I'm always honored and privileged to preach God's word. And so this morning, basically what I'm going to be doing is a flyover of the book of Titus. So buckle up.
It's going to be pretty quick, just for the sake of more of a topical type approach to finish the year. So we'll be going pretty quick through Titus. If you're not familiar with it, I'm going to try to fill in the blanks as we go. What we're going to look at, though, is two tools that every man was designed to carry. Spoiler alert.
They're right here, the plow and the sword. And we'll talk about that as we go through. Men love visual aids, and so. And they really like swords. And so here we are, pleasing the masses.
Right. I'm going to start, though, by talking about. Sometimes I get opportunities to officiate weddings, and it's always just kind of a neat time. But one of my favorite verses to preach when I preach a wedding is Matthew 19. If you know anything about Matthew 19, if you look at your Bible, it is probably titled Teaching about Divorce.
And you want to talk about panic on the bride's face right there. And I get. It's a little weird, maybe even inappropriate to use that passage. But the reason I like it is because Jesus, what he does is reveal God's original intention for marriage. And I think that's more important than anything else we could teach is what.
What's God's design for marriage? Basically, the religious leaders were testing Jesus. They started asking Jesus about divorce. And Jesus answers them by looking at Genesis chapters one and two. And the reason being is because while the Pharisees wanted to talk about the distortion that marriage has become, Jesus wanted them to see God's original intention for what marriage was supposed to be.
The same is true for manhood. And that's why I wanted to start there, because I'm going to be talking a lot about God's original intention for a man. And you will feel encouraged, you'll feel emboldened, but you'll also feel hindered. Maybe a yoke you have on yourself that's a little too heavy to carry, but don't worry, I'll lift that up at the end. In Genesis chapter two, we learn everything we need to know about a man.
Honestly, you can learn everything you need to know about God's original intention for manhood in one verse. That's how simple we are, ladies. One verse. And then starting in Genesis chapter three, what we start seeing is the fall of man. What we start seeing through the rest of the Bible is this dramatic shift in mankind and manhood and marriage.
It's a distortion of God's original intention. And we see it not only throughout the Bible, but we see it all around us. So we start to think, oh, maybe this is normal, maybe this is how a man is supposed to be. Or maybe this is how marriage is supposed to be. And it's a big distortion of what's true.
See, we were created. What a great place to start. We were created to have a relationship with God, to live under God's authority, and to have authority over everything God created. Psalms 86 talks about this, and I love how it says that. It says, you gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority, the flocks and the herds, so forth and so on.
Adam found his true identity in his relationship with God. And he was to fulfill his God given assignment by ruling over God's new creation on God's behalf. And in so doing, God's glory would spread to the ends of the earth. The responsibility that God gave Adam and Eve was very clear. Genesis 1:28 says, and God blessed them.
And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, so forth, so on. And that's the key word that I want to focus in on is dominion. See, the thought of the word dominion means to take responsibility for, to care for, to lead, to cultivate. And when we read about God's original intention for marriage in Genesis 2, we get this picture of Adam leading Eve on an exhilarating adventure through life.
Adam has been given this vast domain, this beautiful garden to take care of, and he is to work it and tend it and explore it all. And by his side is Eve, an indispensable, irreplaceable lover and helper who finds her greatest joy in following Adam on This great adventure and helping him every step of the way. No conflict, no battles of the will. Perfect. And we have came so far from God's original intention.
Unless I just described your marriage, if so, you take the mic, please.
And what we now see in marriage, mankind, and even manhood has been so deeply distorted by sin. Yet the original mandate for a man to take dominion is still a mandate. It is part of God's original intention. You see, everything that we're trying to do by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is to get back to God's original intention for our lives. We are trying to get back to the garden.
And I wanted to start there because I think it's really important to understand that we are not living in what God original intention was. Now, there are two words in Genesis 2 that I'm going to spend the rest of the time on, and they give clarity to this meaning of dominion. And they give clarity to God's original intention for manhood. This one verse will teach you everything you need to know about a man. The way he's wired, the way he thinks, the way he approaches problems, what manhood should look like.
And it's Genesis 2:15, super simple. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And here we have the primary role of every man in every area of his life, summarized in two words, work and keep. When you think about work, this is where we get the props. I want you to think about a plow.
A plow is used to cultivate the earth. We're digging up the soil. We're preparing it for seed to be planted so it will grow. If you don't work soil, it doesn't grow right. It is used to turn up soil for good seed to be planted and grow.
You can think of a handheld instrument. When we talk about work the plow, you can think about a large metal wedge being pulled by an ox, or you can imagine an eight series John Deere tractor. Either way, the idea is to cultivate the earth so that what is planted will grow. Now, plowing is incredibly selfless. It's thankless, it's hard work, it's sweaty work.
Yet plowing is the work in which every man should be devoted. And I'm not talking about tending a garden. Please don't go home and start a garden. But I'm talking about sacrificially working hard for the sake of others, to sweat and to labor, to cultivate and nurture everything and everyone. God has put under your charge and under your leadership, things should grow and thrive.
This is God's original intention for work. Now, when you think about keeping in Genesis 2:15, think about a sword to keep watch, to guard something, to protect something. This which God has put under your charge should not only grow and thrive, but it should be cared for and protected. And it should know that it is cared for and protected. God has created every man to be a guardian and a protector and a defender.
You can ask him right now if he's ever imagined. If someone came in through these doors and started attacking all, what would he do? He has a plan in his mind. And his plan, women, is to protect you, to give up his life on your behalf. Any woman or children around him.
This is what is inside of us. He's called to stand at the watchtower and watch. But to also take up his sword and fight when an enemy presents itself. And that takes courage. Now, I'm raising three young men so I have.
I can say this on good merit. If I take two of them and put them in the yard, they're in trouble. Go out, go outside and play. They will eventually find a stick, and that stick will be turned into a weapon quickly, either a sword or a gun. And one of them will try to conquer the other one.
And they will come tell me about it, because one of them got hurt. Happens all the time with any young boy. I had my prop set up over here, and the first thing. How old is he? Three?
Two? He sees the sword from a mile away, comes up and grabs and starts swinging it everywhere. This is the reason that I'm not using a real sword, because I knew that would happen. Because this is inside of every man. Every man wants to come up and see the sword and hold the sword and figure out what's going on with it.
For whatever reason, it's just kind of in us. And what this is, it's this desire to keep. It's this desire or this calling that has been placed in every man since the Garden of Eden. It was placed in Adam. It's in you now.
Maybe someone has taken the sword out of your hand, or maybe sin has distorted how you use it. And you see this in trying to dominate those who are lesser to wars and violence. So maybe this has been distorted, but God's original intention was for you to defend and protect that which is under your charge. You were created to stand against injustice and sacrificially lay down your life for the good of those around you. Working and keeping are at the core of manhood.
Now, the areas in which God calls a man to take dominion are called domains. Because you cannot give a man dominion without clarifying his domain, or he will try to conquer everyone and everything around him. So God created Adam to take dominion, and then he gave him a domain. See Genesis 2:15. Again, the Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden, right?
To do what? To work and keep it. That was his domain. That he was to take dominion over. The domain in which Adam was to wield his sword and his plow was in the garden.
The garden was his responsibility. And look at this. The first attack of the enemy came to the garden, and he failed. He laid down his sword and let the enemy have his wife. There are four primary domains that God has given every single man.
And we find these in Titus. So we'll talk about those. I'm going to spend the rest of the time talking about those four domains. You kind of get the original intention of manhood has been so distorted that we just. It becomes so easily lost on us.
We become so lazy with these things. But I think it's encouraging and helpful to talk. Talk about. So why God created man for these four primary domains. He does not have four different jobs.
Like, we gotta have simple instructions, don't we, men? Okay, I got four areas. Two jobs in every area. Got it. Check the jobs, remain the same.
Work and keep in each domain his flesh. Family, church, and workplace. A man is called to work hard and keep watch. It's easiest to point out those areas. I believe from the letter that Paul wrote to Titus.
It clarifies them. It has an order to them. I love it. So Paul left Titus to complete some work in the city of Craig. He was to organize the fledgling churches.
He was to set order in the mass chaos that was happening in the city. He was to help fix the families, the church and the workplace. Those are the main categories we see in the book of Titus. So the first domain is flesh. The first domain in which a man is called to take dominion is in his heart and mind.
Listen to this favorite verse. Every man should know it. Proverbs 4:23 says, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. And that word keep is the same exact word we see in Genesis 2:15. God repeats it.
A man is called to stand guard over his heart, as he would stand guard over his family and his house. To recognize the enemy at the gate of your mind and to not let it take an inch. And in his letter to Titus Paul says, go find some good men and put them in leadership. And he tells Titus exactly what to look for. Listen to how he describes the men that the church needed in that city.
Titus 1 verses 6 to 9. It says, for an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick tempered, or a drunkard, or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good. Self controlled. That's the word.
Self controlled, upright, holy, disciplined. A man must be able to control his pride, to control his temper, to control his drinking, to control his flesh. Because a man cannot be a leader until he learns to take dominion over himself. Men do not have quick moral falls, they have slow moral slides. Behind every moral fall is years of failure to control the flesh.
Josh Smith says this. He says, the foundation of our lives will always crumble if we do not begin with working and keeping our flesh. No matter what else you build, the foundation of self control must be laid. If it is not, the building will ultimately fall. Self control, so important, yet so hard.
And young men, it does not get any easier the older you get. If you cannot figure out how to guard your heart when you're a young man, it gets harder and harder and harder. So learn young to guard your heart and God will bless that effort. So a man is called to take dominion in his own flesh by working it and taking his spiritual plow. To cultivate his heart.
We are to work hard to till the soil of our hearts so that good seed can be planted and produce a harvest of righteousness. We are to cultivate or grow a love for God. We are to cultivate a love for his word. We are to cultivate a love for the things of God, for the people of God. And a man is called to take dominion over his flesh by keeping it, by taking up his spiritual sword.
He must fight for and judge the thoughts and the intentions of his heart, constantly cutting away falsehood, cutting away error, cutting away pride. It is a process that is life long. Cutting and Carving and cutting. He must fight against temptation consistently, fight against evil, fight against the forces of darkness. He must proclaim the gospel of the truth of Christ's kingdom, trying to and fight against the darkness that's trying to penetrate his mind.
And. And above all else, the Bible says to guard his heart, for from it flows everything else. So we are to stand guard first against our own mind and our own heart, because everything that goes in comes out. So we guard what's going in. We're guarding what's attacking us.
Peter warns us in 1st Peter 5, 8. It says, Stay alert. Watch out for the great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Prowling around looking for someone who has laid down his sword and become an easy target.
Now, taking dominion over your flesh is not just about fighting against sin. We will never gain any victory over sin unless we truly believe that walking with Jesus is better than living in sin. That is easier to say than do walking with Jesus is better than living in sin. Domain number two is church. The church Titus was to find godly self controlled men and appoint them to fix the chaos that was happening.
And the first thing that Paul tells Titus to get in order is the church, not the home. And I thought that was bizarre when I read it. And so I got real curious about it because I assumed that if I was going to go fix a city that was in chaos, that I would fix the home first. But he says no, go get some men and fix the church. And here's the reason why.
Because healthy families grow out of healthy churches. And so stick with me as I go through this thought process. Before your family, before your work, your greatest area of sacrificial and loving leadership should be in the local church. Here's why. Because the church is where you learn to use your plow and sword.
It's where you see it being applied appropriately. The church is the training ground full of godly men who want to show you how to work and keep. The local church is not only the primary place where a man learns to be a Christian, the church is the primary place where a man learns to be a man. Paul was writing Titus to help him fix a church that was in turmoil. We see this in Titus 1:5.
It says this for this reason I left you in crate that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders, godly men, every city, as I commanded you. The primary cause of the lack of order in the church at Crete was the presence of useless, ungodly, rebellious men. Titus 1:10 for there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. And the first thing Paul tells Titus to do, he says, go find some godly men, some men who have cultivated self control, some men who are guarding their their hearts, men who have a plow and a sword and ready to get on it and put them in leadership of the church. He says, get the church right first, because the church is the body of Christ, the bride of Christ.
These are the metaphors God uses to explain us the body, the bride. God uses those metaphors so that we might understand how much he loves the church. See, when a father allows his family to make other things more important than the church, the father, what he's doing is undermining the primary training ground for his family, the partner who is helping him raise his family and protect them and guard them and keep them. Practically, this means being an identifiable active member of a local church. You know you belong, the church knows you belong.
You gather regularly, give sacrificially, participate in the community and serve in a clear way. Your family sees church as not optional, but it's a priority. It means you're choosing church over other activities more than you choose other activities over the church. And not out of a sense of duty by any means, but out of an awareness that the local church is the body and bride of Christ. You know, when I was a young man, anytime I talk to men about this, they have a similar experience.
It's the first time you smart off to your mom in front of your dad. And he reminded me very skillfully that that woman that you just disrespected is my wife first. And I will not tolerate that in my house. And that was a lesson I needed to learn as a little punk 13 year old boy. I didn't learn it immediately.
It took me some years, but I go back and I resonate and I say, you know what, that was wise right there. And I think men, the church is the bride of Christ. Do you think Jesus cares how his bride is treated? He does. Let someone smart off to your wife.
I don't care if you had an argument with her this morning or not. You let someone disrespect your wife, it's on. A man is called to work and take dominion in the church by wielding his plow. He is the one who is constantly seeking to cultivate the church. He is working hard to make church a place where people can grow and thrive.
He is working hard to make church a place that his family can grow and thrive. He is constantly working to help people have an authentic encounter with God. He takes this seriously. His life, his heart and his mind are continually devoted to building up the body of Christ. His yes is on the table.
He's reliable and he is involved in everything that he can be in. Anything he's involved in grows and thrives. But a man is also called to take his sword and to keep the church. He is to be a guardian and protector of the bride of Christ. He is to stand guard against the attacks of the devil, against false teaching.
He is called to fight for the gospel. He's called to fight for the health of the church. He is one who refuses to let false teaching in. He refuses to let worldliness in. He refuses to let laziness into his church.
He is the one who is ready to take up his sword and defend her if necessary. He is one who is ready to speak up, act out, and stand in the gap for the people of God. An army of men ready to hold their sword would do incredible things for God's kingdom. And finally, domain three is family. The next domain after flesh and church is your family.
Now, basically, what we see in Titus 2 says to promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching, teach the men, teach the women, let them go home and do these things. It says, teach the older men to live wisely and the older women to train the younger women how to love their husbands and their children and how to work at home. Then they will not bring shame to the word of God. And likewise, younger men are encouraged to be self controlled and live wisely. They are to take what they learn at church and apply it at home.
One of the reasons that a young man must learn to take dominion over his flesh and then must learn how to sacrificially love and lead in the church from as young as you possibly can get them, is that the church is both of those things are preparing him to take dominion in his own home one day. Because right now, young men, you are living under your father's domain. And he has given you a small little domain to practice, called your bedroom. You keep it and you work it right. And he has given you some siblings to get along with and to respect.
A wife, a woman. You are learning. This is learning ground. You're training. And it's not too far gone.
If you are older, it's fine. God still says, hey, we can make this better. Check it out. Try the church. Try these things.
Learn from the church. Look, God has entrusted you with that family that you're going home. I don't care how big it is, how small it is if you're a single guy. If you have a house full of kids, it is your responsibility. It demands the constant use of the plow and the sword.
A man is called to work and take dominion in his family by wielding his plow. He is called to cultivate the family that God has given him. A man's wife, his children, his grandchildren, thrive because of his hard work, he is constantly turning up the soil, planting seed so that it will grow. And he is doing the hard work of removing every weed that he sees. The home is the place where spiritual, emotional and physical health thrive because of the man's constant attention to self sacrificing work.
But a man is also called to keep, to take dominion over his family with his sword. He must be the guardian and the protector of the family. He is to stand guard at the door and not allow anything into his home that will destroy, distract or dismantle his family. He is called to fight for his wife and children. He is called to fight against anything that would threaten the spirit, spiritual and emotional health of those under his charge.
And it takes courage because we are good at seeing the threat, but we're not really good at taking the sword and killing the threat. In the Old Testament, you had watchmen who would stand guard over the city gate. And their job was to stand at the city gate in the watchtower, and they would just survey the horizon, looking for anything that would be a threat to their city. And a man who takes dominion in his own family, he is constantly scanning the horizon for anything that would be a threat to his wife and children. This is something we cannot get lazy with.
And it is so easy to be lazy at home. Man, I get it. We put so much time and energy into all of these other things, but your home needs you. And this isn't just physical threats. Please don't just hear that.
What do we allow our family to see? And what do we allow them to be exposed to? There was a man in our church this past week who did the after Christmas movie thing. Go see a movie. And this movie had some demonic overtones to it.
After you buy the popcorn and the coke and pay the premium price. And he said, you know what? I'm not going to let my family be exposed to this. And gather them all up and headed out of there. Now, there's different convictions for different people's lives.
But I'm sitting here thinking what he's doing is he picked up his sword and said, not today, not my house. Those things that will destroy, distract his mantle. A man's family come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. It's your responsibility to identify them. And God has given us his word as a guide to help us identify those threats.
Finally, the fourth domain, recruiting now works. This is the domain that most men thrive at. We're usually pretty good at this one, not so good at the others. We want to Dominate in our workplace. We want to get promotions.
We take pride in our job.
Titus transitions from the Life in the church, chapter one, to life in the home, chapter two, to the workplace in chapter three. And here's how he begins a word to employees. Basically, Titus 3 verses 1 and 2 says this. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities. By the way, you're always going to be under someone's authority.
Learn at a young age to deal with that, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy towards all people. Notice that to be a godly man at work, you must learn through the ministry of the local church and the ministry of the home, how to obey, how to work hard, how to deal with conflict. If you have any siblings, you get it. And how to be kind to people. You learn these things through God's blessing of putting you in a home with people and putting you in a church with conflict.
It's a good thing because you learn how to deal with it. Because when you do get released to the workforce, you're going to need that. Paul says in Colossians 3:23, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. No one should be a harder worker, better employer, better boss than a man who follows Jesus. You should work harder, sacrifice more, and lead more graciously than anyone else.
And in doing so, you are not only seeking your good, but you are seeking the good over everyone under your charge. You are seeking to glorify God through your work ethic. So a man is called to work and take dominion in his occupation by wielding the plow. He is one who is constantly seeking to cultivate his work for the good of others. He is working hard so that his work will bring life to the others.
He is not working for the praise of men, not for the applause of men, not for the profit of men, but for the glory of God. He is constantly working hard so his work will be excellent, honorable, and true. He is striving for mastery because God has created him to cultivate, to work hard. But a man also has to keep and take dominion in his job. By wielding his sword, he is to be the guardian and protector of his work.
He is to stand guard against the attacks of the devil, false teaching, the attacks of laziness, the attacks of not working hard at his employment, the allure of the easy road, the easy life. So there you have it. To work and to Keep in those four areas is the man that God has created you to be.
We are so far away from God's original intention. We are failing in so many of those areas. And that's why I wanted to start with God's original intention so I can loop back around. I hope you're encouraged by some of this. I hope you're challenged by a lot of it, and I hope you kind of feel like a man.
I'm not doing good in a couple of those areas. I won't say that's normal. Because every man in every generation since Adam has failed to take dominion. We all have areas in our lives that are not being worked and not being kept. And this is why we need Jesus.
Because Jesus, the second Adam, who made things right, who gave us access back to the garden, perfectly took dominion. He is the only man who ever perfectly wielded the plow and the sword. Jesus perfectly worked. His life was one of constant self sacrifice. He was constantly cultivating and growing the lives of others.
He was working hard for the good of others. He came not to serve, but to be. No, I'm sorry. He came not to be served, but to serve. He was constantly pouring out his life for the good of others.
He worked his whole life with his hands and with his words. And he worked until the work was finished. And John 17:4 says, I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And Jesus perfectly kept. He took his sword.
His life was one of constant care. He was constantly standing guard over the lives of others, even those who hated him. He was constantly fighting against the attacks of the devil. He was constantly fighting against false teachers. He fought with with his whole life, his whole hands, and all of his words.
He kept until the work was finished. John 19:30 says, When Jesus had tasted it, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. And so at a young age, a man should learn how to control his flesh, to guard his heart. And in the local church, he is seeing how to love and how to serve and how to give up himself sacrificially for the good of others.
He is incorporated in a training ground of godly men who are for him and want to raise him. And this is true of daughters as well, and women. And then in the home, he is applying what he sees in the church and learns how to work hard, love well, and be kind and be submissive to authority. Then from his dominion in those three areas, he learns how to be a successful man in the Workplace, how to keep a job, how to work hard, how to provide for his family. And if you feel like you're failing in one of those areas or all of those areas, man.
We'll have the prayer ministry team up forward. And here's what I wanted to tell you. I want to say, keep your chin up, buckle up, Grab the plow and the sword. Tomorrow is a new day. There's a new year coming.
You start fresh with a New Year's resolution. Men love that kind of stuff. Okay, show me what I can fix. I'm gonna dig my heels in. I'm gonna grab my tools, right?
We're doing this thing. But hey, look, you cannot take dominion in those domains without the work of Jesus on the cross and the Holy Spirit living in you. You just can't, okay? He is your helper. The Holy Spirit will guide you.
Let me pray for you. Prayer ministry team, come forward. Father, we are so grateful that you keep it so simple for us, men. God, may we take these tools and serve you well with them. God, you have taught us so well of how to do these things, serving with the ultimate sacrifice of your son Jesus, giving him on the cross.
And God, we lean into that this morning. We love you. In Jesus name, amen. One more thing before you leave. If you get that card out, maybe there's a next step for you.
We plan on starting men's discipleship group. So if this was like just hitting a cord with you and you're thinking, I want more of that, go ahead and write that on there on the card. Just put min checkbox or something on the next steps. If there's a big calling, we'll do a little sooner. But we do plan on doing something with content like this.
So love you guys. See you next year. You are dismissed.
-----------
Come and join us this Sunday at the Great Commission Church for a truly remarkable and uplifting experience. Great Commission Church is a family-friendly church in Olive Branch, MS. Great Commission Church is not just any ordinary place of worship; it's a vibrant community where faith comes alive, hearts are filled with love, and lives are transformed. Our doors are wide open, ready to welcome you into the warm embrace of our congregation, where you'll discover the true essence of fellowship and spirituality. At Great Commission Church, we are more than just a congregation; we are a family united by a common mission – to follow the teachings of Christ and spread His love to the world. As you step inside Great Commission Church, you'll find a sanctuary that nurtures your faith and encourages you to be part of something greater than yourself.
We believe in the power of coming together as a community to worship, learn, and serve. Whether you're a long-time believer or just starting your spiritual journey, Great Commission Church welcomes people from all walks of life. Our vibrant services are filled with inspiring messages, beautiful music, and heartfelt prayers that will uplift your soul. Every Sunday at Great Commission Church is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God and connect with others who share your faith and values.
At Great Commission Church, we believe that faith is not just a solitary endeavor but a shared experience that strengthens and enriches us all. Our church is a place where you can find purpose, belonging, and the encouragement to live a life in accordance with Christ's teachings. Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church and experience the transformative power of faith in action. Be part of a loving and supportive community that is committed to making a positive impact in our world. Together, we strive to fulfill the great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We look forward to having you with us at Great Commission Church this Sunday, where faith, love, and community intersect in a truly amazing way.
Great Commission Church is a non-denominational, family-friendly Christian church located in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We are a short drive from Germantown, Southaven, Collierville, Horn Lake, Memphis, Fairhaven, Mineral Wells, Pleasant Hill, Handy Corner, Lewisburg and Byhalia. Great Commission Church is conveniently located, making it easy to find and attend. Many people have even called it their go-to “church near me” or the "Church nearby" because of how accessible it is and how quickly it feels like home.
See you Sunday at Great Commission Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi!