We are in the midst of a study of Paul's letter to Titus.   Titus, a younger man than Paul, has been given the assignment of ministry on the island of Crete.   Churches have been established there but they have some great needs.   They have need for spiritual leadership.   They have need for spiritual maturity in the congregation.   And so Titus has been given the assignment to work to that end as verse 5 of chapter 1 says, "To set in order what remains and ordain elders in every city."

我们正在研究保罗写给提多的信。提多比保罗更年轻，他被指派在克里特岛服事。那里已经建立了教会，但他们有一些巨大的需要。他们需要属灵的领导。他们需要会众的属灵成熟。因此，提多被赋予了为此目的而工作的任务，正如第1章第5节所说的，“要整顿剩下的，并在各城按立长老。

In order to strengthen the hand of Titus, in order to encourage him in the task, the apostle Paul writes him this letter.   And this letter is intended not only for Titus but also for the congregations so that they will understand why Titus is doing what he is doing.   If you've been with us, you remember that chapter 1 deals with the leadership of the church.   Obviously the church has to be “set in order” with regard to its leaders.   There are some careful details given as to the kind of men and the duty of those men who are to be the pastors and elders.

为了坚固提多的手，为了鼓励他完成这项任务，使徒保罗写了这封信给他。这封信不仅是写给提多的，也是写给会众的，这样他们就会明白提多为什么要做他正在做的事。如果你和我们在一起，你会记得第一章是关于教会的领导的。显然，教会必须对它的领袖“有秩序”。关于牧师和长老的那种人，以及那些人的职责，有一些仔细的细节。

As we move then into chapter 2, the focus changes from the pastors to the people, from the elders to the everybody, from the leadership to the laity.   And chapter 2 is all about the character of a healthy church, the character of a healthy church.   We will find here very specific, very straightforward, very direct instruction given to every segment of the church in order that the church might be in itself healthy.   So it's a very practical section of Scripture.

当我们进入第二章时，焦点从牧师转移到会众，从长老到每个人，从领导层到平信徒。第二章是关于健康教会的品格，健康教会的品格。在这里，我们会发现对教会的每一个部分都有非常具体、非常直接、非常直接的指导，以便教会本身能够健康。所以这是圣经中非常实用的部分。

And you know as well, I think, as I do that the Lord is concerned about the health of His body, the church.   We live in a time when people are fanatically concerned about their physical bodies, and we must understand that the Lord is far more concerned about His spiritual body.   And that's really what is behind this chapter.   The Lord has great concern that the church be what He wants it to be.   He is concerned about the church's spiritual health.

我想，你也知道，正如我所知道的，主关心的是祂身体，即教会的健康。我们生活在一个人们狂热地关心自己身体的时代，我们必须明白，主更关心他的属灵身体。这正是本章背后的内容。主非常关心教会成为祂想要的样子。他关心教会的属灵健康。

One ringing note that bears on that theme is the use of the word "sound," the word "sound." The word in Greek basically gives us our word hygiene - means “healthy.”   It is used nine times in the pastoral epistles, namely 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.   And of those nine uses of the word "sound," five of them appear in Titus.   Five times Paul directs Titus' attention and ours to the need for spiritual health.   If anything is clear from the pastoral epistles and from Titus it is that the Lord is concerned about healthy doctrine and healthy living.   And they are linked.

与这个主题相关的一个响亮的音符是“声音”这个词的使用，即“声音”这个词。希腊语中的这个词基本上给了我们卫生这个词——意思是“健康”。它在教牧书信中使用了九次，即提摩太前书和提多书后书。在“声音”一词的九次用法中，其中五次出现在提多书中。保罗五次将提多和我们的注意力引向属灵健康的需要。如果从教牧书信和提多书中可以清楚地看出什么，那就是主关心健康的教义和健康的生活。它们是相互联系的。

In chapter 1, for example, and verse 9 he talks about “sound doctrine,” and then in verse 13, living it out by being “sound in the faith.”   In chapter 2, verse 1, he talks again about “sound doctrine” and living it out by being sound in faith.   In chapter 2, verse 7, he talks about purity in doctrine and its consequent “sound in speech” (verse 8).   So the theme throughout not only Titus but 1 and 2 Timothy is the teaching of sound doctrine and the call for consequent sound living, healthy doctrine which produces healthy living.   That's crucial.

例如，在第1章和第9节中，他谈到了“纯正的教义”，然后在第13节中，通过“在信心上健全”来活出它。在第2章第1节中，他再次谈到了“纯正的教义”，并通过在信心中健全来活出它。在第2章第7节中，他谈到了教义的纯洁，以及随之而来的“言语上的纯洁”（第8节）。因此，不仅是提多书，而且是提摩太后书的主题是纯正教义的教导，以及随之而来的健全生活、健康教义的呼召，从而产生健康的生活。这是至关重要的。

Now this is all set against the backdrop of unsound doctrine which produces unsound living, or unhealthy doctrine which produces unhealthy Christianity.   Repeatedly in 1 and 2 Timothy and here again in Titus there is a preoccupation with false teachers.   False teachers are noted in chapter 1, you remember, in verse 10 as “rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers.”   They, verse 11, “upset whole families,” they “teach things they shouldn't teach.”   We find that they turn away to “Jewish myths...commandments of men who turn away from the truth.”   And verse 16 says they “know God” - they say “but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable...disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”   Here you have diseased doctrine which results in diseased living.

现在，这一切都是在不健全的教义产生不健全的生活，或不健康的教义产生不健康的基督教的背景下进行的。在提摩太前书和后书中，以及提多书中，都反复出现了对假教师的关注。你还记得，在第10章中，假教师被描述为“悖逆的人，空谈的，欺骗的”。第11节，他们“使全家不高兴”，他们“教导了他们不该教的事”。我们发现他们转离了“犹太人的神话......背离真理的人的诫命”。第16节说他们“认识神”——他们说“他们却因自己的行为不认神，是可憎的......悖逆，对任何善行都毫无价值。在这里，你有病态的教义，导致病态的生活。

Over in chapter 3, verse 9, there is a reminder to shun “foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.” They are unhealthy.   So when someone teaches that stuff, reject him after a first and second warning, because you know he is perverted and sinning, being self-condemned.   There is seemingly always the anticipated presence of error and its result in unhealthy living.   So again I say, if there's anything clear about the pastoral epistles, and particularly Titus, is that, it is that God is concerned that His church have healthy teaching and be called to healthy application of that teaching, healthy living.   If a church is to be spiritually healthy; if it is to be sound, whole; if it is to enjoy strength, power, well-being; it must have sound words, sound doctrine, and it must be called to sound, healthy spiritual living.

在第3章第9节中，提醒我们要避开“关于律法的愚拙的争论、家谱、纷争、争论，因为它们是无益的，毫无价值的”。它们是不健康的。因此，当有人教导这些东西时，在第一次和第二次警告之后就拒绝他，因为你知道他是的，是犯罪的，是自我定罪的。似乎总是有预料到的错误存在，并导致不健康的生活。因此，我再说一次，如果关于教牧书信，特别是提多书信有什么明确的地方，那就是神关心他的教会有健康的教导，并被呼召健康地应用这些教导，健康的生活。如果一个教会要在属灵上健康;如果它要健全、完整;如果它要享受力量、能力、福祉;它必须有健全的话语、健全的教义，并且必须被呼召到健全、健康的属灵生活。

Now if you've studied the Bible with us any time at all you know that this theme comes again and again and again in Holy Scripture.   The apostle Paul, along with the rest of the apostles who wrote the New Testament, were concerned about healthy doctrine and holy living.   In this practical chapter - and I mean really practical chapter - we're going to look at the specifics of healthy Christian living.   We're going to look at a godly congregation and how a godly congregation functions.   We're going to discuss older men and older women, younger women, younger men, and those who work as employees, here called “slaves.” And we're going to talk about what God says all of us, each in our own categories, are to be doing.   The Holy Spirit prescribes in this chapter a series of mandates, binding commands, for every congregation to obey and to be spiritually healthy.   And I might add as a footnote, some of them are going to be very unpopular because they're contrary to contemporary thinking, but they are the Word of God.   And it is Titus' task and mine and any other spiritual leader to hold the church accountable for healthy living in light of healthy doctrine.

现在，如果你曾经和我们一起学习过圣经，你就会知道这个主题在圣经中一次又一次地出现。使徒保罗和其他写新约的使徒都关心健康的教义和圣洁的生活。在这个实用的章节中——我指的是真正实用的章节——我们将研究健康基督徒生活的细节。我们将看看敬虔的会众以及敬虔的会众如何运作。我们将讨论年长的男人和年长的女人、年轻的女人、年轻的男人，以及那些作为雇员工作的人，这里称为“奴隶”。我们将讨论上帝说我们所有人，每个人都在自己的类别中，应该做什么。圣灵在本章中规定了一系列的命令，约束性的命令，让每个会众都要服从并保持属灵健康。我可以补充一点作为脚注，其中一些会非常不受欢迎，因为它们与当代的思维背道而驰，但它们是上帝的话语。提多的任务是让教会根据健康的教义对健康生活负责，这是提多的任务，也是我和任何其他属灵领袖的任务。

Now the chapter is very straightforward; it is very clear; it is very strong.   The opening and closing verses of the chapter are very important for us to understand because in the opening and closing verse God demands those who are in His church to follow these patterns, to follow these commandments.   Let's look at verse 1 to start with.   "But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine."   Literally in the Greek it says, "but you."   And it's in contrast to the ones just described in verse 16, those rebellious, empty deceivers, those false teachers who are “detestable...disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” Why?   Because they teach things they ought not to teach.   They teach deceptive lies. They're all caught up in myths and human commandments, and they “turn away from the truth.”   In contrast to that, "But you” - Titus, in contrast to all the unhealthy false teaching coming from these fake teachers, you – “speak things fitting for sound doctrine.”   You be committed to the health of the church.

现在这一章非常简单;这很清楚;它非常坚固。本章的开头和结尾经文对我们来说非常重要，因为在开头和结尾的经文中，神要求那些在祂教会里的人遵循这些模式，遵守这些诫命。让我们从第 1 节开始。“至于你，你要说适合纯正教义的话。”从希腊语的字面上看，它说：“但你。这与刚才第16节所描述的那些悖逆、空洞的骗子、那些“可憎的......不顺服，做任何善事都一文不值。为什么？因为他们教了他们不该教的东西。他们教导欺骗性的谎言。他们都被神话和人类的诫命所困扰，他们“背离真理”。与此相反，“但你”——提多，与这些假教师发出的所有不健康的错误教导相反，你——“说的话是符合纯正教义的”。你要致力于教会的健康。

There are plenty who teach error and plague the church with weakness and disease as a result.   The pestilence of sin is the result of their useless verbiage.   It says in verse 16 they are “worthless for any good work.” They bring no benefit to the church - they are adokimos is the word - they are tested and found useless.   The word adokimos was used in building.   When a stone was not fit to be put into the building - it had some serious flaw - they would scratch an "a" on it, an alpha for adokimos, and set it aside so no one would pick it up again and use it.   These are people who are useless.   You on the other hand, Titus, need to be useful and valuable to the church because you “speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.”

有很多人教导错误，并因此以软弱和疾病困扰教会。罪的瘟疫是他们无用的言辞的结果。在第16节说，他们“对任何善工都毫无价值”。他们没有给教会带来任何好处——他们是 adokimos 这个词——他们被考验并被发现毫无用处。“adokimos”这个词被用在建筑中。当一块石头不适合放入建筑物中时——它有一些严重的缺陷——他们会在上面划一个“a”，即 adokimos 的 alpha，然后把它放在一边，这样就没有人会再捡起它并使用它。这些人是无用的。另一方面，提多，你需要对教会有用和有价值，因为你“说的是适合纯正教义的话”。

Any pastor, any church leader, is certainly called to this responsibility.   Now let me make it very clear what he is saying.   He is not saying “speak sound doctrine.”   That's already been covered, basically back in verse 9 of chapter 1 where the leaders of the church are instructed to “hold fast the faithful word” and “exhort with sound doctrine.”   What he is now saying is you must speak the things which are properly to be associated with sound doctrine; that is, those things which issue in the matter of daily living.   Teach the practical requirements for everyday life that suit true doctrine.   You can't just fill people's head with theology.   You must be truly useful by teaching the required behavior that is consistent with sound doctrine.   Healthy teaching, yes.   And then instruction about healthy living.   You can't just teach it without forcing the application, to some degree.

任何牧师，任何教会领袖，当然都被呼召承担这一责任。现在让我把他在说什么说得很清楚。他不是说“说出纯正的教义”。这已经讲过了，基本上可以在第1章的第9节中，教会的领袖被指示要“持守忠心的话”和“用纯正的教义劝勉”。他现在说的是，你必须说出与纯正教义适当相关的话;也就是说，那些在日常生活问题上出现问题的事情。教导适合真实教义的日常生活实际要求。你不能只用神学来填满人们的头脑。你必须通过教导符合纯正教义的所需行为来真正有用。健康的教学，是的。然后是关于健康生活的指导。在某种程度上，你不能在不强迫申请的情况下直接教它。

Now there are several key terms in that statement in verse 1 that may help us.   The first one is the word "speak," from the Greek verb lale which just means “to talk.”   It's not the word   kerusso, “to preach.” It's not the word didaskaleo, “to teach.” It's just “to talk.”   And it's a present tense - just “keep on talking concerning things which are suitable as associates of healthy doctrine”; “continually be talking about the kind of behavior that fits the truth.”   And he's saying to him, “Stay on track; don't feel any resistance and capitulate.   Don't get intimidated; don't slow down; don't deviate, no matter what resistance you may feel.” As he told Timothy in the prior chapter there, 2 Timothy 4, “the time will come when they won't endure sound doctrine; they'll want to have their ears tickled with the things that strike their own imagination.   But you continue to preach and reprove and rebuke and exhort, and do it patiently, and do it with careful instruction.”   Obviously there's going to be resistance to these calls for holy living, but you must not equivocate.   Keep on talking about these things.

第1节的那句话中有几个关键词语，可能会对我们有所帮助。第一个是“说话”这个词，来自希腊语动词 lale，意思是“说话”。这不是kerusso这个词，“讲道”。这不是 didaskaleo 这个词，“教”。这只是“说话”。这是一个现在时——只是“继续谈论适合作为健康教义的伙伴的事情”;“不断谈论符合事实的行为。”他对他说：“保持正轨;不要感到任何阻力并投降。不要被吓倒;不要放慢速度;无论你感到什么阻力，都不要偏离。正如他在提摩太后书第4章的前一章中告诉提摩太的那样，“他们不能忍受纯正的教义的时候将到;他们会想用激发自己想象力的东西来挠耳朵。你们却要继续传道、责备、责备、劝勉，要耐心地去做，要仔细教导。显然，这些对圣洁生活的呼吁会受到抵制，但你绝不能模棱两可。继续谈论这些事情。

And the idea here, as I said, is not so much preaching and not so much teaching in the formal role as in the normal conversation of life.   You're talking now about pastoral work.   Oh sure, there's a component of that in preaching and teaching, but it comes down out of the pulpit.   Help people see the truth face to face, help them apply it in their lives.   And what you're telling them are those things which are fitting.   The word prep here is used. It basically means “proper” or “seemly,” or “attractive.”   One good old word, “befitting.”   You tell them the things they need to do that fit the doctrine they believe.   It calls for behavior; it calls for action.   It calls for living what is in complete accord with the truth.   And obviously, any student of the Bible knows that it never divorces doctrine from duty. When Paul comes in to Romans chapter 12 and says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you," and then launches into talking about a living sacrifice and rolls on for several chapters of Christian duty, he's building it all in the first eleven chapters of doctrine – “therefore because all these mercies of God are true, all these mercies that God has given you in salvation are true, therefore live like this.”

正如我所说，这里的想法与其说是讲道，不如说是在正式的角色中教导，而是在正常的生活对话中。你现在说的是教牧工作。哦，当然，在讲道和教导中也有其中的一部分，但它是从讲台上下来的。帮助人们面对面地看到真理，帮助他们将其应用到生活中。你告诉他们的是那些合适的事情。这里使用了准备这个词。它基本上意味着“适当”或“看似”或“有吸引力”。一个好听的老词，“合适”。你告诉他们他们需要做的符合他们信仰的教义的事情。它要求行为;它要求采取行动。它要求过完全符合真理的生活。显然，任何研究圣经的人都知道，圣经从来不会使教义与职责脱节。当保罗来到罗马书第12章，说：“弟兄们，我求你们，凭神的怜悯，叫你们”，然后开始谈论活祭，并继续讲几章基督徒的本分，他把这一切都建在教义的前十一章中——“所以，因为神这一切怜悯都是真实的， 神在救恩中赐给你们的所有这些怜悯都是真实的，所以要这样生活。

As Paul writes to the Ephesians, after three chapters of doctrine, he simply says that “I'm going to now urge you therefore to walk worthy of the calling to which you're called. That's the calling; here's how you live.”   In Colossians chapter 3, after two chapters of doctrines, he says “now that you've been raised with Christ, seek the things which are above.   Here's how to live your life.”   In Philippians, after three chapters of dealing with doctrinal issues, he says, "Therefore I'm urging you to live this way," and he goes through chapter 4 with a list of required behaviors.   This is basic.   This is absolutely central.   The Lord wants churches that know His truth and that live it.   In fact, what other value does the truth have if it isn't lived out?   He wants a chaste virgin; He wants a pure bride; He wants a holy church.   In fact, in 1 Peter 1:16 it's clear just how holy: "You shall be holy, for I am holy - be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, be like the Holy One who called you."   I want you as holy as I am.

保罗写给以弗所书的人，在讲了三章教义之后，他只是说：“所以，我现在要劝勉你们，要为你们所蒙召的呼召行事。这就是使命;这就是你的生活方式。在歌罗西书第3章，在两章的教义之后，他说：“你们既与基督同复活了，你们要寻求上面的事。这是如何过你的生活。在腓立比书中，在处理教义问题的三章之后，他说：“所以我劝你们这样生活”，并在第四章中列出了必要的行为。这是基本的。这绝对是核心。主希望教会知道他的真理并活出它。事实上，如果真理没有被活出来，它还有什么价值呢？他想要一个贞洁的处女;他想要一个纯洁的新娘;他想要一个神圣的教会。事实上，在彼得前书 1：16 中，很清楚是多么圣洁：“你们要圣洁，因为我是圣洁的，你们自己也要一切行为圣洁，像那召你们的圣者一样。我希望你和我一样圣洁。

So holy living is proper.   Holy living is suitable.   Holy living is fitting.   Holy living is inseparable from sound doctrine.   That's the point.   So we are called then as those who lead the church to teach you healthy doctrine and to call you to healthy living.   Diseased meat is not allowed to be sold in our country. That's why we have agencies in the government that inspect meat and approve it, because diseased meat can make you sick.   It can even kill.   And so can diseased teaching.   Diseased teaching can make people sick, and it is deadly.   But on the other hand, even good meat eaten in wrong proportions or out of balance or in over-indulgence can create sickness as well.   It must be applied in the living of life and exercise and use to gain its benefit.   And so it is with healthy teaching.   Healthy, sound teaching must be followed up by the call for healthy living.

因此，圣洁的生活是正确的。圣洁的生活是合适的。圣洁的生活是合适的。圣洁的生活与纯正的教义密不可分。这就是重点。因此，我们被呼召为那些带领教会的人，教导你健康的教义，并呼召你过上健康的生活。病肉在我国是不允许出售的。这就是为什么我们在政府中设立了检查肉类并批准的机构，因为患病的肉类会让你生病。它甚至可以杀人。病态的教学也是如此。病态的教导会使人生病，而且是致命的。但另一方面，即使是以错误比例、失去平衡或过度放纵的优质肉类也会导致疾病。它必须应用于生活和锻炼和使用，以获得其益处。健康的教学也是如此。健康、健全的教学之后必须呼吁健康生活。

In the last few days I've had the opportunity to fellowship with Jacob Dukonchinko, who is the spiritual patriarch of the church in the CIS and most specifically leads the church in the Ukraine - about 1,500 churches there.   And I said to him as we were meeting in my office on Friday, I said, "Have you had through the 70 years of Communist rule in the Soviet Union churches that are involved in false teaching, error?"   And he said, “Yes.”   He said, "They were associated with us for a while, and then there was a split"; and I think he said 350 churches broke off.   I said, "How many churches are there now that are involved in some false doctrine?"   He said “about 500.”   I said, "How did this get started?"   He said, "Well, there was a man” - you don't want to hear this – “who came from America in the 1920s, and he started teaching false doctrine, and we tried in those early years to deal with it, and we continued to try to deal with it, but finally there was a split, and now there are about 500 churches."

在过去的几天里，我有机会与雅各布·杜孔钦科（Jacob Dukonchinko）团契，他是独联体教会的属灵族长，最具体地领导着乌克兰的教会——那里大约有1500个教会。星期五我们在办公室开会时，我对他说：“在共产党统治的70年里，苏联教会是否犯过错误？“他说：”是的。他说，“他们和我们联系了一段时间，然后就分裂了”;我想他说有 350 个教堂解散了。我说，“现在有多少教会卷入了某种错误的教义？他说“大约 500 人”。我说：“这是怎么开始的？他说，“嗯，有一个人”——你不想听到这个——“他在1920年代从美国来，他开始教导错误的教义，我们在早年试图处理它，我们继续尝试处理它，但最后出现了分裂，现在大约有500个教会。

You understand, don't you, that error is a communicable disease.   It's very hard to stamp out.   Sometimes you think you're dealing with a spiritual AIDS virus - you just can't find anything to deal with it.   Sound teaching is therefore the priority.   But it must be followed up with a call to sound living. And that's what verse 1 is saying: “you must continually - in every conversation, all the time - be calling your people to the kind of holy living that is suitable for truth.”   And the implication of the verse is that the teachers of truth who call their people to holy living must be aggressive and relentless.   I mean, false teachers sure are.   And they must maintain a certain biblical dogmatism, a certain strong, demanding tenor must accompany their commands.

你明白，不是吗，这种错误是一种传染病。很难根除。有时你认为你正在对付一种属灵的艾滋病病毒——你就是找不到任何方法来对付它。因此，健全的教导是当务之急。但随后必须呼召健全的生活。这就是第 1 节所说的：“你们必须不断地——在每一次谈话中，时时刻刻——呼召你的会众过适合真理的圣洁生活。”这节经文的含义是，那些呼召他们的会众过圣洁生活的真理教师必须积极进取，坚持不懈。我的意思是，假教师确实是。他们必须保持某种圣经的教条主义，某种强烈、苛刻的基调必须伴随他们的命令。

And so, the instruction that's going to come in this second chapter is cast in a very strong light by verse 1.   It's binding on us.   Then look at verse 15, look how he closes the chapter - this is the backside bracket.   He says, "These things," the things he has just said, "speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you."   In verse 1 he said, "Speak these things," and here again in verse 15, using exactly the same verb, he says it again, "Speak these things."   He reminds him again, “Say it. It may not be popular; it may not be accepted by everyone.   There may be some discussion about it. There may be some folks who forget.   It may not always be in the front of their minds as it ought to be, so you continually, relentlessly continue to talk about it.”   Like the great truth of Deuteronomy chapter 6, “Talk about it when you stand up, sit down, lie down, and walk in the way.   It's on your lips all the time.”   And not only in that general sense but then he says, "and exhort."   That's a positive note.   “Come alongside people - urge, encourage, compel, admonish in a positive way. Come on, you need to do that.   You have to come along in this area.   You must obey this command.   This is the standard.   This is how you must live.”

因此，第二章的指示在第一节中得到了非常强烈的启示。它对我们有约束力。然后看第15节，看看他是如何结束这一章的——这是后括号。他说：“这些事，就是他刚才所说的，”要用一切权柄说话、劝勉、责备。不要让任何人忽视你。在第1节中，他说，“说这些话”，在第15节，他再次使用完全相同的动词，再次说，“说这些话”。他再次提醒他，“说吧。它可能不受欢迎;它可能不会被所有人接受。可能会有一些讨论。可能有些人忘记了。它可能并不总是像应该的那样出现在他们的脑海中，所以你不断地、无情地继续谈论它。就像申命记第 6 章的伟大真理一样，“当你站起来、坐下、躺下、走在路上的时候，要谈论它。它一直在你的嘴边。不仅在一般意义上，而且他说，“劝勉”。这是一个积极的方面。“与人并肩而行——以积极的方式敦促、鼓励、强迫、告诫。来吧，你需要这样做。你必须在这个领域加入。你必须遵守这个命令。这是标准。这就是你必须的生活方式。

And then there's a negative.   When they don't, he says, “reprove them.”   That's the negative approach.   “Rebuke them.”   The word has the idea of confronting someone face to face with the purpose of convicting them of their sin.

然后还有一个否定的。当他们不这样做时，他说，“责备他们”。这就是消极的方法。“责备他们。”这个词的意思是面对面地对抗某人，目的是让他们认罪。

“So you have a responsibility,” he says to Titus and to any other spiritual leader, “and that is to continually, in all your conversation, whether it's the pulpit or down below in the midst of the people, whether it's in the public forum or the private conversation, whether it's in the church or in the home, be always speaking about these standards of holy living, which are the partners of sound doctrine. And you need to speak them constantly and you need to come alongside people to encourage them to obey.   And when they don't do that, you need to rebuke them.”

“所以，你有责任，”他对提多和任何其他属灵领袖说，“那就是在你所有的谈话中，无论是在讲台上还是在人们中间，无论是在公共论坛还是在私人谈话中，无论是在教会还是在家里，都要不断谈论这些圣洁生活的标准，它们是纯正教义的伙伴。你需要不断地说出这些话，你需要与人们在一起，鼓励他们顺服。当他们不这样做时，你需要责备他们。

And he says at verse 15, the end of the first sentence, “do it with all authority.”   And what is that authority?   Is it the authority of your office?   No. Is it the authority of your associations?   No.   It is the authority of the Word of God. It wasn't that Titus got this authority by simply being related to Paul. It was that Titus got this authority because to Titus through Paul came the Word of God.   By the way, the word epitag, “authority,” is a word used by Paul in the New Testament always in the sense of a divine command.   “You can speak these things as divine commands.   What you're going to hear in chapter 2 is a series of divine commands.”   Then he adds, "Let no one disregard you."   And that's certainly for the congregations to hear.   “You better not disregard what Titus is saying.”   Scripture is not a book of suggestions. It is not a book of insights.   It is a book of commands.   Scripture in Psalm 19:8 is called “the commandment of the Lord.”   In Matthew 7 and Mark 1 and Luke 4 it is recorded that when they heard Jesus speak they said, “He speaks as one who has authority.”   In Matthew 28:19 and 20 He said, “You go out into the world and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always.”

他在第15节，第一句的结尾说，“要尽一切权柄去做”。那权威是什么？是你办公室的权威吗？不。这是你们协会的权威吗？不。这是上帝话语的权威。提多并不是仅仅因为与保罗有亲戚关系而获得这种权柄。提多之所以获得这种权柄，是因为通过保罗向提多传来了上帝的话语。顺便说一句，“权柄”这个词是保罗在新约中使用的词，总是在神圣命令的意义上。“你可以把这些话说成神圣的命令。你将在第二章中听到的是一系列神圣的命令。然后他又说：“不要让任何人忽视你。这当然是让会众听到的。“你最好不要忽视提图斯在说什么。”圣经不是一本建议书。这不是一本见解书。这是一本命令书。诗篇 19：8 的经文被称为“耶和华的诫命”。在马太福音 7 章、马可福音 1 章和路加福音 4 章中记载，当他们听到耶稣说话时，他们说：“他说话像有权柄的人一样。在马太福音 28：19 和 20 中，他说：“你们到世上去，使人作门徒，给他们施洗，教导他们遵守我所吩咐你们的一切事，看哪，我常与你们同在。

So that little warning at the end, "Let no one disregard you," is really a warning to anybody who might decide they're going to try to gainsay or resist what Titus commands with the authority of Scripture.   He's saying, "Titus, don't back down."   He said to Timothy essentially the same thing, "Don't you let anybody despise your youth; don't let anybody wrangle with you over what you say because of the fact that you are young.   You continue to be an example, and these things," he said to Timothy, "command and teach.   Hold your ground.   Don't back down."

因此，最后的那句小警告，“不要让任何人忽视你”，实际上是对任何可能决定要试图利用圣经权威来表达或抵制提多命令的人的警告。他说：“提多，不要退缩。他对提摩太说了同样的话：“你不要让别人藐视你的年轻人;不要因为你还年轻，就让任何人因为你说的话而与你争吵。你继续作榜样，这些事，“他对提摩太说，”命令和教导。坚守阵地。不要退缩。

The word "disregard" is kind of a curious Greek word.   It is one of those compound words where you have a preposition put on the front of a word. Phrone is the verb. It basically means “to think”; it has to do with the brain.   Periphrone- peri we use in the word perimeter. It means “the circumference, the outside of something.” And the word “to think around” simply is the word used here for “disregard.”   Literally “to think around, to circumvent you, to try to rationalize around you, to try to give you excuses, to try to justify.”   Don't let anybody do that.   Don't let anybody try to evade these commands.

“无视”这个词是一个奇怪的希腊词。它是在单词前面放置介词的复合词之一。Phrone 是动词。它基本上意味着“思考”;它与大脑有关。Periphrone- peri 我们在周长这个词中使用。它的意思是“某物的圆周，外部”。“思考”这个词只是这里用来表示“无视”的词。字面意思是“四处思考，绕过你，试图在你周围合理化，试图给你借口，试图为你辩解。不要让任何人这样做。不要让任何人试图逃避这些命令。

Some of these commands are pretty straightforward things.   Like older women are not to be “malicious gossips.” Younger women are to be “keepers in the home.” Younger men are “to be sensible.” It's hard for a young man to be sensible; they want to be frivolous.   All these kinds of commands.   People are going to say, "Well this, and well that; well you don't understand."   “Don't let them think around you.   Don't let them put on an evasive course, justifying or rationalizing.”   In fact, he might have reminded them of the words of Jesus in that profound statement in Luke chapter 10, verse 16, where Jesus says what I think is just a powerful statement, "The one who listens to you listens to Me,” the one who listens.   “The one who rejects you rejects Me; the one who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me."   What does that mean?   Jesus is saying, “If they listen to you My apostles, then they're listening to Me.   If they reject you, they're rejecting Me.   If they reject Me, they're rejecting the Father that sent Me.”

其中一些命令非常简单。就像年长的妇女不应该成为“恶意的八卦”一样。年轻的妇女要成为“家里的看守者”。年轻人要“理智”。一个年轻人很难懂事;他们想要轻浮。所有这些类型的命令。人们会说，“嗯，这个，好吧那个;好吧，你不明白。“不要让他们绕着你想。不要让他们采取回避的路线，为之辩护或合理化。事实上，他可能会让他们想起耶稣在路加福音第10章第16节中那句深刻的话，耶稣说了我认为只是一个有力的话，“听你们的，就是听我的，”听我的。“拒绝你们的，就是拒绝我;拒绝我的就是拒绝差我来的。那是什么意思？耶稣在说：“如果他们听从你们这些我的使徒，他们就是在听我的。如果他们拒绝你，他们就是在拒绝我。如果他们拒绝我，他们就是拒绝差我来的父。

The point is this: when someone speaks for God, when someone speaks God's truth - God's Word - and you reject, you reject God.   Don't let them do that.   So our Lord wants a healthy church, a church that is taught healthy doctrine and called to healthy spiritual behavior.   And he gives Titus and other pastors and leaders in the church the authority to keep on speaking and even to exhort and rebuke if necessary, and to do it consistently with the authority of Scripture and not be disregarded.

关键是：当有人为神说话时，当有人说出神的真理——神的话语——而你拒绝时，你就拒绝了神。不要让他们那样做。因此，我们的主想要一个健康的教会，一个被教导健康的教义并呼召进行健康的属灵行为的教会。他给了提多和教会中其他牧师和领袖权柄，让他们继续说话，甚至在必要时劝勉和责备，并始终如一地按照圣经的权柄去做，不被忽视。

He wants a pure church.   He wants a chaste virgin.   He wants a holy, spotless bride.

他想要一个纯洁的教会。他想要一个贞洁的处女。他想要一个圣洁、一尘不染的新娘。

What then makes a church healthy?   Holy living, the fruit of healthy doctrine.   I can't emphasize this enough because there are so many options being offered today in building a church.   What the Lord wants has nothing to do with the size of a church. What He wants has to do with the virtue of a church, the character of the church.   As I've said through the years, my job is to concentrate on the spiritual depth of the church and let God take care of the breadth of it.   The size is not an issue to me.   The character is.   And what makes a healthy church is not how many programs it has or how much money it has or how big it is, what makes a healthy church is its holy character.   And yet that's very, very infrequently ever even suggested today in the area of church growth.   It's just so very important to understand that the Lord is concerned about the quality of a church, not the size of it.   The size of it is all bound up in His own sovereign purpose.   And the size of it - I'll go a step further and say - is directly related to the virtue of it.   We're continually told that if we want to build the church we've got to come up with technique, strategy, marketing savvy, etc., etc., etc.   That does not concern the Lord. What concerns the Lord is the character of the church - the virtue, the godliness.

那么，是什么让教会健康呢？圣洁的生活，健康教义的果实。我怎么强调都不为过，因为今天在建造教会时提供了太多的选择。主想要什么，与教会的大小无关。他想要的与教会的美德、教会的品格有关。正如我多年来所说的，我的工作是专注于教会的属灵深度，让神照顾教会的广度。尺寸对我来说不是问题。性格是。而造就一个健康的教会，不在于它有多少计划，有多少钱，不在于它有多大，而是一个健康的教会，是它的圣洁品格。然而，今天在教会增长领域，这一点甚至很少被提出。了解主关心的是教会的质量，而不是教会的规模，这一点非常重要。这一切的大小都与他自己的主权旨意息息相关。它的大小——我会更进一步说——与它的优点直接相关。我们不断被告知，如果我们想建立教会，我们必须想出技术、策略、营销头脑等，等等。这与主无关。主关心的是教会的品格——美德、敬虔。

Now, before we look specifically at the flow of the chapter and the specific commands that are here, there's another key element to be acknowledged in this chapter, and it gives you the feeling of this chapter powerfully.   The commandments that are given here and the standards for behavior that are given here are required. And it is true that if you obey them and I obey them, we'll be blessed.   But that's never pointed out in the chapter. That's just a given.   We know that.   We know that obedience brings blessing. We certainly saw that in the psalm which we read this morning, Psalm 18.   That's a given. That's taken for granted. The issue here is not the effect of our holiness on us; the issue here is the effect of our holiness on others.   That's the issue.   For all that virtue does for me, the compelling issue here is what it does for somebody else.   Obedience to the requirements in this chapter are essential, Paul points out, not only for their own sake - which is a given, for you can then know the blessing and the joy of Christian living - but because it has such powerful effect on others.

现在，在我们具体查看本章的流程和此处的具体命令之前，本章中还有另一个关键要素需要承认，它给您带来了本章的强烈感觉。这里给出的诫命和这里给出的行为标准是必需的。确实，如果你服从他们，我服从他们，我们就会蒙福。但本章从未指出这一点。这只是一个给定的。我们知道这一点。我们知道顺服会带来祝福。我们当然在今天早上读到的诗篇诗篇 18 篇中看到了这一点。这是理所当然的。这是理所当然的。这里的问题不在于我们的圣洁对我们的影响;这里的问题是我们的圣洁对他人的影响。这就是问题所在。尽管美德对我有如此多的作用，但这里引人注目的问题是它对其他人的作用。保罗指出，顺服本章的要求是至关重要的，不仅是为了他们本身——这是理所当然的，因为这样你就可以知道基督徒生活的祝福和喜乐——而且因为它对他人有如此强大的影响。

Now this is stated in three purpose clauses in the chapter.   One is in verse 5, the second is in verse 8, and the third is in verse 10, and they are potent.   Let's look at verse 5.   All of this matter of behavior, end of verse 5, is in order that or “for the purpose that the word of God may not be dishonored.”   That's it.   The first compelling issue here is the honor of the Word of God.   Back in 1 Timothy 5:14, younger widows are instructed to get married and bear children and keep house.   Why?   To “give the enemy no occasion for reproach; for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.” In other words, how you live is going to impact how people view Christianity, and it makes Christianity attractive or turns them away into the path of Satan.   “The Word of God,” he says, “may not be dishonored.”   That's what holy living produces.   The word here is really the word for “blasphemed” at the end of verse 5, “disdained, rejected, treated as a lie, disregarded, mocked, shunned, ignored.” In other words, how you live will directly determine how people feel about the Word of God.   Amazing.   A Christian wife who is not what she ought to be, a Christian young man who is not what he ought to be, a Christian older man who is not what he ought to be, a Christian older woman who is not what she ought to be is going to give reason for people to blaspheme God's Word.

现在，本章的三个目的条款对此进行了说明。一个在第 5 节，第二个在第 8 节，第三个在第 10 节，它们是有力的。让我们看看第 5 节。第5节结尾的所有这些行为问题，都是为了“为使神的道不被羞辱”。就是这样。这里第一个引人注目的问题是上帝话语的荣耀。早在提摩太前书 5：14 中，年轻的寡妇被指示要结婚、生子和持家。为什么？“不给敌人责备的机会;因为有些人已经转身跟随撒旦了。换句话说，你的生活方式将影响人们对基督教的看法，它使基督教变得有吸引力，或者使他们走上撒旦的道路。他说：“上帝的话语，”不可被羞辱。这就是圣洁的生活所产生的。这里的词实际上是第5节末尾“被亵渎”的词，“被蔑视、被拒绝、被当作谎言、被忽视、被嘲笑、被回避、被忽视”。换句话说，你如何生活将直接决定人们对上帝话语的感受。了不起。一个不是她应该成为的基督徒妻子，一个不是他应该成为的基督徒年轻人，一个不是他应该成为的基督徒年长男人，一个不是她应该成为的基督徒老妇人，这将给人们亵渎上帝话语的理由。

You see the world doesn't judge us by our theology, the world judges us by our behavior, right? And they judge the validity of the Scripture by our behavior. They, they judge whether Scripture is really true and powerful and life-changing by whether it changes our lives.

你看，世界不是用我们的神学来评判我们，而是用我们的行为来评判我们，对吧？他们通过我们的行为来判断圣经的有效性。他们，他们判断圣经是否真的真实、有能力，是否能改变我们的生活。

I remember Sam Erickson telling me that time some years back that he had invited a lawyer - he was working for a law firm in L.A. - he invited a lawyer to come to church, and he said, "We want you to come because our church teaches the Bible, we have a pastor who teaches the Bible, and I think you'd appreciate it." And he said, "What church is it?"   And Sam said, "Grace Community Church."   He said, "Ha"; he said, "I don't go to any church, but I sure wouldn't go to that church, the most crooked attorney I know in the city goes there."   End of discussion.   The Word of God was blasphemed in that man's life and consequently this man turned his back on the truth.   I mentioned that, by the way, on the following Sunday to our congregation without naming which lawyer it was, and I think 25 lawyers repented.   But that's the simple illustration of what happens when you don't live the life - you bring reproach on the truth.   If it's life-changing truth, then it ought to change your life.   Why should people believe it's life-changing truth if your life isn't changed?

我记得几年前，山姆·埃里克森（Sam Erickson）告诉我，他邀请了一位律师——他在洛杉矶的一家律师事务所工作——他邀请了一位律师来教会，他说，“我们希望你来，因为我们的教会教导圣经，我们有一位牧师教导圣经， 我想你会很感激的。“他说：”这是什么教堂？山姆说：“恩典社区教会。他说：“哈”;他说，“我不去任何教堂，但我肯定不会去那个教堂，我认识的城里最邪恶的律师都会去那里。讨论结束。上帝的话语在那个人的生命中被亵渎了，因此这个人背弃了真理。顺便说一句，我在接下来的星期天向我们的会众提到过这一点，但没有说出是哪位律师的名字，我想有 25 名律师悔改了。但这只是一个简单的例子，说明当你不过好生活时会发生什么——你给真理带来了责备。如果它是改变生活的真理，那么它应该改变你的生活。如果你的生活没有改变，为什么人们要相信这是改变生活的真理？

An unbelieving husband - another family member may reject the gospel and mock the Bible because of the failure of a Christian wife to do what God has called her and empowered her to do.   William Kelley translates this little phrase "so that God's Word may suffer no scandal."   Listen, the world will judge the validity of the gospel, which is certainly inherent in the term "the word of God." They'll judge the gospel word by the character of the people who believe it and acclaim it and say they're transformed by it.

一个不信的丈夫——另一个家庭成员可能会拒绝福音并嘲笑圣经，因为一个基督徒妻子没有做上帝呼召她并赋予她能力去做的事情。威廉·凯利（William Kelley）翻译了这句话，“这样上帝的话语就不会遭受丑闻”。听着，世界会判断福音的有效性，这当然是“神的话语”一词所固有的。他们会根据相信福音、赞美福音的人的品格来判断福音的话语，并说他们被福音改变了。

You see, that's why it's so absolutely devastating when some well-known evangelists are caught in gross kinds of sin and immorality and the world just says, “Oh, the transforming power of the Bible they preach, huh?   Show me the transformation.”   As the German philosopher Heine said years ago, "Show me your redeemed life; I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer."   The credibility of the Christian gospel is tied to the integrity of the life of those who claim it.   The impact of the lives of men and women who carry the Lord's name is vital to the credibility of the faith and the effectiveness of personal witness in preaching and becomes a determiner as to whether someone turns and comes to Christianity or falls away and follows the path of Satan.

你看，这就是为什么当一些著名的传福音者陷入严重的罪恶和不道德之中时，世界只是说：“哦，他们所传的圣经的改变力量，是吗？让我看看转变。正如德国哲学家海涅多年前所说的那样，“让我看看你被救赎的生命;我可能倾向于相信你的救赎主。基督教福音的可信度与那些宣称福音的人生活的完整性息息相关。承载主名的男人和女人的生活影响对于信仰的可信度和个人见证在讲道中的有效性至关重要，并成为决定一个人是转向并信奉基督教还是背离并追随撒旦的道路的决定因素。

There are some graphic illustrations of this, perhaps none more vivid than the story of David, in 2 Samuel 12, who was confronted by Nathan - confronted because of his gross sin with Bathsheba and then the consequent murder of her husband.   David had sinned lusting, sinned committing adultery, sinned in plotting the murder of the husband of his paramour.   And he is confronted by Nathan in the twelfth chapter of 2 Samuel, and it's an incredible account.   I won't read it all, but down into verse 13 David said to Nathan, "I've sinned against the Lord."   David is here honestly confessing.   "And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.’"   There is forgiveness for the sinning believer.   Okay, we want to make that clear - there's forgiveness.   "However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die."   God will forgive your sin but your sin made the Gentiles, the pagans, the unbelievers blaspheme God.

有一些生动的例子，也许没有比撒母耳记下 12 章中大卫的故事更生动的了，他与拿单对峙——因为他与拔示巴犯了大罪，然后她的丈夫被谋杀了。大卫犯了的罪，犯了奸淫的罪，犯了密谋谋杀他情人的丈夫的罪。他在撒母耳记下第十二章中与拿单对峙，这是一个令人难以置信的记载。我不会全部读完，但直到第13节，大卫对拿单说：“我得罪了耶和华。大卫在这里诚实地承认。“拿单对大卫说：'耶和华也除去了你的罪;你必不死。犯罪的信徒会得到赦免。好吧，我们想明确一点——有宽恕。“然而，因为你这行为使耶和华的仇敌有亵渎的机会，所以为你所生的儿女也必死。”神会赦免你的罪，但你的罪使外邦人、异教徒、不信的人亵渎了神。

What do you think the world thinks when they watch Christians – prominent, well-known Christians - and they read about them in the newspaper as adulterers and fornicators and whatever? What do they do? They blaspheme the Lord.   They blaspheme the Word of God by depreciating its power, by mocking it.

当他们看到基督徒——著名的、知名的基督徒——并在报纸上读到他们是通奸者、通奸者等等时，你认为世人会怎么想？他们做什么？他们亵渎主。他们亵渎神的话语，贬低它的力量，嘲笑它。

In Romans you have another powerful statement, tragic but powerful statement, with regard to Israel when it says in Romans 2:24, "For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’"   Well, that was the opposite of what they were supposed to do.   They were a nation called by God to be a witness so that the name of God would be glorified.   But because of their crimes and their sin, the name of God was defiled.   That's a quote, by the way, from Isaiah 52:5 where Isaiah says, "And My name is continually every day blasphemed” because of you.

在罗马书中，你还有另一句强有力的陈述，悲剧但有力的陈述，关于以色列，罗马书 2：24 说：“因为'神的名因你们在外邦人中被亵渎。嗯，这与他们应该做的相反。他们是神呼召作见证的民族，好使神的名得荣耀。但因他们的罪和罪，上帝的名被玷污了。顺便说一句，这是以赛亚书 52：5 中的一段话，以赛亚说，“我的名因你，天天被亵渎”。

In Ezekiel 36 there is an equally poignant text. It's in verse 17, a place to start: "Son of man,” God says to Ezekiel, “when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way was before Me like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity [or her period].   Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. And I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands.   According to their ways and their deeds I judge them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord.’"   You get the picture?   It was bad enough they were so bad in the land, but when they got scattered everywhere they defiled the name of God by the way they behaved and the comment of the nations was, “Look, those are the people of the Lord, so you can see what kind of God He is. He's either immoral or impotent.   He either doesn't do anything about it or He can't” - and His name was dishonored.

在以西结书 36 章中，有一段同样令人心酸的经文。在第 17 节，这是一段开始的地方：“人子啊，”上帝对以西结说，“以色列家住在自己的土地上时，他们用自己的行为和行为玷污了它;他们的道路在我面前，就像一个女人在污秽时期的污秽一样。因此，我为他们流在地上的血，因为他们用偶像玷污了这地，就把我的忿怒倾倒在他们身上。我把他们分散在列国中，他们分散在各地。我按着他们的行为和行为审判他们。他们到了他们所到的列国，亵渎了我的圣名，因为有人说：'这些是耶和华的子民。'”你明白了吗？他们在这地太坏了，这已经够坏的了，但当他们分散到各处时，他们的行为方式玷污了上帝的名，列国的评论是：“看哪，这些都是耶和华的子民，所以你可以看到他是什么样的上帝。他要么不道德，要么无能为力。他要么不做任何事情，要么他不能”——他的名被羞辱了。

Because of the sins of Israel, their crimes were attributed to the influence or the impotence of their deity, their God, so that the pagans were looking at God in blasphemous perspectives.   You see, that's why Jesus said, "Let your light so shine...that men may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).   That's why Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2 and 3, "You are our letter about Christ, known and read by all men."   You're the gospel they see; you're what makes the Word of God believable or unbelievable.

由于以色列人的罪，他们的罪行被归咎于他们的神，他们的神的影响或无能，以至于异教徒以亵渎的眼光看待神。你看，这就是为什么耶稣说：“让你的光照耀......使世人看见你的善行，荣耀你在天上的父“（马太福音 5：16）。这就是为什么保罗在哥林多后书 3：2 和 3 中写道：“你是我们关于基督的书信，是众人都认识和阅读的。你就是他们看到的福音;你是使神的话语可信或不可信的原因。

So, when Paul says to Titus, "Here are the standards, older men are to live like this, older women like this, younger women like this, younger men like this, and everybody out in the work place like this, here is the reason: because if you don't live holy lives, then the Word of God will be mocked and shunned and disregarded and dishonored and thought little of and that constitutes a form of blasphemy."   You see how much is at stake in the way you live?   And it isn't just for your own benefit.   We've got to get Christianity somehow beyond that, because that's where we're stuck right now.   What can Christianity do for me?   And the question is, “What can your kind of Christianity do for everybody else?”   That's the issue.

所以，当保罗对提多说：“这是标准，年长的男人要这样生活，年长的女人要这样，年轻的女人要这样，年轻的男人要这样生活，在工作场所里的每个人都要这样，原因就是这样的：因为如果你不过圣洁的生活，那么上帝的话语就会被嘲笑、回避、被忽视、被羞辱、轻视，这构成了一种亵渎。你看到你的生活方式有多大利害关系吗？这不仅仅是为了你自己的利益。我们必须以某种方式让基督教超越这一点，因为这就是我们现在所处的困境。基督教能为我做些什么？问题是，“你们的基督教能为其他人做些什么？这就是问题所在。

Now I want you to notice in verse 8 a second purpose clause that gives us the heart of what Paul is saying, verse 8 toward the end: "That the opponent may be put to shame" - the Greek word literally means “to blush because he's so embarrassed” - "having nothing bad to say about us." That's the issue here again. The issue is: “Look, they're examining us and we want to so live that those opponents of the faith will blush in sheer embarrassment because there is no just criticism.”   Don't you think that the opponents of Christianity love it when Christians scandalize the faith?   Don't they love to pick up the magazines and the newspapers and read about the fornication and the adultery and the fiscal irresponsibility and the thievery and all of the conning that goes on in the fakeries of Christianity and all of the sin and iniquity in leadership? Sure they do.

现在，我希望你注意到第8节的第二个目的条款，它给了我们保罗所说的核心，第8节的结尾：“使对手羞愧”——希腊语的字面意思是“因为他如此尴尬而脸红”——“对我们没有坏话可说”。这又是这里的问题。问题是：“看，他们正在审视我们，我们想活得让那些反对信仰的人会因为没有公正的批评而脸红。你不认为基督教的反对者喜欢基督徒诋毁信仰吗？难道他们不喜欢拿起杂志和报纸，阅读淫乱、通奸、财政不负责任、偷窃、基督教虚假的所有骗局，以及领导层中所有的罪恶和罪孽吗？当然，他们确实如此。

And I'll tell you something else, the people in your little world would love those who deny the Lord, who don't know Christ, who at this point haven't come to faith in Him - they would love to see you fail significantly so they can justify their unbelief.   They don't want to see God transform your life and then rebuke them. But that's exactly what you want to do, you want to make them red faced, you want to make them blush when they criticize because they can't find anything to criticize.   You see, the issue here is evangelism.   And again I say just to put it in a context, the proper strategy for evangelization is not methodological, it is not some kind of strategy, it is not some kind of marketing technique.   The way we reach the world is through virtue, godliness, holiness, purity of life that makes our faith believable, makes God's Word believable.

我还要告诉你一件事，在你们小世界里，人们会喜欢那些否认主的人，那些不认识基督的人，他们此时还没有相信他——他们愿意看到你大败，这样他们就可以为他们的不信辩护。他们不想看到上帝改变你的生命，然后责备他们。但这正是你想做的，你想让他们红脸，你想让他们在批评时脸红，因为他们找不到任何可以批评的东西。你看，这里的问题是传福音。我再说一遍，只是为了说明一下，福传的正确策略不是方法论，不是某种策略，不是某种营销技巧。我们接触世界的方式是通过美德、敬虔、圣洁、纯洁的生活，使我们的信仰可信，使上帝的话语可信。

Peter, seeing the very same issue at hand, wrote words that fit right into this same thought, 1 Peter 2:11, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts."   Don't get caught in them?   Why?   "Keep your behavior excellent among the pagans, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."   You know what that means?   How can you “glorify God in the day of visitation?” “The day of visitation” is the time when He visits, when He comes.   How can you glorify God in that day?   By receiving Him.   You can only receive Him if you've come to know Him.   That's exactly what Peter is saying.   Let them look at your life, and whereas on the one hand they come to criticize, let your behavior be so excellent that their criticism turns to curiosity, and their curiosity turns to conversion, and they're there to greet the Lord with you when He comes.   You lead people to the credibility of Christianity and to conversion by the virtue of your life. So stay away from fleshly lusts and let your behavior be excellent.

彼得看到手头的同样问题，写下了符合同一思想的话，彼得前书 2：11，“亲爱的弟兄啊，我劝你们这些寄居的、寄居的，要戒除肉体的私欲。不要被困住？为什么？“在异教徒中，你们要保持优良的行为，好使他们诽谤你们为作恶的人，他们就可以因你们的善行，在拜访的日子荣耀上帝。”你知道这意味着什么吗？你怎样才能“在探访的日子荣耀神”？“探访的日子”是他来访的时候，当他来的时候。在那个日子，你怎么能荣耀神呢？通过接受他。只有当你认识他时，你才能接受他。这正是彼得所说的。让他们看看你的生活，一方面他们来批评，让你的行为如此出色，以至于他们的批评变成了好奇，他们的好奇心变成了转变，当主来临时，他们在那里与你一起迎接他。你带领人们获得基督教的可信度，并通过你的生命获得皈依。所以，远离肉体的情欲，让你的行为变得优秀。

So the issue here in chapter 2 again is the evangelistic strategy of the church.   We reach the world by holiness, not by technique.

因此，第二章的问题再次是教会的传福音策略。我们通过圣洁而不是技术来接触世界。

And then there is a third text, verse 10.   A third purpose clause, the end of verse 10, "In order that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect."   That moves from a more negative tone in the first two to a positive one.   First in verse 5 he says, “We want to make sure the Word of God is not blasphemed.”   Second in verse 8, “we want to make sure that anybody who opposes Christianity will have their mouth closed and stand there in absolute embarrassment because there's nothing bad to say about Christians.”   And here he says on the positive side, verse 10, "We want to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." This is such a powerful, powerful point.

然后是第三节经文，第 10 节。第三个目的条款，即第10节的结尾，“为要使他们在各方面都装饰我们救主神的教义。这从前两个更消极的基调转变为积极的基调。在第5节，他首先说：“我们要确保神的话语不被亵渎。第二节第8节，“我们要确保任何反对基督教的人都会闭上嘴，站在那里，感到绝对的尴尬，因为基督徒没有什么坏话可说的。“从积极的一面来看，第10节，他说：”我们要在各方面装饰我们救主上帝的教义。这是一个如此有力、有力的观点。

Let me ask you something.   What is our primary message to this world about God?   Are we trying to tell the world that God is omnipotent?   Well, it's true.   Are we trying to get across to this world that God is omniscient?   That God is omnipresent?   That God is immutable?   Are we trying to get across to this world that God is the creator and the sustainer of the universe?   That God is sovereign? That God is eternal?   Yeah, all of that is true.   What we're really trying to get the world to understand is that God is a Savior - isn't that it?   We're trying to get them to understand that God is there to save them.   And that's verse 10.   "How can we adorn the teaching about God as Savior in every respect if we don't look like we've been saved?"   I mean, if I tell you about my barber and you look at me and say, "Your hair is a mess," you aren't going to my barber.   Now how obvious is that?   If I tell you I have found a wonderful place to eat and I've been eating there for 15 years, and I'm going to eat there till I'm dead - I have a terminal illness that came from food poisoning.   You're going to say, "I'm not going to that place."   It doesn't do me any good to commend something to you that doesn't show up in my life.   If I am going to adorn the doctrine or the teaching about God as a Savior, then I'm going to have to demonstrate that I've been saved.   Saved from what?   Sin, sin.

让我问你一件事。关于上帝，我们向这个世界传达的主要信息是什么？我们是否试图告诉世界上帝是无所不能的？嗯，这是真的。我们是否试图让这个世界知道上帝是无所不知的？上帝无所不在？上帝是不变的？我们是否试图让这个世界相信上帝是宇宙的创造者和维持者？上帝是至高无上的？上帝是永恒的？是的，这一切都是真的。我们真正想让世界明白的是，上帝是救主——不是这样吗？我们试图让他们明白，上帝在那里拯救他们。这就是第 10 节。“如果我们看起来没有得救，我们怎么能在各个方面装饰上帝是救主的教导呢？”我的意思是，如果我告诉你我的理发师，你看着我说，“你的头发乱糟糟的”，你就不会去找我的理发师。现在这有多明显？如果我告诉你，我找到了一个很棒的吃饭的地方，我已经在那里吃了 15 年，我会在那里吃到死——我得了食物中毒引起的绝症。你会说，“我不会去那个地方。向你推荐一些没有出现在我生活中的东西对我没有任何好处。如果我要装饰关于上帝是救主的教义或教导，那么我就必须证明我已经得救了。从什么中拯救了？罪，罪。

We make salvation attractive when we demonstrate deliverance from sin - power over sin and temptation.   Lives characterized by purity, power, joy, blessing.   By the way, that word "adorn" is great.   There's a hairspray named that, “Adorn,” and that really does speak about what that word means.   It's from a Greek word kosme, from which we get cosmetic.   It means “to make something beautiful.”   We say a woman adorned herself with jewels, and it was used that way in ancient times.   The word kosme – “to put on cosmetics, to make beautiful.”   In fact, in the Greek, one made kosme out of chaos, and that's what you ladies are doing, basically.   You're turning the chaos into the cosmos, the disarray into beauty and order.   Some of you are doing a wonderful job at it as well.   And the true chaos will never be known, I'm sure.   But that is precisely what the word means.   And when we show the order and the beauty of the power of a saving God in our lives, we make salvation beautiful; we make God, as it were, attractive.   And he says you want to do that in all things, “in every respect.”

当我们展示从罪中解脱出来时，我们就会使救恩变得有吸引力——战胜罪和试探的能力。以纯洁、力量、喜乐、祝福为特征的生活。顺便说一句，“装饰”这个词很棒。有一种名为“装饰”的发胶，它确实说明了这个词的含义。它来自希腊语 kosme，我们从中得到化妆品。它的意思是“创造美丽的东西”。我们说女人用珠宝装饰自己，在古代就是这样使用的。kosme 这个词——“涂上化妆品，让美丽”。事实上，在希腊语中，一个人从混乱中创造了 kosme，基本上这就是你们女士们正在做的事情。你正在将混乱变成宇宙，将混乱变成美丽和秩序。你们中的一些人也在这方面做得很好。我敢肯定，真正的混乱永远不会被人知道。但这正是这个词的意思。当我们在生活中显示拯救神的大能的秩序和美丽时，我们就使救恩变得美丽;我们使上帝变得有吸引力。他说你想在所有事情上做到这一点，“在各个方面”。

Do you see what's at stake here?   Souls, eternal souls.   You see, wrong conduct on the part of Christians leads non-Christians to slander God. Holy conduct on the part of Christians leads people to glorify God.   The issue in holy living then again, I say, is not just self-centered - I want to be happy; I don't want to get chastened. The issue here is the whole matter of evangelization.   It's all bound up in this.   And again I say, what makes the church powerful in the world is not its strategy - it is its virtue, its holiness.   What we believe is linked to how we live, and how we live is directly linked to evangelism.

你明白这里有什么利害关系吗？灵魂，永恒的灵魂。你看，基督徒的错误行为会导致非基督徒诽谤上帝。基督徒的圣洁行为引导人们荣耀上帝。我再说一次，圣洁生活的问题不仅仅是以自我为中心——我想快乐;我不想被责备。这里的问题是福传的整个问题。这一切都与此有关。我再说一次，使教会在世界上强大的不是它的策略，而是它的美德，它的圣洁。我们所相信的与我们的生活方式有关，而我们的生活方式与传福音直接相关。

So Paul in this chapter is going to set some standards down.   They're not negotiable. They're absolute.   He says to Titus, "Don't let anybody get around this; don't let anybody circumvent this; don't let anybody rationalize and justify themselves and evade these things - they're crucial; keep on talking; keep on talking, and do it with authority” - because what is at stake?   The Word of God, the saving power of God - that's all at stake.   And if we're going to have an impact on the world, it's going to be the impact of our holy living, starting in verse 2. And we'll start there next time - come the commands.   They run down through verse 10; and then in verses 11 to 14, the reason for them.   It is a powerful chapter, and I believe God is going to instruct us in powerful ways.   My prayer that the result will be many will come to know Christ because of your life and your testimony.

因此，保罗在本章中要制定一些标准。它们是没有商量余地的。他们是绝对的。他对提多说：“不要让任何人绕过这件事;不要让任何人规避这一点;不要让任何人为自己辩护和逃避这些事情——它们是至关重要的;继续说话;继续说话，并凭权威去做“——因为这事关重大的是什么？神的话语，神的拯救大能——这一切都处于危险之中。如果我们要对世界产生影响，那将是我们圣洁生活的影响，从第 2 节开始。下次我们将从那里开始 - 来命令。他们贯穿第10节;然后在第 11 节到 14 节中，他们的原因。这是一个强而有力的章节，我相信上帝会以强有力的方式教导我们。我祈求结果会有很多人因你的生活和你的见证而认识基督。

Father, we thank You this morning for this time in the richness of Your Word.   We now feel like we have a hold on the heart of this chapter and are now ready to submit to what it teaches. To that end we pray in every life, Lord, in order that we might adorn the teaching about Your saving power, in order that we might stop the mouth of every critic of Christianity, in order that we might never bring a reproach on Your Word.   Lord, so much is at stake - eternal souls. Help us to live holy lives. We have been taught for many years healthy doctrine. Now, Lord, by Your Holy Spirit may we live healthy Christian lives, and may You be glorified in and through us so that our testimony can be the very motivation for others to embrace the Savior.   We pray in His dear name.   Amen.

天父，我们今天早上感谢你，在你丰富的话语中。我们现在觉得我们抓住了本章的核心，现在已经准备好顺服它的教导。主啊，为此，我们在每一世都祷告，好让我们能装饰关于你拯救大能的教导，好让我们堵住每一个批评基督教的人的嘴，好让我们永远不会对你的话语造成责备。主啊，有太多的事情受到威胁——永恒的灵魂。帮助我们过圣洁的生活。多年来，我们一直被教导健康的教义。主啊，现在，借着你的圣灵，愿我们过着健康的基督徒生活，愿你在我们里面并通过我们得到荣耀，使我们的见证能够成为其他人拥抱救主的动力。我们奉他亲爱的名祷告。阿门。