Older Women and Younger Women and Encouragement

^{From Titus: Life in the Church}

^{Titus 2:3-5}

³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,  ⁴so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  ⁵to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Encourage

In Greek, this word has the idea of encouraging someone to their personal duty.  The older women are to be teaching the young women.  It is very interesting the older women are given the responsibility to be teaching, caring for, and disciplining the younger women.  This is very important, especially in this day in age.  It is not usually appropriate for a male elder to council a young woman, especially in a one on one setting.  This is something that Paul gives to the older women to oversee and care for.  We have seen in our day, some of us from very close quarters what can happen when men and women get involved in inappropriate ways, often with the very best intentions.  It is also affected by the fact that even if nothing inappropriate happens it can raise questions in the minds of onlookers and mar the credibility of church members.  This is a massively important task without which the Local Church could fall apart completely.

Two Real Men

From Romans: Finding the Faith:

Romans 5:12-17 (NASB)

¹²Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned – ¹³for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  ¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.  ¹⁵But the free gift is not like the transgression.  For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.  ¹⁶The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. ¹⁷For if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Two Men

In these verses we see two men contrasted.  The first is Adam and the second is Christ.  The first thing we must note is that if Adam didn’t literally live this passage is meaningless.  Paul, along with all of the other Biblical Authors (and Christ Himself), views Adam as a real literal man, who was the first of all men, created by the very hand of God.  It may seem like a compromise to suggest the days of creation are “symbolic” or to be interpreted “poetically” but if this is so there is absolutely no theological meaning for what follows hereafter, as we will see.  The remainder of this study will take for granted that Adam was a real, physical man and really was the first of all men whom we are all ultimately descended from, not a “symbol” or a “poetic device” or any other allegorical non-sense. 

The contrast is between Adam and Christ and will give us an understanding of the two positions that are available to mankind.  We can be positioned in Adam, and identified with his sin and our own, or we can be positioned in Christ, and identified with His righteous sacrifice and perfection.  This is yet more important information in understanding the character and nature of our salvation and will be the very important background information as we begin to consider sanctification in the coming chapter.

Good Senses

An excerpt from 1-3 John: Life in Fellowship 
¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-- " John 1:1

John here breaks his witness down to the very core level, his very senses and experience.  While he was the final remaining Apostle there may have been other disciples still alive who had seen Him.  John is also, possibly, invoking the memory of the other apostles that had passed away and saying, “We all had this experience.”

Hearing – The first sense with which John mentions having experienced the person and ministry of Jesus Christ is with his ears.  This is in the perfect tense which is “past tense completed action with results going into the present.”  There may be a sense of “we heard Him and His voice still rings in our ears.”  John heard Jesus and remembered very well what He said.

Seen – The next way in which John interacted with Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry is that he saw Jesus.  To the verb “seen” John adds “with our eyes.”  John wanted to make sure that everyone understood that this is not a metaphor for spiritually seeing Jesus.  He actually SAW Jesus.  He saw Jesus make footprints, he saw Jesus eat, He likely camped out close enough to Jesus to know that when He tossed in his sleep he upset the blankets that were draped over Him.  Then he says “we looked”, this is to look so as to gain insight.  They gazed at Jesus and studied Him!

Touch – Not just that, John touched Jesus.  He undoubtedly exchanged the traditional greeting of a holy kiss on the cheek and felt Jesus’ beard on his face.  John remembered that Peter was raised out of the water by Jesus’ own hand, and himself reclined against Jesus at the last supper.  Jesus had come fully in the flesh and it is of the utmost importance that He did.

Happy Independence Day