Our Blessed Hope

Titus 2 puts the church in front of the blessed hope, and that hope is not wishful thinking. Jesus is Savior and Lord, and life may throw real issues, heavy burdens, sickness, anxiety, and pain, but hope is found in him. God did not create anybody to live in anonymity or just float through life doing nothing. Psalm 139 says that all the days ordained were written before one came to pass, so the call of God is not to make a private path, but to ask, “Lord, what did you create this life to do?”

Second Peter says that Christ has given all things that pertain to life and godliness. That means the believer has no excuse to live barren or unfruitful, but it also means nobody is being asked to carry life alone. Jesus says, “Come to me,” not “go do it yourself.” His cross was not half a sacrifice. It was not 99.999998 percent. It was 100 percent Jesus, dead, buried, risen, and seated in all power and glory.

Titus 2 shows what the church should look like while waiting for Christ to appear. Paul tells seasoned men and seasoned women to live sober, holy, sound lives and to pour into the younger generation. Young women need spiritual covering. Young men need to see what a godly man looks like. Children in fatherless homes need strong men and strong women who will help shape them, not according to the world’s version of success, but into people who can walk with dignity, etiquette, and the fear of God.

The text also calls for sound speech, good works, sincerity, and a life that gives the enemy nothing evil to say. The church does not take its temperature from the culture. The church sets the temperature. Jeremiah’s fire shut up in his bones becomes the picture of every believer’s pulpit, whether that pulpit is a family, a workplace, a gas station, or a simple conversation over coffee.

The grace of God has appeared, and his name is Jesus Christ. That grace teaches denial of ungodliness and worldly lust, and it trains a peculiar people to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. The blessed hope is the glorious appearing of Jesus, the one who gave himself to redeem and purify his people. Revelation 7 lifts the eyes to the multitude in white robes, every nation and tongue before the throne, crying salvation to God and to the Lamb. Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to God forever.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Hope is found in Jesus [14:13] Jesus is not a thin comfort for easy days, but the living hope for real affliction, real burdens, and real sorrow. The world tries to snuff out the flame Christ has lit inside his people, but Scripture keeps pointing back to the One who has overcome the world. The blessed hope is not only that life can be endured now, but that Jesus is coming back and will change everything in the twinkling of an eye. [14:13]
• 2. Unfinished prayers shape the heart [11:27] Unanswered prayers are not forgotten prayers. God may not be working on the prayer first, but on the one who prayed it. A microwave prayer wants quick heat for a quick need, but the Lord is not a microwave God. His timing presses faith into patience, and patience exposes what still needs to be surrendered. [11:27]
• 3. The church must raise generations [17:14] Titus 2 does not let seasoned believers retire from spiritual responsibility. Seasoned men and women become holy covering for younger men, younger women, and children who need more than advice, they need an embodied pattern of godliness. A fatherless culture cannot be healed by complaint alone. Godly men and women must step in, pour in, and show what holiness looks like at home, at church, and in the streets. [17:14]
• 4. The Word becomes the mirror [34:58] The Word of God is the barometer, not culture, not neighbors, not even family opinion. When Scripture becomes a mirror, it shows more ugliness and iniquity than a person usually wants to admit. That exposure is mercy, not shame. God scrubs, purges, and cleans so that the church can be presented without spot or wrinkle. [34:58]
• 5. Every believer has a pulpit [24:17] The pulpit is not only a platform in a church building. A father’s pulpit may be his family, a worker’s pulpit may be coworkers, and a simple coffee stop may become a holy moment. Jeremiah’s fire shut up in his bones shows that the gospel cannot stay locked inside. Wherever Christ’s people go, the church goes with them.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:50] - The Blessed Hope Introduced
• [01:40] - Hope In Jesus Through Real Life
• [03:13] - Created For Purpose And Fruitfulness
• [05:27] - All Things For Life And Godliness
• [10:06] - Jesus Gave Himself Completely
• [14:13] - Christ Is Coming Back
• [15:44] - Titus 2 And Sound Doctrine
• [17:14] - Seasoned Believers Cover The Young
• [20:48] - Sound Speech And Holy Witness
• [23:22] - Fire Shut Up In The Bones
• [26:56] - Grace Teaches Godly Living
• [29:19] - Exhort, Rebuke, And Receive Correction
• [34:58] - Scripture As The Mirror
• [43:18] - The Multitude In White Robes

Bible Reading

Titus 2:1-15
“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” [15:44]

2 Peter 1:3-8
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [05:27]

Psalm 139:16
“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” [03:41]

Revelation 7:9-12
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'” [43:18]

Observation questions

1. In Titus 2, what groups of people are named, and what kind of traits or responsibilities are given to each of them? [17:14]
2. According to 2 Peter 1:3-8, what qualities are believers told to add to their faith, and what result comes if those qualities are increasing?
3. In Psalm 139:16, what does the verse say God already knows and has written down about a person’s life? [03:41]
4. In Revelation 7:9-12, who is standing before the throne, what are they wearing, and what are they crying out together? [43:18]

Interpretation questions

1. Titus 2 ties godly character, sound speech, and good works to waiting for the appearing of Jesus. What does that show about how the church is supposed to live while holding onto the blessed hope? [26:56]
2. If God has already granted “all things that pertain to life and godliness,” why might a believer still feel empty, barren, or stuck? What does that passage suggest is needed next? [08:27]
3. Psalm 139:16 says a person’s days were written by God before they came to pass. How does that challenge the idea of building life only around personal preference, comfort, or self-made plans? [04:01]
4. Revelation 7 shows a countless multitude from every nation worshiping the Lamb. How does that future picture help explain why present holiness, endurance, and witness matter so much now? [45:30]

Application questions

1. Life issues are real, but hope is found in Jesus. What burden have you been carrying more by yourself than with Christ? What would it look like this week to actually bring that thing to him instead of just thinking about it? [01:45]
2. Unanswered prayers are unfinished prayers, and God often works on the one who prayed. Is there a prayer you have grown tired of praying? What might God be shaping in your heart while you wait? [11:27]
3. Nobody was created to live in anonymity or drift through life. Where do you sense God may be opening a door in front of you right now, even if it is not the door you would have chosen? [04:11]
4. Titus 2 gives seasoned believers a real responsibility toward the younger. Is there a younger believer, child, teenager, young man, or young woman you could intentionally encourage, guide, or make time for? What could that look like in a practical way? [18:25]
5. Every believer has a pulpit, whether at home, at work, or in ordinary conversations. Where is your pulpit right now, and what would faithfulness there look like this week? [24:17]
6. The Word of God is the barometer and the mirror. When Scripture has exposed something ugly, sinful, or unhealthy in you recently, how did you respond? Did you resist it, excuse it, or let God start scrubbing it clean? [34:58]
7. The church is not meant to take its temperature from the culture but to set the temperature. In what setting do you most feel pressure to blend in with ungodly speech, humor, or behavior? What would a sober, gracious, and distinct witness look like there? [22:19]