Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20121216.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Titus: God's Directives For Church Leaders In Deteriorating Cultures
Part V: The Leader's Teaching Duty On Personal Conduct In A Deteriorating Culture
(Titus 2:1-10)
  1. Introduction
    1. The local church as a whole is God's pillar and foundation of the truth, 1 Timothy 3:15 NIV.
    2. To that end, church leaders have a duty before God to teach the rest of the body on godly personal conduct in the deteriorating culture, and such instruction is provided for us in Titus 2:1-10 as follows:
  2. The Leader's Teaching Duty On Personal Conduct In A Deteriorating Culture, Titus 2:1-10.
    1. In beginning Titus 2:1, Paul sharply contrasted what the false teachers did as described in Titus 1:10-16 with what Titus and local church leaders were to do, introducing Titus 2:1 with the words, su de, rendered strongly as: "But as for you . . .", U. B. S. Greek N. T., 1966, p. 740; Bib. Know. Com., N. T., p. 763-764.
    2. Thus, in contrast to them, Titus was to teach "healthy teaching" (Ibid.), and this teaching detailed personal conduct for people that also contrasts with personal conduct in a deteriorating culture, Titus 2:2-10:
      1. First, older men in the church were to act righteously opposite their deteriorating culture, Titus 2:2:
        1. They were to be nephalios, temperate in the use of wine opposite the deteriorating Cretan culture, Titus 2:2a with 1:12; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T. , 1967, p. 540.
        2. Elder men were to be "serious-minded" (semnous), "i.e., not clowns," Ibid., B. K. C., N. T., p. 764.
        3. They were to be "self-controlled" (sophronas) opposite the lack of such control in the culture, Ibid.
        4. Elder men in the local church were to exhibit faith, love and endurance (hupomone), or consistently bearing up well under trials (Ibid.; Richard C. Trench, Syns. of the N. T. , 1973, p. 195-200) in sharp contrast to the lack of such faithfulness by men in the world's lost culture.
      2. Second, older women in the church were to act righteously opposite their deteriorating culture, Tit. 2:3.
        1. They were to live "befitting a holy person," (hieroprepes, Ibid., Arndt & Ging., p. 373), Tit. 2:3a.
        2. Thus, opposite the conduct of older women in Crete's deteriorating culture, they were not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., N. T., Titus 2:3b.
        3. Older women were thus to be equipped to teach what is good to younger women, Titus 2:3c.
      3. Third, younger women in the church were to be taught by older, godly women to excel in homemaking opposite the destructive conduct of younger women in the Cretan culture, Titus 2:4-5:
        1. Younger women were to be taught to be lovers of their husbands (philandrous, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 866) and of their children (philoteknos, Ibid., p. 869), both words containing the noun philos from the verb phileo, meaning a subjective, emotional love, Ibid., Trench, p. 41-43; Tit. 2:4.
        2. They were to be self-controlled (sophronas, cf. Tit. 2:2) and holy (hagnos, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 11-12), "domestic, workers at home" (oikourgos from oikos, "house" and ergazomai, "to work," Ibid., p. 562 and 306 respectively), which corresponds exactly to our word "homemaking," Tit. 2:5a.
        3. Younger women were to be subject to their own (idios, Ibid., p. 370-371) husbands versus other men that the word of God not be slandered by the onlooking, unsaved community, Titus 2:5b.
      4. Fourth, younger men in the church were likewise to be exhorted by Titus, and presumably by the older godly church leaders, to live godly lives opposite the deteriorating culture, Titus 2:6-8:
        1. The younger men were to be taught to be "sensible, serious, of sound mind" (sophroneo, Ibid., p. 809) in contrast to the usual conduct of young men in particular in a deteriorating culture, Titus 2:6.
        2. Titus was to show himself an example to young men and the body by the good works of "integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned" so the false teachers who opposed Christians would be ashamed in not having anything bad to say about them, Titus 2:7-8 NIV.
      5. Fifth, slaves were to submit to their masters in everything, trying to please them, not disrespectfully talking to them or stealing from them, but showing themselves to be fully trustworthy in accord with Biblically sound doctrine, Titus 2:9-10 NIV.
Lesson: Believers must be taught by their local church leaders to reflect the orderly, constructive wholesomeness of godly doctrine in their personal lives before a lost world with a deteriorating culture.

Application: May we leaders teach and all of us heed this instruction from Paul on personal living.