 Good morning everyone and welcome to class. We are going to continue our study on the book of Titus. Last week we began looking at, we studied chapter one, we began studying chapter two, two was eight and so today we'll continue with chapter two where we look at the instructions that Paul is writing to Titus regarding the bond servants in the church before we begin. Can one of you please lead us in prayer please? Anyone? Zalutoni can you ask you to lead us in prayer please? Sure pastor let's pray. Father God we come before your presence in the name of Jesus. We thank you so much for this time to have our class today. You bless pastor Samina as she teaches the word from your word. Lord also bless each one of us. Lord give us your insight and understanding. Holy Spirit you guide us lead us throughout the intercession Lord. In Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen. Thank you Zalutoni. So we'll begin studying chapter two versus nine onwards. So can one of you please read verses nine to thirteen of Titus chapter two please? Titus chapter two versus nine to thirteen. It's all bonds that want to be obedient to their own masters to be well pleasing in all things not answering back not referring but showing all good ability that they may atone the doctrine of God our Savior of all things. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that the nine ungodliness and worthy that we should live so worthy right here see and Godly in the present looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. I was 14 as well Jeffina. Thank you. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every malice deep and purify for himself his own special people Zellers go to books. Should I finish? Yeah. Thank you. Amen. Thank you. So in verses nine to ten Paul is writing to Titus and he's giving him instructions for the bond servants in the church. He's exorting the bond servants to be obedient to their masters and Titus was to teach bond servants bond servants basically slaves. I've explained to you what's the meaning of bond servants about their specific duties as Christians. I've also explained this when we were studying Timothy. So I'm not going to be explaining in detail but just that you know in in the church context in the church basically masters and slaves used to worship together and this was kind of a you know big cultural shock to people I mean to the world around them because you know slaves and masters together in a social setting at a church service but this was something that you know God was teaching to the church to the world around not to differentiate between slaves and freemen. So Paul gives five ways that slaves were to relate to their masters. Now since there were believers the slaves they can't take advantage of their masters but he gives five ways as slaves were to relate to their masters but when we look at it in our context it's not only for slaves but everyone as you know all of us as Christian employees what are the kind of qualities we need to exhibit or we need to showcase in the workplace. So he says that you know slaves or those who of us are employees in the workplace we need to be obedient to our masters basically here you know Paul is saying that those these bond servants had an obligation to their masters they were supposed to be obedient to them and this word obedient is basically describing a company of soldiers or the group of soldiers was standing at the tension and saluting their commander and when they're doing that they're basically telling or declaring to their commander that they are you know here right in front of them sorry right in front of him to take on any orders that he has for them. The second thing he says is that you know slaves should be well pleasing in all things you know have a cheerful attitude in the way they serve their masters in every way they need to have a cheerful attitude and he says in everything in all things that means in everything they need to require to be obedient to their master in every area you know they need to submit they need to surrender they need to be obedient they need to be responsible to their masters but if their masters tell them to do something that is not in accordance with what God has established in his word or the commandments of God it's going against God's moral or righteous laws or values then you know you're not supposed to you know obey our earthly masters but in all things we obey them but if they ask us to do things that are going against what God has commanded us according to his righteous laws and his moral standards then we don't do it so for example if you're a Christian employee and your manager or your employer you know ask you to lie or to engage in dishonest accounting practices then you don't obey them you don't submit to them in that area as long as you know they are asking you to do what is pleasing in God's sight then you you know you obey them but if it does not please what God is asking you to do it's not according to his moral righteous standards then you shouldn't be submitting or obeying your earthly masters or your employer okay and we also see that he says you know you should not back answer I've explained quite a bit of this when we were studying 1st Timothy chapter 6 where Paul is writing to Timothy about how born servants have to relate to their masters who are also Christians so I'm not going to go into much detail because I've explained there in much detail they should not answer back they should not you know back bite they should not talk behind their back they should not you know argue with them this is not showing a subordination or this is not pleasing in God's sight and then the fourth thing he says not proliferate now prolifer means you know to misappropriate or steal or cheat or take away money or goods you know that belongs to their masters now you know slaves were often interested with some money to make some purchases or supplies for the household and they had this rationale you know what if I just take a little money it's not going to you know harm my master they're so rich they have so much of money if I steal from them or if I take a little from them it's it's not going to pinch them in any way it's not going to you know cause them any problem any way they're living in a luxury so this is the kind of the mindset that slaves had and so in the ancient world sometimes the words servant and thief servants and thief were used interchangeably because it was assumed that these slaves or servants would steal from their masters in these small ways so they used to use thief and servant or slave you know they used to use these words interchangeably so for us also as well you know as employees sometimes it's very easy to use the same kind of national you know when we take away from the company especially larger companies or the government companies where we say hey you know if I take away some money even in ministry if I take away some of the money that people give and tithes and offerings it's not going to pinch God it's not going to pinch the church because this church is so rich there's so much of money you know it's not going to do anyone any harm and I think that is I think it is wrong it is wrong in God's eyes because that is stealing that is cheating and that is and not honorable in God's sight so you know if if you're using for example you're traveling you know and you and the office or the church gives you the the privilege of claiming those expenses then you take exactly what you have spent and not extra thinking that hey you know I can do that the church is rich or my employer is rich or this organization is rich and it's not going to harm them or pinch them in any way if I take away a little money so is that is not not delivering and the fifth one is not but showing all fidelity okay a fidelity this phrase basically means to act faithfully or even in every possible occasion in all possible ways you know to act faithfully without using fraud or causing injury or doing wrong transactions or involving in wrong in wrong transactions with their masters so as a slave or as an employee you know we must act faithfully in all affairs you know of their master and not cheat them because ultimately we're serving God not man we are responsible to God not man we are answerable to God not man because we are serving him and he's watching over us okay now why is Paul mentioning all of these things was so that you know the believer slaves will stand out from the rest of the slaves in the world you know of course the slaves did not like the fact that they were slaves and they used to fight back you know or they would fight back for their freedom they would show a wrong attitude they would show you know bad moods or bad temper they would speak wrong in a rude disrespectful way to their masters steal from their masters and would try to get away by doing all of these things but Paul is saying that you know as believer slaves don't do these things you know I set an example and you know what would be the results if you live like this what would be the result if you are faithful if you obey your masters if you don't cheat them if you honor them if you don't backbite behind them says that they may adorn the doctrine of God as savior in all things so Paul uses this word adorn in a very beautiful way because the word adorn is used of the setting of jewels you know it means arranging precious jewels in a very orderly precise neat skillful way that would bring about the beauty of each gem of each precious stone and would just you know enhance the whole piece in a very intricate in a very execute in a very beautiful way so in the same way Paul says that as Christians we should order our lives with such godly behavior that we will be like that a jewel piece you know that we would you know just radiate the beauty of each of those gems those precious stones in such a beautiful way that the world will be attracted to our savior so if you look at you know beautiful jewelry pieces it's because of the way that they are designed the way they are arranged the way those precious stones are just beautifully arranged in a very skillful beautiful way and that enhances the whole piece of virtuality so he's saying that when you live godly lives godly behavior the world will be attracted to the savior so the life ministry and the saving work of Jesus our God our savior will be put on exhibition you know with all of its beauty to the unbelieving world by a person who has a godly character and a godly conducts you see how important it is to have a godly character and a godly conduct we often think that you know it's the way we preach is the way we teach is it's our style it's our charisma you know that adorns the gospel yes it is important to preach and teach well and to be prepared and you know to to teach in in a way that people can understand also enhance our language skills our preaching skills interpretation skills all that is important but what really matters is what really stands out is our lives and our lives are the 12 piece that really you know adorn the the person work and the ministry and the saving work of Jesus Christ you know people accept the gospel in a real quicker way so our lives speak volumes so in this context you know the barn servants were slaves who were brought with money and you know and of course they are treated like animals they don't have any freedom they don't have any rights but it's God's design that these people even in their lowly position have the potential to you know beautify God's truth beautify God's doctrines in the way that they live isn't that beautiful so we might be nobody's we might be not great preachers great apostles great teachers you know great men and women of God we might not people would not even know who we are but you know even in our lowly position wherever God has called us whatever wherever he's placed us to be you know we have the potential to beautify God's truth in the way that we live excuse me sorry I'm having a bad chest infection so what does it mean this means that we need to think about our behavior we need to think about our attitude especially you know the workplace how what will others think about the God that we serve the God that we worship the savior that we profess to follow and if our life is not an example of godliness as Paul is reiterating here or mentioning it here or spelling out here then I think it's good not to let anyone know that we are a Christian because if we do we'll basically be blaspheming the name of God we will be bringing dishonor to the name of Christ and our believers will continue to you know live in a sinful manner we would never be able to show them that they can live sinless they can overcome temptation they can do what is right and honoring in God's sight and it will our lives will you know will be an excuse for them to live in sin you know we who profess to know the true and living God God who died for our sins God who set us free from the power of sin death and Satan if we continue to live in sin then the unbelievers will have all the more excuses to make for their sin and continue to live in sin any questions on verses 9 to 10 any questions okay we'll move on to verses 11 to 14 we've already read this so I'm not going to ask any of you to read it but verse 11 says the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men okay so God's grace brings salvation to all men and it means here to all kinds of people to all types of people including those whom the world despises even the slaves no one is beyond or outside the reach of God's grace amen you know those of you praying for your loved ones can know that no one is outside or beyond the reach of God's grace and you know the grace of God brings salvation which again goes on to mean to say which I've already explained that this does not mean that all people will be automatically saved you know but only those who accept the grace of God those who believe in the Son of God but the good news is that the grace of God or the good news of God's grace is that no sinner is beyond the reach of God's grace okay and that is why Paul calls himself as the being one who was the chief of sinners he mentions this in in first Timothy chapter 1 verses 13 and verse 15 he says that you know I being the greatest of sinners or the chief of sinners you know but he says I experience the grace of God through the cross so if the chief of sinners could experience the grace of God so can everyone and then he says the grace of God that brings salvation um so it's the grace of God that brings salvation to us and we have the opportunity to receive it okay verse 12 says teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age so teaching us that now the ancient Greek word for teaching basically has in mind what a parent does for a child it speaks of the entire training process you know the training process is the the parent teaches encourages again corrects disciplines again teaches encourages corrects discipline so it's a cycle okay so here that is what it has in mind about teaching teaching is not just imparting and leaving but teaching encouraging correcting and disciplining and the cycle goes on so grace is a teacher in that sense so the Greek word here for teaching means basically a discipling us the passion translation says his same grace teaches us how to live each day his same grace teaches us how to live each great day his same grace means that the grace of God that brings salvation or the grace of God that has brought us salvation the same grace teaches us how we need to live each day and this is a process that begins at salvation and continues until we stand face to face before the Lord but note sorry but we need to note that grace does not mean live as you wish or desire but rather grace trains us it teaches us encourages us corrects us and disciplines us and instructs us in godly living so this is another attribute or a facet that grace does grace disciplines us is instructs us in godly living and then Paul mentions three ways that grace trains us the first one is that grace trains us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires so when you experience God's unmerited favor in Christ Jesus it basically motivates us to want to please him in everything that we do so as you read God's word you realize that you know there's so much in your life that is dishonoring God it's going against God's will you're living in willful disobedience and what is breaking the heart of God what is you know grieving the spirit of God that is living in you and you know it's what is displeasing the Lord who gave himself up on the cross to save you from sin and to bring you eternal life to bring you salvation and then you begin to you know confess your sins you begin to correct yourself and then you also deny yourself daily and you take up your cross and you follow him like we read in Luke chapter 9 verse 23 okay and grace also trains us to say no to ungodliness okay this refers basically to a person who is immoral living an immoral life a life that is away from God full of evil but it also includes the person who's you know outwardly looking very righteous or behaving very righteous behaving very holy but deep down has no place for God in their life okay and these kind of people you know in their everyday life they are motivated by their sinful desires their sinful passions it's that I me myself that is ruling them and there is no place for God now the person who has tasted God's grace will say no to such ungodly living okay so a person who's tasted the love of God the salvation of God the grace of God would you know say no to such ungodly or godless living the second one that Paul mentions grace trains us is grace trains us to live sensibly righteously and godly in this present age it's just not enough for us to say no to ungodliness and worldly desires we must also say yes to living a righteous or holy a blameless a godly life so that you know just like Paul tells the slaves you know so that the world around us will be drawn to our savior okay the world around us will know how the God that we serve will be attracted to our savior even as they look at how we live in the workplace how we conduct ourselves in the workplace now here it says grace trains us to live sensibly sensibly refers to how we are to exercise self control over ourselves you know self control in every area of our lives so righteous living has to do with you know us living a life of integrity honesty uprightness in our dealings with others and also godly here refers to our love and reverence towards God it basically denotes holiness in the way we think act react in our attitudes in our nature in the way we walk in the way we talk so godly refers to our love and reverence towards God righteously has to do with living our life of integrity and uprightness not dealings with others and then he says and godly in this present age so living in a godly manner you know godly basically means living in a godly manner according to the word and the will of God living in total submission and surrender and obedience to the word of God to the will of God both in secret and in a public both in public and in private so that god can be glorified any question so far before we move on to verse 13 and we look at the third way that grace trains us any questions all of you with me okay I'll just suck on a loss and just so that my I don't cough and my throat gets clear the third way that grace trains us is grace trains us to live in godliness by looking ahead and behind was this 13 and the first half of verse 14 so was 13 says looking for the blessed hope and glorious reappearing of our God our great God and Savior Jesus Christ and the first half of verse 14 says who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works so here we see the third way that grace trains us is grace trains us to live in godliness by looking ahead and behind so the forward look is you know is looking towards grace trains us to look towards the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the backward look is is to basically look back at the cross and the implications on our own life so the forward look is looking ahead at the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the backward look is basically looking at the cross and what can be the implications in our lives so we look at the forward look first and then we look at the backward looks the forward look looking ahead to the blessed hope of Christ's second coming which is which he writes in verse 13 now you know God's grace instructs us to look for the blessed hope and the appearing of our glorious and our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ Christ first appearing yes was in grace it brought salvation to all of us it redeemed us from sin from satan and from death and brought us eternal hope eternal life brought us salvation and this was during his first coming but during his first coming his glory was you know wailed which means that we know through John chapter 17 that Jesus manifested the the sonship glory he did not manifest the glory that he had of God and that is why he says in in in John chapter 17 he tells his father now you know give me back the glory that I had even before the foundation of time because I finished the work I'm coming back to you so Jesus when he walked on the earth he did not manifest his glory of deity and glory of being God because if he manifested that you know we could not see him we could not experience a God in a tangible way we could not even you know know the father that was revealed to the son and of course we could not crucify him on the cross so Jesus laid aside his glory of deity of God and he took on their date the sonship glory and that is why we were able to you know touch him see him in a very tangible in a very real way but at his second coming second appearing we will see him in all of his glory and he will bring salvation to his people but he would terrify the people who have not believed in him with a terrifying judgment and so there'll be a terrifying judgment for those who have not believed in him and this you know second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is our blessed hope where we will fully experience all of the blessings of his salvation even as we experience it in part just like I said a few classes back that when we are born again yes we receive eternal life even though it's a futuristic hope even if it's a eschatological hope somewhere a future hope that we have but it's a realized eschatology in the sense that we realize that eternal life that hope here and now so if our focus is set on Christ's return and the hope that he is going to return we will purify our life from every known sin as we read in 1 John chapter 3 verses 2 and 3 can someone read that please can someone please read 1 John chapter 3 verses 2 and 3 anyone can read 1 John chapter 3 verses beloved now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed he shall be like him for we shall we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure amen amen so it says here that you know thank you lubega it says here that you know even as we have this hope this return of Christ you know we will purify ourselves just like he is pure and holy so you know everyone is talking about the second coming of God there's so many youtube videos this is happening that is happening Christ is coming you know soon and all of those things and all of us are so anxious all of us are so worried and we're all thinking you know when is the day that he's coming the April 8th is going to be a solar eclipse and you know there's so many things that have been said and christians are like thinking that it's going to be it's the beginning of end of time and they're storing up food and all of those stuff and video saying don't do that it's not the truth you know but what should be our focus you know not just oh yes we need to discern the times we need to know the times we're living but that should lead us to a quickening in our inner man to share the gospel with those who are lost those who have not known the lord and savior because when he comes up they're terrifying judgment for them he's not coming till everyone has heard the gospel so it's our responsibility to do that and also it's our great responsibility to purify our life from every known sin because if we truly believe in the son of god if we truly believe what he's done on the cross for us then we should purify our life from every known sin so even as paul is writing this to tie this way back you know in for the early church it's so relevant for our time you know writing to born servants so relevant to us as employees we're talking about the grace of god so relevant to us and how we need to train ourselves to live in godliness by looking ahead and behind and how we need to how the grace of god you know helps us to live sensibly right justly and godly in this present age and the call of this time is not just to know when god is coming what are the signs to read about it and to keep on pondering about it and talking about it but to tell people that hey it's time to live sensibly you know sensibly means you know to exercise self-control it's time to live right justly it's time to live godly in this present age and it's also time you know that where we are purifying our lives from every known sin and every unknown sin which the holy spirit will also point out to us verse 14 can one of you read verse 14 please who gave him who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people serious for good works speak these things exalt and rebuke with all authority let no one despise you amen thank you lubricant so here we see the forward look we saw was looking ahead at the coming of the lord and savior jesus christ and that is what grace trains us to do and also grace trains us to look back to look back at the demonstration of god's love on the cross by which he redeemed us from sin and made us his own possession says that you know who here who refers back to our great god and savior jesus christ who gave himself for us and so who is this who that gave himself for us this jesus and what is the gift that he gave us you know he gave us his he gave us himself so it says here who gave himself so himself is the gift that he has given us and who did he give himself for he gave himself up for us okay so the person for whom he gave himself up was for us so first christ gave himself for us so that he can redeem us from every lawless deed and we already know what's the meaning of redeem i've already explained that you know basically redeem is you know paul uses this word very beautifully here in this context because he has just finished talking to bond servants or bond slaves and you know redeem would have got the attention of these slaves because the word redeem is basically used to purchase out of a slave market or buy out of a slave market so so what does use of buying a slave out of a market so as to give him freedom so before we met christ so before we were in christ or before we were part of god's family we were all slaves of sin and christ purchased us out of that slave market of sin and set us free he paid the redemption price by you know shedding his own blood he freed us from bondage of sin then how can you know as believers we go back to being slaves of sin just like we studied in romans when paul talks so much about this you know when we has been set free when you know god has liberated us how can we you know continue living in sin because we are dead to sin the power of sin is broken over our lives we have the nature of god operating in and through our lives that's what we studied in romans so you know when we have been purchased out and free you know i'm sure a slave who's purchased as a slave market and free would not say i want to go back to the slave market he would never do that so how then you know can we as believers go back into the slavery of sin the second thing is christ gave himself up for us that he might purify for himself of people with his own to be his own special people so was 12 you know focus on our need to purify ourselves but was 14 focuses on christ purifying us through his blood we studied that it was 12 right where we need to purify ourselves from every known sin and so here in verse 14 you know the focus here is christ who purified us through his own blood he bought us from the slave market of sin he washed us from our sins and now we belong to him as his personal or his price possession we are his we are his sons and daughters we belong to the family of god we belong to the kingdom of god the third thing that grace trains us is grace trains us those trains those who are saved to be zealous for good deeds the latter part of verse 14 zealous is basically doing and promoting good works so these good deeds are done you know not because we want to get a place in heaven not because we want to earn our salvation we can't earn our salvation not because our sins will be covered nothing can cover our sins but the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness that we can claim in the blood of the Lamb in confessing our sins to Jesus but here good deeds refers to these that are done out of sincere love for God and others in obedience to his word so doing everything not out of compulsion but doing it out of sincere love for God and for others because we want to obey God because it is his will that we act in love that we do things in love that we react in love so if you've been bought out of the slave market of sin by the blood of our great god and savior then we should be zealous for good deeds and we ought to be totally devoted to our lord and savior Jesus Christ so three beautiful ways that grace trains us that we see in you know verses 13 and verse 14 any questions any questions okay if not we'll move on to the last verse in this chapter 2 verse 15 can one of you please read that please speak these things so exalt and rebuke with all authority let no one despise you amen thank you Loubega so Paul's words speak exalt and reproof now basically is indicating the different approaches that are needed with different people you know Paul is telling Titus that with some people all you need to do is you know just tell them a word and they'll get back on the right part for others you need to give strong exaltation and for others you know you need to convince them or convict them of that wrong but Paul is saying irrespective of where people are he's urging Titus to teach exalt and reproof you know what everything what he has shared with him you know in the last few verses or in the in his letter that he's writing to him now the word exalt in Greek basically means parakelio which means press in with much earnestness so you know as a minister you know and as people who are also preaching and teaching God's word you know we must not be cold and lifeless in the way we deliver God's doctrines as if they were just simple ordinary things but we need to you know or we must urge them with eagerness and with importance showing the importance the priority that should be given and the earnestness in which it needs to be taken on and dealt with and lived on so as preachers Paul is telling Titus that he must call people not to be only hearers of the word but also doers so that they may be blessed okay now this word exalt is also word that is related to a word used of the Holy Spirit uh you know hold the Holy Spirit is referred to as a parakeletos so the the word exalt is the Greek word is parakelio and Holy Spirit is also referred to as a parakeletos which means somebody who comes alongside us for our assistance somebody who comes alongside to assist us help us aid us counsel us encourage us teach us guide us reveal the truth to us so the thought of coming alongside someone what they're doing wrong to assist them you know back to doing what is right so this might be the you know the thought behind why he says exalt those who do not know the truth or those are not acting upon the truth he's telling Titus you need to come along them just like the Holy Spirit comes alongside us for assistance so that we assist them back into doing what is right and then he uses the word rebuke so some with some people you have to rebuke how who do you rebuke if somebody knows the truth and is not acting on the truth but acting against the truth you know you need to give them a rebuke or you attempt to bring them up to realize their position and the need for changing their position and the need for them to do the right thing it also uh you know relates to conviction uh bringing one to conviction with words and then he says with authority you know Paul had all the authority that he had in the church at that time but he's extending this authority to Titus as well and he's saying Titus use every bit of that authority and then he says let no one despise you so what Paul is telling Titus is let no one disregard you means let no one despise you Titus be such an example be that adorning a jewel piece a beautiful piece you know live such a life an example of godliness and good deeds what he has been mentioning in verses seven and eight that people will not be able to disregard your message or the truth of the doctrines or you know the exhortation or the rebuke or the correction the conviction that you're giving them they will not challenge that they will not disregard your message because they know that your life backs it up and so that's how he ends chapter two okay we are done with our time for the first class we'll take a break now and we'll come back and we'll begin with any questions if you have and then we'll move on to chapter three thank you everyone