Just preaching the Word of God is no longer good enough. 

Do you see the absolute contrast in philosophy, really in faith? What you believe will dictate how you act. And this is true in evangelism and in how we do church as a whole. This is what Paul's really getting at in these epistles. What do you believe? What is your philosophy? How is it we should conduct ourselves in the house of God? What's the purpose? Why are we here? And the question is, will we look to the world? Will we trust in the wisdom of men? It sounds so good sometimes, doesn't it? Or will we look to and trust in the living God, His methods, His means, His way for doing church, for growing the body in health and soundness, for reaching the lost and producing fruit for His glory? Who do we believe? Where do we look? What is the absolute heart of our philosophy of ministry? How we conduct ourselves in this church, in our studies, in fellowship, and in our world as witnesses for Jesus Christ?

Let me illustrate it this way. Let's say a brother or sister in Christ comes to you with a struggle, a difficulty they are working through, looking for advice, encouragement, perhaps a solution to their problem. What are your thoughts? Where does your mind go? What is the source of your wisdom and encouragement for them? I remember before we started coming to this church, the standard answer for most any question was, "Oh, I have a book for you. Read this book that this man wrote to solve your problems." And the books were invariably filled with man's wisdom, psychology, philosophy, with a Scripture quoted here and there. Or what if a lost person in your life, perhaps someone you've spent time with, maybe work with, who you've been praying for, seeking to witness to, asks you a spiritual question? 

Maybe even how to know God, or how to be saved. Or perhaps, what do you believe? How do you answer them? I can remember the standard protocol in some churches was to invite them to church, or maybe ask the pastor to go and talk to them. And these aren't necessarily wrong things to do, but my brother, my sister in Christ, if they are asking, if they're searching and seeking in that moment, why would we not take them to the words of God? Explain clearly to them the gospel, and implore them to put their faith in Jesus alone and His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. 

Why would we not speak to them sound words for salvation? There's a great contrast between a dependence on worldly wisdom, men, and books, and a focus on belief in the Word of God and His power and provision to save men, to encourage the believer to set right that which is dislocated. And it should be our second nature, our default in every given situation to speak to them sound words, sound doctrine for their wholeness and health in a spiritual sense. That is the contrast here in verse 1. Don't be like those false teachers out there, as we saw in chapter 1. Don't be like those wishy-washy professing Christians, or those worldly carnal men who place their faith in the wisdom of the world. You, as for you, speak truth. Speak clear doctrine from the Word of God which will bring soundness to the person, to the body, health, life, and vigor. This is the job of Titus. This is the job of every pastor-teacher, but it's also God's means for every believer for every situation in life.

So we see the contrast. And next we see the commands, the very practical exhortations that Titus is to give to the church. And then, "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine." That the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, and patience. The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded. In all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

What we see here is an absolutely essential biblical truth, and that is that practice is always built on principles. Or to say it another way, the indicatives always underlie the imperatives. That is, holy living, righteous fruitfulness is invariably built on sound doctrine, on truth. Notice the purpose word at the beginning of verse 2, "that," so that, for the purpose that. This is the link; this is the logical conclusion; this is the tie between doctrine and living. And it's vital that we understand this truth. Speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that, so that. All the people, the various groups of believers in the church will live, will act the way they should, will speak the words necessary for edification, and do the things that accord with godliness in their various roles in the body.

Doctrine, teaching, preaching, instruction must be the basis for living. What I believe will dictate how I live. When I think of this principle, I always think of the absolute extreme example of the person Osama Bin Laden, you remember him? Think about this man. He absolutely had the world by the tail. All the wealth, power, women—whatever he wanted—in Saudi Arabia, living the life of Riley. What in the world was it that moved this man from that life of power and wealth and luxury to living in a cave in the mountains of Pakistan? It was his firm belief in the Quran, in Islam, in Allah. What he believed drastically affected how he lived. And this is true for every one of us. We might not all have that kind of zeal, but what we accept as truth, what we immerse our minds in as the authority for life and practice, what we believe will dictate how we live. And so Paul says, "Speak those things which accord with sound doctrine so that there might be holy living."

I want to just pause and notice something that's pervasive in this epistle and the other epistles as well, and my wife pointed this out to me last Sunday afternoon after the last sermon. There's a pervasive theme here, and it has to do with speaking, with speech, with words in various forms. Look at Titus 1:9, go back to 1:9, and I want to run through the text and just highlight these words. “Speaking fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ Their testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith.” All of these words throughout this text refer to speaking, to preaching, teaching through words by mouth. 

And look at our text today: 2:1, "speak the things"; 2:3, "slanderers," "teachers"; verse 4, "admonish"; verse 5, "blasphemed"; verse 8, "sound speech that they'll have nothing evil to say of you." My brothers and sisters, it's worth emphasizing here that God has chosen speech, words, preaching, proclaiming—that is, speaking His word as the method by which we are to lead men to Christ. We are to encourage and exhort the brethren, rebuke, correct, instruct in righteousness, and even to praise and worship Him. 

He's given to us the word of reconciliation. He's chosen by the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. He's called on us through sound speech, through clear doctrine, teaching to correct, rebuke and build up the brethren. Jesus said, "Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth." This is the way. This is God's way and if you follow closely, we will see in these commands that it is by our mouths, by the words and truth that we speak, that the will of God is accomplished. By the power and work of the Holy Spirit through truth, through God's word that He works out His will in the church.

Verse 2, the older men here refers to those who are elders or in the office of elder and also indicates advance in age to maturity. It says that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, and patience, should speak sound doctrine. Titus, that the older men may be sober—you have to speak sound doctrine that they may be sober. Weiss comments that this has reference to wine and drunkenness in this context, but the word also means circumspect, serious, concerned with truth. 

Temperate means grave, honorable, honest. Temperate speaks of self-control. Think of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 9:23, he says, "Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things." He's self-controlled. They don't show up to run a race in a snowmobile suit and Mickey Mouse boots, right? You lay aside that which entangles. You're self-controlled. You don't sit on the couch and eat chips and drink pop for six months before you run a marathon. They do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. He says, "Then thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." 

The man of God must be temperate, laying aside that which encumbers the running of the race. He must be disciplined in fighting with purpose and precision according to the truth of God's word, lest he fall into sin and become disqualified from preaching and teaching, serving as an elder in the church, in the ministry that God has called him to. It says, "Sound in faith." This phrase refers to a soundness, a wholeness, wellness in the body of truth—literally to have firm convictions concerning the truth of the word of God. A man must be so convicted that these beliefs guide in practice and preaching. We must know what we believe. We must have convictions because of the word of God, and that must guide how we live and the decisions that we make. 

There must be no doubt, no wavering in a man's conviction concerning the truth and sufficiency of the word of God, so much so that this guides his conduct in all that he does in life and ministry, in love and patience. This is agape, self-sacrifice, a willingness to serve, to do the hard things, to stand for the truth, for the express motive of the benefit of others. And the word translated "patience" means to bear up under. It speaks of patient endurance, continuance in what is good. The man of God must be steadfast in love and patience based on what is true and right. This is the exhortation to the older men, and it is accomplished through sound doctrine, spoken, preached, and taught.

Verse 3, it says, "The older women likewise that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed." 

We see in all these commands that God's will for the believer is one of service. We all have a role in the body to bring the truth to bear on the life and practice of others for the health of the whole. And this is particularly true for the older, the more mature in the body, to live as an example, to also teach and encourage and come alongside the immature, the young in the faith for their benefit and growth and grace and maturity. Reverent in behavior speaks of that which becomes holiness—living in consistency with who they are, their practice matching their position according to the truth of the word of God. 

This includes how they speak. Notice what it says for the older women: "not slandering." This is to bring false accusation, gossip, backbiting. The word specifically refers to Satan, the father of lies. So women are not to be whisperers over in the corner, spreading discontent and division, but rather teachers of good things. In the middle here we see a similar prohibition as that with the older men, to drunkenness, to lingering at the wine. Those with their inhibitions nullified by drink or drug are not temperate and are not filled with the Holy Spirit. 

We see the positive admonition here is to be teachers of good things. By word, by deed, the older women should be teachers of what is right and good and holy. And again, this is only by the truth of the word of God, so taught, so lived, as to equip, mature, and permeate the life of the younger women so that they may be lovers of their husbands and their children, expressing that agape sacrifice, service, love demonstrated at the cross, in their homes and families for the growth and good and support of their husband and children, that they may be discreet, chaste, homemakers. 

The word translated "discreet" literally means sound in mind. It again has the meaning of temperate and self-controlled but speaks to right thinking in line with the word of God. "Chaste" means innocent, modest, properly adorned in the attitude of the heart, keepers at home—that is, one who serves in the home as an encourager and supporter of her husband and teacher and guide and example to her children. My friends, this is the most important job in our world. In God's plan for family and for children who grow and serve and become mature in Christ, the role of the mother in the home cannot be overestimated. 

And I know this is against the grain of our culture and that which is politically correct, and I know that many wonderful and loving and fruitful mothers have not been able to be in the home all the time. But this is God's best for mothers. God's good speaks of wellness, wholeness, benefit to others. Obedient again is to bear up under, meaning to submit to. It speaks of an attitude of service and the role in which God has given us a trust in His plan and purpose. These are the commands for the younger women. And again, this can only be a reality in our life and practice as words are spoken, as sound doctrine is taught and preached. The truths of salvation, of the Word of God, of who we are in Christ, of His life and power and grace working in and through us must be the basis for our living day by day.

Verse 6 in our text, "Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded in all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine, showing integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." We see similar commands here for the young men to be sober-minded, a pattern or example of good works. Again, in doctrine, He says, "integrity." What a great word, integrity. In doctrine, we must have integrity. It literally means purity. It means uncorrupted. There must be no compromise, no corruptness concerning doctrine, truth according to the Word of God. This is a slippery slope that leads to destruction, but it's so often taken by men in our churches today. 

The words reverence and incorruptibility highlight this admonition. We must have the highest reverence, venerating the Word of God. And the last word there translated "incorruptibility" means genuineness. We are to be genuine. We must not handle lightly in a trivial way the Word of God but be genuine in our preaching, teaching, living, and venerating the truth. 

God in speech, saying, speaking that which cannot be condemned. This is such a difficult thing, my friends. What does James teach us about this truth? Turn over to James 3 with me, please. 

James 3 at verse 1: "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships, although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. We bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brother, these things ought not be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh." 

Soundness of speech, how convicting is that? Speaking truth into all things, not condemning ourselves by our speech, but rather speaking words which are necessary for edification. This is the command to young men, so important and yet so difficult to tame the tongue. 

So we see the commands in these verses, and now I want to just close with our last point, and that is the consequences. Notice verse 5, we see the first consequence, the outcome, the purpose. These commands concerning practice lining up with principle, our conduct matching our spiritual condition in Christ, who we are in Him, our walk being equal weight with our inner man, the new creation has an effect, an outcome, a consequence, and of course, the converse is true as well. 

If we act contrary to all of these commands, inconsistent with who we are, if we live like the world, then there's a consequence as well. Verse 5, he says, "That the Word of God may not be blasphemed." Verse 8, "that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." It makes me think of Romans 2 where Paul says, "Because of the Jews, remember, the Word of God, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of their behavior, how they lived, although they claimed to be people of God." 

What we see here in our text and throughout the Word of God is that doctrine, truth, teaching has a great impact on what we believe and therefore how we live. And that how we live has a great impact on our witness in the world and how men act and respond to the truth of the Word of God. If we are sound in doctrine, speaking necessary words for edification, and if our actions, our living matches our mouth, our preaching, then the Word of God will not be blasphemed. We will not bring reproach on the name of Christ but rather will be effective witnesses to the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

But if our living is a contradiction, is an undermining of the message we preach, if there's no difference in our lives, if we act like the world, then no one will hear us. Our actions will speak louder than our words. And evil men will be right to accuse us. Their accusations will stick, will bear out to be true, and Jesus and His saving gospel will be spoken evil of; the Word of God will be blasphemed. 

These are very practical words before us this morning, my friends. And the truth of what Paul is teaching Titus is so vital for the plan and purpose of God for His church. Our focus as a body of believers, as a living organism with a desire to grow, to produce abundance and health and wellness so that we might serve and function according to our purpose must be speaking words of sound doctrine. Speaking the truth of the Word of God into every situation in life, no matter what situation you find yourself in, no matter what trouble. 

People come to me all the time and they tell me something and I think, "Oh my goodness, I don't know what to do. Lord, help me. What do we do?" Okay, the Word of God says this. This is what the… what's the Word of God say? We trust Him; we look to Him; we believe Him; we apply that truth to our situation. It starts here in the pulpit, in our worship, in our fellowship, our studies, in our homes and in our families. And it extends by the equipping of the believers for the work of ministry into our ministering to one another in the body and to our witness in the world. It starts with sound doctrine, truth, indicatives, and it is manifest in practice in our living and our speaking and in the manifestation of the life of Christ in us. 

This is God's plan. This is the explanation of our faith and our life in Christ. For "I've been crucified with Christ; it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." 

God is again, through Paul in this letter to Titus, teaching us how we should conduct ourselves in the house of God. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for Your Word, Your truth so consistent, teaching us the same truth, the same principles again and again which is safe for us. Help us truly to believe You, to trust You in all things and to apply Your truth to our lives, to our personal holiness, to our witnessing and our fellowship. Help us, Lord, to look to Jesus, to live by faith in Him and trust in You to make provision by Your grace to accomplish Your will in all that we do. In Jesus' name, amen.