[Music] we thank you for the cross for Christ who through his death on that cross has made it possible for us to have eternal life and thank you that it's the death of Christ that and it's following resurrection that not only saves us but also sanctifies us and satisfies us and it's all that we need so lord I pray that this night you would exercise that Power of the Cross in hearts of women all across this auditorium may there be prison chains that are broken loose captives set free as we say yes to Christ help
us again this night to preach the gospel to our own hearts and through that to find new abundant eternal life through Christ our Lord and he's great name we pray amen amen thank you you may be seated and I want to let you know that the women in that prison are praying for us tonight and Would be here if they could but they have been with us haven't they and aren't you grateful for the grace of God in the lives of those women Thank You Stacey Thank You Keith and Kristen and team there and brother
Crawford for ministering to us so powerfully tonight I know if you a lot of you have come a long distance we've had a long day how many of you are just like really tired can I see some hands that's why we've Chilled it off in here keep you from falling asleep we can make it colder if you start to nod I'm gonna make a promise to you I know it's late I know you're tired so I promise I'm gonna get you out of here tonight by nine o'clock how's that Pacific time let me ask you
to open your Bible I have no more comments about time or tiredness or temperature just indoor okay is this boot camp for being true women gonna learn not to complain let me Ask you to open to the book of Titus I hope you brought your Bible with you paper as it is or electronic or whatever version you use these days if you don't have one feel free to look cone with somebody near you but we're gonna use our Bibles we have already and we're gonna use them through the weekend he may as well just keep
it real nearby cuz you're gonna want it open on your lap and let me some of you are type-a you got to write everything down sort of People firstborns I know I am one don't you you will you will like die if you try to get down everything you hear this weekend so don't even try it's all being recorded it's all gonna be available in the Resource Center there be DVDs of the plenary sessions CDs of everything else and you can take that home with you you can listen to it over and over again and
some of them you will want to do that but let me just encourage you to be writing down particularly the words that The spirit wings to your heart and the things that you say oh I needed that I don't want to forget that and jot down those things and put a circle around and run your line on something so that you can go back and refresh and renew yourself in what God has said and ponder it tonight and in the morning and in the days and weeks ahead as we continue to respond to the Lord
I want us tonight to look at a passage of a passage that's familiar to many of us I'm actually Going to take us a Titus to although I'm going to start in Titan not chapter one but we want to answer three questions tonight from Titus chapter two and let me just tell you what the questions are and then we'll walk through the passes the first question is does it mean to be a true woman what does it mean to be a true woman if somebody asks you if Paula came to you with that mic in
front of your faces what is a true woman could you answer Better than the women that we saw on that DVD a little bit ago but would you say what is a true woman what does a true woman look like we're going to see a description of a true woman a portrait in this passage then the second question we want to ask is how can we become true women of God we've heard the starting place tonight you can't be God's true woman until you are God's and what a great place to start it I want
to pick up from there and say how can we become God's true women and then the third question we'll look at tonight is what difference does it make so what about all of this does it really matter and why does it matter that we would be God's true women what does the true woman look like how can we be true women and does it really matter now let me give you some context for this familiar passage in Titus chapter 2 sometimes we just jump right into the passage and we don't see the setting that helps
us Understand more about the passage we're looking at as you know the Apostle Paul is writing to Titus who is the pastor of the church on the island of Crete nough Crete was legendary in the ancient world for its immorality there was a lot of false teaching as we'll see in just a moment that had led to ungodly living because as we've been reminded tonight what you think has a direct connection to how you live they had wrong thinking which led to wrong wicked lifestyles and If you'll look at the last paragraph of chapter 1
beginning in verse 10 there's a description of the culture in which this church existed the surrounding culture in which these believers were required to live as believers in Christ so look at verse 10 of chapter 1 the Apostle Paul says there are many who are insubordinate empty talkers and deceivers look at verse 11 they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they Ought not to teach one of the Cretans a prophet of their own said cretins are always liars evil beasts and lazy gluttons and Paul just was quoting one of their own
writers of the days I don't have to tell you listen to what what your own people say they're always liars evil beasts and lazy gluttons and then Paul as his PS in verse 13 this testimony is true there's no doubt about it look at verse 15 man 2 verse 15 their Minds and their consciences are defiled they profess to know God but they deny him by their works their detestable disobedient unfit for any good work now does that description sound at all familiar to you I look at that description and I think I don't know
a better way to describe the day in which we live the world in which we live and in which we are trying to survive and thrive and be conquerors through Christ the day in which we live we just saw a Great description of that at the end of chapter 1 and so Paul is speaking to a pastor and two believers who are living in a decadent world and it's easy for believers in an age like theirs or like ours to begin to get discouraged to feel overwhelmed by the flood tide of wickedness how do you
live in that kind of world how do you survive as a believer in Christ how do we maintain the purity of the body of Christ and beyond that how do we penetrate the Darkness and reach out to that kind of culture now it's interesting to me that the council Paul gives to those believers and what I think he would say to us today is not what we might have expected for example he doesn't say as you might read in many today Church what you need to do is become more culturally relevant you need to get
more in tune with your culture and you need to be a little bit more like it so they can identify with you And be drawn to Christ Paul doesn't say you know you really need to spruce up your strategy your plans your programs he doesn't talk about any of that look at what he says in the very next verse chapter 2 and this is where we're gonna Park for these last moments tonight chapter 2 verse 1 but as for you what do you do in this kind of world as for you pastor Titus and as
for you believers who are listening to this word this council teach what accords with sound Doctrine sound doctrine that's your answer for living in a world that is detestable disobedient defiled their consciences or that's your counsel sound doctrine doctor doesn't sound very exciting does it some might be tempted to say I don't even know if that would be very effective it sounds boring it doesn't sound like something people are gonna be interested in and sadly many so-called believers in our churches couldn't care less about sound doctrine Today and that is one of our huge problems
the word sound there in our English language comes from a word in the Greek from which we get our word hygiene it's a word that means healthy sound vital hygienic hygiene really matters in the physical realm and it really matters in the spiritual realm hygienic sound doctrine or teaching and I just want to suggest here as a starting place about what is a true woman what does she look like that a True woman is tethered to the Word of God her life is anchored to truth the truth that we find in God's Word it's the
Word of God it's the truth that determines and governs her thinking her behavior her attitudes her emotions it's all grounded in the Word of God sound doctrine so how to transform or impact a wicked culture like that in Crete there's a tendency to think what we really need are new or better laws to address these issues we Need new structures new systems new social programs we need to overhaul the judicial system the schools the government the economy we need a different president we need a different Congress we need a different something but Paul insists that
what the world really needs what the world most needs is Christians who actually live out what they claim to believe the things that accord with sound doctrine Christians who are godly and wise and kind and Known for good works and who have ordered family relationships you see ladies the world will never be convinced by our arguments about the reality of God or about moral issues abortion same-sex marriage it's not our arguments that are going to persuade the world the world is going to be persuaded as they see the reality of the gospel lived out in
our lives and our relationships that's why there's such a desperate need in the church today to teach sound Doctrine and to teach its implications to so what of sound doctrine and so Paul address is in the book of Titus and in it and virtually all of his other epistles in the New Testament what is sound doctrine what is sound doctrine and then what does it look like in life sound doctrine has practical applications for each gender each season of life each social position it has implications for you whether you're 14 or 94 or somewhere in
between whether You are married or single have children or not whether you work in the out of the home both whatever your season your station your your situation in life sound doctrine has implications for you and that's what Paul talks about in Titus now begins in verse two by saying as he's addressing these different seasons of life older men are to be sober minded dignified self-controlled sound in faith in love and instead fastness Paul says this is What sound doctrine produces or looks like in older men now I don't see many men here tonight and
even if there were I'm not called to preach to men God called me to speak to women so I'm gonna move past that verse and let brother Crawford and Bob Lapine and others preach that verse when you get to your church on Sunday but I want to pick up with verses three through five where Paul then turns to what a sound doctrine look like in women what does it mean to Be a true woman what does a true woman look like and he starts with older women and then he moves to younger women so let
me read verses three through five older women likewise there to be reverent and behavior not slanderers or slaves too much wine there to teach what is good and so trained the young women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled pure working at home kind and submissive to their own husband's that the Word of God may not be reviled now let's start with the older women and and for starters there you might just wonder how do you know if you're an older woman well if you're wondering you probably are you know they say old
age is always 15 years older than however you are however old you are at the time right now in the context of Scripture and that day and throughout the scripture I think that older women would specifically Refer to women who are past childbearing years women who were in their 50s and 60s and Beyond and I have to confess to you that since I've been a little girl I've always had this deep heart desire to be a godly old lady I don't know where this came from but that's just I always had this picture in my
mind of what a godly old lady looks like and that's what I've been always wanting to be and then as I hit my 50s I realized that the getting old part comes easier Than the getting godly part in case you're wondering but you know women all of us are older women to someone and you teenage girls I am so glad that you were here this weekend because so many of the older women in this room would love to have learned decades ago the things that God is teaching you at this season of life as you're
becoming true women of God and are we wanting to cheer for those teenage girls and young women you are older women to the younger women Around just so don't tune me out while I'm talking to the older women okay you need to listen besides even if you think I am eons away from being an older woman first of all it comes a whole lot faster than you are ever dreaming it will but besides that this is what your to aspire to this is to what this is what you are to be becoming an entitle it
a pattern for a true woman all of us are to aspire to this and to hold our lives up to this Beautiful picture in the scripture let me tell you tonight I'm going to give you as quick bird's eye view as I can of this passage I'm just going to skim the surface of it now let's tell you that in the Resource Center we have a CD series where I spent weeks talking through verse by verse word by word phrase by phrase through this passage that's available it's called God's beautiful to sign for women and
if you want to go deeper in this study or in what it means To be a true woman of God let me encourage you to consider looking at that resource now first Paul addresses the character or the lifestyle of a true woman what does a true woman look like well here's what our character looks like and then he's going to look at her calling but first her character what is her what does her lifestyle look like well it says in verse 3 that she is reverent in behavior I like one of the translations there that
says that she is To exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holding women we are if you're child of God the scripture calls you a saint a set apart one a holy one and we are to exhibit behavior that is fitting for those who are Saints for those who are holy she's reverent in behavior you say well what does that look like you always talked in hushed a talk in hushed tones what is Reverend me well reverent and behavior affects the way that we talk and the way that we Walk so he goes on to
say reverent and behavior not slanderers or slaves too much wine why because those things slander and substance abuse are not fitting for those who are holy not slanderers i has to do with our tongue and not just the words we say but at the heart of that is how we treat others what is our heart attitude toward them that comes out in the way we talk to and about them so we're not to be slanders and then he says older women You are not to be slaves to much wine I remember when I first started
studying this passage on thinking Paul only mentions three things about older women reverence and behavior not slanders and not slaves to much wine why did he pick that one where all the older women in Crete going around getting drunk or what was the issue and it's easy for those of us who are not addicted to much wine to just kind of move past this and say well that doesn't apply to me I think the Principle here is a lot broader than alcohol addiction what he's talking about here represents a spirit or a style of a
mindset of indulgence self-indulgence and as we get older it's easy to think I've paid my dues I've worked hard I deserve a break today I'm going to just do what makes me feel good and Paul says no that's not what the gospel looks like on an older woman Paul is talking here about a temperate lifestyle that we are not to use Substances as an escape from emotional pain we are not to live for self or pleasure or fulfilling our senses we are to live for Christ for God and that involves a temperate lifestyle so we
see the character of a true woman and then we see the calling or the mission of a true woman in verse 3 it says she is to teach what is good and so train the young women and just an observation here and that is that character comes before calling life comes before ministry we Can't teach others mom's grandmom's deciphers older women in the church we cannot teach others but we are not living ourselves well we have not learned ourselves and I think that's one of the reasons that there are so few older women in the
church today mentoring the younger women because we know in our heart of hearts that we aren't practicing a lifestyle that is befitting of the gospel so we don't have anything to share with them and so Paul Says get something to share with them get a lifestyle that is worthy of being followed worthy of being emulated so that you can fulfill your calling I got an email from a woman not too long ago he said I'm in I'm entering the empty nest phase and my role is a full-time stay-at-home mom is no longer needed that was
my life stream and I've lived it and it's over now what I'm questioning Who I am and why I'm here I feel so lost so confused I've been Asking God to give me direction and to show me what I can be doing in this neck part of my life I need to know it can be exciting because right now it feels like a big mess lonely and depressing well Titus 2 gives you if you happen to feel that way some of you entering that empty nest phase of life it gives you the direction the mission
and the purpose that you've been looking for as older women they have been walking with God living exemplary lives they have Faithfully raised and trained their own children and now Paul says their to teach and train other women who are in the childbearing child-rearing years or season and how do you do that training you do it by your life and you do it by intentional connecting with those younger women to help teach them to help train them in the ways of God Paul says older women this is not a time a season in your life
to retire to take it easy to indulge yourself ladies we need to Keep our heads in the game those younger women need us to be intentional about living lives that make them thirsty for Jesus and calling them to follow Christ and showing them what the gospel looks like in their lives as we demonstrate it in our own lives and I want to remind us that this kind of teaching training ministry does not by and large happen from the pulpit not to say that we don't need men and pastors teaching us but as women our ministry
to other women Doesn't mostly happen one-to-many some of you think people come up to me say I'd like to teach the word like you do and I hope you love the word I hope you're teaching it to others but I want to tell you where this kind of mentoring and discipleship takes place it is life to life it's in the context of the laboratory of life as you do life with other women and they see your life and they ask you to pray for them and you encourage them and you point them to the Scripture
and you take them to God's throne of grace it's life to life there can be more of this kind of mentoring and de cycling taking place in your kitchen at your dining room table or as you sort laundry together as you walk together literally walking partners perhaps then may take place in a formal classroom setting the implications of sound doctrine we need to be passing on to the next generation How they live out the gospel we communicate that to them and carnate them out of and carnate that truth out of our lives and then call
them to live that truth now a lot of women get to that older woman season of life and all of us to some extent and get there and think I've blown it my life isn't exemplary can I tell you you can even teach out of your failures if you get to the cross and you learn how to get God's mercy and Grace for your failures I've got an email just recently from a woman who said I'm 79 years old and I realize how self-centered my life has been and how many times I missed the opportunities
to serve my Lord and be the example I should have been hearing what a true woman should be has pierced my heart I have failed so miserably however she said your message on the radio this morning spoke to my heart and made me realize that as weak as I am right now I'm battling some illnesses as an older woman I need to encourage and be the example and shine the light of Christ in any way I can to the four generations in my family and to friends and aquaintances ladies some of you have been taking
taking taking taking for years you've been sitting in one Bible study after another you've been through every class precept has to offer you've been through every year of Bible Study Fellowship you've been through every Beth Moore course that there is or whatever it is that you do in your church you've had it all you've heard it all and could I just say great now you need to take what you've heard what you've received and you need to plan it like a seed in the hearts of the women around you you need to become a giver
if you've had truth poured into you you need to turn around and give it out pour it out invest in the lives of the women around you particularly in the The next generation so what are the older women to teach the younger women well thankfully Paul gives us a curriculum here and we read it beginning in the end of verse 3 there to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled pure working at home kind and submissive to their own husbands now unless you've like
been in a closet for the last 30 years and have had no connection to the Culture you realize that dem fightin words in our culture those words are a really really counter cultural they are radical they are not politically correct but could I just remind us that that is God's Way and that God says these things are good teach what is good we need to remember when we're teaching God's ways to others that these are not burdensome these are a delight these are the way to experience God's blessing and the Fullness of His goodness in
your life these things are good and beautiful because they are true and they are a reflection of God's greatness and goodness now rather than delving into each of these points let me just make a few observations about that list these qualities are what flow out of believing sound doctrine you can know your Bible backward and forward you can call yourself a Christian you can be active in ministry but if you do not exhibit Behavior fitting for those who are holy if you use your tongue to slander others if you are self-indulgent or you have an
addictive lifestyle if you don't love your husband and children if you're not self controlled if you're not morally pure if you're not managing your home well if you're not kind if you're not submissive to your own husband then profess what you want about being a career something is wrong with that picture so Many many professing believers today who have this huge gap this fundamental disconnect between what they say they believe and the way they live and according to Scripture no such separation is legitimate by its very nature the gospel transforms the way that we live
you cannot claim to be a saved woman and not live like a saved woman your lifestyle either proves it validates or disproves your claim to be a child of God the gospel the grace of God should make our lives distinctive in the way that we think the way that we act the way we talk the way we dress eat drink everything being done for his glory the furthering of his reign and rule in this world I love what that woman in the prison video said he is changing everything about me and if you are a
growing child of God then you should be able to say he is changing everything about me so this is what flows out of sound doctrine and then I See in this passage the priority that God places on the home for of the qualities and the in this list for the seven qualities in this list relates specifically to marriage and family and there seems to be an assumption made by the Apostle Paul here that young women will be wives and mothers this is God's norm it shows the value that he places on that calling it is
no insignificant thing to be a wife to be a mother it's not just like you you know you drift Through life and oh yeah you fall in love you get married to have children it's just part of the story no it's part of God's plan in his story it's part of his way of revealing His redemptive heart and plan now 1st corinthians 7 tells us that god has called and gifted some to be able to stay single for the purpose of serving god in a more calm and traded way but those are the exceptions not
the rule and so we see that our homes are the first and primary Sphere where we as women live out the gospel again if we're not living it there something's wrong and then I see in this list the priority of love we are called to reflect the love of God first to those within the four walls of our homes and then to others ladies let me just say it again you can't claim to love God if you don't love your husband and your children it's one thing for the people at work or in your church
or your small group to think of you as a sweet Loving gracious true woman and friend but what if we were to ask your family you see that's a starting place the testing place for true love is at home if it doesn't work there it doesn't work now you may be thinking and I know we have women coming from a lot of different in some very difficult home situations and you're sitting here thinking how can I love that man how can I love that child that prodigal is breaking my heart or that two-year-old For whom
no textbook was ever written you know which one I'm talking about how can I love that mate that child well this passage says you can learn these things don't always come naturally they do need to be trained they do need to be taught but there's also a provision made here and we'll see it in just a few moments of God's supernatural grace to enable you to love in the most difficult even impossible situations so throughout the book of Titus we see and We said we saw it here in these verses that the lives of believers
should be radically different than those who do not believe our culture is characterized by the kinds of things we read about at the end of chapter one violence sexual promiscuity greed lying gluttony drunkenness rebellion hatred anger you see these things descriptions of the world throughout the book of Titus but because of how the gospel of Christ has changed us our Lives are supposed to look different they're supposed to be countercultural and the world is supposed to be able to look at us as Christian women and see a massive difference see that our lives are characterized
by things like love gentleness purity self-control truthfulness submissiveness well-ordered family relationships we are expected to be a living demonstration of the gospel to make the gospel believable and so as we look at this list and you could do This all through the book of Titus but let me just show you a bit of it starting and the verses we've just looked at in Titus 2 verse 1 you see this list of what how a Christian how a Christian or Christian woman in verses 3 through 5 is to reflect or illustrate the gospel and I want
to just walk through those qualities again just real quickly here and just have us consider what would it look like if a woman is not grounded in truth and is not living Out the gospel for example in verse 1 we see that a Christian woman bases her life on sound doctrine the truth the Word of God but a woman whose life is not informed or shaped by the gospel is going to minimize the importance of doctrine will ignore or disregard than and that woman's life is going to be based on beliefs that are not true
that are not sound the godly woman the woman whose life has been informed by the gospel of Christ it's how we read in Verses 2 through 3 that older believers are to model godliness and spiritual maturity they're to be intentional about passing the baton investing the the gospel the faith in the next generation intentional about disciple and mentoring the next generation but what if the gospel does not inform our lives what does that look like older people are set free to pursue their own dreams their own pleasures to retire to have the easy life To
live their own way to know they've paid their dudes and they want to spend the rest of their life seeing the USA and their Chevrolet or whatever traveling around and their RV trout hobbies whatever just take it easy that's a lifestyle that is not informed by the gospel in verse three we see that older women whose lives have been shaped by the gospel are to be reverent in behavior but a woman sealions life is not shaped or informed By the gospel is going to be secular coarse or vulgar women whose lives have been shaped by
the gospel or not slanderers their to speak the truth words that build up but if our lives have not been shaped by the gospel we're going to have loose lips we're going to wound others with our words the woman whose life is shaped on the built on sound doctrine and informed by the gospel was not going to be a slave to much one she's going to have a temperate Lifestyle but a woman for whom the gospel doesn't matter or mean anything is going to be self-indulgent she will have addictive behavior substance abuse eating disorders live
for pleasure live for senses medicate emotional pain a woman whose life is shaped by the gospel will teach what is good she will train younger women but what happens in a model where the gospel does not speak into the life as we devalue what older people have to offer we make Them feel useless or marginalized and younger women are left adrift to fend for themselves and so many of them sadly don't make it they end up shipwrecked we see that the gospel informed woman the younger women are to love their husbands they're to value marriage
there to be covenant keepers even when it's hard when it hurts when it seems so difficult but in the culture or the climate where the gospel does not inform the way we live Women will resent their husbands they will dishonor them neglect them leave them and this is where we have the divorced culture disposable marriages the gospel informed woman will love her children she will value motherhood she will value having according to the will and plan of God and be intentional about shaping their lives for Christ but in a culture and a mindset that does
not is not informed by the gospel women are discouraged from Having children in the first place and then when they do have them they either abuse them or spoil them perhaps let other raise others races they're not intentional about disciple to be followers of Christ a woman whose life is informed by the gospel will be self-controlled that's a word that I found myself parking on camping on a lot in recent days it's a word so from in the Greek it means to have a saved or sound mind a cellphone state of mind is What enables
us to curb fleshly desires and it results in our practicing self-control in every area of our lives our tongue habits sexuality every area of our lives but a woman whose life is not controlled it is not bounded by the gospel has no self-control she's out of control spending habits her tongue her use of time she will be impetuous impulsive whatever she thinks she just says it her mind is not so thrown and is not a saved Sound mind and so we see a woman whose life is informed by the gospel will be pure in her
heart her mind her sexuality verses in modesty sexual permissiveness promiscuity a woman who is a gospel oriented woman will value the home she will have a heart for home her focus and her priorities will involve her home but what is the world to where the gospel doesn't have a say you we devalue home making hospitality has become a thing of the past our homes are in a state of Chaos we're yanking women out of the home and elevating the work they do out of the home above the work they could be doing in and for
their homes and so you see all through this passage and through the book of Titus how a gospel informed life look qualitatively different than a life that is not informed by the gospel so the question is how well does your life how well does my life reflect the gospel and the grace of God and what it looks like To be a redeemed woman now as I look at these qualities just the few we've talked about and there are others throughout the book of Titus I come across a problem I see this incredible portrait of a
true woman I see what she looks like I see her character I see her calling to pass a legacy of godliness on to the next generation but here's my problem I can't live that way I can't be that kind of woman and you know what neither can you and Recognizing that problem is the first step to dealing with it we don't have the power Christ is calling us to live a life that is impossible for us to live we can't do it and the sooner we recognize that the better we do not have the power
to live this kind of life how many of you within the past week just think back would say there's been at least one moment maybe more when I look back and I say I was not thinking acting looking talking whatever like a true Woman can you just remember okay maybe like in the past day past hour you know what I can get out of my quiet time and within three minutes or less I'm living like a pagan talking like a pagan not like a true woman and why do I act that way why do I
talk that way why did I say that why am I thinking that how can we become true women of God well verses 11 through 14 give us three resources and I wish we could do a whole message just on this I'm just going to touch on them and You can go back and explore their marvels for yourself but three resources that will enable us to be God's true women who live in accord with sound doctrine the first one a present Reese or is the grace of God in the present look at verses 11 and 12
the grace of God for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled Upright and godly lives in the present age the grace of God that is a resource God gives to me every moment of every day that right here and now will enable me not just in this auditorium but when I go home when I'm in the workplace when I'm in you know my I'm being squeezed and what the flesh is coming out the grace of God is what will give
me the desire and the power to live according to sound doctrine and then chapter 3 reminds us that it wasn't always that Way we didn't always have the grace of God we didn't always live as true women we used to be just like the world look at verse 3 of chapter 3 for we ourselves were once foolish disobedient led astray slaves to various passions and pleasures passing our days in malice and envy hated by others and hating one another whether you remember or not whether you realize it or not that's who we were before Christ
came and changed our lives so what made the difference what changed Us look at verse 4 of chapter 3 but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared he saved us not because of works done by us and righteousness but according to his own mercy verse 7 so that being justified by His grace grace grace grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life I cannot be saved by human effort or willpower and I cannot be sanctified by human effort or willpower I cannot be God's true woman and nor
can You apart from his grace if you try and live this life on your own you will become hopeless you will live a despairing life you will constantly feel like a failure because you will be a failure and you will be living under the law living in bondage or if you don't fail you will strive and struggle and be rigid and uptight and no one will want what you have as you're trying to be a true woman it's God's grace that enables Us to say no to the flesh and yes to God in the present
we have the grace of God what an incredible resource and then there's a future-looking resource and that is the return of Christ verse 13 waiting for our Blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ keep your eyes on a finish line and remember it will be worth it all when when we see Christ when we see him the process of being conformed to his image will be complete We will be forever with the Lord when you get weary here when you feel like giving up here God will use
the reminder that Blessed hope of the return of Christ to be something that will infuse you with strength and desire to press into the battle and to be God's true woman and then as we reflect on the past we have a third resources found in verse 14 is the power of the Cross who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a People for his own possession who are zealous for good works it's the gospel of Christ that is the the the source of all godliness and we are
called to live our lives in light of what Christ has already done for us on the cross where he died our death in our place for our sin so that we might be clothed in his righteousness and be true women of God let me say that if you have never been to the cross to repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ you Can't even be in the game as a true woman of God I believe there are many women here this weekend that God brought you here because he wanted to bring
you to faith in Jesus Christ as you reflect on what Christ has done for you and you just lift your eyes up Damon you say yes Lord I believe you did it for me make me your child so that I can become your true woman who brings glory to you now just briefly here so what does all this really matter how much does it Really matter is it all that important why do women need to learn these things why do we need to practice these things and what's at stake what happens if we don't live
this way well Titus 2 the passage we've been reading and Beyond gives instructions to believers who are in various seasons and stations in life and repeatedly Paul says here's what the gospel looks like on you and in this passage Paul includes three purpose clauses this is the so What this is why it matters look at these three clauses first in verse five why does it matter so that the Word of God may not be reviled verse eight so that an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us and verse 10
so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior ladies there is so much more at stake here than our own individual lives there's this ripple effect of our lives that goes so much further than most of Us realize just say you know yet people who speak at conferences like this they need to be true women for sure my pastor's wife she needs to be a true woman the women's minister direct or the personal leads our study group she needs to be a true woman but what does it really matter if I'm
a true woman it matters hugely you do not realize the impact that your life has on an unbelieving world and others around us as we make the gospel believable or not By the extent to which our lives reflect sound doctrine and the gospel of Christ so as unbelievers look at the Christians quote that they know if they see us being lazy addicted having rebellious kids marriage conflicts immorality dysfunctional relationships being kind with our tongues that their attitudes not so phone not self-control what conclusions do they draw about Christianity does your life cause your husband your
kids or others to Disrespect or to doubt God's Word does it give them ammunition to attack what you say you believe or does your life add or enhance the doctrine of Christ was a 19th century German philosopher who said show me your redeemed life and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer what difference does it make if you and I live godly lives in an ungodly world ladies your life your family may be one tiny island of godliness in a huge sea of wickedness but that's how The kingdom of God spreads as they
see your life they see Christ in you and they are drawn to him and they are drawn to believe they're compelled to repent of their sin to believe the gospel to turn to Christ don't underestimate the impact of being God's true woman having the character and fulfilling the calling of a true woman of God last Friday morning I received a call that a cousin had died suddenly during the night Ruth o zynga was 61 years old she had become A dear friend in more recent years I've gotten to know her better she was a prayer
warrior for our ministry and a true true woman of God she had been married to her husband Marty for 40 years they had six sons who were in their 20s and 30s and now six daughters-in-law as of this year the last one got married as of next month they will have six teen grandchildren ages eight and under and there's a picture here of the family We'll get it up there in just a sec but it was taken four years ago so there are only three grandchildren in that picture because there been 11 born since I
don't know if my math is right something like that yeah they're 15 now though 15th was born last Wednesday on Thursday Ruth held that newborn in her arms and Thursday night during the night Ruth went to be with the Lord I had the privilege of attending her memorial service yesterday morning in Chicago and Was asked to share briefly some reflections on her life at that service as did two of her sons and two of her brothers the outpouring of love and affection for her and the tributes about her life were just unbelievable I wasn't there
the night before for the visitation but I understand that for seven hours the people stood 500 in line at all times to get to speak to the family to express their affection for Ruth and their memories of her three to Four thousand people I was told who attended that visitation but as I was at that funeral service yesterday the memorial service I just listened to people talk about the impact she had had in their lives people who knew her who loved her people had been childhood friends stayed friends with her through life her children her
daughters-in-law and it's listened to many people talk about the impact of her life and what I knew of her and what I heard them Described is exactly what we have been looking at in Titus chapter 2 I heard the story of a woman of godly character a woman for example rather than slandering she used her tongue to speak words of blessing and encouragement and grace somebody sent me an email and said I never heard Ruth speak a single word of complaint or criticism I thought let's just start there you know I mean how incredible would
it be for someone to be able to say that about my life About our lives I was sharing this at the dinner table last night and someone at the table said that's too late I'm not sure if they were talking about me or them and it is too late for somebody to say they've never heard me say a word of complaint or criticism but you know what it's not too late for me to get to the cross and get God's grace to begin to live as that kind of woman I heard about a woman who
was reverent in behavior who was modest in in her spirit In her demeanor she'd walk into a room she never took over and never drew attention to herself but when she would speak people would stop and listen because she was a woman filled with wisdom filled with the Word of God always encouraging people to pursue God in his way she was kind she was an encouraging she was the queen of hospitality used her home just as a station for blessing people her family and others outside her home she's a Woman and this came out over
and over and over again who loved her husband who loved him well who loved him faithfully who grew in her love for him and he blossomed he bloomed he flourished under her law in the context and the environment of her love and bar dö Singh is a great servant of the Lord and man a God a Christian businessman whose life has been blessed by his wife's love her six sons talking about her impact in their lives one of them pulled me aside After the funeral and he said you have to understand though all these boys
are walking with the Lord today and married to godly Gaus who were walking with the Lord one of them said to me it was not always this way at one point or another every one of us boys was not walking with the Lord and was giving our mom fits she did a lot of parenting on her knees as she cried out to the Lord on behalf of her children and when it was appropriate she would Get in their faces one of them told it gave a tribute at the memorial service and he told it about
how number years ago two years into his marriage he was living in California he was in sinful bondage living in an addictive sin habit his marriage was falling apart they were getting ready to break up the marriage and Ruth got on a plane flew out to California God in his face and said son you don't break up this marriage not on my watch And she went to battle for the soul of that son and for the soul of that marriage and here he was standing yesterday saying how much he loves his wife now that they've
been married 11 years sitting and just sitting in front of it on the second row there of listening to him to see these boys loving the Lord their wives loving the Lord and these precious grandchildren spread around who were growing up in godly Christian families and I said this Is a national treasure all the lies that have been impacted by this one quiet true woman who would have been embarrassed to hear what they said about her at the funeral should be embarrassed to hear what I'm saying today she didn't want any of the tension for
herself she was always pointing people's attention to Christ and her life left the fragrance of Christ she cared so much about legacy fact that the last extended family reunion she's great this is a Part of my Greek fit my big Greek family and she gave out torches to each family at that reunion and challenged them she and her husband Marty did challenge these families to keep in this torch of faith burning brightly in their own home and then to pass it to the next generation and at first I was really sad as I and I
still AM to some extent us I think about those precious grandchildren who will never know grandma Ruth will not have the influence of her life here On earth taken so young but then I look down at those precious daughters-in-law and I thought she prayed those girls into this family she prayed those sons to face she and her husband working together God did the work she would take no credit for it she cared about legacy and she left her mark and she left her imprint and for generations to come long after everyone who was at that
service is dead and gone she will still Be speaking her impact the ripple effect of her impact will be continuing for generations to come as they passed the torch the baton of faith on now it's easy to look at a life like that and think well that's somebody else's story but my life is so messed up my family is so dysfunctional my past is so whatever ladies that's what grace is for that's what the cross is about and God is saying to you tonight you can be even in this sea of wickedness around You you
can be by God's grace his true woman doing the battle on your knees having the character of a true woman and fulfilling the calling of a true woman to pass that baton of faith on to others around you being intentional not just wandering your way through life but saying God has put me here on this planet for a purpose and by God's grace lord I will be that true woman to fulfill your holy purposes in my world for this generation And I take that applause to mean that that is what's your firm in your heart
as your desire ladies one day and sooner than most of us realized and I want to I want you high school kids to listen to me too because you don't think you're ever gonna die and some of us didn't used to think we were ever gonna die but you go to enough funerals and I watched a woman who's nine years older than I am lying in a casket yesterday one day it's gonna be you it's gonna be Me people are gonna come and gather and probably at the funeral they'll say some nice things even if
you didn't live a nice life they find a way to say nice things at funerals but what I really care about for my life in four years is what will be the impact of our life after the caskets closed it's lowered into the ground dirt dirts pour it on top people sooner or later forget our name but will the fragrance the perfume the beauty of Christ Continue to move from one generation to the next because we were here as I sat at that funeral yesterday the words of a song came to mind they didn't use
it at the funeral but it it would have been very appropriate there and I'd like to close our time tonight by just reading to you the lyrics of what for many of you is a familiar song we're pilgrims on the journey of a narrow road and those who have gone before us lined the way cheering on the faithful encouraging the Weary their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us run the race not only for the prize but as those who've gone before us let us
leave to those behind us the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives after all our hopes and dreams have come and gone and our children sift through all we've left behind may the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find oh may all who come behind us find us faithful may the fire of our devotion light their way may the footprints that we leave lead them to believe and the lives we live inspire them to obey Oh may all who come
behind us find us faithful would you bow your hearts with me in prayer lord I thank you for letting me see just yesterday this powerful reminder of a faithful life but true woman of God and being a True woman isn't about whether you're married or single children or no children grandchildren or not it's about a heart that is tethered to Christ and his word tethered to the gospel tethered to the cross a heart that reflects the beauty of Christ in his ways I just pray that you would do something in us tonight and in the
days ahead give us a fresh holy desire and passion to be your true women pray for older women middle-aged women empty nesters women in The throes of the child-rearing years newlyweds single women teenagers college students every season of life Lord give us that holy resolve by your grace to let you make us women who make a difference for the fame of your name in the sake of your great kingdom [Music]
