Well, we have a few more that's coming in, but let's go ahead and begin with prayer. Our Father, we thank You so much for the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. Knowing that our sins are forgiven and we are accepted, in Christ, in the Beloved, and knowing also that You have but begun a work in us when You save us to begin to conform us to Christ in all things as we live out our lives here on this earth. We thank You that You've given us the instruction that You've given us, that You've given us Your Spirit, that we might follow Your instruction, that You put a will and a love in our hearts for You to motivate us to do these things. Now, Lord, we come this day together, and it is our desire to honor You in all that we do here today. And we ask for Your help in that. And we pray that when we leave this place today that we might have been given more that we need to continue on our lives, that we would be quickened and strengthened for the road ahead. And we do pray for your people throughout this earth who are gathered today around Christ, around His Word, might you bless mightily. And we pray, Father, for an outpouring of your Spirit upon us that might overflow into a lost world around us and help us to influence and be instrumental in gathering in your elect in this earth. Now we ask Your blessing in this hour, and we ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. I'd ask you to turn to Titus chapter 2 and verse 1. For those of you who have not been with us, we're working our way through the pastoral epistles, and we're working through them in the chronological order that we believe they were written. We've covered 1 Timothy, Titus, second, and last of all will be 2 Timothy. Now on Titus. Having described in chapter 1 and verses 10-16 what Titus is to cause the Christians to avoid, Paul goes on now in chapter 2 to remind Titus of what is to be expected of Christians, what they are to do in some very practical areas. Here is in 1 Timothy 5-6, he addresses different groups within the church and how they are to relate to one another and how they are to conduct themselves in areas that are especially pertinent to them. Now, a lot of these things are pertinent to everyone, but it seems that Paul thinks that at this point in this time, there are special things pertinent to each of these groups, and that's what he lists here in this portion of Scripture. Now, the goal is that belief in And confession of the Gospel of Christ is to be followed with good conduct. That is the theme all through the pastoral epistles. You cannot disassociate right doctrine from right conduct. It comes again and again as we go through here. Salvation is to bring all who are saved into a life that is consistent with the truth. Notice verse 1 here in chapter 2. Let's speak now of the things which become sound doctrine. The things that are consistent with sound doctrine. And in verse 2, we have behavior as becometh saints. Let's see, I missed that by a verse. Verse 3, behavior that has become of saints. In other words, behavior that is consistent with saints, with God's people. In verse 5, we have this. These instructions are given, quote, that the Word of God be not blasphemed. There's a conduct that is consistent with the Word of God, and if it's not followed, there's a great disconnect. in verse 10, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things, that is, in good conduct. Paul shores up the necessity of good conduct with a very strong theological foundation saying that the object of Christ's sacrifice was to, quote in verse 14, was to redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." There it is again. That's the ultimate goal is to produce a people that is, we could say, Christ-like, to restore us to the way we ought to be. Now before us in this chapter is instruction needed not only in Crete in Paul's day, it's a message that is badly needed in our day. At a time when it seems the message is to bring God down to man's level, which is what many churches are basically doing and advertising, the message really that is needed is that God has ordained things to work out the other way. Man is to be brought up to God's level. We're to be brought into conformity to Him. Now we're going to take this chapter in at least two parts. And I know these things are very familiar to you, but we're going to glance at them as we go through and give each one a little bit of attention. Because we need to be reminded of them, we need to continually put them into practice. So beginning in verse 1, but speak thou the things which become sound, or as I've mentioned before, healthy doctrine. That's a medical term. Speak thou the things that become healthy doctrine, sound doctrine." In contrast to leading people away with what he calls Jewish fables and commandments of men, that we saw in the previous lesson. In contrast to that, Titus is to teach doctrine that is fitting to or consistent with the gospel of salvation from sin. That's the doctrine. And as I've already pointed out, this points to conduct. Conduct that is consistent with the gospel. Speak thou the things which become sound or healthy doctrine. Some people do attempt to circumvent the need for right conduct by saying that God just looks on the heart as though He cared nothing for the outward conduct. But the truth is, as Jesus taught, tells us that conduct often reveals what's in the heart. Sloppy conduct points to a disorderly heart, whether it's an individual or whether it's a church. You can't separate the two. There is such a thing as hypocrisy. But yet, that being true, you still cannot separate the heart from the conduct that go together. So verse 2 goes on and he says that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. So now we're going to address this particular group first of all. Aged here is the word presbyteros, elder. And it's used in the common way. It is not pointing to the office of elder, but respects age or maturity. There's no specific age mentioned here which qualifies one as aged. It's somewhat relative, but as one writer rightly suggests, it would probably include all adult males. Now we should at least take from this that we should expect the older saints to be steady and grounded in the truth and to reflect it in their lives. That's the expectation. And thus Paul goes on and enumerates these things, these following things. He says, first of all, sober. Now, this in some cases may reflect on the use of wine, but the main idea is to be temperate in having self-control. One writer adds clear-minded, clear-minded to the definition. So we should expect older saints to be more sound in judgment, exercise more self-control, A rash person, especially if he is older, does not become the gospel of Christ. We probably all have some role models in our past of some of these things. And I have one that I continually think back on. It was a deacon in our church in New York. And I look at him as a model of these things. And it's a beautiful thing to see these things in an older saint. It's just, all I can say is it's beautiful. Then he goes on and he says, grave. And the idea here is that they are to be venerable, that is, honorable, dignified, and so forth. And this would, of course, govern both the speech and the things that they do and their overall demeanor. And again, how pleasant are those whose lives and words portray some dignity. We all know it when we see it. This man that I've just made reference to, he might have finished high school. He was just a common person. Very quiet. But the man was so dignified you could not help but see it. It was the Christian character that was coming out in him. Honorable. Dignified. That should be our goal. Not to sport ourselves before others, but that should be the way we are. Such as this becomes. Such as this is consistent with sound doctrine. Then he says temperate. Ballarat and Gingrich defines this as prudent, thoughtful, self-controlled. And of course, this is similar to sober, the word that's translated sober. And it could be translated either way. This word could be translated either way. This emphasizes the high priority of exercising self-control. Self-control is so important to our testimony for Christ. I suspect that this grace, as we should call it, is one of the most influential truths that we can have. In a world where people are just so explosive and impetuous and out of control, What a testimony it is when you see somebody, what a contrast it is when you see someone like this. You know, both saved people and unsaved people take notice of people like that. It's a testimony. And then he says, sound in faith and charity and patience. And these are often linked together here, and if we looked at 1 Timothy 6, 11 and 12, we would see them The group there, if we look at 2 Timothy 3.10, well, we can do that easily right across the page almost. 2 Timothy 3.10, "...but Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience." If we think about the relationship of patience to hope, it also would link up with 1 Corinthians 13, where faith, hope, and charity are the cardinal graces, I guess we could say. And so a mature Christian ought to manifest these things. Faith, charity, patience, or hope, linking patience to hope. They're just the bedrock of everything else. Let's look at these a little more closely. Sound again here is that word healthy, and it qualifies all of these things that follow. And we want to notice that sound is a present active participle. Grammatically. And thus we could translate it, being sound in faith, in charity, in patience. And thus it probably points to these three things as being the cause or the means of the previous virtues. We do these, were to be like this, being sound in faith, in charity, in patience. That's the basis. Now faith here, though it has the definite article, probably points to that personal, subjective faith. Sometimes it refers to the body of truth. But here, I think it probably refers to a person's personal faith in the Gospel, in Christ. And then charity, of course, is that love for God and for others that is described in 1 Corinthians 13, and there's no way to go delve into that here. But that's the kind of love that we are to exhibit. And basically it's a self-sacrificing love, giving of ourselves type love. And then there's patience. And patience is just steadfastness and endurance in trial. It presupposes there's going to be trial. So, all in all, this verse lays out a very challenging self-examination for aged men. It should be a portrait of every mature Christian man. None of us have perfected it, have we? But this is the objective. This is the goal. Christ exemplified all of these things perfectly. And we can look at Him to see how He manifested these things in His life. But this is what we ought to look like if we're saved, if we're aged men, if we're adult men. It's a challenge, isn't it? It's a challenge for me. Going on in verses 3 and the first part of verse 4, we're going to switch now to the women, the aged women. 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. Now, aged here is the feminine form of presbyteros. But it has no reference again to office, but again simply to age, as it is with the men here. Aged, especially in this context, would refer to the older, experienced, more mature, or we could say adult women. It begins with likewise, or in like manner as the aged men, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness." They're a counterpart to the aged men in holiness. And they are to be instructed, first of all, to be reverent in their demeanor and in their godliness. And it goes on to describe this, not false accusers or slanderers. And this was also to be a characteristic of deacons' wives that we found in 1 Timothy 3.11. And probably that's a very practical instruction because deacons' wives would often be privy to some matters that ought not to be repeated and spread around in the church. Not false accusers or slanderers. And we know that this Word is consistently used of the devil in the New Testament, slanderers. And there's something really diabolic about slander, because it's character assassination. And we can see, if we want a demonstration of this, we can see the ugliness of it. on grand display in the public arena in our land in this day. You can't turn on the radio without hearing somebody character assassinating someone. It's repulsive. I'm sure it's repulsive to God. It ought to be repulsive to us. There is nothing godly about it, and it does not become the gospel of Christ. So that's an instruction for the older women. And in Crete, it must have been a special liability. But in our society, it's also a special liability. Not given to much wine or not a slave of much wine. And this, in the previous matter, that we just mentioned, false accusers and slanderers, were apparently big problems in Crete at this time. Big problems in the Crete culture. And some believe the word much implies intemperance. I believe the use of this verse to advance the position of temperate use of wine is a misuse of the verse. Now this is my opinion. I believe, simply put, this is just a straightforward blanket statement saying that being a slave of much wine is not Christian behavior. It's not Christian behavior. It does not promote Christian behavior. So as I've done in the past lessons, you can do what you will with the idea of temperance. But take this at face value, much wine is to be avoided. Then it goes on and says next, teachers of good things. And this is all one word and a word found only here in the New Testament. And it's a compound word from good and from teacher. So in keeping with the overall theme here, what would good be? Good would be that which is agreeable to the Gospel. That which the Gospel produces. Good, in another expanded definition, is all that is consistent with God's character. All that is consistent with God's law. Teachers of these things. as the continuing context will affirm, does not refer to an official teaching position in the church. It's obvious here that this teaching is to be informal, day-to-day, and probably most often a one-on-one type instruction. Let us pause and consider and acknowledge the great importance of this role. It is essential to practical godliness in the Christian community. This is a great responsibility of older Christian women. There is a standard to be taught and there is a standard to be exemplified by the mature Christian woman. A woman we might describe as one who has learned herself through experience, to persevere in faith as she endures the rigors of her role. We studied in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 15 about the woman being saved in childbearing. In other words, as she perseveres in her God-given role in faith, she is saved. She perseveres. Well, such a woman as this has much to offer. And sometimes I wonder if older Christian women know how much they do have to offer. They have much to offer. Her experience is a treasure to the church. And we should look at it that way. And we notice that her students in her curriculum is introduced in verse 4 by the little word, that. And that stands for the purpose clause, in order that. In other words, the aged women must have the previous requirements of verse 3 in order that they may truly and properly teach others. Well, of course, aged women must lead first of all by their own example. it would do little good if their behavior was not as it ought to be while they taught others proper behavior. The governing clause here, grammatically, is that they may teach young women to be sober. I point out here that the word rendered teach as it's rendered in our text, the word teach and the word rendered sober are from the very same Greek word, and that in the original text it actually appears only one time in the verse. And therefore, I'll give you a more literal translation. It would be, in order that they might encourage or teach the younger women. In order that they might encourage or teach the younger women. Perhaps the word the translators put sober in here was due to what Paul said immediately before concerning the older women not being given to much wine. I don't know. I didn't look that deeply into all of that. But the emphasis is that aged women were to instruct and encourage the younger women in certain things, to take them under their wing, And following are seven things that they are to instruct them in and to encourage them in. We want to keep both of those things in mind, both to instruct and to encourage. And the first is to love their husbands. Now, I don't think this has much to do with what we might call the emotion of love. Certainly, that is important. But it has more here to do with what we might call the action of love, the demonstration of love. You know, emotion does not necessarily convey true love. It is the actions that convey true love. And again, it's not that there's no emotion there, there certainly is, but we realize that infatuation is an emotion. And infatuation is very unstable, undependable. The real thing is proved by what one does more than what one says or sometimes even feels. It's what one does. In a culture such as the Cretan culture, which was described there in verse 12, we might expect that a true demonstration of love was what was desperately needed in these new churches in Crete. Where falsehood, where fierceness, where lazy indulgence was the way of life in general, True love certainly needed to be demonstrated. It would be the contrast to what Titus was dealing with there in Crete. Well, again, in our own culture, in which falsehood, in which fierceness, in which lazy indulgence are largely present all around us, and sometimes creeps into the church, true love needs to be demonstrated. This is the antidote, true love. And again, I believe that the focus here is on the practical demonstration of love, that young women are to be taught. Now we might list a great number of practical things at this point that a young woman must learn in order to love her husband in a practical way. But I'll simply describe it for want of time generally as the young woman being taught to unselfishly support her husband with both words and deeds. Support him. with words and deeds. Moreover, an aged woman might teach a younger woman how to be patient and understanding of her husband. What kind of a creature is this, this young woman might say, have I married? Maybe the older woman can kind of help her understand this male creature that she's married to. There are some distinctions between us and they're not always easy to understand. What makes this guy tick? The older woman might help the younger woman understand a little bit about that. Why does he do this? Why does he do that? Why does he think this, think that? Maybe the older woman can help there a little bit from her own experience. In short, older women, hopefully, you have something to offer the younger women on this matter of loving your husband. The second is to love their children. Now, as with the husbands, we're probably looking here at the practical ways a mother is to love her children. Most mothers have some natural affection that is evident of true love, even though it's shocking in our day that our society is even moving away from that. And there's more, I don't know what you would call it, abusive children in various ways than the showing of love. Of course, we know that's all a fruit of abortion. which views a child in terms of personal convenience, not personal commitment to them. But in the Christian culture, again, selfish behavior was widespread. And so for a woman to love her children truly would be a self-sacrificing expression of caring for the welfare of her children. Now every mother that has raised children knows of the sacrifice and toil that is involved. If it is to be done faithfully, you know that. You've been there. And there is perhaps no more challenging role in this entire world than that of faithful motherhood. And again, we could enumerate many practical things a mother must do to truly love her children. but we'll simply summarize them as personally looking to the everyday emotional and practical needs of the child. Next to her husband, the woman's great concern and effort is toward and for her children. This is a high call. Now, young women might tend to shrink from this. This does not sound too glamorous or exciting, but it is in this manner that true fulfillment and satisfaction can come. And that's an absolute fact. I would not shrink from that statement. It is only in this way that true fulfillment and satisfaction can come. And I believe this is part of the teaching that an aged woman should convey to the younger women by their own attitude, by their own demonstration of fulfillment in these things. As the younger women look at the older women and see this satisfaction, this fulfillment in carrying out this God-given role. Now, I don't intend here to disparage women who, in the providence of God, do not have children. Both childless men and women have their own challenges and responsibilities as God sees fit. Well, the great challenge in our day, yes, even in churches, is the tendency to put careers before children or careers alongside children. And I realize that there are some women who must work outside the home through no choice of their own. I don't criticize that. And I realize that young unmarried women would normally work outside the home. I don't criticize that. And I realize that women who have raised their families may find it helpful or necessary to work outside the home, and I don't criticize that. But I believe the option of young mothers to pursue careers that sacrifices the emotional and practical needs of her children are not right. Only she can provide those in the best way. And to take another course is really contrary to learning to love their children as they should. Donald Guthrie rightly says, even in our modern age, I'm sorry, let me start over. Even our modern age is not without instances of professing Christian women lacking true maternal affection. For women who put their careers before the welfare of their own children are displaying a significant symptom of this weakness. Well, surely, aged women, And don't be offended, older women, adult women. You can help younger women in this area. You can, if you have the opportunity. The third thing, they need to be taught to be discreet. And we have seen the Greek word behind this before. It's used only in the pastoral epistles and translated sober twice and temperate once. And I'll just recite Strong's lexical definition for this word, discreet, to put the proper emphasis on it. He says it's of a sound mind, sane in one's senses, curbing one's desires and impulses, self-controlled, temperate, discreet. Teach the young women to be discreet. Anywhere in the world today, you see everything but discreteness amongst young women. What a challenge it is, isn't it? To teach this. But it can be taught, because that's what the Bible says. It's something that is to be taught. And it is to be taught and encouraged by example and by verbal reinforcement and communication. Most young women, most young people, but here we're talking about young women, tend to be undisciplined in their judgment and their assessment of things. And they're often guided simply by impulses and desires. So they need all the help they can get. They need all the help they can get. Well, we know this. It's grace that must ultimately teach any of us these things. And some people have a natural disposition to be cautious or thoughtful or have traits somewhat similar to this. And that's good. But beyond this, young Christian women need to be taught to do the things that they do with a purpose. And what's the purpose? It's a godly purpose. It's to glorify God. It's to give testimony to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And again, surely there is some opportunity here in most churches for older women to instruct younger women in this matter by their own conduct, and by words spoken in the ear in due season. Do we communicate these things in a helpful and gracious way when we can? Well, the fourth thing is to be chaste, and the main idea here is to be pure. It's associated with the word holy, and here it probably has in mind sexual purity. William Mount suggests that this and the preceding matter, discrete or self-controlled, have to do with sexual conduct. Well, is this something that needs to be taught? Well, without question it is. The temptations to infidelity are real. Temptations to impurity are real. Even for Christians. Well, then how do you teach this? Especially when there is in every human being the natural desire to fulfill one's sexual impulses. How do you teach this? Well, I believe it begins with instruction concerning God's expectations. If we're Christians, that will be important to us. What are God's expectations? And of course, this finds its roots in the moral law of God. You cannot dispense with that. You cannot stop teaching that because that's where we get the instruction. This is what pleases God. This is consistent with God's character. So we need to instill that. We need to insist upon it. Young people are enticed by the promiscuity of other young people, As they are, it should be consistently pointed out to them that it's sin to engage in sex out of wedlock. God is not pleased with it, and He certainly sees it. So that's the starting point of this instruction. And beyond that, there are the God-given consequences of this conduct that should be warned of. What seems to be pleasing for the moment invariably becomes regrettable. Invariably. There's no exceptions. What we do contrary to God in this area will at some point become regrettable. And ultimately, at the very end, the Bible insists that adulterers and fornicators shall not enter the kingdom of heaven unless they repent." So that's good teaching material. But assuming the young woman is a Christian, and seemingly in this context a married young woman, Beyond these elemental things, she can be shown, and here this is important, she can be shown by the older women, the blessedness and the contentment that is to be found in a faithful marriage. You can talk about, if you're an older woman, you can talk about it. You can show it. Do you show contentment? Do you show your blessedness that's the result of your faithfulness? Well, may God give the aged woman grace and the younger woman grace to learn. I think it's also important while we're on this subject There are practical things to avoid this, isn't there? The old eye gate, ear gate, the old association. There are certain things that you have to turn away from and ignore and eliminate from your life to help you, young women and aged women, to encourage young women not to do. What you hear, what you see, who you associate with, that's all relevant. I think it's also important to see the temptations that idleness brings. Idleness, we saw, was a cultural liability to the Cretans. It's a cultural liability today. Idleness. And I know that when young people are standing around and fiddling on their phones all day, some of it's productive, most of it's not. Idleness, unproductiveness, and where that is, there's always the opportunity to get led into behavior that is not good. Here it would be unchaste behavior. Well, again, I believe aged women can do much to help here. Surely, grace again is the ultimate answer to the problem. But one means of grace is this faithful instruction in chastity. Well, the fifth matter is to be keepers at home. And this is all one word. And the main idea behind it is that the home is the main realm of her duties. Now, I don't think it means that she's to remain at home all the time and never stick her head out the door. That's not the point. There are household and family duties that will carry her abroad. We think of the description of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. She's not confined and locked in her house. She's out and about conducting things relative to her household and relative to the welfare of her household. She's not a woman that just grovels in the shadows. No, that's not the right idea. But we should never minimize the skills and the knowledge it takes to fulfill this role properly. It's a calling that if it's formed efficiently requires much understanding, much understanding, and a wide variety of skills. I would suggest then two things as far as older women instructing younger women in being a keeper at home. And the first is very simple. Teach her the dignity of the role. It's a dignified role. The word housewife is spoken with contempt in our day. Well, if you don't want to call it a housewife, don't call it a housewife. But the role is far from contemptible. It's a dignified role. And so aged women teach the younger women the dignity of the role. Be a role model. showing, again, your own personal fulfillment and your own personal satisfaction in faithfully fulfilling His calling. And then secondly, there are many practical skills that must be taught and learned. Older women have opportunities to do this. Of course, the most basic opportunity, immediate opportunity is right within the home, mother, daughter, situation. But there are things that can be shared by older, experienced women in the church, with younger women in the church. You are a resource for the church if you are an older, experienced woman. A valuable resource. We should always remember these things. It's ultimately all for the glory of God. We're all to serve Him in the roles that He has assigned to us in the very best way we can. And it takes concentration. It takes diligence on our part to do so. Well, then we have good. And this is a common New Testament word with a variety of application. I believe it can be summed up as that which is consistent with God or God-pleasing. And most writers believe the emphasis here is to be kind. To be kind in the context of the home, it would be showing kindness to her family. Well, is kindness something that can be taught? Well, obviously so. It tells us here. How do you teach kindness? Isn't that a natural trait? Well, let me suggest first, again by example. Older women should demonstrate kindness that encourages younger women to be kind. If it's true kindness, it's going to yield a confidence, it's going to yield a contentment in the person that's showing the kindness. It's amazing how that works. And it will be a confidence and a contentment that is desirable to have. Make those young women desire this. as they observe you being a model of kindness that God sets before them. In a second way, in a way of teaching, and this would be in a more instructive way, I believe it is proper for a godly aged woman to show a younger Christian woman what the Word of God says about these things. concerning kindness. Look at the examples we have in Scripture of women who showed kindness. There's some wonderful examples in Scripture that can be pointed out. Here's your role model. Well, quickly, obedient to their own husbands. Now again, there's another term that's scoffed at in our day. Obedient? To my husband? But it's God's way. It's God's way. He said it. But what exactly is it to be obedient to one's own husband? And how can this be taught? Or what it is? Or perhaps a little bit better, what it is not as we go on here. But we get a consistent idea from the other places where Paul uses this word for obedient. Ephesians 5.22. In Colossians 3.18, it means submissive. Submissive. This is first and foremost a spirit or an attitude. Now this is important and we've stressed this before. This is something that only a wife can do. Only the wife can submit herself to her husband. The husband cannot submit his wife to himself. That doesn't work. It's not submission unless the wife does this. This command is always to the wife, not to the husband. A wife can obey her husband without being submissive in the sense that it's used here. It's a heart matter. It is something a Christian wife does out of submission, first of all, to God and to Christ. She recognizes that God has ordered this arrangement. The man just didn't come up with it. No, this is God's order when carried out properly. And so she agrees with it. And we need to stress this. This is not a matter of inferiority. And it's not a me-boss-you-not thing. It's not a matter of inferiority. It's a matter of order. God's order. It's not becoming a doormat, but rising to an exalted place in God's economy and in God's opinion, if we can say that properly. And how can this be taught? Well, again, by precept and by example. A young woman needs to be taught what the Word of God sets forth about this matter. This is something that an older woman can do with a younger woman. And surely a seasoned Christian woman understands what the Word of God teaches on the matter. And she can point this out to younger women. And she can be shown again examples in Scripture of women who were submissive to their husbands. And the great honor that was put upon those women for submission. And as we continue to point out by example, as with all these other things, A young woman can benefit greatly by observing the submission of older Christian women to their husbands. And when they look at the older Christian women, she ought to be able to see some joy and some contentment displayed in conjunction with that submission. to fulfilling that accepted position that God has given her. Well, we've rushed through these things and we've extended our time. I'm going to wrap this up. I'll just say this. All of the things that are mentioned here ought to be sought with sincere prayer. If a young woman sees that these things are things that God requires, and she knows that her flesh will fight against them from time to time, she needs to be instructed to be a woman of prayer. Young women, learn to pray. And with all of our respective roles and callings, we must continually be asking God to help us faithfully to attend to them. They don't just come automatically. Prayer is key. Prayer is necessary. Why? Because the underlying cause of everything we've said here again is the goodness and grace of God. He must help us. He must give it. Well, finally, we come at the end of verse 5 to present the reason Paul gives all this instruction. It is that the Word of God be not blasphemed. And I pointed this out at the beginning of the lesson, that this is the grand objective the grand objective aimed at in dealing with the conduct of Christians here in the pastoral epistles. The world is looking on at us. They're looking at the way we are, the things we do, the way we act. The world is the greatest detector of hypocrisy that there is. And they hone their skills on the hypocrisy of Christians in order to justify their own conduct and to reject the gospel. We can't let that happen by the way we act. And thus, we cannot profess to be obedient to God and then contradict what we say by our words and actions Let us not give the world any occasion to ridicule and reject the truth of the Gospel. We have a high calling. What a high calling! We have been called to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Our conduct is important. Of course, it must come from the heart, but our conduct is highly important. We claim that the Gospel is heart-changing, life-changing. Do we reflect that in our day-to-day lives? We claim that Jesus is Lord and King. Do our lives show it in every corner? That's the idea here. And of course, this is not a comprehensive list. It's a partial list, but it gives us the idea. May God help us. We'll be dismissed.