“Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8. And sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” ESV
In Titus 2:1-10, Paul gave advice for different age groups and genders. The advice in our text was for younger men, but when I read it I thought it can be good advice for every Christian. I think that when you read what I have written, you will agree. Our lives should be the epitome of integrity. Among a lot of other things, this means that we should be truthful and honest. Nothing will destroy the witness of a Christian any more than being dishonest and untruthful. Our lives should be lived with dignity. The KJV translates this as “seriousness.” People will know that we are serious about our faith by the way we behave. We should not be long-faced, always negative and judgmental, but we should certainly act with dignity. By this I mean that we will not be crude, have good manners, and show a good spirit that will make our witness winsome. Our speech should be sound. Among other things, this means that we should be careful about what we say to people and what we say about people when they are not present. This means that we should not be gossips. This means that unless we have something constructive to say we should keep our mouths shut.( By the way, we cannot give constructive criticism to people who are not present.) We should just be careful what we say – period. My guess is that it is in these areas that we are criticized the most by the world. This is why I decided to apply this to all of us, not just the younger men. If, however, you are a young man reading this, it is very good advice for you before you get “old and crabby.” lol Bro. Joe
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“As you have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all (people), especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
This verse is preceded by a reminder not to “be weary in well-doing: for in due season you shall reap if you faint not.” Remember that Paul was adamant that salvation is by the grace of God by faith in Jesus Christ, and not of works. But he also wrote that when we are saved we are to do the works that God has appointed us to do. (Read Ephesians 2:8-10.) It has always been God’s will that His people do good. The very fact of the Spirit of God in our lives demands that we “do good.” Notice that Paul wrote that as the Galatians had “opportunity” they should “do good to all people.” We are to be aware of the opportunities to do good that arise in a day. When we encounter some situations, we should be attuned to whether or not they are God-given opportunities . There have been times when I have been casually talking to someone and they would say something that would awaken me to an opportunity to do good. That might have been to witness to them about Jesus, or just listen to what they have to say. Sometimes the best that we can do is to just be quiet and listen. When I was in clinical training years ago, which was training in counseling, we were told to do more listening than we did talking. I found that for the most part this is true technique. Sometimes what a person needs at that moment with you is to have your undivided attention and your friendship. Just be aware of the opportunities that God puts in your way on a daily basis. Paul wrote that we are to “do good unto all people…” This means that we are to look for opportunities to do good to people who are not Christians, or not part of our church. Often, doing good for a non-Christian will be the best witness that we can give. At least we know that people will listen to us if they know that we care for them. We are to do good for them even if they do not respond positively to the Gospel. We can’t make a person go into the kingdom, but we can give them a positive view of what a Christian is. We might say that this would make us a little like Jesus. Don’t misunderstand me, I wish that everyone that I witnessed to accepted Jesus, but that just does not happen, and because it doesn’t, doesn’t mean that I should then act unchristian. Paul also wrote that we are to “do good….especially unto them which are of the household of faith.” If you have had any experience with church, you know the importance of this advice. Sometimes we Christians can be awfully unchristian towards each other. People who are not Christians, or Christian people looking for a church, cannot be impressed with ill-treatment of fellow church members. Go out there and "do good." Selah Bro. Joe “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Our main motivation should be to bring glory to God in all that we do. I know that is a tall order, but I think that we need to seriously endeavor to bring glory to Him. Before we make a decision to do one thing or another, we should ask if we are doing it for the glory of God. I do not know what “it” means for you. “It” can be to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, do a good deed for a neighbor, or whatever. The point is that whatever “it” is it should be for the glory of God. There are at least three ways that we can determine whether or not something is done for God’s glory. First, if you do this thing will you be able to thank God for it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us of the importance of this: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” You will know in your heart whether you are serving for the glory of God, and when it is done, you will be thankful for the opportunity of doing it. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” This means that God lets us serve Him, and when we do a service for Him, whatever it might be, we should gladly do it and we should thank Him for letting us serve Him. If you serve in order to receive the praise of people, you are not doing it for the glory of God. This was a prevailing sin of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Jesus said that they prayed gave alms and tithes, etc. for the glory of people, not for the glory of God. This has become a cliché, but we need to remind ourselves that our Christian service is not for us but for Jesus, and He should get the glory for it. This does not mean that you should not have a sense of accomplishment when you do something for the Lord. We just need to remember that we did it for the Lord. Second, if you do this thing can you do it in Jesus’ name, or will you do it in Jesus’ name? Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Notice that this verse also tells us to be thankful that we are allowed to serve God in some way. We need to ask ourselves, if I do this thing, will it be worthy of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if we would take this to the extent that if we water the flowers, we will do it in the name of Jesus and for His glory, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. We need to ask if a service that we are going to render is worthy of the name of Jesus. Let me show you where this would be important. Maybe you have something that you need to get straightened out between you and a fellow Christian. When you take the step to straighten it out, will you do it in a way to honor the name of Jesus, or will you do it to “get it out of your system”? If we can’t do a thing in Jesus’ name, whatever it is, we should not do it. Third, if you do this thing will it ultimately bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31, our text written above, tells us to be mindful of this. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” If you do “good works” in order for people say what a great person you are, you are not doing them for the glory of God. Again, this does not mean that you should not get a sense of satisfaction out of what you do. God would certainly not demand that of you. But we should be careful that the focus is on God and not on us. I will confess after preaching thousands of sermons over the years that this motivation is not always easy, because we want to know that what we do is appreciated, but we should be careful anyway that God gets the glory. Bro. Joe “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.”
According to our text we have been saved to bear fruit for the Lord. In fact, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to bear fruit for the Lord. I think that we all need to pause at times and meditate on whether or not the way we are living our lives is bearing fruit for the Lord. What I want to do in this article is to point out some of the ways that we can bear fruit in our lives. The fruit of new Christians The last command that Jesus gave to His disciples was that they witness to the world, beginning where they were and reaching around the world. (Acts 1:8) He promised that they would be powered by the Holy Spirit for this task. Every Christian is called to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Witnessing is not a gift of the Holy Spirit; it is a compulsion of the Holy Spirit. In other words, we can’t opt out of witnessing because we say that it’s not our gift, because it is our empowerment from the Spirit. I have heard this many times, so it is not original with me, but it is said that “the fruit of a Christian is another Christian.” We need to show by the way we live, that Jesus is our Savior, and we need to be able to tell others what He has done in our lives. There are different ways that we can witness to people, and we need to make sure that we are doing it. If you have a difficult time with it, join the club. Get you an experienced partner and go out and tell others about Jesus. Our task is to tell about Jesus, the fruit will be brought about by the Holy Spirit, but we will have made it possible. The fruit of blessed lives What we wrote above was about witnessing, this point is about ministry. People who know us should be blessed because they do. As I have followed Jesus, I have become aware of the need for ministry. He has made me more sensitive to the needs and feelings of other people. He has taught me to be more of a giver of myself and my time. This might seem like a burden sometimes, but if we are going to bear the fruit of blessed lives, we will have to make time for other people. We can bear this fruit by making sure that we show kindness to other people, even when they make it difficult to be kind. We can bear this fruit by praying with, and for, other people when they need it. I think that we can assume a person needs prayer by the personal burdens that they share with us. Don’t be afraid to say “Let’s pray about it.” The fruit of personal growth Personal growth in Christ affects our witness and ministry to people. What I mean by this is that as we grow in Christ our influence on other people will grow as well. One thing that people look for in those of us who claim to be Christians is the difference that Christ has made in our lives. We grow in Christ by constant prayer, constant Bible reading and constant fellowship with fellow Christians. The closer we grow to Christ, the more we grow in love. People can sense the love of Christ in us. We can’t fake Christian love, we can only really and truly live it from our hearts. When Christian love is genuine, it will influence people not just to love us, but to want to have that love in their own hearts. A great part of our Christian witness and ministry is having a loving and positive attitude. We will all have these graces in various degrees, but it is important that we cultivate them in our lives. I have not written this to make you feel guilty about your life. All of us have to deal with all three of these “fruits” in our lives. The main thing is to be aware that bearing fruit is important. Believe it!!! Bro. Joe “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us….”
The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates this verse: “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to His power that works in us.” What this tells us is that God can do a whole lot more than we believe that He can. We sometimes limit the power of God in our own minds. That brings me to the conclusion: God can use you! Our problem in serving God is not that we underestimate ourselves, but that we underestimate God. We do not realize that if God/Jesus wants us to do something, He will give us the wherewithal to do it. Doesn’t the Bible teach us this? Take, for example, the Children of Israel in Egypt. They were held captive by the most powerful nation on the face of the earth at that time. But God heard their cries and he sent a man named Moses to deliver them. Moses did not feel up to the task, so God had to educate him about His power. Put yourself in Moses’ place and ask yourself if you would have been up to the task? If you within your own power are up to the task, it is not a task worth doing and is probably not of God. It was with the hand and power of God that Moses was able to lead the Jews out of Egypt. But God used Moses to do the human part of the task. I know that when they got to the Red Sea, Moses probably felt a little despair, but his faith in God had become so strong that He believed that God could get them beyond it. Of course you remember that God parted the Red Sea for them. God could have done it without Moses, but that’s not how He chose to do it. There are plenty of things that God might ask you to do that are beyond your capacity. You might feel that He has placed too much on you. Understand this: God will never put more on you than He knows that you can bear. We need to learn that God’s adequacy overrules our inadequacies. Do you believe that if God was with Moses that He will be with you as well? Another example is the battle between David and Goliath. Understand that I am not in favor of betting, but if they had laid odds at that battle, Goliath would have been an overwhelming favorite. Here was a man over nine feet tall going up against a boy, who was of normal height. However tall David was, he came nowhere near the height of Goliath. The situation looked impossible. David told Saul that as a shepherd he had fought a lion and a bear and had killed them and that he would do the same with Goliath. Here is what David said to Goliath as he faced him in battle: “This day the Lord will deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee…” Notice that David said that “the Lord will deliver thee into mine hand.” As our text suggests, God was more than adequate to enable David to defeat Goliath. Now, thinking of Moses and David, what is it that God wants you to do? That is a very personal thing and unless you tell somebody it will be between you and God. There might be a Sunday School class that you can teach, a youth group that you can work with, or a ministry to the elderly that God wants you to lead. There are numbers of things that God might want you to do. Your feeling of inadequacy is no excuse. Whatever it is that you are being led of God to do does not depend upon your strength but on God’s. If you believe the Bible, you can believe that God can use you to do whatever it is that He wants you to do. If you are a Christian, He has something for you to do. Put your trust in Him and do it. Bro. Joe “And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.”
You know the parable: A man en route to Jericho from Jerusalem was beaten, robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest happened by, looked at the man, and “passed by on the other side.” Later, a Levite happened by, looked at the man, and “passed by on the other side.” Then what we call, “the Good Samaritan” happened by and stopped to help the man. The focus of this article will be on the priest and Levite, who both went to the other side of the road instead of helping the man. What does “the other side” represent to us? First, the other side is the easiest side. The priest and Levite saved a lot of time. Obviously, both of these men considered their time too valuable to spend it with a dying man. They also saved themselves a lot of bother. Not only would helping a dying man be time consuming, it would be bothersome as well – all of that blood, you know. They just did not want to be bothered. Sadly, the priest and Levite are still alive in spirit. There are many church members who do not have time for people, nor do they want to be bothered with people. Other people’s problems can be so messy. Let us pray that we will not be “priests" or "Levites.” Second, the other side is the most pleasant side. It is not pleasant to bind up wounds. Perhaps the Jewish religious leaders did not want to get their hands dirty or get blood on their clothes. After all, they would have been considered unclean. Most human problems are unpleasant. We have to minister to others in spite of it. It is also not pleasant to be a witness to suffering. It is easy to stay uninvolved in life’s suffering. We can tell ourselves that people are not really hurting or really hungry, etc. Priests and Levites are still among us, and it could be you or me if we are not careful. Third, the other side is ultimately the most expensive side. It cost the Samaritan to leave the other side: Luke 10:34-35: “And (he) went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.” But it also cost the priest and Levite to “pass by on the other side.” It did not cost them money, but it did cost them before God. Surely, God was not pleased that they chose to pass by the man. It also caused, or should have caused, them to lose self-respect. I’m not asking you, or myself, to pick up every hitch-hiker that we see. I am asking us to be aware of human suffering and minister to those who are suffering. The cost of “the other side” will be higher than dealing with suffering humanity. Ask yourself: When you stand before God, would you prefer to be the Samaritan, or the priest and Levite? This will help you understand why I wrote that "the other side is ultimately the most expensive side." Do not live on the other side. Notice suffering and hurting people around you, have compassion on them and lend a helping hand. Take the time, bother, and money to be a “good Samaritan.” Jesus thinks that we should. Bro. Joe “As you have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all (people), especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
This verse is preceded by a reminder not to “be weary in well-doing: for in due season you shall reap if you faint not.” Remember that Paul was adamant that salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and not of works. But he also wrote that when we are saved we are to do the works that God has appointed us to do. (Read Ephesians 2:8-10.) It has always been God’s will that His people do good. Several years ago, I listened to a preacher’s tapes who constantly said, “It is better to be a ‘do gooder’ than to be a ‘do badder.’” The very fact of the Spirit of God in our lives demands that we do good. Notice that Paul wrote that as the Galatians had “opportunity” they should “do good to all people.” We are to be aware of the opportunities to do good that arise in a day. When we encounter some situations, we should be attuned to whether they are God-given opportunities or not. There have been times that I have been casually talking to someone and they would say something that would awaken me to an opportunity to do good. That might have been to witness to them about Jesus, or just listen to what they had to say. Sometimes the best that we can do is to just be quiet and listen. When I was in clinical training years ago, which was training in counseling, we were told to do more listening than we did talking. I found that for the most part this is a true technique. Sometimes what a person needs at that moment with you is to have your undivided attention and your friendship. Just be aware of the opportunities that God puts in your way on a daily basis. Paul wrote that we are to “do good unto all people…” This means that we are to look for opportunities to do good to people who are not Christians, or not part of our church. Often, doing good for a non-Christian will be the best witness that we can give. At least we know that people will listen to us if they know that we care for and listen to them. We are to do good for them even if they do not respond positively to the Gospel. We can’t make a person go into the kingdom, but we can give them a positive view of what a Christian is. We might say that this would make us a little like Jesus. Don’t misunderstand me, I wish that everyone that I witnessed to accepted Jesus, but that just does not happen, and because it doesn’t, doesn’t mean that I should then act unchristian. But Paul also wrote that we are “do good….especially unto them which are of the household of faith.” If you have had any experience with church, you know the importance of this advice. Sometimes we Christians can be awfully unchristian towards each other. Breaches in church fellowship are probably the number one reason that many churches do not grow. I do not have any statistics on this, but that it is so just seems like common sense to me. People who are not Christians, or people looking for a church, cannot be impressed with ill-treatment of fellow church members. Jesus gave us the key to “doing good” in Matthew 5:13 and 14 when He referred us as “the salt of the earth” (vs. 13) and “the light of the world” (vs.14). As “salt of the earth,” we add flavor to life and we preserve the righteousness that is given to us by Jesus. As the“light of the world” we are to shine so that people “can see (our) good works, and glorify (our) Father who is in heaven.” (vs. 16) If we are to serve as“salt” and “light” to an increasingly hostile world, we must do good to all people and to our fellow Christians. It is our responsibility to let people see Jesus in us, and at work in us, by the good things that we do and say on a daily basis. Let’s do it! Bro. Joe |
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