Welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm Pastor Steve, and our congregation is pleased to share this message with you today, and we pray it'll be a blessing and encouragement to you. Blessings as you listen or watch. All right, we're in Titus chapter 2. Titus 2, this is the first day of fall. Somebody reminded me of that. It already felt like fall the last couple of weeks. Hope you're enjoying this season and are blessed through it. We're going to talk about good mentors today. Good mentors, role models, examples, friends, teachers, even coaches, so Titus chapter two. One of the most rewarding experiences for a teacher or a mentor is when the student captures the truth and applies it in their life and applies it then towards other people. years ago, a Christian football coach invested a good portion of his life in players and coaches. He was a stickler for details, and his philosophy on offense and defense was branded into the minds of his assistant coaches and the students. on his teams. He spent just as much energy training and sharing his philosophy on what made good character in the life of an individual. He talked just as much about character as he did about the game in the sport of football. An active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, that's a parachurch organization that serves different teams and athletes around America. His faith in Christ became contagious. Through his witness, many of his coaches and players became believers. As the years went by, some of his players and assistant coaches went on to coach at other schools, and showing striking evidence that they had been mentored by this great coach. Their offense on football was the same, their defense on football was the same, and they also perpetuated The teachings and the philosophy about character and about this godliness that he was instilling in the lives of his athletes. His students were also sharing his ministry literally, not just on the field, not just on the playing field, but in the field of life as well. And that's what a good teacher will do. That's what a good mentor will do. is to give instruction, pass it along, give guidance and help and encouragement. Now, as we've been going through this book of Titus, we've understood that there's good preaching. That was in the first few verses. To have good preaching, you need to have good pastors. And to have good pastors and preaching then, you want to have good mind. And that results in a good mind when we grasp the Bible truths that we're taught and that are demonstrated to us. Now in Chapter 2, the Lord builds upon this, and as Paul is instructing Titus, he's mentoring him as well. He builds upon Chapter 1, and he talks about mentoring. To have good mentors, we need that good preaching, good preachers, and good minds as we open to Chapter 2, because mentoring is part of the good life. Mentoring is part of the good Christian life. So I'll begin reading in chapter 2, verse 1. You can follow along in your copy of scripture or on the screens there as well. But speak thou the things which become sound or healthy doctrine, that the aged men be graved. The word aged means dignified or respectable. and it's that word uh... uh... press bureaus means elder or older date the age men be sober grade that's the word which means dignified or respectable uh... temper and that has to do with self-control their sound or healthy in the faith They're sound or healthy in charity, and sound or healthy in patience. That word is a descriptor for those other three, so faith, charity, and patience. The aged women, same word as the word for aged men up there, aged, presbyteros, elder, older woman, would likewise, would be likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, Not given to much wine, it's interesting the word given is the same word that the word doulos, it's douloou, and it means to be a slave, someone who's not enslaved to a substance, slaved to something else, not given to wine. It's hard to be a good Christian if you're enslaved to wine, if that's your master, alcohol, you know, to something that is an addiction. teachers then of good things. This is the fourth time we have this word good in this passage. Out of 10 out of 11 verses, or it's mentioned 11 times in 10 verses, and this has to do with teaching what is good. That's what this means. The phrase teachers of good things. These ladies are to be teachers of good things. What is good? that they may teach the young women to be sober, that means to call to one's senses, and to love, this is interesting, it's the word phila, which has to do with brotherly love, it's friendship love, how to be friends with your husband, how to love your husband. To love, it's the same word, how to be friends with your kids, especially when they grow up, they should be able to be your friends. I'll unpack that a little bit more in a moment. To be discreet. chaste keepers at home, good, and here's another time the word good is used, in the good life, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort And that's an interesting word. We get the word Holy Spirit from that word exhort. Paraclete comes from that, and it means to come alongside. So the Bible's telling us to come alongside young men and teach them to be sober, similar to what the ladies are teaching, that they would be of a sound mind. In all things, showing thyself a pattern. of good works. sound speech that cannot be condemned that he that is of the contrary part who is against anti who is antagonistic to truth may be ashamed having no evil thing to say of you exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please them well in all things not answering again it'd be like talking back and these answering again they're contradicting not contradicting not talking back to the boss but not purloining it means to steal it means to hold back So we would say the word stealing, not stealing from those you work for, but showing all good fidelity. There's another time we have the word good here in the good life, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. The word adorn. We use that sometimes, you know, we're gonna adorn ourselves or something. It means to put in order. And you know, you're doing your hair, you're adorning yourself with different things that you decorate yourself with. We're to decorate our lives with Christ, with the doctrine of God. That's what he's finally getting at in verse 18. Ten. This is an amazing passage. Incredible. Ten verses here about mentoring, discipleship, coaching. In false contrast to false teaching, we are to teach and learn things that are true, right, and holy. So mentoring is part of the good Christian life. Think of it this way, younger ones are to be learning from the older ones and the older ones are to be listening to the younger ones as they're teaching them and instructing them. It's not just a one-way street, this is a relational component in this idea of mentoring. A good mentor is never forgotten. Lee Iacocca, who wrote about the man who changed his life, was Charlie Beecham. And he said he could be a tough boss when he thought the situation called for him. He said, at a dinner celebrating my election as the president of Ford, this was back in 1970, I finally got up the nerve to tell Charlie publicly what I thought of him. He said, there will never be another Charlie Beacham. I said, he has a special niche in my heart, and sometimes I think he was carving it out by hand. He was not only a mentor, he was more than that. He was my tormentor. But I love him. Lee Iacocca is well known for leadership, his great leadership skills within the Ford and in the auto industry. Well, sometimes a mentor will do the hard things and will say the hard things because of that friendship love that he has for the person. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs goes on to say, he that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue. And a mentor is willing to do this. Think of a mentor as this way. We'll give this as a definition. A mentor is a friend who is available for instruction, teaching, challenge, and encouragement. That's what a mentor is. In any avenue of life, it could be in the classroom, on a ball field or ball court, it could be in a church house, it could be in your neighborhood, it could be among family, a mentor is willing to do these things. Some terms we use for mentorship are life coach, counselor, or counseling, a discipler, disciple-ly, discipleship, and we are using the term mentor here today. Now, when you're mentoring somebody, it's just like in life. Not everything that you do will turn out the way that you had hoped it would be. Not every investment you make will yield the return that you were hoping for it to be. I think about Charles Wesley and his brother, the Wesley brothers, they mentored John Whitfield. But John Whitfield became a great preacher, but he was a Calvinist. And the Wesleyans, the Wesley brothers, they were more Arminian. They were like, whosoever will be saved. And Whitfield would say, you have to be called to salvation. And that's a really big theological divide there. And so not everything will turn out the way that you would hope. All those men, by the way, saw many people come to Christ. But mentors mentor others, and we are also ourselves mentored by others, but we leave the results with God. It's like planting, like the agricultural analogy in the Bible, you know, I'm gonna plant some seed, water some seed. God is the one who gives the increase. God is the one who brings about the finished product. We don't have to worry about that, but God does say for us to mentor. He does say for us to teach. Leave the results with God. Well, I taught these kids, or I taught this class, or I mentored this person, and it didn't turn out good. Well, that's not, That's not on you. That's not our thing. It's like, hey, everything turns out. You leave the results with God. God does not call us to action when we've arrived. Sometimes we think, well, I need to wait till I have it all together, and then I'll help somebody out and be their mentor. He doesn't say to do that. We don't have to have all of our, it's a funny expression, ducks in a row. Have you ever lined ducks up? I mean, I don't know. What's that expression even about? I didn't have that in my notes. I just thought of that. It's kind of weird, you know. You don't have to have it all together before you help somebody out. But you're an older, so that's the only qualification here, older, and you're going to be instructing, being there, being available to teach and give helpful instruction. By the way, if you wait till you've arrived, you're too late because the only time we arrive in life is when we get to heaven. And that's when we really arrive, and it's too late to help somebody out on Earth when it happens then. So we've got to do it now while we're alive. You've got to mentor somebody now while you have life and being. So mentoring is part of the good life. There's three areas that mentors are needed. The first is for men. mentorship is needed for men. He calls them out specifically in verses 1 and 2, and also verses 7 and 8. These men, in verse 2, the aged men, be sober, brave, temperate, sound in faith and charity and patience. And look at what happens with these young men in verse 6. Likewise, exhort, call to them, come alongside them to be sober-minded of a sound mind, in all things showing thyself a pattern of good works and doctrine, showing uncorruptedness, in doctrine showing uncorruptedness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned. These things are so important. I think about a good example, John Wooden. He was the famous basketball coach who is an example of this idea. The former UCLA basketball coach is an inspiring model of personal growth. He continued to develop himself and did the same with his players, helping them, trying to help them reach their potential. One of his best sayings, most well-known sayings is, it's what you learn after you know it all that counts. It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. I like that. Some of us need to realize we don't know it all and then keep learning and growing and becoming more like Christ. The more you learn, the greater the chance you'll think you know it all. And if it happens to you, you become unteachable and you're no longer growing into the image of Christ. You can't do it if you think you know it all. Because if you do, you think, oh, I'm better than Jesus. And that's the result of that line of reasoning. Notice the older men, how to be sober. Now, how to not let anything else control you. We're to be self-controlled. And men, all of us here, you're a little bit older than somebody else. Just place yourself in this. You are older than somebody else. And so as an aged man, how to be sober. How to not let something or a substance or an activity or an idea or an addiction or anything control you. We're to be spirit-controlled. We're to be Bible-controlled. We're to be Jesus-controlled. And don't let other things un-sober you from that. How to be dignified. That's the word grave. This is somebody who comes across as respectable. He's dignified. How to be temperate. Temperate means, it's very similar to sober, but it means to be under control. I'm under control. In other words, I'm in control of myself. Whereas a Christian, Jesus is in control of me. The Spirit of God is in control of me, not something else. He goes on to say how to have sound faith. How to have sound faith. The word sound in scripture, we understand that to be healthy. This is healthy. This is wholesome. This is good. It's more whole and right. So how to have sound, accurate, healthy faith. Gentlemen, We need to have that for ourselves. Some people have lethargic faith, or pathetic faith, or wavering faith. And we need to have healthy, whole, sound faith. How to have sound or healthy love. And here the word for love is agape. How to have sacrificial love. Older guys need to be able to grasp these concepts. How to have sound or healthy when it comes to patience. How to be sound or healthy when it comes to patience. Patience means steadfastness. It's a steadiness under control. It's a steadiness while under fire. I mean, the battle's all around. and he just carries on. He just keeps going and continues with what is good and what he's been called to do. Now, notice in verses six through seven, also verse eight, here we have the younger men, and they're to be sober-minded. This is similar to something that's said about the men and also the ladies in just a moment, to be sound in mind and judgment. And here the word exhort, And I mentioned this a moment ago in our scripture reading, but it's the same idea of coming alongside. So when you exhort somebody, you do essentially a similar thing to the Holy Spirit. You're not the Holy Spirit, but what He does, you can imitate that. So He comes alongside us. And He's, of course, indwells us. But He's the one who Jesus sent. And so we want to be that encourager, the one who comes alongside And I don't know if you have to wait till their time of need, but you're going to come alongside and help, to encourage, to be that listening ear, to be the one who they bounce ideas off to, to ask, what should I do in this situation? So to come alongside is so important to help them become sound in mind and judgment. Oh, everyone has a question. Everyone has a question. What should I do about this? Should I do that? Should I do this? Should I invest in that? Should I buy this? Should I sign up for that? Should I? Every day you have a question. And some people are wondering, and they need a mentor, who will say, you know what? That may not be the best decision. Going to this, participating in that, that's, I don't know. Should we take that job? Should we move our house? Should we relocate? I mean, there's all kinds of questions. And so they need help with their thinking, to be sound in mind and in making those judgments. How about being consistent to do good works? That's the word pattern here. He says that they should be a pattern. Show thyself a pattern of good works. Think about a pattern. Some of you maybe have a kit for sewing something, and you follow a pattern for that. Maybe you're painting that paint by colors, you know, paint by numbers, and you follow a pattern for that. There's patterns in all of life. You follow a pattern of putting the ingredients in the bowl and mixing it, and it's a pattern. And the word pattern means typical. What's typical? What is expected? What is standard? Whether it's in culinary arts or when you're sewing something or whatever you're doing. So in the Christian life, what's the standard? What's typical? And he needs to show himself a pattern of good works. In other words, good works should be a pattern that a young man is following. It should be typical. It shouldn't be like every once in a while, he's going to do something good. You get the idea of this? It's more like this is something that's expected. This is something that's well done. This is something that he's doing, not just occasionally. Boys and teenagers should be active in doing good things, not just once in a while, but consistently. consistently. Okay, I'm going to do something not just if I feel like it or if I like the person or if I want to. I'm going to help somebody consistently because it's the right thing to do on a regular basis. A pattern of good works has the idea of he's going to be doing good things on a regular basis. Now what does this do? It teaches faithfulness. It teaches dependability. Let me tell you something, I don't know how many old men, older men, I'm talking not just teenagers, I'm talking older than teenagers, older men are unreliable. They can't do anything good, you know why? Because they've never done anything good on a consistent basis. I'll be there, I'll show up, okay, I don't know until it really happens with some guys. Because they have not had a pattern of good works in their life. This is a deficiency in Christianity today. Be consistent. Young guys, be consistent. Parents, give your boys some good stuff to do, not just like once in a while, but like all the time. Not all the time, but on a regular basis. Something to do that's good. Some men cannot fulfill tasks. They have no personal discipline. It wasn't given to them to have a pattern of good works. Next, how to have pure doctrine. And that's a good word there for doctrine. It means teaching, the Bible teaching. Doctrine means God's teaching towards us, didaskalos. God's teaching towards us, it's doctrine. How to be serious or grave. That's the word grave. How and how about when? Are there times to be like this and just excited? Yes. Are there times to be a little bit more? Absolutely. Who teaches that? Somebody's got to teach that to our kids, to our young boys. You know, they run around. Who's going to teach that? We got to mentor that. A lot of that starts with the parents, some of these, for the young ones especially. How to be sincere or genuine. The word sincere is an interesting word. In our English language, we use it from the Latin, and it's the word sincere, and it means without wax. Artifers, artificers, or yeah, artificers, artists. It's the easier way to say it. In the Middle East countries, they would fashion highly expensive statues and vases and little bowls and things out of fine porcelain. And they were very fragile. They would make these beautiful, ornate-looking things out of this porcelain, and they would take extreme care, you know, when they would pack it to put it on the back of something to carry it to the market and everything. But sometimes, those vases and those decorations and those images would have a little crack in it. And some of the dishonest merchants, when they would receive shipment of those items, they would take some wax and melt it right into those cracks and then paint over it as if nothing was wrong with that item. And so, when in the markets, the ones who wanted to be known as honest, as merchants, they would put little signs and it would say, sincere. It means without wax. like this is real this is not deficient this is a whole uh... base that you're buying here and christians we need to have this sincerity that is taught to our young men as well how to speak well that's the next thing how to have sound or healthy speech, how to speak wholesome and uplifting, encouraging words, and then how to have a good testimony, even to those who are contrary to Christ or those who are outside of Christ. Notice the last part of verse 8, that he that is of the contrary part, that means against, may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Even the lost people around are young men should say, wow, You know, I don't like his Christianity maybe, but he's OK. He's solid. He's real. And they should be able to be like that. William Tyndale was mentored by Erasmus, who did some translation work on the Greek New Testament. And Tyndale said this, let it not make thee despair, neither yet discourage thee, O reader, that it is forbidden thee, in pain of life and goods, or that it is made breaking of the king's peace or treason unto his highness, to read the word of thy soul's health. For if God be on our side, what matter maketh it to who be against us, whether they be bishops, cardinals, or popes?" Okay, I love trying to say that old English stuff there. I mean, what is he saying? What he was saying was, it doesn't matter what the king says, or the bishop, or the pope. We need to get the Bible and read it. That's what he was saying in that long quote there. William Tyndale could speak seven languages. What in the world? I know some kids here I think that are trilingual already. That's just amazing to me. I'm not hardly good with one language. And I probably said that wrong, maybe on purpose. So he had seven languages. He was proficient in ancient Greek and Hebrew. He was a priest, and he had great intellectual gifts. He was very disciplined, and he could have followed that route and gone very far in the Roman Catholic Church, but he started to read the Bible for himself. And he started to look at what Erasmus had translated into the language, and he started to get the idea, we should be teaching people in English if they live in an English-speaking country. That's what his idea was, and that was a novel idea. And so he translated the Bible from a language that no one in England could read, or in English culture could read, into a language that they could read. And the church didn't like, the Catholic Church did not like Erasmus. At first they did, they didn't like him after all. And then Tyndale, they ended up being enemies of the Roman Catholic Church. But these guys, he was a mentor. This is Tyndale. He was mentored by Erasmus. That was part of his whole passion and to quote Erasmus, his mentor, Christ desires his mysteries to be published abroad as widely as possible. I would that the gospels and the epistles of Paul were translated into all languages of all Christian people and that they might be read and known. So he passed that idea on to Tyndale. That's a good idea. Can I suggest to you that every great leader in Christianity or every great Christian servant in Christianity throughout all history, they all had some mentor? They had somebody they were looking up to. I mean, you have even the apostles and those who were immediately after the apostles, they would look up to them and then it just kept going on down and they would look up to them and be mentored by other people, just like Paul and Titus in the passage that we've read. All the greats in history had mentors, people that they learned from. Man, we want to not necessarily be great, but we should be great Christians when it comes to mentoring other people. Find a young man, some young person younger than you, and mentor them. Next then, number two is mentorship for women. In verses 3 through 5, we have the women are mentioned, the aged women likewise, that they be in good behavior as becometh godliness. Not false accusers, not given or controlled or enslaved by too much wine. Teachers of good things, they may teach young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. to be discreet, chaste, keepers of home, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." I see this happening a lot with our intergenerational scattered groups, with AWANA, with the women's Bible studies that go on. We have mentorship, we have discipleship that's happening, I see that. It's amazing now at this life stage of mine that I've seen young couples that I counseled early on, right before marriage perhaps, and counseled them about life, ministry, about finances and things. They're passing it on to other newer young couples. I find that amazing. For example, I've heard young couples say this to other young couples, like, hey, it's a good idea to not live on two incomes. If you can do it, live on one income, so when you lose the job or when the babies come, then you won't be hit so hard with that. I've actually heard younger than me families say that to other younger, younger families, and I love that. That's mentorship. It's not just Bible doctrine. It's Bible doctrine applied. You could say it's applied theology. It's how to live life. how to live life. This needs passed on to the next generation. We do this through mentorship. God gives 12 areas. I'll briefly cover those. How to be holy, that means reverent. How to not slander, that's the word false accusers, not false accusers. How to be free from alcohol, not to be given or enslaved to alcohol. We cannot emphasize that enough. There's so many warnings about addictions in the Bible and about alcohol specifically to stay away from it and not even look at it. To not let other things outside of you control you other than God's Holy Spirit who dwells within you. how to be free, how to teach what is good, how to be sensible or sober, as the word used there, how to love their husbands. And this is the phyla love. This is the friendship love. This is an area that couples can grow in on how to be friends, not just romantic partners or spouses. They're friends as well. How to love your kids. This word love is the word phyla love. It's that brotherly love. If you parent well, If you parent well, your kids will be your friends when they're older, if you parent well. A lot of people take this too far, and they're like, let's be buddy-buddy, and they're five years old, and they're 10 years old, or 12 years, and that's not the buddy-buddy thing, but if you lead them well and serve them well while they're young, they will be your friends when they're older. How to be discreet. How to be prudent. By the way, if you want more information about that, read Ephesians 5. Just read that passage. How to be discreet. Are there some things that should be kept private? Okay, it's not like everybody needs to know these things, or this conflict, or this issue, or this problem that I'm having. Not in a public space, maybe privately, maybe in a right context, but not everything. That's called discretion. What should I say at this time? Who should I tell this to? What should we speak about? That's discretion. Who's going to teach that to the teenage girls walking around? How to be morally chaste or pure, the word clean, pure is used here. Who's going to teach moral? purity, moral righteousness to the daughters among us. How to keep the home, how to be the homemaker. This was mentioned here as well. How to be good, how to be generous. That's the idea of the word good. How to reverence or obey her own husband, as it's quoted here, to obey her own husband. Sometimes there's conflict when a wife will want to listen to another man more than her own husband. You see how that could cause conflict? It sure could. You know, the boss at work is not the most important man in your life. If he happens to be a man, he's not. It's your guy. He's the guy. I mean, he's the guy. not the other people around. And so that could be a conflict. The word obedient means to place or rank under. Now, if there's disorder in a home, then that means in verse five, that the word of God is blasphemed. If there's this disorder, if everything's out of order in a home, Christian homes are out of order, that means God's word is not being followed, it's being slandered, it's being blasphemed, it's not looking good because they're not really following it. Sometimes people say they follow the scriptures, but they do so with the wrong attitude or harshness, and they're not really following the scriptures. They kind of shoot themselves in the foot. God's structure and order for the home, designed in the Garden of Eden, or demonstrated there first, is to be followed today. Christ is the head, the husband is the servant leader and provider, the wife is the supporting encourager, and the kids are the obedient learners. They are Christians in development. That's how to perceive this. And of course, in a basic structure, you have Christ, but here's the head, here's the man, and he's giving a servant leadership. Here's the woman, she has a supporting, encouraging role. And the kids come along, they're learners, and they're to be taught obedience. Ephesians 5, read that for more about family roles. And by the way, everyone is valuable. Structure and order has nothing to do with worth and value and importance. It's just structure and order so that things are not chaotic in the home. One person wrote, with our five children, I had to decide what was a moral issue and what was a non-moral issue, and simply as part of growing up. Tracking mud into the house is a no-no, but it's not a moral issue. Children tend to be noisy when they're playing, and you feel like saying, hush! but it's not a moral issue. However, I would call disobedience a moral issue. I would call respect a moral issue. Of course, stealing and lying are moral issues. And it's important that we teach our kids the difference between one of our preferences and one of those things that are real moral issues. We teach that to our kids and mentors can have a role in that. A mentor is a friend who is available for instruction, teaching, challenge, and encouragement. Finally, mentorship for students or workers. And that's in the last two verses. Exhort servants. That's the word doulos, it means slave. Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters, to please them well in all things, not answering again, not purloining to hold back or to steal, but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all. things. Mentorship for work and workers and students. Now slavery is wrong, we know that. And in the ancient world, however, it was like a majority of society. It was a fact of life that everyone dealt with. When Titus and his ship landed on Crete, he would have come into a very wealthy society, a very modern society, but a lot of the people that would go to those churches were free men and women, and others, and probably the majority, were slaves. They were slaves. In ancient times, slavery was mostly because of debt, financial debt, or war. My nation just was captured by someone else, and now we are enslaved. That was the primary means of all slavery throughout history, was those two things in ancient times. And so he's telling Titus, okay, should they still work for their boss if he's an unbeliever? And how's these relationships gonna be in the church? Because everyone was welcome to come to the church. Because Jesus sees us all as important. Jesus doesn't see us as bond or free. He sees us all as people needing salvation. And so everyone's welcome into the churches that Titus was helping establish. Slaves had no civil rights in the Roman Empire. A cruel master could do whatever he wanted with impunity for that. And even if a slave had a decent master, one person commented, who appreciated his talents and liked him, perhaps even loved him, the slave was still kept as a slave. And there were so many injustices and wrongs that went on. And so dealing with it as a fact of their culture and life, what should we do? Well, he should still do his work. We make the application for us as workers today. Students, you're workers. You're workers in the classroom. That's your full-time job. You know, I'm a student. What do you do? I'm a student. And you need to look at it. This is my job. This is what I'm supposed to be doing at this time. So he tells them, okay, here's how to obey. Who's going to mentor our kids? Who's going to mentor us as workers to do a good job? We need to teach others. We need to be mentors to others. How not to talk back. He says, not answering again. How not to steal, purloining, holding back. How to be faithful. That's the word fidelity. I was thinking maybe people call their dogs Fido because it's part of the word fidelity. No, here's my faithful dog, Fido. We need to be like a faithful dog and do the work that God's called us to do and be good workers in the workplace. How to decorate your life. with Christian teaching, and I love this concept, as he says, that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all good things, to order, to arrange, to make neat, to decorate. We need to decorate our life with the doctrine of Jesus Christ, with the teaching of Jesus Christ, even in the workplace, even in the schoolhouse. wherever you're at, that it would look like and it would be like, and I really am a Christian walking with Christ. Let me ask you two questions as we're about to conclude. Why are things the way they are in our society today? There's a whole lot of reasons, there's a whole lot of reasons, but I'll give you at least one. Why do we see such corruption and evil in our land? One person wrote this, I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible to have a moral community or nation without faith in God. Because without it, everything rapidly comes down to a me, me, me, me mentality and that's meaningless. Today, Americans have stopped acting in terms of their own moral and ethical and religious beliefs and principles. They've stopped acting on what they knew was right, and the me, me, me has become the measure of everything. However, moral societies are the only ones that work. If anyone thinks there's not a direct and invaluable relationship between personal integrity in society and society's prosperity, the person has not simply studied history. And this should not surprise us. Great moral societies built upon faith in God, honor, trust, and the law blossoms because they are harmonious, because people love or at least respect their fellow man, because finally, they have a common belief in something beyond themselves. It simplifies life immensely. You do not waste time spending days fighting on for turf or privilege or money or power over your fellow man. Alex Day took a bill, said it best when he realized that the very beginning of our nation, our nation's life. This is the fellow here. He said America is great because America is good. If America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great. Okay, Jesus didn't come to give us morality, but the Christianity that we live results in changed lives. It's a side effect of loving Jesus. So what happened? For generations, one less person was mentored. One less person was discipled. I'm too busy for that. I don't care about this next generation. I'm not going to take time to do it. One less generation after generation. One less student was taught. One less friend that was made. One less over time leads to where we're at today. And Paul knew this. That the good life needs good preaching, it needs good pastors, it needs good minds, and it needs good mentors. I want to challenge you with one final idea. This is a great concept. I love this concept. Everyone needs a Paul, everyone needs a Barnabas, and everyone needs a Timothy. Every man and every woman here. Think about it in this way. I'll just use these three characters. Paul is an older man who is willing to mentor you to build into your life. Not someone who's smarter or more gifted than you, but someone who's been down the road. Somebody willing to share his strengths and weaknesses. Everything he's learned in the laboratory of life. Somebody whose faith you want to imitate. As a Barnabas, Barnabas is a soul brother. Somebody who loves you, but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who's willing to keep you honest, willing to say, hey man, you're neglecting your wife, you're not doing what's right, don't give me any excuses. Somebody to say things like this. A Timothy is a younger man into whose life you are building. For a model, we can look at 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Here, Paul was the quintessential mentor, building into the lives of his protege, Timothy, later on Titus, affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing. So who is your Paul? Who is your Barnabas, your friend? And who is your Timothy? That's my questions as I conclude. Think about it today. Pray through this. Who will that person be, those three people be in your life? Let's take a moment to pray together and respond. God help me to be a mentor, I want to be one who is available as a friend who will say the tough things and encourage the right things in the lives of those who I am mentoring. I want to help with that. God, I know that is something that you have asked me to do. Anybody like that? You want to be a mentor? God, help us. Yes, yes, and yes. Maybe you say, I need a mentor, like right now. I need somebody to help me right now, coach me, guide me, give me advice and guidance. I need a mentor right now. Is there anybody like that? I need that. Yes. I see several hands. Yes. Hey, all of us need a mentor. I do too. I have, I have a couple of mentors already and everyone needs them. So who is your Paul? Answer that in your mind. Who's the one mentoring you? Next, who is your Barnabas? Who's that accountability partner, that friend that you have? You can talk about anything with them. And then who's your Timothy? Who's the one that you're mentoring? Who's that young lady? Who's that young woman, that young adult? Who's that man that you're mentoring? Fill in that blank. Who's that going to be if you don't have one yet? All right, let's take a moment to pray. Lord, thank you for this incredible teaching about mentorship, discipleship, coaching, helping. We are called to disciple and to mentor others, to be mentored ourselves. And so let this message deeply impress into our hearts and minds. And today, let us pray and think and consider about who would be our mentor and who we would be mentoring. Give us the relationships and the friendships that we need. Let us affect the next generation, not everywhere in the world, the next generation right here. with your truth, your righteousness, your love, and your gospel. Lord, thank you for what you've taught us. Thank you for this time that we've had to worship you. We give you praise in Jesus' name, amen.