I invite you to turn with me to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Oftentimes as I was walking out the back door of my home growing up, I heard this one word in particular. And I would venture to say that you heard it as well. Mom would say, behave. Anybody else hear that? Behave. I wonder why she said that. I know why she said it. Because whatever I did outside the walls of that house was a reflection on the house. I want to say the same thing to you this morning. Behave. Behavior means to live or conduct oneself in a particular manner, whether good or bad. Does it really matter how a Christian conducts themselves? I should have a whole lot of amens this morning and maybe a few oh me's. But he says here, I'm gonna answer it by what the Apostle Paul says very clearly in 2 Timothy 2.19. He says, nevertheless, the foundation of God stands sure having this seal. The Lord knows them that are His and let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. That verse right there tells us that the Lord experimentally knows us and we know Him by your experience. This is why sometimes we ask someone to share your experience. What we're saying is you need to be able to share that you know God, you are experiencing God, you've experienced His salvation, you've experienced His mercy, His love, His presence in your life. But then Paul goes a step further, and this is where we see that we love to talk about salvation. It's awesome to be saved. We praise the name of the Lord, that He has saved us, and we can say that we know God. But Paul went a next step. He said, let them that name the name of Christ, that means those that go under the banner of Christian, are those who claim to know Christ. He says, let them depart from iniquity. To depart means here to abandon or distance oneself from something. The departing requires both the thought life and the physical distancing oneself from iniquity. And so we see here that Paul answers our question. Does behavior matter? Paul would say this in Ephesians chapter 2, just to back it up a little bit further. He says in Ephesians 2 and 3, among whom also, we all had our conversation. This is King James English. We all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, or by nature, the children of wrath, even as others. Often in King James English, it uses the word conversation in reference to our conduct. So what he's saying is that our conduct is speaking. It is telling a story. It is telling a message. In this case, he says we all had our old way of life. It spoke some things about what we believed about God. And we were separated from Him. children of wrath, disobedient, doing what we wanted to do. But when we came to know Christ, Christ has called us to a new way of life, new behaviors. And so as a Christian, our behavior matters. The way we act and the words we say display what we believe about God. Now, think about this. No one can see your heart. But we can see your hearts. Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The things you do reveal. Your heart, your heart is set on display each day. And this is what the Apostle Paul was concerned about as he told Titus to go into this culture of Crete. This culture of Crete was, they were known for centuries as being always liars. evil beasts and lazy gluttons. This is the atmosphere, the culture of that place, and yet the Apostle Paul says the church is there. He wrote this to Timothy, but it also goes for Titus. He says this, that we ought to know how to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. I want you to hear this just for a moment. We often think about ways that we can evangelize. We are called to live on mission as God's people. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He ascended, or when He arose from the dead, and He began to instruct His disciples before He ascended, He told the disciples, go into all the world, we often think, what is the greatest evangelistic tool that the church has to reach unbelievers? I'm gonna tell you what that is today. Now, there's nothing wrong with marketing, there's nothing wrong with posting things online, there's nothing wrong with that, but I want to tell you the number one tool. The number one thing in the arsenal of the church is the behavior of the believer. Is the way that you live your life is in attracting people to this church. Now, we've got a church reputation. We all have individual reputations, but we have a church reputation, and the greatest evangelistic tool, our greatest outreach ministry, is how you conduct yourself outside these four walls. I've got to ask, who are you attracting to church? Is there anybody asking you, hey, what is it about you? Where do you go to church? Because I want to be a part of something like that. And so this morning we're going to begin, next couple weeks, today and hopefully next week, a message entitled Adorning the Doctrine of God. Adorning the Doctrine of God, found in verse 10. But what he's saying is the word adorning there is where we get the word to arrange or adorn or to decorate or to make something beautiful. As we live out the gospel in our personal conduct on a weekly basis, it is adorning the doctrine of God. As I was talking with Jenna yesterday, we were discussing these passages and I was asking her about people that lived up to this and she said, these are people that manifest the words. And what it means is that they make the Word clear. You see it in their lives. And so as we think about adorning the doctrine of God, that's what we're going to consider. And so this morning, let's begin reading in verse 1. It says, But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober. grave, temperate, sound in faith and charity and patience. That the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded, in all things showing thyself a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters and to please them well in all things, not answering again, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. As we consider this passage before us this morning, here's the few things I want to share with you. Number one, sound doctrine and behavior reveal the spiritual health of the church. Sound doctrine and behavior reveal the spiritual health of the church. Secondly, we're going to see the sound doctrine displayed in the character of older men in the church. We'll also look at number three, sound doctrine displayed in the character of older women in the church. And if we have time, we'll look at sound doctrine displayed in the character of younger women in the church. The Apostle Paul is instructing Titus, to share these character traits with the church that she might be well-ordered. Because when we follow these patterns, the church functions as she was intended to function. And so the apostle Paul here has told him in verse 1, he told Titus, notice what he said, But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine. Paul said that his concern is, as he opened up this letter, he desired to see people come to the knowledge of the truth. He wanted to see the faith of the elect. He wanted them to be born again. He wanted them to be growing spiritually. He wanted them to stay the course. As he began to instruct Titus on calling pastors or setting them aside, as elders in the church, he listed their character qualifications first. So I want you to know when you consider leadership, character always matters. Character always matters from the pulpit to presidential candidates to world leaders, whatever it is, character always matters. We cannot say, uh, do what I say, but don't do as I do. No, we need to be convictional leaders that back up what we say with how we live our lives. These elders were also to be skilled in teaching. They were to be able, number one, they were to be totally devoted to the Word of God. This is what you need to look for in a leader. This is what every individual in your homes, if you're going to be leading your homes, we need to be totally devoted to the Word of God as you husbands and wives lead your children. I like what it says about Ezra. We need more Ezras in the church. More Ezras in the church. It says this in Ezra 7 and 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord. Ezra pursued the heart of God. He wanted to know Him and know His ways. And then it says this, and to do it, to practice it. So when you have a heart that's totally devoted to the law of God, the word of God, and then you say, I don't want to just want to know it so I can speak it and do all this stuff. But first and foremost, I want to practice it in my own life. I want to put some weight into what I say. And then it says this in Ezra 7, 10, and then to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. So the pattern of Ezra in the Bible was to pursue the heart of God, practice the word of God, and then proclaim the Word of God to the people. And there was a great need for Ezra's in his day because there wasn't many faithful priests that were exposing the Word of God. We need them today as well. So the Apostle Paul addressed the false teachers. He already told them that you need to stop them because they're upsetting whole families. If some of these were extension of house churches, whole house churches were being overthrown by false teaching. Now, sometimes we know the truth, but we fail to speak up. And this is where Paul is telling Titus, he says, the false teachers, their mouths need to be stopped in the families and in those house churches and wherever they're gathering in those cities. But he said to Titus, Titus, you need to speak up. I believe the church today, and I need to grow in this in my own life, that I believe we need to speak up more the truth of God's Word into a culture that's filled with a thousand voices of confusion. There needs to be some sound reasoning and sound minds that will speak truth into this present culture. We're no different much from it was in the days of Titus being on the island of Crete. There's all kinds of lies being exposed, and the truth needs to be proclaimed. And so Paul tells Titus here, But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, sound teaching. Throughout time, Paul has, he told the Ephesian elders, he told other, Jesus said that these pastors are shepherds. They needed to lead the flock of God and feed the flock of God with the Word of God. And he says sound doctrine. The word sound there. It's an interesting Greek word. It comes from the word, we get hygiene. Hygiene, it means, so if you say you've got good hygiene, what does that mean? Hopefully you're clean, you're well kept, you're in order. In this case, it means to be healthy. It means to be whole. It means to be in a state of wellness. Because as Titus is contradicting the false teaching on the island of Crete, the false teaching was diseased. It was corrupt. It was leading to the ruin of families and churches. And so, sound doctrine will make things healthy. And throughout the pastoral epistles, we see the Apostle Paul making mention of this. He says this in 1 Timothy 1, 9 and 10. He said Paul explained how the law exposes ungodly behaviors contrary to sound doctrine. And what was he saying there? We can go back and look at that in 1 Timothy 1, 9 and 10. Listen to this. Knowing this, that the law is not made for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers or fornicators, for them that defile themselves with mankind, that speaks to homosexuality, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. He listed those lifestyles of sin, saying that their doctrine is not sound, and therefore, because their doctrine is not sound, their behavior is not sound. You see, belief and behavior, they go hand in hand. If you want to change your behaviors, then you've got to get deeper to your beliefs and what you believe about things. And so this is what Paul is drilling there. He also says here in 2 Timothy 1.7, he uses the word sound. He says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. Christian people need to have a healthy mindset. We're living in a time when there's a mental health crisis all around us for various reasons. And if there's anyone that is to have a healthy mindset, a sound mind and sound words that bring reason and rationality and truth, it is Christian people. Paul tells him that God does not give you a spirit of fear, but of power. and of love and a sound mind. He uses a word over in 2 Timothy 1 through 13. He says, Paul told Timothy to hold fast the form of sound words that I've spoken. Paul says, what I've taught you, Timothy, is sound words. You need to share those. He later says, in chapter two, verse four, I believe. He says, there's going to come a time when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they'll heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears. So there's coming a day when the church, and we're already in it at times, that the churches today do not want to hear sound doctrine. They want to hear things that will make them feel good, that I'll scratch your back, you scratch my back, and we'll gather together for a social event, but we won't be the church of the living God. Because the foundation of God stands sure. The church must be established on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death, burial, and resurrection. We need to stand firm that that is the hope of our culture. It's the only way anybody's going to get saved. And just me saying that, I want you to think about dropping that sound bite into the voices of the world. The only way anyone is going to go to heaven is by walking down that blood-bought road that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended up to Mount Calvary, died there as a substitute, bearing my penalty of sin, and died there fulfilling fulfilling the law of God to every jot and tittle, thereby being able to give unto me His own righteousness, so that I might have fit clothing to be able to enter into that everlasting kingdom on the other side. That's the only way anybody's going to get in, is by Jesus and His righteousness. And so we need to stand on these sound words, and He continues. In Titus, he's telling Titus to do not back down from sound doctrine. He says to Titus, speak up, speak up. The truth, the truth sets us free. Now, let's turn to the older men. So he's going to begin to lay out some categories here. And he begins to discuss in verse two that the aged men. Now, how are the aged men? How are they to live? So who are the aged men, by the way? Based on what I studied, the aged men are men that are 50 or 60 plus. So if you find yourself in that category, the Bible considers you somewhat aged. But age is not a bad thing. Age is not a bad thing. It's actually a good thing because those that are aged should have great wisdom about them. And as we look here at the character traits here, look at what he says, that the aged men, the first word is that they be sober. So if you are 50 plus in this congregation, Titus would tell you, under the authority of Apostle Paul, under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, he would say that you aged men need to be sober. And this word here denotes a psalm that you need to be careful with alcoholic beverages. And here on the island of Crete, perhaps as we'll see as he begins discussing older women, that apparently there was a lot of drunk and intoxicated men and women on the island of Crete. Are we not living in a similar time today that there's a lot of people that are drunk and intoxicated? And maybe not just drunk and intoxicated with beverages, but they're drunk and intoxicated on the things of this world. And so Titus tells the aged men that you aged men, you need to be sober. You need to be level headed. You need to be clear minded. You need to be those in the church that when someone has a question about life, that you should be able with a sober mind to give them a good, clear answer. Those that are sober should be able to be, it also means to be circumspect, which means to be cautious in this way. It's careful to consider all circumstances and all possible outcomes, which speaks to having wisdom and making decisions. So you need to be sober, level-headed. Your heart and your mind should be by this point, unless you just got saved, your heart and your mind should be saturated with the Word of God so that as things come up, you're sober-minded, you're able to think clearly and quickly and make right choices. He goes on to say this, I don't have time to walk through all of them, but he says the older men are to be grave. What does it mean to be grave? This means to have a sense of gravity about them. Actually, as you think about this as well, The word glory, kabod, in the Bible, it means weightiness. Weightiness. These aged men should be living their lives to the glory of God, that there is a dignity about them, that they do not have to command their respect of others, but the way they choose to live their lives with gravity, it causes you to look up to them and respect the way they live their life. They are men who walk in the fear of the Lord. They are men who lead their families well. They have a respect, and it's something that they have earned through a life well lived to the glory of God. To be grave. He goes on to say that the older men are to be temperant. This word temperant actually is a word that everybody in this congregation should know very well. It means to be self-controlled. Now I've got to ask you this, if you can't control your own desires and your own passions and your own words and your own thoughts, then what level of maturity are you at? And he's going to use the same word for the older women. He's going to use the same word for the derivative of it for the younger women and the younger men. Self-control is huge. To be temperate, to be moderate, to not be extremist, to be of a sound mind or sane. And so this is a beautiful characteristic. Actually, the word temperate is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's actually the last one. to be temperate or to be a person of self-control. He goes on and says the older men are to be sound. Here's the word sound again. This means to be healthy in what? In faith. The older men are to be healthy in faith. This means that the older men should be strong in faith. They should be committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The aged men, and this is where some of the modern movements of establishing churches, we need people of all categories in the church. We need people of all categories because the aged men, in this case, should be those that are committed, that are strong, and help bring some stability to the body of believers. So they're to be sound in faith, full of commitment to Christ and His church and leading their families well. He goes on to say, not only sound in faith, but to be sound in charity. to be healthy in love. If there's anyone that should be able to demonstrate the love of God, it should be the older men that have been walking with Christ. And I'll tell you this, think about the older men in this congregation versus a teenager perhaps, that just has gotten saved, that is beginning to understand the love of God. I'll tell you, the older men in the congregation should exude with the love of God. There should be a healthiness about their hearts and their disposition and their words and their attitude in the congregation. Because primarily, he's speaking here about the attitudes in the congregation. And so the aged men should be sound in love. But then he also goes in to say sound in patience. What is one of the things that young children are lacking? I want what I want right now. Can that same attitude get into aged men as well? We got to be careful. Because it said here that aged men should be sound in patience. This means perseverance. This means when things get hard and there's a lot of stress, these aged men, because they have perspective. Young children do not have perspective. And I want to share this with the younger people that are here. You have one life to live. Every one of us have one life to live, and you would be wise to find a godly old man. If you've got a godly old man that's your dad, ask him. Seek wisdom from your dad. Seek wisdom from older men that can help you say, hey, I am at this stage of life. I'm 10. I'm 12. I'm 14, 16, 18. I'm 25. What is it that you can teach me? I'll tell you, if a young man came with that kind of condition of a heart to an older man, I'll tell you, what a blessing. This is what discipleship in the church should be about. We're not to be lone rangers. The older men need to be teaching the younger men. The older women need to be teaching the younger women things about life and how important that is. Imagine if we walk this out and we practice this, how powerful it would be and how much anguish it would save those. that sought wisdom and sought, I've got one life to live. I know I'm going to make mistakes, but I am going to allow, I'm going to live in a multitude of counselors and the multitude of counselors there is safety. There's safety. If you just listen to your friends and their advice, who have your same perspective, Instead of stepping back and asking older men for godly wisdom, your friends are going to tell you what you want to hear. But you need to step back and say, hey, I want to please God. I want to know how to live my life in a wise way. And these aged men are to be sound in patience. Many men today, many men today, when things get hard, and this is where we need men to rise up. When things get hard, many men today run. They escape. Imagine the temptation on the island of Crete. If he's talking about being sober minded, he addresses this several times throughout this passage. And everybody else is getting drunk. Everybody else is getting intoxicated on beverages. And not only that, but on the things of the world. How easy it would be just to say, this Christian life, really doing what I need to do is hard. I got to get an escape. And when things get really hard, I'm just going to run away. I'm going to run away. Real men stand in hard places and lead well to the glory of God. And so these aged men, these are just a few of the descriptions. Let me move on just for sake of time. The aged women likewise. So aged women in a similar situation. The older women are those that are in their 50s or 60s and past childbearing age. This is what he's making reference to. And so he says here, and these older women could be widowed or married. And he says likewise, the aged women likewise. Now what does the word likewise mean? He's saying that those things, those qualifications that I just laid down for those men about being sober and grave and temperate and sound in faith, love and perseverance, they also apply to you. These are things that you need to apply as well to yourself. But he goes on and gives some specifics, he says, that the aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becoming holiness. Are they to be reverent in behavior. To be reverent in behavior. I want to give you an example of this in the life of Sarah. Life of Sarah. I want you to hear what the Apostle Peter wrote about her here in 1 Peter chapter 3. And I want to begin in verse, I'll begin in verse one. Likewise, you wise, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. So if you've got an unbelieving spouse, Your reverence and behavior can win over your husband. Because they see it. While they behold your chaste conversation, that is, your pure conduct coupled with fear, walking in the fear of the Lord. He says, whose adorning, let it not be that of outward adorning, of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, and putting on of apparel. So the Apostle Peter here is saying that The idea of the world today, when you think about adorning, you think about beauty, you think about dresses and hairstyles and accessorizing, adorning, making yourself beautiful. But here's what he talks about Sarah, and he talks about women of God from days of old. He says, but let it be the hidden man of the heart. Let your beauty be the inner woman, the woman that it says here in that which is not corruptible. even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. And what he's saying here is that this heart, this hidden woman of a heart, it is of imperishable beauty. It is an unfading beauty, a godliness in the heart of a woman displaying her full femininity and godliness. It is of imperishable beauty. To be of a meek, what does it mean to be meek? It means to have power, under control, to be humble, to be moderate. He says, meet in a quiet spirit. A quiet spirit means to be tranquil or peaceful, not to be worried. Why? In this case here, because this woman here is trusting in God and trusting that her husband is going to provide what she needs. In this case right here, He says, But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in which is not corruptible even the orment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. You godly women in this church that are reverent in behavior, the Bible says you are invaluable. You can't put a price on. older godly women that are walking in the fear of the Lord. Anna was another one. I gave you Sarah. It goes on here. Let me go ahead and read it. It says, After this manner, the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves. What did they adorn themselves? With a meek and quiet spirit that was of great value in the eyes of God, being in subjection to their own husbands. Now this doesn't mean to be in subjection to every man, but to be submissive to your own husband. It says, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are as long as you do well and are not frayed with any amazement. As she called him Lord, sir, she had a reverent obedience about her, that she followed her husband, followed the leadership of her husband in that way. So these aged women are to be reverent in behavior. And it says here, we move on, it says, not false accusers. Now, if you're living in a culture where there are always liars, it'd be easy to pick up on lies and gossip and all this stuff. If you're going to be an aged woman that's walking with reverent behavior, you need to be wise with your words. Do you know of any older women that are chatty and they like to talk and pick up snippets from about this woman's life and about this woman's life and about this woman's life? It says over in Proverbs, if I can find it. Proverbs 26.20 says, Where no wood is, there the fire goes out. So where there is no tailbearer, the strife ceases. And so what Titus is telling the aged women is, Don't be using your words to tear down other women or even other men, but we need to be wise. We need to tame our tongues so that the words that we say actually build other women up. Now that must have been something that was common among the ladies on the Island of Creed, that they love just to call each other down and tear each other down with their words. But he says, don't be false accusers. Don't be spreading things that are not true because the word there, accuser, the word there is diabolos, which is where we get the word devil. If you want to look like the devil, slander another person. because the adversary is constantly slandering God's name, slandering. people. He says the older women are not to be given too much wine. Now as I said earlier, Crete may have been filled with many drunk and intoxicated women who struggled with their emotions and physical appetites. But the women of the church were to be different. They're to be different. You might say, here, what does he mean by not given too much wine? There's a lot to be said right there. I'll tell you, you can't get drunk if you don't drink the first drop. We've got to be careful in those areas. He says not given too much wine in this case. And so biblically speaking, Biblically speaking, we might condemn some, we might, from our own judgmental perspective, condemn someone if we see them have one drink. I'll tell you, biblically speaking, we need to be careful in how we view people. In this case, it's not given too much wine. I personally don't recommend drinking the first drop. But I've got to be careful. I've got to be gracious and judicious to those that are around me. But by and large, he says, not giving them much wine in this case here. These ladies apparently everywhere they went, they were imbibing, they were drinking. and many of them were in danger of being drunken. I'll tell you, if you're an aged woman, and you've got a husband, and you've got children, and you've got grandchildren, and you're part of a church, I want you to think about this, and this right here is not just, we may say, alcoholic beverages, but if you are out of your mind because of any substance you put in your body, you are being detrimental not only to your own life, but to all those lives around you. And we begin this message by saying, behave, behave, adorn the doctrine of God. As we go outside these four walls, We're only here, I calculated here, we're only here, maybe, if you come to the worship service each week, you're here for an hour and a half at most. If you come to Sunday school, you got two and a half hours. If you come to Wednesday night, we got about three and a half hours. And if you come to everything, all the services that we have, public congregation, then you are here in this church house one to 2% of your week. That means that 98 to 99% of your week is lived outside of these walls. We have an opportunity for evangelism all outside of these walls. And what is your behavior? What is it reflecting on your own family? What is it reflecting on your own church? Because it matters. I may not see it. Your brothers and sisters here at church may not see it. But I tell you, people around you see how you live and we're called to live in such a way that promotes godliness. and that it attracts people to Christ, that there's the grace of God, the beauty of God. I remember when I first got saved, and I began to see things clearly, and I could see people that were full of the Word, and full of prayer, and full of grace, and full of love. There was just a sparkle about them. And I pray that we'll have that same sparkle about us. He says the aged women are to be teachers of good things. good things. What are those good things? There's all kinds of good things that you can teach. I saw someone online the other day, a couple older ladies getting together. It wasn't at this church, but a couple older ladies getting together and they were, one of them was teaching the other one on how to make chicken and dumplings the old school way. I thought that was a good thing right there because that would be good. But I just want you to be creative. There's so many things that need to be taught. Let me, let me walk through this. I'm going to pick up the younger women next week and the younger men, but I want to say this before I close today. I don't want to rush through this. I want to walk through it slowly because I think it's important. Older men need to know how they need to live their lives. Older women need to know how they live their lives. I liked what John Gill said about the older men in particular. He lived in the 1700s. He says that aged men should set an example in the congregation because they are upon the brink and borders of eternity. I want you to get some perspective about you. And I'm going to talk about the older women and I'm going to close. As we get older sometimes we want to control more. instead of serve more. We have got to begin to realize that we're here to serve. I see it in churches often where the older you get, there begins to be grips of control. And younger people are growing up and they want to do this and do that. And sometimes there's generational clashes in the church. We hear, if you read anything about churches, you'll find this out. There are generational clashes back and forth about how to do this. It's about music types and different things, all kinds of stuff. We have got to learn to be able to serve one another from generation to generation, from the old to the young, but also to the young and the old, because we are to be a body of believers that reflects the unity that is available in Christ to this world rather than division. But when people begin to want to get controlling, and I don't want this to happen, and I don't want that to happen, if you have those things, we need to make sure we line it up with the Word of God. As John Gill said in the 1700s, he said this 300 years ago, you aged men are closer to eternity. You aged women are closer to eternity as well. And we've got to begin thinking about how are we going to set it up for the next generation? How are we going to set it up? As we consider these aged women, I recognize here in our church, we have several aged women, older women, and many of them are widows in the church. I began thinking about this, what you older godly women have a lot to offer younger women that are coming up. In some ways, there's probably a need of support from one another that you know that, hey, you're not alone. You may go to your home and you're there alone. I don't know what we need to do, but I want you to think about being creative. What can we do that you might minister to one another and also be able to minister to the younger ones that come in here? Because they need your wisdom. There's things that you can teach. And what I mean by this, it's informal teaching. Home to home, one-on-one, going out to lunch, whatever it is. But I want you to think about what is it as aged women, what can you give back? How can you serve the next generation? As we jump down into verse 5, and this is where I want to close on. I'll have to come back to the young women next week. But it says here in verse 5, why do these things matter? He says that the Word of God be not blasphemed. How many times have you heard the Word of God blasphemed? And what I mean by that is, because someone says, I name the name of Christ, but they don't live out in their behavior, they don't look like Christ in their behavior, and then they come to church on Sunday, and that one or two percent of their week and they pretend to be holy, and then they go back out in the 98% of their week and they live an unholy life, we already know this. It reflects on the church. It reflects on your family. And so this morning, if you get nothing else out of this, I just want to remind you that your behavior matters. How you live your life. It matters. Every one of us are a reflection of Christ. If you've been saved by God's grace, no matter age category, no matter gender, every one of us are to reflect Christ. As a member of this body, we're to reflect Bethlehem. If somebody says, where do you go to church? And they say, well, I know a guy down there. He's corrupt. Or I know a lady down there. Do you know what I heard about her? She hadn't been faithful to her husband. You know what that does immediately? That blasphemes the Word of God. And it hinders our witness. And so Paul is telling Titus, lay these things out so that we can live in such a way that the church's witness in a corrupt culture is one of holiness. It is one being more dictated by the Word of God rather than what the world says. The churches all around us are already, there's already enough worldliness in them. And maybe that's why we're not having the effect at large that we need to have because let them that name the name of Christ Let them depart from iniquity. And so, I pray that our behaviors this week will cause others to say, hey, why do you act that way? Why do you talk that way? You know what that's going to do? That's going to be an open door for you to say, Jesus, is why I act this way. And Jesus is why I talk this way. And let me introduce you to a bunch of other brothers and sisters, both young and old, that have been saved by the grace of God, and they're acting just like me. Because when we act like Christ, we'll be the salt and the light that we need to be. We won't have to throw everything on social media. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. We don't have to do that. People want to come because they say, where do you go to church? I need some of that. And so make the Lord help us as we leave this house today. I'm not my mama, but as we leave this house today, behave in a way that glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ who bought us out of a lifestyle of sin and be different to His glory and for His name's sake. As we get a song and sing, I appreciate you hearing me this morning.