Bible Study for Older Men

Titus 2:1-2 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

As we begin our Bible Study in Titus chapter 2, we see that Paul is giving instructions to Titus as to what he is to teach various groups of people. In this chapter, he will give instructions concerning older men, older women, younger women and younger men. These instructions are applicable to us today. God does not change and His instructions and guidelines for living do not change with the changing times. Some of these instructions that he gives are going to sound old fashioned to some of you but we need to remember that God created marriage and family and He does know best. He sets the boundaries and not we ourselves. So lets begin.

picture thanks to fitnnessthrroughfasting.com

Verse 1 -  But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

The Words of the Bible are the Words of God, Words of Wisdom. Sound doctrine is the basis for holy living and for producing characteristics and qualities that a Christian possesses. These are qualities that identify us as true Christians. This includes living a life of faith in our Lord Jesus, and trusting Him with our lives. It includes living a life of love, love in action. A good definition of the word love is "you before me" - that is the putting the needs of others ahead of what we think we need or want. We care for others - this includes those in our immediate family. It can be easy to neglect those closest to us, when these are to be our first priority.

Verse 2 -  That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

We see here a list of characteristics that are to be evident in the life of an aged ( or older ) gentleman. Let's go through them word by word.

*sober - this means to be clear minded, level headed and serious in how one lives, not thoughtless or careless, but rather making right choices intentionally with purpose. 

* grave - this is to be self controlled and live with dignity

* temperate - this means to show moderation and self restraint

*sound in faith - this means to be solidly grounded in the Lord, living the faith you profess to have. This would include having a personal relationship with the Lord and being in prayer and in His Word daily, saturating yourself in it, keeping your mind focused on the things of the Lord throughout the day.

* in charity - we understand charity to mean love - this is not romantic or puppy love or lust for younger or older women. It is not listening to love songs on the radio all day stirring up your flesh. It is a pure desire to bless another in the Name of Jesus. This includes helping the poor, and widows and widowers, a neighbor in need, those who are lonely, donating to honorable causes and charities etc. but also just putting others in your family ahead of yourself.

* patience - this is being steadfast and willing to wait. Sometimes the answers to our prayers are delayed, and as we wait on the Lord, we need to keep strong in our faith, and not begin to doubt that He is indeed good, that He loves us and He has planned the very best for us.

That concludes our study on instructions from the book of Titus specifically written to older men. 

Deuteronomy 11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

I am studying through the book of Titus on my Live By Faith Blog, please feel free to check out other studies, there is a study for young men, women, the workplace and other studies - link to the blog here Live By Faith Online Bible Studies

May God bless each one of you!

Bible Study from Titus 1:10-16

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

picture from biblepic.com

We are now ready to enter Part 2 of our Bible study in the book of Titus. Today we are going to be discussing Titus 1:10 -16. Some of these verses in today's study are somewhat hard to understand, but we are confident that God is willing to speak to us through every book of the Bible and every portion of Scripture. So let's begin with verse 10.

Titus 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

In our previous study, we learned about the character qualities that God requires in Bishops and elders. We learned how the Bishop and elder must be a man who is faithful to his wife in marriage and faithful to his family, he must not be a drunkard or violent, and he must be pure in all areas of his life.

Now in verse 10 we read that there are many people who deceive others, people who speak untruth and whose conversation is typically useless and does not center on the things of the Lord. We are warned that these kinds of people are those of the "circumcision".  There were people in Biblical times those who taught that the Gentiles should follow the Jewish customs in order to please God.  We know that what God requires of us is that we repent of our sins and come to Jesus and accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. Jesus is the One who took our sin upon Himself there on the cross, and He suffered and died in our place. What we must do is to receive Him as Savior and make Him the Lord of our lives. When we give our hearts and life to Him, He becomes our Lord and Savior and therefore we surrender our will to His will and we choose to live according to His ways. We no longer have any desire to live the sinful life of pleasures and worldliness.

Verse 11 - Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

The mouth of those who speak lies must be stopped. That is why it is so important that our local church pastor regularly inform the congregation he serves of the false teachers that we all encounter through various forms of media, on the internet, radio and TV. The health and wealth preachers of our day, those who distort the Bible or leave out passages of the Bible, passages of the Bible that warn us of the sin of homosexuality and immorality. Please everyone who is reading this, be warned that the Bible is very clear that homosexuality and any sexual activity outside of marriage is a sin against God and will be punished by God Himself. God created marriage - one man and one woman married for life, that is God's original plan. God in His great mercy and compassion has made a way of escape for that man or woman who finds himself/herself suddenly trapped in a marriage where their spouse has broken the marriage covenant and has went outside the marriage for sexual experiences. In a case such as this God does allow for divorce.
Many of the false teachers are very hungry for money and request you give them money while they live in luxury and riches and boost their own egos. Sooner or later God brings them down to destruction.

Verse 12 - One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
These people are lazy and live like animals, living a lie. They say they are Christian but deny Christ by their lives and actions.


Verse 13 - This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
We need to focus our attention on becoming sound in faith. How does one do this you ask? By spending time with the Lord in Bible reading and prayer. This needs to be a regular routine, something that you do every day. God will speak to you as you read the Bible. Take time to pray and listen to what He is telling you, be willing to do what He tells you. 
Rebuke those who are leading others astray. Stand up for truth and righteousness. Take a stand for the Lord even if it costs you something. Take a stand for the Lord at work or school, in your family and with your friends. The Lord rewards those who are faithful to Him.




Verse 14 -  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

As you take a step of faith and be that witness for the Lord, and take a stand for righteousness, you will be a help to those around you. It will become clear who is truly on the Lord's side and who is in it for themselves. Others will become more bold to take a stand for Jesus, and they too will oppose the sin and darkness that is so prevalent. In this way the Lord will be glorified and honored. You will be glorifying the Lord in your work or school, and in your family and among friends.

Verse 15 -  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Here is a very important verse. When our heart has been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus, we can live lives of purity. The opposite is also true - If a person has not been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus, he or she is living in darkness and will normally gravitate to the dark side, and to live for the devil. Such a person's heart is filled with lust and greed. Such men will look at every woman with lust in their hearts, imagining the unthinkable. Their minds are filled with all sexual perversions. As the verse says "their mind and conscience is defiled". Women who live with these  defiled hearts lure men into immoral relationships and try to be sexy in their revealing clothing and dress showing their breasts with no shame. These people know no other way to live and believe that the life they are living is normal and yet if they would speak honestly, they would tell you that deep inside they are in turmoil, they are not happy and they are unfulfilled. Their heart is empty as they seek for that next thrill. If you are reading this and it describes you or someone you love, please turn your heart over to the Lord Jesus. Seek Him sincerely, repent of your sin, believe that Jesus is the only Savior and that He died for you. Ask Jesus to save you today. For further information on how to be saved please go to this link How to be saved
also I wrote a blog post on Repentance and I highly recommend you check it out.
Also for prayer for healing from your broken heart please contact the ministry of John Mcternan at Luke4.18Heal@gmail.com  and visit his website Jesus Christ Came to Heal the Brokenhearted  where he shares how his own broken heart was healed and there are testimonies of others who have prayed and received healing.

Verse 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

This verse warns us to beware of those who profess to know the Lord but in their actions they deny Him. Our lives are a living testimony to those around us. If the fruit of our lives does not line up with what the Bible teaches, then it is time to examine our hearts to see if we are really Christians. If you are a Christian then you will be living according to the commandments of God as he has given in the Bible. 
There are people who say they know God, that they are Christians  but the evil things they do show that they don’t accept him. They refuse to obey God and because they are not lead by the Holy Spirit ( who indwells the heart and life of every true believer ) and because the Holy Spirit is not in them, they are not capable of doing anything good.

Galatians 5 clearly describes the fruits of those who know Christ and the fruits of those who do not know Him. In which camp are you?


Those who are saved and know Christ -
Galatians 5:22-25

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.



Those who are not truly saved - Galatians 5:19 -21

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Titus Series - Part 1 - Of Bishops and Elders...

I have wanted to do a study on the book of Titus for some time now. It is a short book - only three chapters but packed with wonderful truths that the Lord would have us know and live by. So my plan here is to go verse by verse and see what it says. Please feel free to leave comments if there is something on your mind - just keeping in mind that I delete comments that are bitter or if a comment is with malice and looking to be argumentative.
So let's begin with Titus chapter 1.

picture from rgbstock.com

Verse 1 - Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
Paul regards himself to be a servant of God. A servant is not above his master. A servant is willing to be obedient to the instructions that his master gives him. So also, we should consider ourselves to be servants of the Lord Jesus and ready to do our Master's will!  God has chosen every person on the planet to be one of His own, but He knows that many will not choose to follow Jesus. To become a part of the family of God we must accept Jesus as our personal Saviour and put all our faith and trust in Him. OnlyJesus can save - no one except Jesus! Jesus is the way, the truth and the life as it says in John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Verse 2 - In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
God's goal for each of us is to have eternal life with Him in heaven. This verse reminds us that God does not lie. He will always keep His promises!! God is faithful to us always. 2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.


Verse 3  But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
It is so amazing to think that God has entrusted us humans to carry forward His Word to our friends and family and to the coming generations. Yet we always must keep our focus on the message of the cross, focus on the message of the Bible and not on the messenger who is preaching the sermon to us. I have looked up to many preachers in my lifetime already, Some have failed to live up to God's standards but the message of the Bible does not fail us. I would encourage anyone who is looking for some good preaching to google James MacDonald or Levi Lusko, or Dr J Vernon McGee, or John Munroe. These are all good teachers of God's Word. We can learn much from their teachings.

Verse 4 - To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Paul is writing this book to Titus. He is referring to him as his son. This means that Paul has been instrumental in helping Titus come to faith in the Lord Jesus. Grace, mercy and peace is given to us by God our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 5 - For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

Paul is now getting in the business of the day. He says that he has left Titus in Crete for a purpose. Titus needs to help set things in order in the churches here. There is some work here that needs getting done!  Paul wants Titus to ordain elders in every city. We can also use the word bishop here in place of elder. In verse 7 the word bishop is used. It would appear that Paul had previously given these instructions and now is reminding him to get the job done.


Verse 6  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Verse 6 begins to tell us what characteristics are required for a man to possess in order for him to qualify to become an elder or bishop. The church that I grew up in did have a bishop. He was the one who would officiate at baptism services and also Communion services. He held a special role in the church. Now a days it is uncommon for a church to have elders or bishops. I don't know why as it seems to be an important role in the church. Where there is no bishop, the role of bishop would fall on the lead pastor or group of pastors in the church.  A bishop needs to be blameless, this means to have no evil behavior in his conduct. There would be nothing you could find in his lifestyle that you could accuse him of. He is living a good, God honoring life in his private and public life - no hidden dark secrets. He is to be the husband of one wife - this means he is faithful to his wife, he must have only one woman in his life and that is his wife. This indicates sexual purity in all it's fullness. The elder or bishop must have faithful children, if a man is not in good relationship with his children, there is something wrong in the family. A father must first lead his own family in the ways of the Lord before God will call him to lead a church. 


Verse 7 - For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
 Here we see again that a bishop must be blameless, a repeat of verse 6. So what does it mean to be blameless? We have already pointed out that this means this man would be living a pure God honoring life both in public and in his private life. I looked up the word "blameless" in my dictionary and it means there is no fault in the person. So in the work the bishop is doing there will be only uprightness and he will remember that all he does is done to and for the Lord. Not selfwilled, not soon angry, and not given to wine are self explainitory I think. No striker mean he is not a violent person. He will not physically hurt anyone. Not given to filthy lucre - lucre is money or profits. The bishop is not going to cheat or nor will he be greedy or accept bribes or bets, or gamble etc.


Verse 8 - But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Basically to be a lover of hospitality means you love people, you enjoy engaging people in deeper conversations and topics over a cup of coffee, you enjoy having people over to your house and try to communicate of the things of the Lord with your guests. As the next part of our verse says, a lover of good men - you love good people.  To be sober means to be sensible and discreet and are able to see the serious side of situations. The word just  means that you are fair, you are going to be fair in dealing with people, not take the side of a person just because he or she is has a likeable character or is beautiful to the eye. You will be fair and kind as you counsel people.  Holy - set apart to the Lord, we are to be pure and holy in all mind, thoughts, attitudes and conduct. Hate the evil and cling to what is good and right in the sight of God.
Temperate - a temperate person is a person who is free from extremes - in food and drink, and also calm and restrained in character. 


Verse 9 - Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
The elder or bishop  will know the Bible - He will have the Word of God in his heart. He knows the truth of the Word. And since the Holy Word of God is in his heart and mind constantly, he is able to teach and give instruction and encouragement  to anyone who is opposing  the truth of the Bible. He will not hesitate to challenge the one who is speaking  lies or teaching heresy. He can show the the backsliding person the error of his ways and lead him or her back to faith in the Lord. There are many voices out there today who like to contradict Scripture or say that this or that portion should not be in the Bible. God calls the elders and bishops of the church to silence these critics. 


That concludes the first of our studies in the book of Titus. Be blessed as you study the book of Titus with me. 


Titus 1: 1-9 

 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.