All right. Let's take a moment to go before the Lord as we come to the preaching of his word. Ask him for his his help. My father on this January 19th, 2025, we once again come under the sound of your word. You've heard from your people and silent prayer and the recitation of scripture in song, praising you, inviting your presence with us, confirming gospel truths. And now we come to this time where we study your word and we hear what you would have to say to us. And so we ask that you would bring the authority of the word to bear upon each and every one of our hearts. Any chaff that might come from the one speaking would be whisked away by the wind of your spirit, just removing it, and that the penetrating truth of your word would be clear and impressed upon our hearts. We pray that you would guide us all, direct us all, speak to us all. We pray in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. While we are continuing on in our study of Titus, we are in Titus chapter 2. You heard read this morning, verses 1 through 10. Our focus will be on verse 9 and 10 today. And how the scripture humbles us as we come to it. It's one of the things that was impressed upon me as I was reading and studying our passage today. I think many have lost sight of of biblical perspective. Many have viewed circumstances and situations in life through the lens of worldly norms, through what we are supposed to expect from a worldly perspective. We have this view of this world that we should be moving towards comfort and ease and that somehow that is the goal, that is what we're aiming for. The slightest difficulty or obstacle or change of course in our lives can overthrow a person's contentment. I don't have to wonder because I know every single one of us have experienced that discontent over the smallest minutia of life. As I've said many times, that cliche, we make mountains out of molehills and we have a God who is greater than and we so easily forget him in those situations. In the grand scheme of biblical instruction, most suffering, at least in the Western world, I say most, not all, but most of it is equivalent to a hangnail or a paper cut. Those hurt, I know, but they're nothing in the grand scheme of our redemption. And they're momentary, according to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians. And we have so often this myopic focus on cultural norms and present lifestyle enhancements that seems to lead us that we have to have this or that in our lives or we're not to be happy. And so there's a constant pursuit of leisure and entertainment. And I think all of these things have dimmed or blinded our focus on the kingdom of God. So we need to beware. And we come to a passage that draws our gaze back. that takes us back to what we should be thinking and what we should be considering and how we should look at our lives, how desperately we need to have our spiritual vision adjusted by the word of God and by his spirit. And so in this passage that we come to today, We are forced to embrace the bigger picture, and that's the problem, isn't it? We're looking at our lives as though we're stuck in a crevasse, and all we see is those things immediately around us, and we're not able to look up and see over that crevasse and to see the landscape that's before us. And the Bible does that for us. The Bible allows us to hike the ramparts, so to speak, and to see that bigger picture that drives us and compels us and leads us. And so as we come to this passage today, we need to recognize we can't embrace the truth of this passage and at the same time complain about our circumstances. We can't lean in and say yes and amen because we're forced to admit as we look at this passage that we really don't have it that badly. We really don't have it that badly at all. Maybe a special focus on children, young men, young women, listen carefully because I think if I remember my days, the days of my youth, I was more prone to complain about my circumstances. I was more prone to say, why don't I get to do this because friend A gets to do that and friend B gets to do that or you know how it goes. Why are you keeping me from the things that I want to do? Listen to this passage today. All of us need to. So today we're going to learn that we must live in humble submission to God's ordained authorities, displaying the beauty of his word. we must live in humble submission to God's ordained authorities, displaying the beauty of his word. And of course, his beauty, because he is the author of this word, and it reveals who he is. Therefore, we are revealing the beauty of Christ. as we live in the manner in which we are instructed in this passage. The focus in these two passages, these two verses, I should say, are on a slave's responsibility to his or her master. So we'll spend a little bit of time understanding the situation and circumstances there, but the word there, you might have translated bond servant, but it actually means slave. And that was the norm in that society, and we need to understand what that means and how that applies to us, because there are tremendous implications for us. This is not a condoning of chattel slavery. God forbids man-stealing, both in the Old Testament and even in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, chapter 1. He condemns it. Nonetheless, when you're living in a world, and this is the circumstance of the world, instructions are going to be given, and the priorities are going to be provided, and our first priority isn't to buck against that goad. It's amazing, isn't it? It may be disconcerting for us, but, and it may be hard for us to grasp hold of that because we don't live in that reality any longer. There is, of course, human trafficking that is illegal and occurs, so we know that there's a reality, and we're thankful that it's unlawful, and there needs to be diligence in seeking to put that away. and to bring those to justice who are committing such heinous sin. But this instruction is given for those who are in the throes of slavery, who were born into slavery, who were taken by captivity into slavery. And we receive a tremendous amount of instruction from this passage as we correlate the instruction given to them and then think about the instructions that have been given to us. And remember where we're at in chapter two. In the first eight verses, we have learned about conduct that accords with sound doctrine, or is in keeping with sound doctrine. And we've learned about it in these various areas of the church. It's been segmented by older men, older women, young women, and younger men. We've seen what calling we have, again, not all inclusive, but what calling we have as those who are in these particular groups living in this world as Christians and living amongst one another as Christians. And then the next thing that we saw after that, we saw what it looks like to live as a leader, to model these things, a teacher teaching this glorious truth this moral and life-giving truth that we find in the scriptures, that we're to be models and examples of these things. So we've learned this, and now we look at this other category of people that would often also be included in households. They are slaves. The word doulos is the word that's used in our passage. We'll look at it more closely. Here's what we don't want to do. Many people have tried to downplay the slavery of the Bible and say, well, it's not the same as chattel slavery, for example, in the history of our country or in other places in the world. But the reality is there are various kinds of slavery. It's true. There's indentured servitude. There's debt slavery. But there is also chattel slavery. Otherwise, we wouldn't have passages in scripture that forbid it. People were brought into the Roman Empire, oftentimes through conquering as a part of plunder, as a part of a possession. And in that day, in the first century, the population of the Republic was somewhere around 70 million. Seven to 10 million of that 70 million were slaves. That gives you a sense of how prolific this particular category of people is and why it was so important for Christians who were slaves to receive instruction from the Word of God. What do I do? as a slave? How do I live as a slave? And so it may be hard for us to identify with and to understand. And again, these slaves were coming from every realm of society in terms of creed and nation and skin color and everything else. They weren't just from one. And so in a study of history, we need to recognize that not only was it more prevalent, but it was just as harsh and sometimes more harsh than the slavery that we have as a stain on our history as a nation. And it was also lifelong unless freedom was purchased, unless a slave was redeemed. And don't ever forget that language. It's a part of our heritage as Christians. I'll get to that because there's an important application for us as we think through this. It wasn't until the conversion of Constantine that slavery eased up some, but many were freed, but still slavery continued on. And in terms of Christian history, I'll just give you one example. As far as I could tell, in studying the first known abolitionists, in the Christian era was Gregory of Nyssa, abolitionist seeking to abolish slavery. And he was born the same year that Constantine died, in 330 BC. And so as we read of that 330 AD, sorry, let me read you a segment from that. The Bible may not give us that elusive 11th commandment, thou shalt not, you know, man-steal, but it is a commandment nonetheless. The bent of the biblical ethical code is hardly surprising that one of the first writers and perhaps the first writer ever to challenge slavery as an institution was not a pagan Greek or Roman, but a Christian church father. Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory, born around the same time as Constantine's death in the 330s, raged against the sinful presumption of enslaving people created in the image of God, the theological foundation of image bearers. If God does not enslave what is free, who is he that sets his own power above God's, he wrote. A man writing an article about Greg Nyssa, Kyle Harper, noted, it is no small distinction to be the earliest human to have left an argument for the basic injustice of slavery. I misquoted 1st Timothy, not 2nd Timothy, 1.10, and then Exodus 21.16, both condemn man stealing. And as we think about that, Augustine also reveals the church seeking to free slaves. There's a history of Christian work in this area. More recent times, there's films about William Wilberforce. We have the history of abolitionists like Frederick Douglass. And even before that, Alexander Hamilton, those who were abolitionists, who had that conviction, and we ought to be thankful for that. And many of these, as you study the life of Wilberforce, are those who are motivated by their Christian faith, by the Word of God, by understanding the foundation of it. And so we should praise the Lord for the heart of the abolitionists, that we have history of. At the same time, we have to learn the lessons of biblical humility. We can't erase the passages of scripture. They don't commend slavery at all. They simply help us to understand the priority that we have in living this small span of life today versus the grander scheme. They help us to see the bigger picture. And so we're going to see two points in our passage, and neither of them are going to say that we're supposed to storm the government and try to eradicate slavery. It doesn't mean we shouldn't use the means given to us to legislate against us. And again, by God's grace, that's occurred in the history of this nation and Great Britain and other places as well. But we're going to learn here Maybe it's hard to hear, but it's the scripture and it's not a small matter, it's a big matter. We see it in several places. Slaves must submit to their masters in faithfulness. That's hard to hear, but that's what it says. Slaves must submit to their masters in faithfulness. And what we as Christians have to do today is to consider what that means today. and what does it mean. And then secondly, we'll see that slaves display the beauty of Christ and his word in their submission. They display the beauty of Christ in their submission. So let's take a look at verse nine and 10. I'll read both verses again. It begins in verse nine, bond servants, or in the older ESV and some of your translations, slaves, doulos, are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." That's our passage for today. That's what we discover here. And it's statements like these that may be hard to stomach because of the injustice of slavery. But even at the beginning, can we at least remember that our Savior was taken into captivity, wasn't he? He was imprisoned unjustly. And though he could have brought fire and brimstone down at that moment, legions to free himself, he became a slave for us. He submitted to the authorities on our behalf so that we might have salvation in him, even unto death. So before you look at this passage and think this is craziness, look to the Savior first. See our exemplar once again. And so we'll start by looking here again. Slaves must submit to their masters in everything. Strong, striking words. That word doulos is important. Most often it is translated as slaves, although it is also translated as bond servants here. I believe that we should assume every sort of slavery here in this particular passage and not limit it, but recognize it's applying to numbers of different circumstances and situations. And so we can say that Christian slaves needed instruction as to their biblical responsibility like every one of us needs instruction. We all need instruction. One of the reasons we need that instruction, we need God's laws and precepts and principles, is because in knowing how we are to live and then walking in how we're supposed to live, that burden is lifted from our shoulders that we so long carried. It's the way that we cast our anxieties on Him. It's the way that we relieve ourselves of our suffering and misery, unsure what to do. The weight of responsibility is God's. Here I am in this place, in this situation, and this is how I am supposed to live, as a way that we surrender to God first, before any other. And that is always assumed in instructions where we are to submit to earthly authorities. And so following God's commands is a means to peace, it's a means to blessing, and it's a means to us being able to endure and live in the difficulty of this life. How do we live in such a way that we can have a clear conscience when we lay our heads down at night knowing that God is pleased, knowing his pleasure, as we do that. How do we live in the midst of trying circumstances, opposition and injustice? By following God's Word, by obeying Him and knowing that this is His will. So here we learn about the mindset Christians should have under oppression, how they should follow Christ. I want to look at a couple other passages to kind of set a little bit of the stage so that we understand how Christ's ministry has been described in the New Testament by both himself and, again, the Apostle Paul. And so if you turn back to Philippians chapter 2, you will get a picture of what I mentioned before. The incarnation is in mind. But this is meant to impress upon you, Christian, what mindset, what attitude are you supposed to have as you live in this life? Is it, I've got to have as much, you know, enjoyment and enthrallment in the things of this world as I possibly can? You know? Eat, drink, and be merry until I die. Is that how I should live? Because what it says in Philippians 2, verse 5, the call to selflessness, is this. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Now he's going to be described. Who, though he was in the form of God, God himself, Deity, creator God himself, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, doulos. What does he do as a servant? Always does the will of the Father. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. I want you to let that sink in so that you understand the path of our Savior, how he lived, exemplifying what is called of those who would be in this category, none of us are exactly in this category, today. He exemplified it as a servant even, again, being imprisoned later on in his life. And then in Mark 10, 43 through 45, he says this. It shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your doulos, your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. We're constantly pointed to him. So we cannot look at a passage like this without looking to Christ and seeing his example, his life, his sacrifice, his selflessness. as the perspective by which we are to interpret this. We have no room to complain, even as we see such a harsh and difficult command, it seems, as this. Now, neither of these passages state that Jesus was owned by a specific earthly master, but the same word is used of his identity. of what he came to do, to serve. And of course, he's serving humanity. He's serving first and foremost his Heavenly Father, the will of the triune God. He is doing that which had been appointed to him to do and which he willfully desired to do. Before another word is spoken, we have to recognize that the Christian is ultimately slave to God's will and to his mission for his kingdom, which is found in his word, no matter what our circumstances are, no matter what they are. We're always looking for an escape, and this world has a million escapes for you. And those escapes range from entertainment to cutting to drink to all kinds of things that people are given to. And all of us know what it's like to try to escape rather than to live the calling that he's given to us in the difficulty of our circumstances. As we consider that, just so you understand, Christian slaves are indeed to submit to their earthly masters. We need to recognize that this call is not obscure. It is found throughout the scripture, and especially in the New Testament. The nearest place we find it is in Timothy chapter six, verse one. And so I'll just turn back there very briefly and look at some of these, because I think it's important for you to see the consistency of this theme. In 1 Timothy 6, verse 1, let all who are under a yoke as bond servants, same word, regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Now it doesn't have the word submit or obey, but understand there's no possible way to honor your master by insubordination. And the same thing is true as you think of children honoring their parents. And we'll make that application later in that particular realm. And so Paul wrote the same thing to Timothy. And then as we look back to Ephesians chapter 6, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 5 through 9, listen to these words. Same word, bond servants, do loss. Obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart. Listen, this is key. As you would Christ. not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to men. Don't you love that? That helps us to understand that this is not something to be done begrudgingly. We'll see that again as we look at this later. This is serving the Lord as we serve the authorities that we're under in whatever jurisdiction you find yourself. Colossians, which is like a sister letter, says something very similar, slightly different. Chapter three, verse 22. Again, similar language, bondservants, doulos, slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you'll receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Now, that's an important framework for us as we're considering our passage. And so we recognize this is not a novel idea. It's not an obscure idea. This is prevalent in the New Testament in an age and a time when slavery was prevalent. It doesn't justify slavery. It simply gives us, again, priorities. There's one more that uses a slightly different word, whereas these other passages, 1 Peter is the place, chapter 2. These other passages use the word doulos. The word here is oikotai, and it's a household slave. But it's the same thing, and you can tell as you think about the extent of it, which I'll talk about later, beginning in verse 18. So 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 18. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, that is, submitting to an unjust master. When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. And then once again, we are appointed to Christ. In verse 21, for to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. We keep getting drawn to gaze at our Savior. Because whatever situation or circumstance you find yourself in, it will never be, it will never come close to the suffering of our Savior. Not just the physical suffering, that was the smallest part of it, and crucifixion is horrible, but suffering, if you're in Christ, suffering the wrath of God, the infinite wrath and judgment of his own Father for all his people. So there's no doubt what a Christian slave's duty is to their masters, and their submission is to extend to whatever they are asked, with one exception. Because the passage says, in everything, they're to be submissive in everything. But we always know, this to be the case, that the in everything, because we've seen in all these passages, it's always unto the Lord, right? So the in everything means that if they're ever asked to do something that's outside the will and the commands of scripture, violating conscience, and know they are to obey God first, not man. And we have examples of this in scripture. We think of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they resisted the governing authorities in their day because they were to obey God first and not to worship false gods, not to stop praying, not to pray to some statue of a king, an emperor. So please understand that caveat, that no one should ever violate their conscience. If someone is in slavery and asked to do something that is sinful according to the Bible, they are commended, commanded to say no. Even if it would bring pain and suffering, obey God first. And so, How easy, as you think about this and begin to make applications, it is for us to consider something beneath us, to consider something too difficult, too dirty, too degrading. And yet God speaks to the one or the ones who are the lowliest in society. slaves who are in bondage, and his love extends to them to give them guidance and direction to know how they ought to live. Because the passage declares in everything, and so they needed to know that. And our Savior, we've looked to over and over, and remember, he demonstrated this in so many ways, certainly in his death, but he also demonstrated it in his life. As in John chapter 13, one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, where he takes off his tunic, takes a towel, he descends the creator of the universe to his knees. The one who made the dirt and the one who created the people that the dirt had come upon and to their feet. And he did the work of a slave. of a servant, the lowliest of servants. Most servants would never do that position, but he did. He washed their feet. And he has told them, and he tells us this very day through application, to go and to do likewise. You can't escape the example of our Savior as you look to this difficult instruction given to slaves. Here are the calls to be submissive in everything. This call is also narrowed in that it calls responsibility of submission, not to everyone, but to their own masters, a word, your own, to his own, or their own, only to their masters. There's not this blanket statement that a slave is to obey every man, or every other master, unless delegated by their own master. but to your own master. And so there is a narrowing here, of course. It was understood, probably. And then we learn that slaves must please their masters, not contradict them. And I want you to please listen into this. What we're now going to see is, what does it look like to submit? What is submission, and what is not? Submission is doing what you're doing, not begrudgingly, not kicking at the goad, not with bitterness, but with a well-pleasing attitude. It says here in verse nine, they are to be well-pleasing and not argumentative. There's a contrast here that we have, that we're given. That call to be well-pleasing is most often used of how we are to live before our God, to be well-pleasing to Him. to please our God. That should be our desire, and how we love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, is to be well-pleasing, that consistent emphasis. Here, pleasing the Lord by pleasing the master is the idea that we have. There's a focus here, though, on the slaves fulfilling their duties in a manner that pleases their master, not lazy, not defiant, not mumbling, not passive-aggressive resistance, not kicking the floor as they go. That is not well-pleasing. It's not well-pleasing to the master, and it's certainly not well-pleasing to God. And the contrast to well-pleasing is argumentative. Argumentative, we might translate as contradictory or disagreeable. That person that seems to just have an attitude of disrespect, they're just kind of prone to not want to obey. And they kind of don't like anyone to tell them what to do, or they don't like what they've been told to do. And so they just kind of have this stiffness about them. And maybe they go and do it. But the slave or servant who grumbles, who seems displeased when asked to accomplish a task in view, is not doing it well-pleasing. They are doing it in a disagreeable fashion. And so that even explodes this further. It's one thing to say, just do the work. You don't have to like it, but just do it. And I'm not saying you have to like it, but this is going another level. You're to do it in a well-pleasing manner, and you're not to do it with a disagreeable spirit. You're not to do it begrudgingly. You're not to do it that way, because this is your calling. And we'll see that even more come to light in our passage. in verse 10. So anyone who has led in any capacity requiring the assignment of work, the giving of an instruction, parents, leaders, business supervisors, whatever it is, or evaluation of performance, you understand What kind of hostility can come your way? You understand the proneness of man to resist authority. You know what it's like. So then you can understand that this is the opposite of that. Now you begin to think of those people, you've heard of the Peter Principle, the 20% that do 80% of the work, those people that just, hey man, they get it done and they do it and they don't know how to do anything else and you love them and you feel bad for them because they're carrying the weight of so many others. Christians, we should be the 1% who are doing it well and doing it with a smile on our face, knowing that we're serving the Lord as we're doing it. God's word couldn't be more clear here. Being submissive in everything requires attitudes and behaviors that please the master, not a disagreeable spirit. You know, the vast majority of people in our country have never, I'm talking about people today, have never and never will experience anything like the slavery of the first century or even the slavery in our history. But these same principles apply in all circumstances where there's a jurisdiction of authority. So we can take this principle and we can look at it and we can think of God's commands in 1 Peter 2 and in Romans 13 to submit to our government. We can think of the calling that we have to submit to the church, right? We can think of the family structure, wives to husbands and children to parents and so on and so forth. There are a thousand circumstances in which this behavior directly correlates to this kind of command here. We see those parallels. And what we should recognize here then is an argument from greater to lesser. In other words, how much greater suffering is going to be encountered for the slave submitting to their master in so many cases versus you submitting to an annoying boss or a rule that you don't like in your household, children, or wives in the tedium of the day doing it in such a manner, in such a way that you're honoring and submitting to your husbands the crazy whatever that came from the elder decision. And you're just, why are we doing that? It's so easy for us to grumble. It's so easy for us. And yet, here we find, what are we doing? What are we doing? We have so much. We all have a calling. And none of us is in this situation. And yet, if we were, and now can we correlate it a little bit further and think of, There is a real truth that you're slave to your circumstances sometimes, aren't you? That God appoints circumstances and brings them to you. And how does he call you to handle them? To submit to his authority in them. To endure and to trust him, to follow him, and to be well-pleasing to him. Not argumentative, not saying God. You should never have done this. Because God is good. We can trust him. We should also recognize that the nearest maybe application you might have is the realm of employment. Just because there's a lot of correlation. But you can leave your job whenever. So even then, it's so far removed. But there is a calling that you have to exemplify Christ and work as unto the Lord there. And we also need to recognize that there are laws that hold employers accountable to what they can ask you to do and what they can't ask you to do. There are hours that they are limited to requiring you to work in certain things, conditions. There are a lot of things like that, but yet still. There's application there, you can see it. Slaves also, and this seems so obvious, must be trustworthy, not stealing. And we say, duh. But yet, it's mentioned for a reason, and in this context, verse 10, I'll read it, not pilfering, but showing all good faith. I think Drew's version said fidelity, which is fine, the word's faith, but it's fine, because that's the idea that you have here. Pilfering is just another way of describing stealing, taking something, skimming off the top that doesn't belong to you. It seems to have a more narrow view. If you were to extend it, it would be something like embezzling. Large amounts of money would be embezzlement. But that's the idea, keeping back something. It's a dishonest practice of taking from their master something that didn't belong to them. That's pilfering, taking liberty to enjoy something that's theirs, that's not yours. And some of the commentaries say that this was relatively normal amongst slaves because they have so very little and there's so much abundance around them in their serving that nothing would be missed when they go to the kitchen and take a few bites here and take a drink of that there and so on and so forth and perhaps find some coins here or there, taking a little bit to make their life a little bit easier. It was understood, at least some commentators speculate. But small things add up, and the rationalizing of this practice is dishonoring to the Lord. Who declares, you shall not steal? How many times do things find their way out of school, or university, or a library that isn't checked out properly? or a place of business, and all of a sudden now they're in your home and in your possession. I mean, it happens all the time, doesn't it? And some of those things are very intentional, some of them are by accident, but those things that are intentional, there's an application here. How much time is stolen from employers doing everything but the job that's required and the stealing of that time that is supposed to be given. They're paying you for that time. And how much productivity is lost from laziness and apathy doing the bare minimum. This is what I, I'm not going to go into detail. Although it's been 30 years. But I used to see this from those who worked for me. That just, really? You're just gonna go right there and you won't do any more? Or the famous phrase, that's not my job. That's not my job. But the person whose job it is is doing something else really important. Could you just do it right now just to help out the whole team and be productive on this line, production line? And so we know what it looks like. And so as we think about these things, we just see simply slaves are forbidden from pilfering. And the contrast to that is showing all good faith, literally that showing, proving, demonstrating all good faith, or if you like, all good fidelity. In other words, reveal what it looks like to be fully trustworthy. This is what faithful service looks like. This is it. And this is what Christian conduct looks like, more importantly. Christians should be known as those who are trustworthy. They should be known as those who are honest in carrying out their duties. They should be known as those who do not waste time, those who complete their assignments and can be trusted to do it, not consistently late. Christians should be known as those whose workmanship is excellent and not shoddy. Thoughtful, careful. Christians should be known as those who go the extra mile. They are faithful in all that they do. That's what they should be showing forth. That's what they should be demonstrating. And Christian slaves should be known as the best, most reliable and dependable of all the slaves. You see, that's the point here. They stand out, and therefore, as you see that, something is being communicated. There's something different about this particular class of slaves. Matthew Henry states, faithfulness in a servant lies in the ready, punctual, and thorough execution of his master's orders, keeping his secrets and counsels, and managing with frugality. and to as much advantage for his master as he is able, looking well to its trust, and preventing, as far as he can, all spoil, loss, or damage. You know, you've seen it. Hopefully you don't do this too often, but you've gone up to get service, let's just say, at a fast food place. And the person's just, what do you want? OK. And they're just, I think, That's the opposite of this. Christians, I don't care what job you're doing, digging a ditch, or flipping burgers, or serving property, or in the courtroom, or wherever it might be. There's a way that Christians are to do it. And here, if the slave is to do it, how much more us in every aspect of where we're working and living We have a wonderful example of this godly conduct in Joseph in the Old Testament. Here's Joseph sold into slavery, man-stealing by his own brothers, selling him off into slavery. And Potiphar, the one who owned his services, if you will, in Genesis 39, four through six, he had every confidence in Joseph, because he had proved himself to be this faithful servant, right? He made him overseer, quote, he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had, goes on to say he left all that he had in Joseph's charge and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. And when tempted by Potiphar's wife, what does Joseph do? He protested. And this is in chapter 39, verse 8 and 9. Behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house. He has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness against God? And so, as you think of Joseph's circumstances, we often focus on his fidelity, we focus on his chastity, but there's an underlying submission to his master as a slave that we ought not to miss. We see him as, again, an example. And by the way, he's a wonderful type of Christ. He did the same thing with the prison master. He submitted to him as well. I told you, young men, young women, children, By God's grace, you were not born into slavery like so many in that time, and yet maybe you might hear your obligations here because the scripture tells you in the Ten Commandments, honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God has given you. Scripture tells you as simply as it can, in Ephesians 6, 1, children obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. And then it goes on to, again, reference that fifth commandment. These are commands of Scripture so that you might know the first order, just like slaves of that time. You might know, how am I supposed to live as a Christian young man, a Christian young woman in this household? That's what the Bible tells you. And the Proverbs go on in repetition to compel you to heed your parents' instructions, and even reveal the blessings of that obedience. In the very first chapter, Proverbs 1.8, hear my son your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching. And it just keeps going all the way through chapter 7. And in chapter 2, verse 5, as you're doing this, Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Or Proverbs 3, 3 and 4, for length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you, you'll find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. God wants you to prosper in his commands, in all of them, not just those. That's why he's given us his commands, not just so we could feel the pressure of his thumb upon us, but because he wants to release that burden from us. That's why Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He gives you rest. By coming to Him, my yoke is easy, my burden is light. That picture is that you're coming under His authority, that you're going to follow His commands. And as you do, that is lifted from you. You no longer have to try to make it work. You know the truth. You know the way. You know the narrow way. You know the blessedness of that way and the promises that are given for following in that way. Again, we know Joseph, he was blessed, wasn't he? The favor of God was upon him for his submission first to the Lord, and then to those in authority over him. And so all those who are still under the authority of father, mother, or those who are under the authority of others, what an incredible encouragement for you to recognize that, oh, it's not so bad after all, that I can't just do my own thing all the time, but I actually have an authority that's over me. and a word of God that guides me as to how to live in this calling. The second point, more briefly, is simply this. Slaves display the beauty of Christ and his word in their submission. Slaves display the beauty of Christ and his word in their submission. So our attitude and conduct isn't, it's not discreet, it's not just, what we do here. It's what it shows there. It's what it reveals also to those around us. There's a word that goes forth even from your conduct that's been the whole point of Titus so far. Remember verse one? Teach that which accords with sound doctrine. Remember that? So let's look at verse 10, the last part of it. Well, we'll read verse nine and 10, and we'll just focus on the last part. Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith. Now here's the purpose. What are we driving towards? So that in everything, They may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior. We've learned the how we're supposed to live. We've learned the what are we supposed to do. And now we get why. Why are you supposed to live this way? It's important to know how. It's important to know that question. We need to have the what. Tell me, how am I supposed to live, Lord? And now we have, this is the reason. And the reason is profound. The call to submission to such a lowly role may seem so unbearable, to submit to such injustice may seem unimaginable, and yet the Apostle Peter reminds us that in everything, the Christian submission is quite extensive. That statement in everything. I'll read it one more time, and then I want you to listen to the last part. First Peter two. For this is a gracious thing when mindful of God one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. Remember servants be subject to your masters. Goes on and gives us this reason. For to this you've been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. So that tells us the extent. But it also tells us that this submission, I'm gonna use a phrase here, is gospel-centric. It has a gospel good news purpose. In other words, this slave, or anyone else submitting to authority, has a purpose beyond that discreet moment. It's supposed to show something of the good news of the gospel. How do I know that? Well, I know it because we read it in verse 21, in 1 Peter, and we see it here in just a moment. For to this you've been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. And then it goes into what he did. He himself bore our sin in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It's gospel-centric. Our lives display the power of freedom in the gospel. I wonder if you see it already, even as you hear this call, for to this you've been called, so that you might follow in his steps, because when he was reviled, he did not revile, and when he suffered, he made no threats. Submitting to harsh masters exemplifies Christ, which displays the Gospels, the Gospel. It reveals that we're living for something more than now. We're living for something greater. It reveals that we have a bigger picture because we have an eternity that we're living for and a God who is worthy to praise and to serve. The why of living in submission as Christian slaves here in our passage is to display the beauty of Christ and his word. You hear it. So that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our savior. What a picture you have. The lowliest of society. Maybe the least well-dressed. Maybe they dressed them nicely sometimes. The least respected. The least considered. The least worldly conveniences and enjoyments. The least able to impact society, at least it would seem. And yet what we discover here is that the lowliest in all society has a calling in everything to render the doctrine of Christ beautiful. That's our calling. And if it's there, if it's in that lowly, lowliest of circumstances, how much more than for us and everything in our Christian lives. The word adorn is used of arrangements that are intended to set off the full beauty of precious jewels, but here we find lowly slaves have a calling to beautify the wonderful teachings of scripture through their submission to their masters, to show forth its beauty and wonder and splendor. maybe more than Freeman, more than the wealthy, more than the powers that be, that lowly slave who lives a God-empowered life of obedience, well-pleasing to their masters, demonstrating faithfulness, shows a surrendered life, a changed life, a life that has been changed and empowered by God, a life that's impossible apart from God working in them. And maybe we find here some fulfillments of kingdom principles, such as, the last shall be first. Matthew 20, verse 16. And the first shall be last. Or Matthew 23, 11 and 12. The greatest among you shall be your doula, servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 16, 25. For whoever would save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. So let me just give you some implications that are here and I don't want you to miss. We have to understand that Christ himself is supremely beautiful, splendid, glorious in every way. So there's no way in which we are somehow causing or making Christ beautiful. And then Secondly, we must understand the word of Christ is also beautiful because it reveals the beauty of Christ, the wonder of Christ, the glory, it's God's word. He is the word. And so that we're not saying that the slave or any believer makes Christ or his word beautiful, but rather as we live submitted to it, we display the beauty of what already is. As we are united to Christ and as we live out our calling, as difficult and painful as it might be, we are displaying his wonder and beauty. And I said, as I was coming to a conclusion, just, I don't know why this came out of, from my pen, but ironically, this is a freeing passage. A freeing passage. Because if we take hold of, and we really understand what is found here, there's liberation. And here's what I want to remind you of. The Old Testament anticipates a deliverer, one who would free the captive. Isaiah 61, 1 and 2. And so in Luke chapter 4, Jesus goes into the synagogue and he takes this scroll of Isaiah 61, 1 and 2, and he reads. And he reads this, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and a recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today the scripture has been fulfilled in your healing. I am that one who sets the captives free. The vast majority of Jews assumed that setting the captives free would mean for them that the king, the anointed one, the Christ, would come and take up his throne and overthrow Rome and no longer would they be under its bondage. And surely the slaves, if they had hope as they were in that slavery, were thinking these shackles are gonna come undone. That physical, external reality. But as horrific and dominating as those daily realities were, there was a greater liberation that was needed, a greater bondage that the people needed to be free from that Christ fulfilled for all who trusted in him. And that slavery is to sin. And the Bible is so very clear. If you're outside of Christ, you're in bondage to sin. You have shackles upon you and you will continue on in the sin and misery of this world. Maybe you will inoculate yourself to it. Maybe you will do everything you can to escape the realities of it, but it will come at some point in time when you will face the consequences of it because as slaves, you're not just slaves, you're under judgment, the sentence of judgment. And Jesus came to set you free. so that you would be free to worship God in spirit and in truth. You would be free to love Him and live for Him. You would be free to not sin, but to obey His Word, to set you free, and then finally to be free from sin and death and pain and suffering. difficult relationships, and go on, because in glory we will have perfect love, perfect unity, and no pain, and no sin. And he set us free by paying a ransom payment. Remember I told you about ransom, redemption? That word is used of our salvation for a reason. Because every believer, every unbeliever is in bondage to sin and they need redemption. They need a payment to be made to free them from that slavery. And Jesus made that payment. And that's why he said on the cross, it is finished. It's paid in full. He made the payment. to release you from your captivity to sin. For those who are in Christ, you've been set free. And you know what that feels like, and you know what that means for your future. And for you who are in unbelief, I want you to understand that He's made that payment. If you just put trust in Him, if you just but turn from your sin, just go and run to Jesus in faith, you too will be those who are free. Because He came to set the captives free, and He's already paid the redemption price. It's paid in full. come to him in faith and repentance. And we know that because he died and the third day he rose and showed us that he has indeed defeated sin and death altogether. And so I want you to say, when you hear the commands given to those living under the oppression of slavery, it should elevate your sight to the kingdom of God. When you consider God's calling includes glorifying Him even in the harshest of circumstances, it should loosen your grit on the comforts of this world. When you descend down to the lowest of society and cast your eyes there, You realize that there's a means and a way to show the beauty of Christ in the lowliest of circumstances, and that should decimate any complaints. That should decimate any discontent that you have in your circumstances. And when you consider the heights that our glorious Savior descended from to this earth, becoming a servant for us, a do-loss, it should destroy any entitlement that you have for comfort and ease in your lifestyle. It's a freeing passage because it frees us from all our excuses, our justifications, our laments, our melancholy, even our weariness over tedious tasks that are a part of our calling. For in it all, in everything, we are called to adorn the doctrine of our God and Savior. and to live in such a way that shows the beauty of Christ and his word. Would you pray with me as we seek God's help in this? Father, we humble ourselves before you and see that it's so easy to be complacent. It's so easy to fall into the current of the world to want what they have, to live as they live, and to forget that we have a calling in you, and you have given us your word to guide us and direct us, all the way down to the lowliest in society, but also as older men and older women and young women and young men, and so on and so forth, husbands and wives and children, you've given us your word. Help us to embrace it out of faith, out of trust, out of love for you. Would you save those who are still in bondage to sin? Would you set these captives free as you set us free through no merit of our own? Would you set them free? They might see the glories of Christ and come to worship and serve him, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.