Titus 2 ~ sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness

Titus 2


But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 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. 9 Bondservants[*] are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.


Footnotes:
Hebrews 12:6
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”


What are we going to do about stuck up religious people running around in gowns? Don't you always think next - toga wear would make more sense? Less floppy. And if you are a woman, and you give these gowns more thought, you wonder if empire waist gowns looked better, like the Jane Austin movies.

And how many bondservants do you know? Slaves?

Well, let me tell you. Bondservants -  are what this generation Is - our grandparents paid for their houses with cash.  And our local Dairy Queen has a photo of an grand opening where every single person was practically running to an obviously smaller town Dairy Queen opening.  Sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness,  young women to love their husbands and children, kind, integrity, dignity,  and sound speech.

A few years back, I was in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and a young man was visibly concerned about the entire room given for saints in robes. "What are they thinking, wasting an entire room on these old, robed men?!"

Well, I've given thought;  this is what this entire blog post is about.

Christianity, today, is working with your prayers, every day, "Father God, what can I do? What is there available for You?"

Like The Museum of Fine Arts Houston. You wouldn't take old Master Portraits - of Saints -  and shove them in storage would you? Perhaps, instead of shoving them on a white wall and ignoring them, they should be revered as ancestors and invited into the family. A few facts, some color and the display (our lives and prayer lives) with practical objectives.

So given we are the generation of CNN ticker-tape, fly-by Christian generation, what do we have time for? Just like the days of yore, we have time for what we deem important. Not just brushing aside this passage with "SAINT? Ain't!!"

What is a Saint? To our generation of don't tell them at Church... or don't go regularly... let the Love of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior of All draw us to what we are supposed to be.

Old Testament meets New Testament.

Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Galatians 3:6
Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

There is just One.


Mark 10:18
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone."

Why do we have some saints we love to think about?

Psalm 145:9
The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

And Good Saint Nick?

Yes, there is a real St. Nicholas, a Bishop of present day Turkey. This remarkable follower of Jesus Christ made life better for those around him. Prostitutes. The poor. The jailer where he was jailed for 10 years, thanks personally to Emperor Diocletian; who would not have been pleased to know the jailor came to love St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas, dear friends, traveled on a get-out-of-jail-free-card from Emperor Constantine. He was one of 1,800 illegal, condemnable by death Christian Bishops invited to ratify the Books of the Bible for the official change in legal status of Christianity. A real man, who really loved Jesus. A brave man, one of the 300 Bishops who attended the Council of Nicaea.


Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.


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Isaiah 42:10-18 ~ Listen, you that are deaf; and you that are blind, look up and see!

Isaiah 42:10-18  ~  New Revised Standard Version

Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!

Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the LORD,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.

The LORD goes forth like a soldier,
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.

For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor,
I will gasp and pant.

I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.

I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.

They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame -—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
"You are our gods."
Listen, you that are deaf;
and you that are blind, look up and see!






Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased!"


Sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the LORD,
and declare his praise

And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this

And when they saw it, they made known
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.

Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.


They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame -—those who trust in carved images, who say to cast images, "You are our gods."

And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

I will turn the darkness before them into Light.

There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world.

These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” Which means, God with us!

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The early Church knew something we do not often speak of, or think of. In the days before electricity, how did these fortunate ones travel by night. What are halos.

The Light of the world. This is phenomena discussed still today. Catherine Marshall reported her husband Peter Marshall, Presbyterian Minister, Chaplin of the United States Senate, radiated light from his body, actually his soul, as he departed this life.

Jesus Christ, as an infant, radiated Light.


Acts 2:2-4
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit



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Scripture for Today: John 1:29-34 ~ I have seen

John 1:29-34 ~ (Revised Standard Version)

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

This is he of whom I said, `After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."

And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' "

And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."



Recently I watched a special on the 2,500 to 3,000 year old mummies found scattered in China. It was really well done, they documented the success and failure to obtain DNA from each mummy and told about the known history of each person. One was a 5 year old boy buried with beautiful blankets, woven with great care. The loss of the blankets to the family indicated how much the child was held in esteem. Another a young woman with beautiful skin clothing and jewelry. A man they thought might have been a king, buried with a horse. Everyone was surprised to find the DNA indicated a high level of travel, there was Eastern European, India and a blend of DNA from around the world.

It is human nature to come from the beautiful miracles of John the Baptist's birth and Jesus' to wonder how John can say, twice, he didn't know Jesus. Or Jesus came before John, when John is older.

Proverbs tells us there are men who knew Heaven before being born on earth. Jesus isn't part of that select group. Jesus is the Word of God, with God, in the beginning of creation. Proverbs also tells us about the joy Jesus found in Creation. Jesus was... before John.

How and why didn't John the Baptist know Jesus - his cousin? Why can't we be more surprised by the rest of the 1st Chapter of John. Men meeting Jesus for the first time declared to each other "this is the Son of God" in both verse 41 and verse 49 of John 1. This is far more astonishing - Jesus has men leaving their way of life behind to become His disciples in a mere afternoon of listening to Jesus.

So why, why doesn't John recognize his cousin Jesus? It's pretty obvious when we add up what we know. It seems we must look at this question. John's parents were old when he was born. As people become very aged, they do not travel greatly. Traveling was difficult even for the young. John's parents lived 90 miles from Jesus. John surely heard, in his youth, about Jesus and the "funny circumstances" surrounding the quick wedding of pregnant, un-wed cousin Mary. When we see the Gospels record only cousin Elizabeth's support for Mary, we must also remember John the Baptist probably heard more of the rumors from more of the family - who are not remembered in the Scriptures.

So .... why didn't John recognize Jesus??? For the same reasons we didn't recognize Jesus until we invited Him to be part of us. Before we really knew Him: we heard about Jesus from other sources. Not all the sources were credible. Family (Church) is sometimes boring and the time it takes to get there and back is too long. Why put the effort into going when people aren't always nice? We missed the family get-togethers (Church) for so long, people hassle us about That too. If you don't remember the family stories correctly there is mocking. It's all a big tangle to sort out and we have other things to do.

Then, more importantly, it comes to the decision time. As John grew spiritually into God's plan for him, Jesus became important to him. John took the time to dwell and think about who Jesus is. God revealed not just family, a good man, but a Savior. John, bravely, and with certainty says, "And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."



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Luke 2:14 ~ Glory to God in the highest

Luke 2:14


New International Version
 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

New Living Translation
"Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

English Standard Version
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

New American Standard Bible
 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Holman Christian Standard Bible
 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!

International Standard Version
 "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to people who enjoy his favor!"

King James Bible
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.



Luke 2

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Just as we celebrate the birth of Jesus our King each year, Father God teaches many of the same things to our generation, and those before us, in repeating events. The picture is not shepherds abiding in the field, this is Jesus in Victory. Paul proclaims he was the last of the disciples to see Jesus.

Acts 9:3-6

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”


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1 Corinthians 15 ~ then Christ has not been raised either

1 Corinthians 15

David Cochran Audio, English Standard Version 

Now I would remind you, brothers,^{[brothers and sisters]} of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

²⁹ Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ³⁰ Why are we in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! ³² What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ³³ Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”^{] 34} Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴² So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Have you ever wondered why religions labeled as cults seem to be more supportive? Why Star Trek Landru functions so well, seemingly. Some of the cults do not support the young men as they get to be competition for older men. Cults work like dating. Arranged to look great, at a certain angle. The Truth is not supported in cults, so major effort goes into making life arranged to be becoming.

This unorthodox song of Willie Nelson's "Turn Out the Lights, the Party's Over" hits this passage square to rights. This is the Holy Spirit saying through Paul,  "If you don't believe the bottom line, whatdaja here for ?

" Christ died for our sins He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time Why are we in danger every hour? if Christ has not been raised - our faith is in vain - your faith is futile “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

Paul answers this for a good reason, there are denominations - today - saying why would GOD want HIS Own Son to die. And maybe this is a ghost story. Paul says no. This is the bottom line. If the line is drawn, where will you - Stand?

 

1 Corinthians 16:13

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  

Isaiah 7:9b 

If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.

Dandy Don Meredith shortens Willie Nelson's song. And sings, next year we will do this All over. Well, we could say the only things inevitable are death and taxes, however, if you pass on, you aren't paying taxes personally. So, some flawed logic there.

 

What does the image of the man of Heaven look like? We will rely upon HIS descriptions. The glory of the heavenly puts on immortality, in glory, in power, in the twinkling of an eye we are forever changed. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Luke 24:39

 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

John 20:14-25

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

 Jesus adopts Mary Magdalene, a characteristic of our hero, Jesus.

 

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

 Luke 24: 15

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 8 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"

 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

 

Did Jesus stay unrecognizable to his chosen friends?

 John 21 6

 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

 Peter became so comfortable with the living and glorious Jesus:

 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

 Acts 1

Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Not Père Noël, not Santa Claus, not Morocco's Black Peter, not Shengdan Laoren, not even Saint Nikolaus, this is the twinkling of an eye:

 
~ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
 

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