Beacon Sunday Service: March 30th

And if you can join me back on your feet, I want to just read our one verse for the text for today. It's coming out of Titus chapter 2, verse 15. So Titus chapter 2, verse 15. And this is the reading of God's word. It reads, these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority and let no one disregard you. Let's pray together. Father, we're gathered here this morning really eager to hear your heart, to be reminded of your great love for us, to remind it of the reasons to delight in our salvation, and to be encouraged by the fellowship that we share in Christ. But at the same time, help us not to forget that the purpose of our gathering really is to bring delight to your heart.

And as we hear the proclamation, the preaching of your word, help us to feed well, help us to respond appropriately. And would you magnify the person of Christ through the proclamation this morning? I thank you, Father, for just your kindness, your patience, your grace, and in the areas where we are misunderstanding of who you are, but we have an overinflated view of who we are. I pray that you would level those things out so that you would be placed at the very center, not just of this day, but of our very lives. So protect, guard, guide this time, and we offer our hearts to you. Fill them, Lord, with your truth this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Go ahead and take a seat. Well, today is my 26th Sunday here at the Beacon.

So basically, you and I have reached our sixth month mark together. It's truly been a joy thus far, and I'm really happy to be your pastor. And I've uh I mean, I don't know if you can fully believe this or not, but I really have grown to love you, to grow to love this church. And I don't know about you, but it's felt like it's gone fast. And at the same time, I feel like I've known you guys for a lot longer than six months. And I that's the intimacy of a small church, right? I get to see you all the time, and vice versa. And so I'm very thankful, and I've loved every moment of the last six months, and I'm not saying that at all facetiously or just to tickle your ears. Okay, we're not allowed to tickle ears on the pulpit.

Um we've also reached the end of chapter two of Titus today, and it's good timing because we'll be taking a three-week break from this book. Next week we're gonna have a guest speaker. His name is Pastor Carlos Chung. Uh he's a judge by profession, but he uh was an elder at Grace Community Church for about 20 years, and uh he recently stepped down from uh leading a church in Glendale. So he'll be uh ministering to us next week and delivering the word. And then we've got um Palm Sunday, Passion, Passion Week, and Easter. And so we're gonna be picking up in chapter three uh at the end of April. So this is a good kind of a little of a breaking point. So in today's sermon, as we have just read, is just gonna be on one verse, which is Titus chapter two, verse 15.

But before we jump into the text, I want to throw out a very important statement that is gonna lay the groundwork for our message today. Okay. And here's this statement. God has expectations of those who have been saved and justified by faith. Let me repeat this. God has expectations of those who have been saved and justified by faith. And this is a very important thing to remember, especially as we're living in a time where holy living has been de-emphasized and pretty much dismissed completely as legalism. This is very important to remember as we're living in a time in which God given authority is questioned and challenged, right? And you're gonna see why we're gonna talk about authority today.

It's very important because we're living in a time in which biblical manhood is labeled easily as toxic masculinity, a time in which biblical womanhood is thought to be oppressive and backward. Uh we're living in a time in which just loving discipline and correction, it's often blasted as abuse, and a time in which people are living in sin and hiding behind what they call a deconstruction of their faith. And you guys have heard these things thrown around. And we're living in a time where like the Bible is becoming less and less important in the church. Now, I'm not saying that there are not many, many unhealthy things in modern day Christianity. I'm sure that there are many abuses, there are many unqualified leaders, and there are cases of church discipline that are taking place more out of spite than out of love, and that are excessive.

But let me say one more time.

Okay. So a Christians living out of his faith is very important. A Christian's living out of his faith has always been very important. And you would agree with that, at least on the surface level, right? This was of supreme importance to the Apostle Paul, okay, the minister of the gospel, and especially toward the end of his life. And this is what Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy. He wrote, in the case I am delayed, I write to you 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 support of the truth. So there are still expectations that the master of the house, our loving Father, has for all of those who are in his family.

There is still an expected code of conduct for the members of God's family, right? Why? Because, as it says here, the church is the pillar and the support of the truth. So the church is the platform for the truth of God. And God desires to be represented correctly, and he has always desired to be presented as holy, holy, holy. And that has never changed. Okay. Jesus Christ, Hebrews 13:8, it says, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So there are specific and explicit instructions for the members of the church. And God's expectations for the members of the church are plainly spelled out in the scriptures. And in Titus chapter 2, the Apostle Paul laid out what these instructions were for the specific groups in the church.

And we've covered them over the last few months, right? And these instructions were age appropriate, stage appropriate, and even station appropriate guidelines. So by way of review, we saw that instructions were given to older men, Titus chapter 2, verse 2. And we saw that instructions then were given the older women, Titus 2 3. And these older women were exhorted to teach the younger women. Titus 2, 4 to 5. Instructions were given to younger men in Titus 2.6, and then Titus himself and all of those in leadership were given instructions on what kind of men they were to be as they exercise authority in the church. Christian slaves.

And then in summary, which we covered the last like few weeks, in Titus chapter 2, verses 11 to 14, all those who make up the bride of Christ were instructed in proper response to the grace. Okay. And these instructions will actually continue through the beginning of chapter 3, verse 2 1 and 2, when Christian citizens are instructed on how to conduct themselves among pagan rulers and authorities. So Titus was instructed to give the following guidelines of conduct to all of these groups in the churches of Crete. So remember, believers were saved by faith alone, through grace alone, but their salvation would be proven, right? Would be evidenced by their good works. And so Titus was to speak these things.

He was to exhort the people in these things, and then he was to reprove, to correct, or even discipline contradictors and the insubordinate in all of these things. So in all of these things, Titus chapter 2, verse 15, Titus was instructed to speak, exhort, reprove, and what's the word? With all authority. And so we're gonna be looking at this one verse today. So here's a sermon outlined up front. First, we're gonna be taking a look at the charge that is given to Titus. Okay, what does it mean to speak, reprove, exhort? Okay. Because remember, he had been given the great task of appointing elders for all the churches of Crete, and then setting things back in order as because Paul was not able to be stationed there long term.

So what was he supposed to do? What was his charge? Secondly, we're gonna be looking at his credentials. What credentials would be uh touted as he communicated these instructions? Okay, by what authority would Titus be carrying these out? And third, there's nothing new under the sun. People have always had problems with authority. People who have had authority have not always exercised that well, right? So we're gonna be looking at those who would try to circumvent him in the church, those who would try to treat him with condescension, because literally the word that we're gonna be looking at is like a circumventing, condescending, disregard. Okay.

So there's gonna be opposition. So we wanna know how uh Titus is supposed to combat these things. Okay, and Titus is commanded not to let anybody disregard him. Okay, so in verse 15, where we first have the charge and then the credentials, and then how to deal with the circumventing condescender. Okay, hopefully that's a little bit of a mouthful. Just basically just an opposition. All right. So let's read verse 15 again. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority, let no one disregard you. And what are these things? Um, basically, these things were everything that was written in chapter two, okay, that we the list that I showed you, these things included all the instructions given that were befitting of sound, accurate doctrine.

And these things were not to be theological only, they were also to be very much things that were put into practice. You can never divorce biblical doctrine from biblical application, right? The scriptures don't allow this. Even Jesus asked, Hey, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? So works cannot be divorced from faith. And again, we are never to divorce biblical doctrine from biblical application. If good theology does not lead to godly practice, that is what the Bible calls a stuff of the devils. Okay, so there are many people who are harming the churches in Crete, and we looked at that in chapter one. By their profession, they claimed a knowledge of God, but the fruit of their lives and the way they carried themselves, the way they uh conducted ministry and the way they taught, the way they interacted with the world, betrayed the fact that they actually had no knowledge of God.

And by way of review, this is what he said before chapter two. They professed to know God, but by their works they deny him, being detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work. But as for you, Titus, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. Okay, so the these things were uh is gonna come out uh several times. So there were impostors that were church adjacent. Some of these impostors were actually in their gatherings, and Paul is actually saying you can spot them out and you can pick them out by their lives, because their lives were not consistent with their profession. So the Christian whose very purpose was to know God and to be known by God, to love God and to be loved by God, or uh to love God, he was supposed to live in such a way that the doctrines of God were to be adorned, right?

That was what the Christian was supposed to be like. So these Christians, real genuine believers, um, that Titus was charged with, he was to speak and exhort and reprove. Okay, and later in chapter three, we'll see Paul elaborate on this as he wraps up the letter. Okay, this is a trustworthy uh saying, and concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently. Why? So that those who have believed God will be intent to lead in good works. The word uh intent, Paul says, zealous in chapter two, right? We will be intent to lead in good works. These things are good and profitable for men. So Titus was to speak and to exhort and to prove reprove with all boldness and confidence. And the desired result would be that the church would be a beautiful place, filled with people who are really eager to do good works.

That the church would be a place always leading in good works. Because indeed, like it says in the book of James, faith without works is what is dead, right? So in the church, good works was absolutely important. And as it says in here, verse 8 of chapter 3, this is a good and profitable charge for all men, right? Now, not just believers, but for all people. When the church is shining brightly, the world actually does benefit. Okay? So, what was the charge to this young pastor? To Titus, this young church leader. He was first to speak these things. And speak basically meant to make clear and to communicate these instructions. So he was to teach and persuade with clear teaching. And what was to be the content of the teaching?

Everything that had been taught by Christ, so as to fulfill the great commission to the glory of God. Okay? And Titus was to teach them to not just learn, but to apply all the things that have been taught by Christ for the glory of God. Everything from Genesis to Revelation that was taught through Christ about Christ for the glory of God. Second, Titus was to exhort all those who are in the church. And the word exhort is the exact same word, paratale, that is mentioned in chapter Titus chapter 2, verse 6, where it's translated urge. It says urge the young men. Okay. But actually, the more accurate feel is a command. It's a command of military leaders to his soldiers. It's the command of a father to his children.

Charge, urge, exhort. Okay? And this is not a negative word. There was no abusive baggage with this word. Now, many in our day, uh, immediately we can get triggered or very anxious or guarded when we hurt when we see words like command, right? And understandably so. There are abuses and there have been abuses in the church, but this is the charge nonetheless. Titus is charged to command, right? To teach and then to command. For example, or so should should parents command children to do things. Absolutely. Do you have authority to do that? Yeah. Should kids listen. Yeah, but the basis of that is love, right? Not like I want to hear the sound of my own voice. I command you. It's not like that.

But parents are given to the charge to command their children to do things. So hopefully, this exhorting is done with a ton of encouragement and warmth and love behind it. But Titus is to command nonetheless. And third, on this list is the word reproof, which means rebuke or to strongly correct. It starts with kind of emotionally neutral, and then it actually gets a little bit more uncomfortable as we go. So Titus is to reprove. Now, for parents, are there parents in the world who are abusive to their children? Yes, there are.

Well, for sure. Are there parents who seek to punish their kids then rather than to lovingly correct? Absolutely. But should the existence of cases of abusive parents evoke a law that forbids all parents from reproving their children in any way, shape, or form? Of course not. And that would be absolute foolishness, right? So every normal person would agree that a parent's job is to speak and to exhort and reprove their children. Amen.

So God in his wisdom has entrusted and hardwired parents with the responsibility of lovingly reproving their children. In the same way, the leaders of churches have been entrusted with the charge of shepherding his flock, but always for their good. Okay? And so let's look how they are to do this. 1 Peter 5, 1 to 3. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, and this is the Apostle Peter, as your fellow elder and the witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, which includes speaking, exhorting, and reproving, overseeing, not under compulsion, but willingly, not or according to God, and not for dishonest gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to you, but being examples to the flock.

She may be setting herself up for some short-term excitement and short-term benefit, but she would be setting herself up for long-term disaster. In the same way, it's absolutely imperative for every church to take very seriously the biblical qualifications of those whom they put into leadership. It is imperative that every leader in the church is first tested, 1 Timothy 3.10. It's imperative that every leader in the church is appointed more on the basis of his character than on the basis of his gifting or his resume. Right? So one of the problems that we're having in today's churches is we so quickly elevate gifted people without looking at their character, without scrutinizing their insecurity, and then later suffering the consequences, and then trying to level the entire playing field by getting rid of all church leadership as unhealthy and demanding this or that.

That's not how it's supposed to be. Okay? So Chitus chapter 1, verse 13 reads, this testimony is true. For this reason, reprove them severely so that they may sound in the faith. So this was the charge that was given to all the church leaders, but especially to Titus. And then he says, reject the factious man after a first and second warning, right? So Titus was given the charge to confront and to discipline and to reprove severely, Titus 1.13. Perhaps to even reject and excommunicate a person in the event that the individual doesn't heed the warnings, Titus 3 10. Now, in applying something like this, this is a very sensitive thing. Right? This is a risky endeavor. It can go wrong on so many different levels.

So such a thing, a rejection from the community, if in the event it has to be done, would you say it has to be done with great care? Oh, for sure. But the riskiness involved does not negate the fact that it must be done. So if there's a malignant tumor inside of a person's organ, does it need to be excised? Absolutely. Everyone would agree with this. Balignant tumors need to be removed. Because if it's not removed, what happens? It spreads and harms all the healthy cells. But in the removal of that tumor, you'd want a trained surgeon to do it with a precision and with accuracy. Right? Belignant tumors, in the removal of them, you wouldn't want a careless, untrained doctor to do it, or worse yet, a mortal enemy with an agenda, right?

To vindictively remove it and then to torture the person in the process. This is why those who are tasked with the responsibility of reproving have to be super biblically literate and super precise. They are never to reprove out of spite, out of their own opinions or their own preferences or their biases. Church leaders are never to reprove because they've been hurt or offended. They are never to be vindictive or self-willed. Amen. So that is why it's so important not to put self-willed, quarrelsome, temperamental people in the positions of church leadership, as it says in Titus chapter 1. So those who are charged with reproving, first and foremost, are to be men of great character who always hold firmly to the word of God.

So all the qualifications, Titus chapter 1 begins with the qualifications of the elders and the overseers, right? And this is what they're going to be doing. After they are all of those things, they are holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that this elder will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to reprove those who contradict. Not just reprove those who are annoyances in the church, not reproving simply because of biases, but those who are contradictory, whether in life or in doctrine. So the charge to Titus and to all the appointed and ordained leaders of the Christ church was to speak these things. Okay? And they were to speak these instructions, to exhort and to reprove.

And this brings us to our second point. The credentials by which someone like me is to speak, exhort, and reprove. These things, speak and exhort and reprove with all authority, let no one disregard you. So Titus was charged with this task, and he had the authority of God behind him.

But in the wrong hands, that's a very nuclear thing, right? So throughout history, false teachers, false prophets, false pastors, and impostors spoke. But they never spoke from God. They were representatives of the devil, the father of lies. So these false pastors, false prophets, they may have spoken things that at times sounded truthful, but they did not speak truth. And this was one of the long-standing problems in the Old Testament, right? Jeremiah 23, 21, 22, it reads, God says, I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. Had they stood in my counsel, they would have caused my words to be heard by my people, and they would have turned back my people from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.

Okay, so first, the false prophets did not come from God. They did not speak from God, but they ministered and they spoke and they prophesied. And the primary evidence that God gives to the prophet Jeremiah in these prophets not being sent from him or by him? Two things. They didn't speak on the evil of the people's deeds, and they didn't call for the repentance of the people for their deeds. They claimed authority, but they did not speak it. So one doesn't just have authority because he claims it. Amen. So first, these prophets, or what was the message of these false prophets who spoke as if they had authority, but they did not in fact have any authority. What was the message of the entire generation of religious leaders who did not speak from God or for God?

Jeremiah 6, 13 to 14, from the least of them, even to the greatest of them, everybody, all these religious leaders of this entire generation, is greedy for gain. And that's not just monetary. From the prophet, even to the priest, everyone practices lying, and they have healed the brokenness of my people superficially, saying, peace, peace, but there is no peace. So the strategy that they employed was to make it look like the people were being healed with superficial healing. They satisfied itching ears, they spoke what the people wanted to hear, they preyed upon the wishful thinking of the people, and the motivation behind all of it was gain. They said what would garner them favor. And the means of their speech and the source of their prophesying was deception and lying.

Again, which is satanic in origin, John 8 44. So this was their messaging.

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The God of peace is with you, O Israel. But what the Lord is saying here in Jeremiah 6, in reality, there is no peace. Because you cannot live in outright rebellion against God and demand blessing or assuming peace. Right? You cannot be hostile to God and claim his favor. And that's what he is saying here in Jeremiah 16. A couple more Jeremiah passages. Then Yahweh said to me, the prophets are prophesying lies in my name.

They are prophesying to you a vision of, it's still a vision, of lies, divination, futility, and the deception of their own hearts. So remember, these false prophets were preaching things that sounded like truth, and they were preaching things that the people wanted to hear, and they were preaching them in whose name.

Jeremiah 23, 30 to 31. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares Yahweh, who steal my words from each other. Literally, they're quoting each other as scripture. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares Yahweh, who take their tongues and they declare, Yahweh declares. So these guys were claiming authority, but they did not have authority because God did not send them, nor did He speak through them. Important things to remember. Authority is never from men. Amen. Authority is never in titles. Authority is never in degrees or resumes. I don't care if a man has a PhD in some biblical study. Authority does not come from ability or gifting.

True or false. Does not come from it. Authority does not come from gender. Just because I'm a male, listen. Nope. Does not come from age. I'm I'm like a seventy-year-old man of God, listen. Nope. It doesn't come from stage, rank, or even experience. All spiritual authority comes only from God. And all authority has been given from God the Father only to God the Son. Are you guys tracking this? Authority is given to Christ alone. Matthew 28, 18 to 20, and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So therefore, disciples, you go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to practice, to observe, to do our different translations, all that I commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So what are we supposed to speak, exhort, and reprove? Everything that Jesus wanted, spoken, exhorted and reproved through. Are you guys following this? Everything that God spoke, we are to speak in the name of Christ, with the authority of Christ, and not just to indoctrinate, not just to instruct, but to command to put into practice. Do you guys see that in the passage? So all authority has been given to Christ. So when a mortal being like me, okay, a messenger, a preacher, a teacher, or a pastor, when a guy like me preaches with authority, he has to be preaching with the full endorsement of Jesus Christ behind it. The authority of God is found only in the man whom Jesus is with.

You guys follow? Teaching all the words that Jesus Himself had taught. When a preacher from the pulpit says, thus saith the Lord, he can only be speaking with authority if and only if the Lord indeed saith thus. So the authority of the pulpit is not one that comes from the ability or the eloquence of the speaker. It comes only through the accurate and spirit-filled proclamation of the living and active word of God. It does not come from man's eloquence or man's craftiness or man's ability to jerk a tear or to tell a story. The human mouth is speaking with authority from God, only when God is speaking through that human mouth. So, how important is it then that you and I learn to discern the voice of God?

How important is it to make sure as a congregation that the mortal man standing at the pulpit preaching God's word is in fact actually preaching God's word. I would say supremely important. The standard is never the man or even the life or the man, or even the integrity of the man, or the example of the man. That's not the standard. My hypocrisy can get in the way. But that in and of itself is not the standard. The standard of the authority is the word of God, cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, verse to verse. So these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. So Titus was charged with speaking and exhorting and reproving, and he was told to do so with all authority, not in him being the chosen one on Crete by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

That wasn't the authority. The authority was he's preaching sound doctrine in the name of Christ. However, in preaching, in speaking, exhorting, reproving with God's authority, there will be people who would treat him and or his teaching with disdain. The word literally disregard means to size up, to look around, and then to scoff at with condescension and tend to circumvent. So obviously the Bible translators can't put all that into one word, right? So disregard. But it literally means to size up, to look around with scrutiny, to find things that they can fault him for, and then just to disregard and then circumvent. That's what disregard means.

Titus was first not to let any accusation legitimately stick, of course. Why do men who occupy the pulpit, why do they need to be above reproach? Because that's so distracting when they're not. When people say that pastor did this, what am I gonna say? I was abused there. Like, that pastor had a moral failure. There's not much that I can say outside of, oh man, I really wish that guy wasn't in a pastor to begin with. That's the only thing I can do, but we can't retroactively undo stuff. So first, the guy who's occupying the pulpit cannot let any accusation stick. So that's what Titus is first being told in the let no one disregard you. This is a pretty loaded phrase. He was not to let his failures to cause people to discount the truth of the message, which is happening all over the place now.

But more than that, Titus was to preach with authority in such a way and what's with such an accuracy in the handling of the word of God that if the person disregards the pulpit, he's disregarding God Himself. And that Titus can'm gonna close just with one circumventing, condescending way that people lately have started disregarding the authority of the pulpit. And it's so dangerous because it sounds very truthful. A lot of times they call it gospel centeredness. Is it important to be gospel centered? Oh, for sure, right? Well, gospel-centered preaching is where the bulk of the message is telling basically of the gospel proper in different ways, but it's there's an aversion to a preaching of any imperatives or any kind of exhortation for good works.

So it sounds really catchy, right? Because of course we're not saved by what we do. Yes, God saved me through by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. He saved me, not because of anything I did, but imputing Christ's righteousness unto me, regardless of what I've done. He saved me. And gospel-centered preaching almost wants you to just stop there and just delight in that. But if you read through the New Testament, if you read through the epistles, they are littered with imperatives. They are littered with commands emphasizing good works. They are littered with prohibitions to New Testament saints of God. Amen.

When our twins were around two years old, the most pressing and urgent demands of each day centered on them getting to eat. Okay, so if you guys have raised a kid, you know that when they're about one or two, eating is important. Okay? So feeding time was serious business, and because the intake of food was such serious business at that stage of their development, we had five very strict rules for the dining table that they had to follow. Okay. So here were our dining table rules. Number one. Rule number one, we wash our hands before we eat. Okay. You can give me a thumbs down if that you don't believe in that rule, all right? But we wash our hands before we eat. Rule number two, we pray and give thanks to God before we eat.

Okay, so uh our kids, we force them. And they would do that. And then they would end with hallelujah, they would do that. Three, we are not to have any toys at the table. No playing with toys while we eat. Is it because we wanted to restrict them from playing? Yes, at that moment, right? No toys at the table. Fourth rule, we do not throw our food, and we do not play with our food. Food is for the mouth, not for the floor. Okay? And a couple times we had to like gently go like, mim it, because they would throw the floor food on the floor. And sometimes it didn't work because they're like, hey, mim it, mim it. Like, oh, so it was a, it was, it was uh, it was fun trying to get them not to throw their food.

And then five, we are always to have both butt cheeks on the chair while we eat. So those are our five rules. Both butt cheeks on the chair. So simple enough. The first two rules about the hand washing and praying were not difficult to enforce on the twins. We could force it on the twins. But the twins were horrible at keeping rule number three and five, three to five. There were many threats made. There were always toys snuck onto the table. There was much food wasted and torn and thrown down. And there was much time spent wrestling with the two of them who could not keep their bottoms on their seats. So even as two-year-olds, they would sometimes mess with me. They would rock back and forth and say, like just to be on one cheek at a time, right?

And I would have to hold in my laughter and yell, both cheeks, and they would be like, but cheeks! I was like, oh my goodness. But they would rock back and forth. They thought it was hilarious and they would just giggle at me. There were occasionally meals that were eaten in tears when we took away a toy or put it on timeout. And I'm sure in their two-year-old minds, they sometimes felt that the rules were unjust and made no sense. It's the insight into our family, okay. Why did we have rules at our table? Ultimately, the rules were in place to ensure that our kids properly ate. Rule keeping in and of itself was never the goal. What was the goal? Eating. The dining table rules were in place basically to ensure that our kids ate and grew stronger.

The primary motivation behind all of these rules was love. The rules were there for good. The purpose of our house rules was not for them to grow up to become good rule keepers. The purpose was for their healthy growth. We took no pleasure in the enforcement of the rules. We were happy when they kept the rules. We were delighted when they obeyed. Not because that boosted our self-esteem or stroked our ego, but because their obedience meant movement toward their well-being. Because when they were one and two, they had to learn to trust us and trust our God given authority. Disobedience moves them toward discipline. Habitual disobedience would lead them to their doom. Right. If they broke the rules, of course, it would be appropriately disciplined, but the discipline was always corrective, not punitive.

So even as sin tainted imperfect parents, our rules were always for what we believe to be for their good. Our rules were in place for their good. The rules were enforced for their good. Any exercise of parental authority was for their good.

So near to it as Yahweh, our God is whenever we call on him, or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today. The possession of the laws of Yahweh was what made them great.

In the Chang household now, we don't really have rules at our dining table. We don't really need them because now the twins are older and they've been trained up in them. We now have rules for other things. The rules have evolved as the kids have grown. And we will have varying rules appropriate to their age until they leave the house.

That would make no sense.

Amen. To train all the children of God to live in such a way that delights God the Father, that exalts Christ our bridegroom, and that causes the world to be so confused. Why are you living like that? Well, because we have an awesome daddy. So, Galatians, sorry, Titus chapter 2, verse 15. All of these things that we're taught, I am charged with the responsibility to speak them, to instruct them, to command and exhort you, and then reprove and correct if need be with the authority that I've been given, not by my being hired to this church, but because it's actually consistent with the word of God says. And you can trust that the word of God is always for your good or for good, to make you like his son, and to make us a people for his own possession, zealous for good works, as is said in chapter 2, verse 13 and 14.

Amen. Let's pray together. Father, help us not to compare with those around us when we're trying to gauge our spiritual condition, but help us to become so familiar with your voice, so in tune with your heart, that what grieves you starts to grieve us. Help us to walk so intimately with Christ, that we understand that what brings you joy and delight, bring us joy and delight as well. And help us to respond to all of your truths in such a way to cause other people first to marvel, not at our beauty, but yours, but then to want to also be part of the party.

So would you transform us and use us in a way that you see fit for your glory and for our joy? I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.