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[0:00] Good morning. We're going to be in Titus chapter 2. I'd like to say Happy Mother's Day to all the moms that are here.

[0:16] ! If I haven't told you in person, Happy Mother's Day. As I studied and thought about this week and this morning, what I was going to say, I watched my wife, Jamie, mother, our four kids.

[0:33] Moms, you do a whole lot. You do an amazing amount of stuff and you guys are amazing. Thank you for everything that you guys do.

[0:46] Honestly, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys in so many levels. This morning, we want to honor moms. We want to celebrate our moms and the moms that are represented.

[1:01] So Titus 2 is where we're going to be. Verses 3 through 5. We're going to look at what a godly woman looks like. So what characteristics does she display?

[1:16] And why does she live that way? As we look at a godly woman, my hope is that you'll be encouraged to think of your mom or think of yourself.

[1:27] Be encouraged to love on them this morning. If as I'm talking, something I say reminds you of your mom, celebrate that.

[1:39] If as I'm talking, you aren't reminded of your mom at all. Maybe she's not a Christian yet. Thank God for her.

[1:49] Pray for her. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel with her. Don't get angry because your mom isn't godly yet. Don't beat her up in your head.

[2:03] Celebrate the gift of your mom and love her. If you're a mom, I want to encourage you this morning and not discourage you. I want to challenge you, not handcuff you.

[2:15] And if you're going to be a mom someday, about 60% of you in this room, maybe 50% of you in this room, listen and file this away.

[2:29] Revisit it and pray for when that time comes when you will be a mom. Guys, I know that you're thinking this has nothing to do with me.

[2:41] Well, not so fast. The subject may be moms, but the principles apply to you and I as well. So we all can be challenged this morning. Let's read our text.

[2:53] Titus chapter 2, verse 3 through 5. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

[3:04] They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

[3:19] Pray with me. Father, I thank you for this time. I thank you that you have called us here to gather together. Father, I thank you that you have united us through your Son, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit that you sent.

[3:36] God, I ask God that the Spirit would work, that we can hear, not just with ears, but with our entire being, with our lives, God, that we would leave here ready for action, leave here to live differently because of your word.

[3:54] And God, not because of what I say or my opinions, but God, that I would speak your words this morning and that what is spoken will be from you to us. There is power in your word.

[4:06] There is conviction in your word. There is counsel in your word. God, we ask you to work, and your will would be done this morning. In Jesus' name I pray.

[4:17] Amen. So let's just jump in. Verse 3 starts with older women. Now here's a little bit of encouragement to you older women in here on our standards. In Paul's standards here, writing to Titus, older women is 60 to 65.

[4:34] So if you're under 60 or 65, you're young. You're a young woman, not an older woman. Women who have, Paul is addressing or addressing Titus, is talking about women who no longer have kids in their home, who are no longer raising kids, and encouraging them to love the younger women.

[4:56] So what I want to do is look at what a godly woman looks like. As Paul is addressing to Titus some needs here, Titus is a pastor in Crete.

[5:07] He's left in here very similar to Timothy in Ephesus. He's left Titus to be the pastor or elder on the island of Crete. And he's given him some instruction, and Titus and the two Timothys are very similar in that way.

[5:22] If you've read 1 or 2 Timothy, you can kind of see that. So here he gives him instruction on older women, how they are to live.

[5:33] And I've changed it a little bit for us to look at what a godly woman looks like, so that it can apply to the young women in here, the young women described in our text, and even us guys, of what does a godly woman look like.

[5:51] So the first point this morning, a godly woman is in pursuit of holiness. A godly woman is in pursuit of holiness. Now of course, no one is perfect.

[6:03] No one is holy. Your mom may be wonderful, but she is not perfect. She can, though, as a Christian, pursue holiness, pursue perfection, strive to be sinless, strive to be godly.

[6:21] A godly woman strives to honor God in all circumstances, in all situations. So let's look at some of this language in these three verses. In verse 3 it says, Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in behavior.

[6:39] Godly examples of holiness. Flip back two books to 1 Timothy. To the left, two books. 1 Timothy chapter 2.

[6:54] Start reading in verse 9. Likewise, also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control.

[7:06] Not with beaded hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works. Reverent in behavior.

[7:18] A couple words there in 1 Timothy. Profess godliness, modesty, self-control.

[7:28] An example of what a godly person looks like. An example of holiness. Reverent in behavior. In 1 Peter chapter 3.

[7:39] 1 Peter writes, Do not let your adorning be external. The braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry or the clothing you wear. But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart.

[7:51] With the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. A woman who is pursuing holiness is more concerned with the inner being.

[8:02] What's happening on the inside. What's happening in the heart. Not the outside apparel. Not the braided hair or the jewelry or the gold or whatever.

[8:14] All that stuff is secondary. She is reverent in behavior. And her behavior reflects what's happening on the inside of her. What God is doing in her.

[8:25] Through her. She is reverent in behavior. Verse 3 also says, Not slanderers. She's not a false accuser.

[8:36] She's not a malicious gossip. See, men are inclined to abuse physically. We'll throw a punch pretty quick. Women are inclined to abuse verbally.

[8:49] Of course, we're both guilty of gossip and the sin of entertaining gossip. But here, Paul is addressing this malicious gossip.

[9:03] A godly woman is not a slanderer. A slave to much wine, later in verse 3. Does not mean she doesn't drink wine. It means she is not controlled by wine or anything else.

[9:21] Food. TV. Shopping. Couponing. It's a big deal right now, right? See, we are so sinful as creatures that we turn good things into God things that makes them bad things.

[9:41] We turn couponing into bad things. We make it a God. We make it something we have to do. And what happens as a result is we make it a bad thing. We make it an idol. We worship it.

[9:52] We become enslaved to it. And that's the picture here, what Paul is trying to get across. Slave to much wine. It's not the fact that she drinks. So that she doesn't drink. That's secondary here.

[10:04] She is controlled. She is enslaved to it. Definition of slave is to be held and controlled against one's will. It's more of a prison than a means of escape.

[10:21] I have a co-worker. I'll call him a co-worker because I've worked with him a couple days. who, who, beginning of last week, ran out of beer at home and decided to go to the convenience store on a lawnmower, got pulled over and got a DUI for driving a lawnmower to the convenience store to get more beer.

[10:45] It's a funny story. I know. It should be a country song or something. It's, I don't have a tune yet, but it's working. Four days later, he's at home and he runs out of beer and gets in his truck and goes and gets more beer at the convenience store and gets another DUI.

[11:06] Poor guy needs Jesus, yes. but the control of that sin in his life, he is enslaved to that desire to fulfill that need. He is controlled by that need.

[11:20] And that's that picture here, slave to much wine. Now, as I've said, I gave you a list, food, shopping, TV, couponing, it could be anything. But what controls you?

[11:33] What are you enslaved to? Later on in verse 5, here's some more traits that fall under pursuit of holiness. Self-controlled.

[11:46] Are you sensible? Is your mom sensible? Common sense and good judgment. Can you go to your mom or can your children come to you and you give them good judgment and sound advice?

[12:01] Another characteristic in verse 5 is pure. Is there moral purity? Is there faithfulness within the marriage?

[12:15] Thoughts and actions. Ladies, is there a pursuit for holiness in your life? Do you see these traits in your mom?

[12:32] Celebrate that. Rejoice. Thank God for that. If you don't, pray for your mom and challenge her. Second point, not only is a godly woman pursuing holiness, but a godly woman is also building a legacy of disciples.

[12:54] Building a legacy of disciples and not a legacy in financial or worldly idea here, but a legacy of disciples.

[13:06] You want to know what a woman is all about? You want to know what she loves, what she holds close to her, what her convictions are? Look at her disciples. Look at her children.

[13:17] Look at who she's taught, who she's led. And my sister-in-law is a Mary Kay saleswoman, I guess.

[13:28] I don't know. She's a pink Cadillac lady. She's successful. Super successful. Almost freaky successful. And if you go to the most successful of her disciples, the most successful of her followers, and you talk to them, you know exactly what Meg holds important and what she holds dear to her and what she's trying to give and have the women follow.

[13:55] The idea here is that Meg invests in the girls so that they will succeed like she has succeeded. And here, a godly woman builds a legacy not of Mary Kay saleswomen, but of God-fearing, godly disciples.

[14:16] Verse 3 and 4 tells them to teach what is good. Verse 3 and verse 4, so train the young women. Women. It almost gives us a picture of this classroom-like teaching.

[14:30] Now sit down, I have things I want to tell you, things I want to teach you. Even like a gathering like this. But that's not the case. This picture here is more of a modeling.

[14:41] More of a life-on-life teaching and instructing. You instruct what is good, what is noble, what is excellent by living it out in front of them and with them.

[14:54] Which means, women and men, husbands and wives, that you invite people into your life. That your home has an open door where people come in and see how you live.

[15:06] That the home isn't necessarily your fortress where you go and you hide. It's a fort where people come and find safety and find comfort.

[15:21] Teach what is good, so train the young women by living it out with them. So, older women, we need you.

[15:33] Older men, we need you as well. We need you to help us. To disciple us. A godly woman builds a legacy of disciples who love Jesus, who love His Word, who are pursuing holiness.

[15:52] And that's the type of legacy that's going to change the world. That's the type of legacy that's going to move mountains and see Christians created to the ends of the earth and made.

[16:08] Look at what they're to teach. Verse 3, it says, teach what is good, noble, excellent, what is right and true.

[16:20] Verse 4 and 5, it says, love their husbands and children to be self-controlled and pure. Already talked about self-controlled and pure. It says, working at home.

[16:34] A little lightning rod statement right there. Working at home. It does not necessarily mean that a woman cannot work outside the home, but it does mean that her home needs to be her highest priority.

[16:51] Women of all ages have fallen victim to the feminist agenda telling women that their worth and value is not in family, it's not in home, it's not in their husband, it's not in any of that, it's not in children, it's in the workplace and in how much money they can make and how much schooling they can have.

[17:10] Well, that's not the case. And I don't do this very often, but I would encourage you, if you have time to listen to a sermon, go to gracetoyou.com and listen to John MacArthur's Titus 2 sermon.

[17:24] He breaks down and the whole sermon is basically about the feminist movement and takes it all the way back to Gnosticism, which was in Jesus' time and before Jesus' time. it's enlightening and it will help you to see what is happening around us.

[17:42] Nonetheless, so when women stay at home, when they get to stay at home, they feel less valued. The world tells them they're not as valued.

[17:54] They feel a loss of identity because they're not at work and being successful, they're not making money, they're not doing what the world tells them to do. Now, of course, there are reasons to work.

[18:06] There are reasons to go to work. But women, you must be sensible, as we've already touched on, as commanded in making the decision.

[18:20] So questions like, are your kids old enough? Can you be home when they get home? Can you still do what you're called to do as a mother and as a wife? not only do women have an impact with people around them, making disciples, inviting people into their home, but they also have an impact at home with their children.

[18:46] The home is where women have a global impact. This is where they can train their children to be disciples, to invest in their kids, to nurture their kids, to teach them the treasures of Jesus and His commands, that they will go to the ends of the earth.

[19:04] You can shoot them out like arrows to build the kingdom of God. The home is also where a woman can find authentic and satisfying fulfillment as a Christian.

[19:19] A godly woman builds a legacy with younger women outside the home and from within the home with their children. Do you see that legacy from your mom or wife?

[19:33] Celebrate it. Celebrate her. But not only does a godly woman pursue holiness, not only is she building a legacy of disciples, she also has a selfless sacrificial love.

[19:52] A selfless sacrificial love. An example of that is verse five that we just touched on. Working at home. Putting the needs of the family above the wants of herself or above what the world or sinful nature or whatever is telling her to do.

[20:10] Putting the needs of the family above the wants of herself. But verse four says to love their husbands and children. To love their husbands.

[20:22] This is not a romantic love. This is not an emotionally volatile love. It's a committed love.

[20:33] A willing, determined love, not based on the husband's worthiness, but on God's command. So when your husband is unlovable, you love him.

[20:47] You sacrifice not for him necessarily, but because you are commanded to do so. It is a sin if you don't. When those moments come, you love him, you serve him sacrificially.

[21:05] John MacArthur says, when you sacrificially serve someone, it becomes almost impossible not to love them.

[21:17] Where there is genuine practical love, genuine emotional love is sure to follow. And I think he's right.

[21:27] If we practice love, emotional love is going to grow out of that or alongside that. A good example of sacrificial love here on earth, apart from Jesus, apart from his life, death, and resurrection, is motherhood.

[21:49] It says to love her husband and children. Love her children with a sacrificial love. Again, not an emotional, oh, isn't he adorable?

[22:02] I just love that kid. Not that kind of love. And I think that might be some of the parenting problems out there today. They love the idea of being a parent.

[22:15] They love the little guys dressed up really nice, but they might not necessarily love being a parent. Might not necessarily love when the little dressed up guy who looks so cute is hitting his sister and throwing stuff all over the place and making messes for you to clean up.

[22:35] A sacrificial love, though, grows out of what God is doing and has done. Philippians chapter 2. Turn to Philippians chapter 2. Now this, of course, is not talking about motherhood.

[22:50] This is not talking about being a mother or the love that a mother has, but this illustrates, in Paul's words here to the church of Philippi, I think a perfect picture of motherhood.

[23:04] Philippians chapter 2, verse 2. Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full of court of one mind.

[23:15] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. a godly woman, a godly mother counts others more important.

[23:32] Counts others more important. During Christmas time, during the Christmas season from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the movie A Christmas Story is on about 150 times.

[23:43] It's over and over and over. And if you know the movie, the little kid, I can't remember his name, he's narrating the story, kind of telling the story, and there's this scene where, where he's talking about his mom, and he says, you know, my mom, she's, paraphrase, okay, my mom hasn't had a hot meal in 15 years.

[24:07] And the picture is her in the kitchen and the family sitting down and she tries to sit down and eat and then something else, she's got to get something else in the kitchen, or she tries to sit down again and he needs something to drink, or she tries to sit down and the husband needs a knife, and she tries to sit down over and over and over and over.

[24:23] That's sacrificial love. It's a movie, but that is sacrificial love, and I see that all the time in my wife. My wife will sometimes not even eat lunch because the kids have needed something over and over and over, and that's what kids do.

[24:42] I've seen her put her lunch in the microwave, and when a microwave beeps, I don't know if it's something in me, but I've got to go get it. It's ready to eat. It's time to eat.

[24:55] I've seen her have things sit in there for 30 minutes because she's helping and trying to do other things that need to get done. That's that sacrificial love, and I see it in my mother-in-law. Julie is the last person to sit down at the dinner table.

[25:09] That is a sacrificial love. So when Nathan calls Julie a godly mother, he is right. when I say that I see this in Jamie, yes, she is sacrificing herself to be a mother to her children and our children.

[25:30] This sacrificial love is from God. It is a result of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Because of sin, it is impossible to continue this love laid out.

[25:46] It is impossible to love somebody in this way for a long period of time. Now, of course, of course, there's this motherly desire.

[25:57] There are good mothers who don't know Jesus yet. There are good mothers who are not Christians, and I understand that. And they love their kids, and they're, but try sacrificially loving a husband who is a sinner without the grace of God to do so.

[26:15] Jesus' love enables us to love sacrificially. That's why it saddens me when Christians say they don't love each other anymore, and they get a divorce.

[26:29] Of course, question whether they are Christians at all. Do you see this love in your mom or in your wife? Celebrate her.

[26:42] Praise Jesus for her. And if not, challenge your mom. Pray for your mom. Love your mom today. Finally, a godly woman, her life draws people to the gospel.

[27:00] Her life draws people. There's an attraction to the gospel, not because she's beautiful or the way she's dressed or how charismatic she is, but there's just something about her life that draws people in.

[27:15] The opposite of this is to repel people. And that's what we see in the end of verse 5 back in Titus chapter 2. To be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

[27:34] That the word of God may not be dishonored, defamed, or blasphemed. The idea here isn't just how you live or how you preach or how you communicate to people, but it's also how you don't live, what you don't say.

[27:54] The bad things we do and the good things we fail to do or say are equally important. And people all around are watching to see how you as mothers, you as godly women, us as men and husbands, how we live.

[28:13] See, the bottom line is people don't care about your theology. People don't care whether you're a Calvinist or a Minion or whether you're post-millennial or pre-millennial, they don't care about that.

[28:25] What they care about is how you live. What communicates to them is not what your feeling is on how Paul wrote, if Paul wrote Hebrews or not.

[28:37] that doesn't matter. What matters is how you live it out. That's the point that James has with faith without works. He's dead. People care about your faith lived out.

[28:51] They care about how you mother your child. They care about how you live. They care about how we men treat our wives, father our kids.

[29:02] kids, how you treat your moms, not just on Mother's Day, hallmark made up day, not just on today, as special as it is.

[29:19] And if they care about how your faith is lived out, then you're either attracting people to the gospel and the truth of God and the power of the gospel or you are repelling people or you've got bug spray on and you're repelling people from the truth of God's word.

[29:42] The purpose for women to be godly is to proclaim the gospel and to bring glory to God. That's why God does everything. That's why he's planned and ordained everything here in scripture is to bring much glory to him.

[29:59] So today, let us celebrate our mothers. Let us rejoice in the gospel and bring honor and glory to God. And there's a response for all of us this morning.

[30:13] Moms, are you living out and attracting people? Are you pursuing holiness? Are you making a legacy of disciples?

[30:25] Are you building disciples that will form and shape generations to come? Are you sacrificially, selflessly loving your children?

[30:39] Ladies, not moms yet? Do you want to be this? Do you pursue holiness in your life now?

[30:50] Are you building a legacy of disciples? And are you attracting people to the gospel or repelling?

[31:05] And guys, same thing. Are you pursuing holiness? Are you striving to be holy and to love your wife as Christ loved the church? That is a command.

[31:19] It's not an option. It's not multiple choice. Guys, are you building a legacy of disciples? Are you training younger guys to come up and to be godly husbands and godly fathers?

[31:38] Are you drawing people to the gospel? There is a response. Question, examine yourself this morning.

[31:50] not because it's mother's day, not because it's Sunday, but because of the gospel and the power of Jesus Christ that has made you who are dead alive.

[32:04] And as Nathan said earlier this morning, we celebrate moms, but we rejoice. We are excited and we are here to worship not our moms, but Jesus Christ, the Savior.

[32:17]  let's pray. Let's pray.