Please open your Bibles with me this morning to 1 Timothy 3. And I do have a sheet of notes for you in your bulletin this morning. This is our final sermon in our marriage series, so this sheet of notes will hopefully finish out your section of marriage in your sermon files, if you're keeping one of those. Have you ever noticed how everybody is unique? Just ask people who they want to win the game tonight and you're gonna get a lot of reactions in every different direction. Everyone is unique. They're drawn to unique things. And I wanna prove that to you by way of introduction this morning. I sent out a few questions to four of you this week. And the people who got my questions were Caitlin Bowman, where's Caitlin? She's downstairs right now. So you can stare at her mom. Okay, Natalie, right there. I sent the questions to Coach Neil Nethery. Neil's right over here. I sent the questions to Carolyn White. Is Carolyn in the room? Or she might be out ministering. Wow, everyone's hiding today. Where? Oh, great. Good to have you in church. Great. And then I sent these questions to Jerry Miller back here in the back. And just a couple questions. Just to prove that we have a lot of things in common, but we're all different as well as far as what we prefer. For example, the first question was a simple one. What is your favorite color? Caitlin said teal. Because I like it, because I asked him why. Because I like it. Coach Nethery said, what do you think he said? Green, exactly. As he's one of the football coaches at Eastern. Carolyn said, though I can't tell you why, my favorite color is blue and any shade of blue. And Jerry Miller said, burgundy. That's not what I usually think of. And I said, why? He says, it speaks of royalty, and it projects a sense of warmth. That's sweet, Jerry. That's nice. That's good, sir. Second question, what is a food that you crave, and why? Caitlin said, Pop-Tarts, because they taste good. I like how she gets right to the point, just like her parents. Now, Neil, Coach Neil, said this, barbecue. And Ernie and Sam Beester's not here this morning, but I need you guys to listen to his answer. It's barbecue. Why? Because it does not exist in Michigan except in my backyard. And I rarely have time to make it. So Sam and Ernie, challenge has been put out, right? Carolyn, your favorite food. She said, I realize that Diet Coke is not a food. But it is something you put into your mouth and that first swallow gives such sweet satisfaction. All of us want a Diet Coke right now, right? Jerry, what's your favorite food and why? He said spaghetti with lots of ground sirloin in the sauce. Also with garlic bread, a salad, and a good cup of coffee. It's tasty, filling, and satisfying. This is almost mean to do to you before lunch, isn't it? A third question I asked our panel, what's your favorite spectator sport and team and why? Caitlin Bowman said, the Lions, because I sit and watch my dad, or I watch with my dad as he watches the Lions. Coach Neil, he says football, obviously. He's always loved football. He's loved playing and he's loved coaching. Carolyn, basketball, particularly University of Michigan basketball, though I liked the Calvary Cougars when they were around. And Jerry, what's your favorite spectator sport? Football. It requires strategy and total commitment to teamwork to be successful. And he added, and I like it when they wear burgundy uniforms and I'm eating spaghetti. No, he didn't say that. He didn't say that. I asked a fourth question. What is a unique smell that you like? A unique smell. Caitlyn, bacon. Because it smells like it tastes and it tastes good. Coach Neal, a unique smell, the state of Colorado. I love the mountains and the smell of trees. Carolyn, what's your favorite smell? Fresh cut grass and hay, they smell fresh and clean. Jerry, your favorite smell? The smell of newly mowed hay in early summer, fresh and pleasant to the senses. Yeah, there's some overlap, but you can see that everyone's unique. They might like the same thing, but even for different reasons. I asked this panel one more question. And the answers were very deep, seriously. I said, what book or books of the Bible are you most personally drawn to? Caitlin, with all seriousness, said, I don't know. That's like asking who your favorite parent is. I was like, that's a good answer. Coach Neal, the book of Proverbs. Why? because of the wisdom, and it's easy to read. Carolyn said, I like several books, all for different reasons, but I guess Psalms is the book I like reading the most. It refreshes, instructs, and comforts. And then Jerry, Jerry said Genesis. God's awesome display of power and grace. You have creation, and fall, and redemption, and flood, and God calling out a people to himself. I like Genesis. I love this. We're all drawn to unique things. Personally, I would like to weigh in on that fifth question as well. My favorite book, well you're not supposed to have a favorite book of the Bible, I know that. I know that. but one that I find myself going to often as a pastor. As a matter of fact, if I've had a Bible for any length of time, this section gets worn out fast and first. And it's called, the section of the New Testament, the Pastoral Epistles. You see, it's three letters, but to me it reads like one book. You say, why? Why are you drawn to the Pastoral Epistles? Well, as a pastor, and I'm in my 25th year in this role, every time I go to these 11 chapters, I find that they read like the daily news to me. And I look at Timothy and I look at Titus and I see what Paul had to address in their lives and how he had to sometimes encourage them and sometimes correct them. And you know what? I can relate to every one of the things after 25 years that Timothy and Titus struggled with. I can relate to struggles. I can relate to pastoral fears. I can relate to apprehensions. I can relate to tendencies that if left awry will go in a sinful direction. I can relate to issues. I just really relate to those two guys. I also have grown to see Paul as a father figure to me, pastorally speaking, and he never lets the depths of his heart be seen like he does in these three epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. And in my read-throughs each year, when I get to these three books, it's a regular call for me to stay focused. So I'm drawn to the pastoral epistles. And it's interesting. Paul shows his hand early on in these three epistles as to why the pastoral epistles were written. And he shows this detail in 1 Timothy chapter 3, two verses that you know very well, verses 14 and 15. 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15, I am writing these things to you, Timothy, hoping to come to you before long. But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the support of the truth. I mean, in short, Paul's saying, you want to know why I'm writing to you, Timothy, and by extension, why I'm writing to you, Titus? I'm writing to you so that you, as shepherds, know how to do church. Know how to lead a congregation. Know how to, and if I can put it in the vernacular of Calvary Baptist Church of Ipsy, how to have a community of grace. So I have a few questions here then. I'm sitting here in the pastoral epistles right now. I'm also sitting here at the very end of a multi-month marriage series. And I'm thinking, hmm, I wonder, is there something we can learn, something we can do as a church family here at the end of this series, where we are aware and aggressive about how we can strengthen the marriages in our midst. Not just our own marriages if we're married, but others' marriages, whether we're married or not. What can we do as a church family to strengthen the marriages around us? Or if you will, how can we put our hands alongside of the hands of couples in our church and help pull the knot tighter? And protect the marriages in our midst? And since we're talking about it, I wonder if these three epistles, if these 13 chapters could help us. I mean, if these three books were written, if these three letters were written to teach us how to do church, it seems like they would give us wisdom as to how to help pull the knots tighter in our marriages here in our church family. And the answer is yes. These 13 chapters are going to identify what I'm going to call four ways that we as a church can help tighten the knots around us. You know, we talk about being a close-knit church family. Let's call it a close-knot church family. We're not just trying to survive in our marriages, we're investing in the marriages around us as well. If everything we've studied for these months is true, and it's the pinnacle of the creation week, then surely, as a community of grace, we can help each other. So what I want to do is I want to walk in the front door of these epistles at the beginning of 1 Timothy, and we're going to walk through to the back door of the third chapter of Titus. And I want to identify for you the four M's of a close-knot family. The first M is simply this. Practice modesty. Practice modesty. Now in a moment I'm going to direct your attention to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Let me just say this. It's not uncommon, even in churches like ours, that a man's greatest temptation sometimes can follow him to church on Sunday. And I'm not talking about what we would consider liberal churches or people, I'm talking about churches like ours. I remember when I was a youth pastor, fresh out of grad school, 1994, six wonderful years, I had to learn that even in the youth room and in our church, and it was a large church, that there were just some places that I couldn't let my eyes look while I was preaching. And it was a solid church. So right now, I want to stomp up and down on both feet and make a statement. I want everyone to hear me. I'm not making excuses for men's thought struggles. I'm not. As a matter of fact, if you were one of the 42 men that were with us at the last 4D men's meeting in January, I got red in the face, didn't I guys? coming pretty hard at you and at me, at us as men. And I gave us nine lies that we men must guard against with regards to our personal purity and thought life and eyes. Oh, we're going to go toe-to-toe and talk face-to-face as men, and we're going to just be real. And I'm going to cut no slack for us. So whatever Paul's getting ready to say here and what I'm reaching for in this particular sermon, understand I'm not making excuses for men's thought struggles. I am making an appeal for help. I'll be the last one to hand you a legalistic list. And by the way, we're clear, right? We've talked about it before. If someone has personal standards, that doesn't mean they're legalistic. The presence of standards does not mean legalism is present. It's why I have standards that determines whether it's legalistic or not. That clarification out there, I'm going to be the last one to hand you a legalistic list. Why? Because my list of preferences might look different than yours. But I do need you to understand that your choice of clothes of all ages might place you into a category you might want to rethink. Now, I'm going to quote someone who's never been charged with being legalistic. His name's Chuck Swindoll. Right? You with me on this one? Is anyone going to point at Chuck Swindoll and say he's legalistic? And the answer is what? No. Read his book, The Grace Awakening, if you have any questions about that. And I want to go back with Chuck Swindoll, back before he was at Stonebriar Community Church, back before he was the president of Dallas Theological Seminary. I want to go all the way back to his pastorate of First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, California. You say, how far back do we have to go in Fullerton? We're going to go to the 1970s. Remember the 70s? Some people say if you remember the 70s, you didn't enjoy them, right? I mean, the 70s were pretty loose, too, morally. And now we're at Chuck Swindoll's church, large church, in Southern California in the 70s. And he preached a particular sermon which is still available today. You can find it online. It's called You and Your Daughter. And it's a sermon that he preached to the men of the church to engage their daughters and disciple them intentionally. And in that sermon, okay, we're in Southern California in the 70s in Swindoll's church. Swindoll says, I need to talk to our church family about the many, many skirts we're seeing more and more of at church in the 70s in Southern California. And he said this, and this is a quote, I'm not saying that a many, many skirt makes you a harlot. but a mini-mini skirt is something that a harlot would wear. And, listen, he pulled that in that sermon from Proverbs 7. Now I want you to listen as I read to you Proverbs 7 verses 6 through 10. Just listen to this. For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice and I saw among the naive, I discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense. So we have a guy probably around middle school age, doesn't lack experience in life as an adult yet, very gullible. But listen to this. The problem was not his youthfulness so much as where he was in his youthfulness. Verse 8, passing through the street near her corner, And he takes the way of her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night, and in the darkness. And behold, a woman comes to meet him, dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. And the translation Dr. Sundall was preaching out of when he got to that verse was the attire of a harlot. And he made this point. I'm not saying that a mini miniskirt makes you a harlot. He says, but a mini miniskirt is something that a harlot would wear because it's the attire of someone that wants to draw the attention to her body. Now, look, he's not a legalist. He's a man asking all generations, both sexes, and his church to help. It's a battle. You know, we call ourselves four-direction disciples, and the second direction is that of a servant. And part of my being a servant reflects not only my life as a worshiper, but also my love for my brothers and sisters in Christ, for mothers, for fathers, for teens, for marrieds, for singles. And you know what? Paul agrees. Paul agrees. Look at 1 Timothy 2, verses 9 and 10. Paul writes this. Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women, making a claim to godliness." It's interesting, a little wordplay here. He says in verse 9, I want women to see that word adorn themselves with proper clothing. Adorn and proper are from the same Greek word noun and a noun family and a verb family. We get the word kosmos. It means well-ordered, well-arranged. Paul's saying you've got to plan what you wear. Don't just wing it, and don't just go with the flow. It's got to be intentional on your part. I would suggest that based on what Paul writes here in 1 Timothy 2, 9, and 10, that he's helpful in that he provides a checklist for our closets, not just ours, but our children's. Three things I put in your notes here. First of all, I believe Paul's saying that we are to wear clothes that are safely modest. Number one, wear clothes that are safely modest. He says, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing. And here's the word, modestly, modestly, or marginal reference says with modesty. This is an interesting word, idos. See, what does that mean? One commentator says, it is shamefastedness. I don't even use that word anymore. What does that mean? It shrinks from overpassing the limits of reserve and modesty. It's a desire not to dishonor. Wear clothes that are safely modest. Know where the lines are and stay clear. Three key words, low, tight, and high. Low, tight, and high. You say go into more details. Well, if I go into any more details than that, we're going to have to have a separate service, right? You know what I mean. Number two, another part of your checklist from Paul. Wear clothes that reflect self-control. wear clothes that reflect self-control. It says, I want them to wear proper clothing. It says, modestly, and then here's this next word, discreetly. Discreetly. This is talking about self-government or self-mastery. And it's a willingness to corral physical appetites, even. It's realizing that my body, the more that's defined and obvious, it can actually, I understand, arouse physical appetites in me and someone else, and I'm aware of that, so I'm going to practice self-control. You know, a pastoral nudge is this, save the details of your body for your husband. Either your present, or if you're not currently married, for the future. Solomon, who knew a little thing or two about women, said in Song of Solomon 4.12, these words, a garden locked is my sister, my bride, a rock garden locked, a spring sealed up. I love that description of a bride before she's married, of someone who's going to be married. She is like a garden that's locked, a spring that's sealed up. And there's a big wall around that city, around that garden. And there's big brothers standing on top of the wall saying, stay away, it's my sister. No peeking until it's time. Counsel I've given my son, Jared, I think I've shared this with you before, before he ever went off to college. You know, he's going to start dating, choosing to hang out with young ladies I didn't know. I said, just remember three things, Jared. And I've reminded him all four years of these. I said, number one, the kind of girl you want to grab your attention is one that, first of all, has a good testimony in the present with her spiritual authorities in her life. Ask people how she's doing. Now, you say, well, what about the past? Well, yeah, you're a little interested in the past, but understand that she might have made mistakes in God's kind, doesn't he? And he rescues us, doesn't he? How is she right now walking with the Lord, and what's her testimony with her spiritual leadership? If she has a strong testimony currently with her spiritual leadership, keep an eye on her. Secondly, what's her response to God-appointed authorities in her life when she disagrees with them? Watch that. And if there's a breakdown with that, run, because one day you'll be that God-ordained authority if she's your wife. And number three, only go after the women, only date the ladies who keep their body details a mystery. And with that, I come back to those three words, low, high, tight. Is her garden locked up or is it merely a link fence, a chain link fence that you can see all the details of the garden? I'm being careful, but I'm sure intentionally walking right up to that line right now as a pastor, saying, help, help us. We need to get through the closet here. So number three, I believe Paul would say, wear clothes that reveal your passion for God. 1st Tenet says, rather by means of good works, clothe yourselves as is proper for women, making a claim to, and here's your word, godliness. This is dressing in a way that shows your reverence and mindfulness of God's presence. The Old Testament would refer to this so often as the fear of the Lord and awareness of His presence and awe of that fact. Here's a little principle here. As you look at Paul's checklist, don't start with your clothes and work towards God. Don't say, well, I want to wear what I want to wear for the selfie, or I want to wear what I want to wear for my career. I'm just going to do it. But I love God, and stop looking at me bad. OK, that's starting with my clothes and working towards God. Paul's saying, start with God and then work towards your clothes. I'm going to give you the name of another man who will never be charged as being a legalist. He's one of my heroes. He's still alive today. And Coach and Rebecca have sat under his ministry. His name's Arkent Hughes. Wrote the book Disciplines of a Godly Man. He wrote another book that didn't get a lot of press. And I had a chance to talk to him once in person about this book. And he says it was a series he did at his church. They said his church says put it in a book form. He did, and it didn't sell like some of the other books. You want to know the name of the book? Set Apart. You want to know the subtitle of the book? Calling a worldly church to a godly life. He has a whole chapter on modesty in the local church that he preached at College Church at Wheaton. And in that chapter, Kent Hughes says this, and I can't agree more. He says, modesty is the entire church's responsibility. We together must create a culture in which modesty flourishes. And he's not a legalist. He's simply crying out, help. Help. Understand this, my brothers and sisters, that the way you cover or reveal your body is either tightening or untying someone's knot. Jesus said in Matthew 20, 28, The Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. That's the first M. But let's continue our walk through these 13 chapters to the second M. What's the second M of a close-knot church family? The second M is this, parade marriage. Parade marriage. Keep walking to the right and go over to 1 Timothy chapter 4. And in 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul breaks into this chapter talking about false doctrines that would be embraced that even the church needed to be warned of. And look at these first three verses of chapter 4. And we'll come back to these verses actually even again this evening in our study. The Spirit explicitly says that in later times, some will fall away from the faith. Paying attention to deceitful spirits, and doctrines of demons. That's creepy. That's real. Verse two, by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, and look at verse three, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared and by those who believe and know the truth. And then he'll go on to describe this and describe the conflict with these false teachers. But understand this, Paul's warning the local church then and now that there are some that are going to come in and they're going to say, marriage is bad. Marriage is bad. Don't do it in the name of God. Don't do it. And Paul's saying, no, that's wrong. As a matter of fact, we need to parade marriage. That's what we tried to do with this series. So tonight's a big football game, and we know the importance of a great defense, but I want to suggest to you that it's important to have a strong offense as well, especially when it comes to parading marriage. A couple of pastoral nudges here. Letter A, sing its praises. If you're married, sing its praises. Don't come and gripe about your marriage. Don't spread through your friendship circles how tough it is to be married. Don't talk about the conflict you have or the freedom that you miss. Parade this wonderful institution that we've studied so hard as a church family. Root it all the way back into the creation week. I mean, as our singles of all ages, remember, that includes young people, that includes young adults, that includes all the way up to senior citizens. When our singles walk to their pew at Calvary Baptist Church each Sunday, they walk by countless billboards either advocating for marriage or protesting marriage. And the billboard is your marriage. Parade it. It's hard, yeah. That's why we have a series on it. It takes patience and grace, yes. But everything else the scripture says about it is true, too. The glory of God is on display in marriage in a very unique way. How does your marriage read as a billboard? Well, a second nudge for our offense is protect its honor. Protect the honor of marriage. Remember Genesis 1.31, God looked at everything he created and behold, it was very good. And Genesis 2.24 reiterates how important and central marriage is in the creation week and in creation. It's very good. And something so good, so God-designed, is not meant to take a backseat to our age-specific goals, or to our freedom, or to our children, or to our career. We have these three couples up here, and we're going to have more couples up here the next two Sundays as well. And while we're celebrating, and helping you learn to pray for their children, still the most important relationships that were up here on the stage was the one-flesh relationships. There were three sets going across the stage. These children, God willing, will grow up, mature, and move out and leave the couples still here. Protect the honor of this amazing institution of marriage. You know, sometimes Sometimes we get pretty hard, and I apologize for the tone that's taken sometimes by even pastors and preachers towards singles. And they're like, you stay pure. Stop living like you're married. Now, I tried to preach to singles with a different tone last week. But sometimes singles take a rap for that. Stop living like you're married. Stop messing around. And I think that's only half the sermon that needs to be preached in churches. Maybe the other half of the sermon is to the married people to stop living like you're single. You have a spouse that you're in covenant with. And that marriage was God's idea. You say, well, I don't know. If you're married now, it's God's idea. And it can bring glory to the Creator. So protect its honor. Letter C, another nudge for a good offense, equip its candidates. Equip its candidates. And by this I'm just simply saying one way we can work against those that would forbid marriage is to invest in those who are on their way to getting marriage, whether they have diamonds on their hands or not. Let's be aggressively discipling them in what Christ said, teaching them all things that I have commanded you, Matthew 28 verse 20. And we're going to say more about this in a moment, so I'll move on right now, but we're going to talk about how do we equip people for marriage. And then letter D, one more nudge for the offense, meet its challenges. You want to parade marriage? You want to defend it against 1 Timothy 4, three people who say it's not good? Then meet the challenges of marriage. Don't run from them. There's going to be challenges. Actually, last time I checked, probably every day. You're going to have to work through stuff. You're going to have to die to yourself. You're going to have to run to Christ for wisdom. And you're going to have to ask Jesus to help you figure out sometimes how to keep your mouth shut in a conversation. You say, well, how come you know that prayer so well? Don't look at my wife right now. No eye contact right there. Your attitude towards marriage, whether you're married or single, is either tightening or untying. Someone's not. The writer of Hebrews says, Hebrews 13, 4, marriage is to be held in honor among all. Well, what's the third M as we go through the pastoral epistles? The third M is promote maturity. And by maturity, I mean Christlikeness. As a church family, as Paul instructs us in these 13 chapters, as a church family, you and I need to be minded individually to continue to grow, to be more and more like Christ. To grow and grow more in our personal godliness. You remember the little triangle that the counselors have put on the whiteboard for years, the biblical counselors? You draw a big triangle, and at the bottom right side of the triangle you put the husband, and on the bottom left side of the triangle you put the wife. You've seen this before, and who's at the top of the triangle? God. And if the husband and wife merely work on getting closer to each other and that's it, they're not getting closer to God. But if they are both growing to be more like Jesus and they're growing closer towards God and growing as a disciple, guess what? As they grow closer to God, they grow closer to each other. They get everything that way. That's a right model. And I think Paul nails this theme over and over, and I want to make two points here. First of all, if you as a church family are going to promote maturity of Christ-likeness in the churches, understand that as we grow in Christ-likeness, our marriages will all get stronger, then letter A, insist on a high view of Scripture. Insist on a high view of Scripture from this pulpit. This is intentionally the centerpiece of the campus, not just the room. I don't care who's standing in this pulpit. When? Insist on a high view of Scripture. We're going to go over to 2 Timothy for this. 2 Timothy 3. You know these verses, but we're taking a stroll through. Look at them again. 2 Timothy 3.16 All Scripture is inspired by God, and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, for pedagogy in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." And again, this is the scripture's claim to its own sufficiency. It tells me what's wrong, what's right, how to fix what's wrong, how to keep right what's right, as Steve Vires puts it. So when it comes to preaching, When it comes to guest speakers, when it comes to private counseling, when it comes to programs that we might bring in, when it comes to resources that we recommend, when it comes to a DVD series that we might do on a Sunday evening, you say, OK, just make sure it's holding the Word of God out to us, not just your opinions. We insist on that. Because there's no other way to grow than through the sufficiency of the Word of God. So insist on this. But another nudge, insist on a consistent model of growth. Insist on a consistent model of growth. I do want to skip back into 1st Timothy just real quickly to chapter 4, 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 7. Paul writes, have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, and here's the phrase I want you to see, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. And it's hard work. Discipline yourself means that there are some things you're going to say no to, There's going to be new ways that you have to think, and there's going to be some things you have to say yes to. And trust me, in most cases, you're not going to want to say no to what you need to say no to. You're not going to want to think different thoughts than the way you've been thinking forever. And you don't want to say yes to the things you need to say yes to. Paul gives this same model over and over again. For example, in Ephesians, he says, put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man. He'll say it again in Romans chapter 13, and in Colossians chapter 3, and in Romans chapter 8. He says it over and over and over again. Listen, when it comes to change and growth in Christlikeness, it's not a buffet with different options of how to do it. There's one way. You put off the old man, you're renewed in your thinking, and you put on the new man, all tethered to the gospel of Christ. One model fits all. And so as a church family, you are investing, and you expect that our emphasis in our ministries here, and in this pulpit, and in any resources we suggest to you, that it's going to have the same model of growth sourced in the sufficiency of the Word of God. Understand this, brothers and sisters, your understanding of and pursuit of Christlikeness is either tightening or untying someone's knot. Ephesians 4, 13, Paul says, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." Well, one more M and we have to finish. The fourth M is provide mentoring. Now don't hear me as saying that as we're going to have a program or a curriculum. Don't hear or not. Just get it down and let me explain this. Buzzwords come and go in Christianity, but this is a good one that has stayed. The importance of passing on to the next generation of men, to the next generation of women, what it means to be a Christ-honoring, growing disciple of Christ. There are many options, I say in your notes, many options. You have formal options. You have structured options. You have informal options. spontaneous options. I want to suggest two to you. First of all, number one, by example, provide mentoring. By your example. Look at 1st Timothy chapter 2. We're going backwards again, but we'll go forward to 2nd Timothy in a moment in Titus. 1st Timothy chapter 2, Paul has a lot to say about this. In all three epistles, especially 1 Timothy and Titus. 1 Timothy 2 verse 8, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension. It doesn't just say old men, it's talking about men get together and pray, spend time with each other. Verse 11, And women, quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was not Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. He's directing his attention already around the congregation with his mind's eye as he pens this epistle. There are men, and I have an agenda for you. Women, I have an agenda for you. And it's going to be an awareness of the importance of godly womanhood, godly manhood, and the need to pass it on to the following generations. He's going to stop off in 1 Timothy 3 and talk about the character of the church leadership, which is to be the character of the entire church. in so many regards. So when I say by example, I mean invite them into your world, invite them over for a coffee, invite them with you to go shopping to pick something up or to pick something out to decorate something so that their life can be pressed up against your life in the minivan and over lunch and listen to and watch an imperfect but growing disciple. An imperfect but growing woman or man. Mentor by your example. Number two, mentor by exhortation, by actual teaching. And it's with this we finally make our way to Titus chapter 2. Look at Titus chapter 2 and we'll be finished. Titus 2. We even have the curriculum. Paul's not just saying, I need the younger women to hang out with the older women and the younger men with the older men and let's go on to the next topic. He's like, and here's what I want you to cover in the minivan, if they had minivans back then, right? Verse 1, but as for you, Titus, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips or enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to do what? To love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. And likewise urge the young men to be sensible. And Titus, you're in this group. In all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity in doctrine, dignified, and sound in speech which is beyond reproach. He gives him the curriculum there. It's interesting. Paul, here as he writes to Titus, is saying you've got to have some teaching. You've got to have time together and you talk about these topics. Study these texts within generations. Take the notes from our marriage series and ask someone to go through them again with you to discuss the application. Read through solid books together that Pastor Ernie or Hillary will recommend to you from our resource center here. They've purchased all new, highly recommended books from us for the library for you to check out as a result of this series. Remember, you don't have to be perfect. Just progressing. Just progressing. Just growing. And while there are many options, I also say this, there's one purpose. There's one purpose in mentoring, and here it is, two words, God's glory. It's not your glory, it's God's glory. If you're familiar with Titus, and I know you've read through it many times, you're going to see in Titus chapter 7, or chapter 2 verse 7, chapter 3 verse 8, and chapter 3 verse 14, and in chapter 2 as well, an emphasis on quote-unquote good works. Paul is teaching the church that Titus is helping to lead, that they must engage in good deeds so that God's glory will be on display. And we teach this from generation to generation in Titus 2 verse 11. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And watch verse 14, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. He's purifying us for Himself. Why? So that His fame is what goes out. And you know what that's going to take as a church family? We're pulling on each other's knots of the marriages around here, tightening them. And as a church family, we are concerned that we're all growing to be more like Christ. We're speaking truth between generations to each other, whether we're married or single, we're speaking this truth. We're in this together. It's called a community of grace. And at the end of the day, it's God who is glorified. Understand this, that your commitment to mentoring, whether you're married or single, is either tightening or untying someone's knot. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2.2, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Dr. Howard Hendricks from Dallas Seminary once said this, mentoring is a ministry of multiplication and a biblically legitimate strategy for our generation. And he's right. He was right. Well, we've taken a brisk walk this morning through, well, my 13 favorite chapters. And we identified four ways as a church that we can tighten these knots. We practice modesty. We parade marriage, we promote maturity, and we provide mentoring. Thank you, Paul, for teaching us this morning through your pen how to invest in the marriages in our midst as a church family. Thank you, Lord, for your word that speaks with clarity. Romans 14, 7, and 8, for not one of us lives for himself. and not one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.