God's Plan for Older Men

Titus 2:2
Sunday, April 11, 2010

We are in chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to Titus, where Paul gives very

practical and very specific instructions to different groups in the local
church. Paul addresses five groups in the church: older men (2:2);
older women (2:3); young women (2:4-5); younger men (2:6); Elders
or Pastors as represented by Titus (2:7-8); and, slaves (2:9-10).

Before addressing these various groups Paul introduces his words with
a statement in Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound
doctrine.

“But as for you” contrasts Titus with the false teachers that Paul has
just described (1:10-16). Paul said that these men were insubordinate,
empty talkers and deceivers, who were upsetting whole families for
shameful gain (1:10-11) They were teaching Jewish myths and the
commandments of men, rather than the truth of God’s Word (1:14).
Their unbiblical teaching does not lead to godliness and good deeds
(Tit 1:16 says, “They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good
work.”).

By contrast, Titus was to “teach what accords with sound

doctrine.” Simply put, it means Titus was to give practical application
of sound doctrine. Paul’s method of instruction always included sound
doctrine and practical Christian living that flowed out of it. As someone
said, “To have doctrine without practice is dead orthodoxy. To have
practice without the foundation of sound doctrine is just human
moralism.”

Today, we will look at God’s plan for the older men in the church.

Titus 2:2 ESV Older men are to be sober-minded,

dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in
steadfastness.

 The phrase “older man” comes from a word in Greek which

means “old or elderly man.”

 The word is used three times in the NT:

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 - Titus 2:2 ESV Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified,
self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.
- Luke 1:18 ESV And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I
know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in
years."
- Philemon 1:9 ESV yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to
you--I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ
Jesus--

 Ancient Greek writers say that that ranges from 50 to 56 years

old.

 Some Bible scholars suggest that 60 may have been considered

the point at which one passed into old age based on Leviticus 27
and 1Ti 5:9:
- Lev 27:1-3The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the people
of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD
involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male
from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of
silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
- 1 Timothy 5:9 ESV Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than
sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,

 MacArthur:

Perhaps a good definition of it will flow out of Luke 1:18, Zacharias the
father of John the Baptist had been told that he would have a son, that
his wife would become pregnant and they would have a son and, of
course, it would be John the Baptist. But Zacharias says, "How shall I
know this for certain?" I mean, this seems impossible. Why? "For I am
an old man and my wife is advanced in years." And he uses the word
presbutes there which would lead us to believe that he is saying an old
man is one who is unable to produce a child. So you're talking about
an age where child production is no longer the norm. That's what the
word means. It's talking about a man at that point in his life. And
again Paul uses it to refer to himself in his sixties.

I checked the National Statistics Office website and I found a report

which they released last March 18, 2005:
http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/sr05151tx.html

The total number of senior citizens (60 years old and over) based on the 2000
Census of Population and Housing was 4.6 million, accounting for 5.97
percent of the 2000 Philippine population. … The number of senior citizens is
expected to reach seven million in 2010.

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Just by looking at the people here in our congregation, I guess we
have 5 to 10 persons who are senior citizens.

I read some HUMOROUS things regarding getting old.

 American comedian and actor Bob Hope said, "You know you're old when the
candles cost more than the cake."
 A famous writer of crime novels, Agatha Christie, wrote on one occasion
that she married an archaeologist. And someone asked why would you marry
an archaeologist...to which she replied, "Because the older I get the more
he'll appreciate me."

 Washington Irving, an American author, best known for his short stories
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", said, “Whenever a
man’s friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure
that they think he is growing old.”

But humor aside, old age does carry with it NEGATIVE aspects:

 Infirmities come with old age.

2 Samuel 19:34-35 ESV But Barzillai said to the king, … 35 I am this

day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can
your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the
voice of singing men and singing women? …

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 from the Amplified Bible

1 REMEMBER [earnestly] also your Creator [that you are not your
own, but His property now] in the days of your youth, before the
evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of
physical pleasures], I have no enjoyment in them--
2 Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are
darkened [sight is impaired], and the clouds [of depression] return
after the rain [of tears];
3 In the day when the keepers of the house [the hands and the arms]
tremble, and the strong men [the feet and the knees] bow
themselves, and the grinders [the molar teeth] cease because they
are few, and those who look out of the windows [the eyes] are
darkened;
4 When the doors [the lips] are shut in the streets and the sound of
the grinding [of the teeth] is low, and one rises up at the voice of a
bird and the crowing of a cock, and all the daughters of music [the
voice and the ear] are brought low;
5 Also when [the old] are afraid of danger from that which is high, and
fears are in the way, and the almond tree [their white hair]
blooms, and the grasshopper [a little thing] is a burden, and desire
and appetite fail, because man goes to his everlasting home and
the mourners go about the streets or marketplaces.(2)

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 6 [Remember your Creator earnestly now] before the silver cord [of
life] is snapped apart, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher
is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [and
the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function];
7 Then shall the dust [out of which God made man's body] return to
the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it.

 Sometimes, there’s also the sinful habits that come with age.

Ecclesiastes 4:13 ESV Better was a poor and wise youth than
an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.

John MacArthur says, “We become creatures of somewhat formidable

and unbreakable habits. And the longer we do them the harder they
are to deal with. Sometimes even our besetting sins become so much
a part of the fabric of our lives that even recognition of them becomes
difficult. Sometimes we get a little bit obstinate and a little bit
stubborn and sometimes we think we know more than we do know…”

However, lest I be misunderstood, the general attitude of the Bible

toward aging is POSITIVE:

 Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) says, “The Hebrews regarded

life as complete when it was full of days and riches and honor.
Age was looked upon as a sign of favor. Whenever a nation
becomes unspiritual, it reverses this order; the demand is not for
old age but for youth. This reversal in the modern life of today is
indicative of apostasy, not of advance.”

 The aged occupied a prominent place in the social and political

system of the Jews. In private life, Their experience made them
to be regarded as depositories of knowledge
- Job 12:12 ESV Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in
length of days.
- Job 32:9 ESV It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who
understand what is right.

 the young were ordered to show respect to the aged. They were
to rise up in their presence, Lev_19:32
- Leviticus 19:32 ESV "You shall stand up before the gray head
and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God:
I am the LORD.

 The aged were allowed them to give their opinion first

- Job 32:4 ESV Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because
they were older than he.

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  they were taught to regard gray hair as a "crown of glory
- Proverbs 16:31 ESV Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained
in a righteous life.
- Proverbs 20:29 ESV The glory of young men is their strength,
but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

 The attainment of old age was regarded as a special blessing.

- Job 5:26 ESV You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like
a sheaf gathered up in its season.
- Genesis 15:15 ESV As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers
in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
- Psalms 91:16 ESV With long life I will satisfy him and show
him my salvation."
- Proverbs 3:1-2 ESV My son, do not forget my teaching, but let
your heart keep my commandments, 2 for length of days and
years of life and peace they will add to you.

 Premature death was a temporal judgment for sin

- 1 Samuel 2:32 ESV Then in distress you will look with envious
eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and
there shall not be an old man in your house forever.)

 It is a blessing to communities when they have old men among

them
- Zechariah 8:4 ESV Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and
old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with
staff in hand because of great age.

 Jesus Christ is portrayed with the white hair of old age

- Revelation 1:14 ESV The hairs of his head were white like
wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire).

John MacArthur:

Just because you're growing old life doesn't have to be bleak. … All those who
know Christ, all those who have walked with Him for any length of time
should look forward to old age because it takes us nearer to heaven, doesn't
it? It puts us in a situation where we have accumulated spiritual experience
which makes us truly rich. It enables us to be the leaders and the mentors
and the models and the examples for the young. It allows us to filter out life
and keep what we think is really valuable. Should be a good time.

The aging of Christians is a blessing. It's the aged people in the congregation
that provide its strength, its stability and its wisdom. Older believers should
they be in great numbers in the future in the church are going to make the
church a better place, a richer place. The maturity of godliness will be a
benediction to the body of Christ.

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 Somebody old who has walked a long time in the path of righteousness is a
treasure, a treasure of wisdom and a treasure of experience and a treasure of
understanding, a triumphant Christian who has fought the battle over and
over and over and been victorious, who has experienced everything that the
young are waiting to experience...become a great treasure to the church.

Those who can best declare the character of God are those who have walked
with Him longest.

Older people then in a fellowship do become a treasure, a tremendous

blessing. They bring spiritual experience, spiritual strength, spiritual
endurance, spiritual wisdom to all of us. And if in the years ahead the church
has an abundance of such people, what a source of blessing. But only if they
walk in the way of righteousness.

There's no value in being old if you're not godly. There's no value in being old
if you're not a model or an example. And so the Apostle Paul lays down some
very specific characteristics that are to be manifest in the older people in the
congregation. … [Older] men here are called to be spiritually responsible to
demonstrate godly character.

This is very important. In fact, it's so important in the church that if they
don't do it they're to be rebuked. Back in 1 Timothy 5:1 Paul says, “Do not
rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father.” Now the
assumption here is that in the life of the church older men are going to sin.
And that's true. It doesn't mean that because I'm older, I'm over 50, over 60,
over 70, or over 80 that all of a sudden I don't sin anymore...not so. And it is
very reasonable to assume that the very fact that Paul is telling Titus to tell
these men to behave this way indicates that there's a real possibility that
some of them might not.

It is indicated in 1 Timothy 5:1 that the older men may need to be rebuked.
They may need to be confronted about their sin. And Paul says if you do it,
don't do it sharply. Don't do it cruelly. Do it graciously. You come alongside
and appeal to him with the respect that you would give to a father.

Now Paul is saying to Titus, "You must confront the older men in your
congregation and you must call them to this level of spiritual living or
else...the implication is...they must be so confronted."

Every older man should set as his goal to come to the latter years of his life
and be able to say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the course, I have kept the faith," 2 Timothy 4:7. Every older man should be
able to say, "I want you to be a follower of me as I am of Christ." Every older
man should be able to say to the younger man, "Let me show you how to live
life."

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And so how are the older men to live? This is what we find in Titus 2:2
ESV Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-
controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

1. Nēphálios (sober-minded)
 In the NT the term occurs in the listed requirements for elders (1 Tim. 3:2),
deacon’s wives (3:11), and older men (Tit. 2:2).
- 1 Timothy 3:2 ESV Therefore an overseer must be above
reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-
controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
- 1 Timothy 3:11 ESV Their wives likewise must be
dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all
things.
 This word basically means “abstaining from wine” or temperate in the use of
wine.”
 It also has the broader meaning of being sober-minded, clear headed,
watchful, circumspect.
- 1 Peter 1:13 ESV Therefore, preparing your minds for
action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the
grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
- 1 Peter 4:7 ESV The end of all things is at hand; therefore
be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your
prayers.
- 1 Peter 5:8 ESV Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.
 In this context, nephalios refers to being free from all forms of excess or life-
dominating patterns through the control of the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). This is seen
in contrast to the “lazy gluttons,” a term used to describe the false teachers.

 MacArthur

He has learned the high cost of self-indulgent living. He has learned

the high cost of filling out all his pleasures, satisfying all his whims,
pursuing all his dreams. And he's now filtered through all of that and
he's left a lot of stuff along the path discarded. When he was young it
was a matter of accumulation. And as he accumulated he began to find
out what really had value. As a young man he poured energy into a lot
of things, as an older man he can look back and see where that energy
was wasted in so many cases. As a young man he dreamed a
thousand dreams and wanted to accomplish a thousand things and
looks back only to a handful of things that had eternal value. As an
older man he has a myriad of experiences one after another, day after
day, month after month, year after year and life has been moderated
by those experiences.

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 He has found that what he thought he wanted that would give him
satisfaction never did. And all the possessions and all the accumulation
and all the reputation and all the achievement and all the accolades
have been somehow set aside on the path of life and discarded
because they had no real value. He has come to a right value system.

2. Semnós, dignified
 In the Pastoral letters, this is a quality required of the deacon,
the deacon’s wife, and the older person (1 Tim. 3:8, 11; Tit.
2:2).
 The sense is “serious or grave, noble, and dignified, serious
minded and not a clown.
 This quality reveals a personal dignity and seriousness of
purpose that invite honor and respect.
 It combines the ideas of gravity and dignity that makes people
worthy of respect.

 William Barclay, revised and edited: The word means to be

serious in purpose or to have the personal dignity that invites
honor and respect. It does not imply being gloomy or lacking a
sense of humor. Rather, it refers to someone who lives in light of
eternity, knowing that very soon he will stand before God.

 MacArthur

Secondly, they are to be DIGNIFIED, semnos, serious, worthy of

respect, venerable. It doesn't mean that they're boring, gloomy
people, it must means they're not frivolous. They're not flippant.
They're serious in life. I mean, they've lived long enough to see that
life is a serious thing. They're over the feeling of immortality and
invincibility that plagues young people. And they've seen too much and
felt too much to be trivial. They've buried their parents in many cases,
most cases. They've buried their sisters and brothers. They've stood in
hospital waiting rooms while those they love died. They've been
waiting for the surgeon to come out and explain what happened in the
cancer surgery to a life partner. They've watched a child rebel. They've
watched a child born who turned away from everything they believed
in. They watched a child die of leukemia. They watched a child die of
cancer. They've seen it all. They've felt it all. They have borne the
burdens of their own life and family and the burdens of a myriad of
other people with whom they have shared life. They've come to the
disillusioning reality and fact that the world is not going to get any
better and they couldn't make it any better and neither can anybody
else. They've lived through all the anticipated utopian thoughts. They
have lived through the hopeful euphorias that said we're going to fix
everything. And they're down on the other side of it and they know
with an honesty that life is the way it is because man is the way he is
and he is not going to change by himself.

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3. sōphrōn, Self-controlled
 This word is a favorite of Paul in the Pastoral Epistles. It is used
of elders (1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:8), of the younger women (Tit. 2:5)
and the verb form, sophroneo, is used of younger men (Tit.
2:6).
 of a sound mind, sane, in one’s senses or "in one's right mind
 it means to be balanced and in control. He is in control of his
mind and emotions so that he can act rationally and discreetly.
 The sensible person is not impulsive or given over to various
passions.
 Since “temperate” as listed above contains the idea of self-
control, perhaps the focus here is on “soundness of mind in
thought and judgment.”
 Barclay: Over the years the senior men must have acquired that
cleansing, saving strength of mind which has learned to govern
every instinct and passion until each has its proper place and no
more.

Then there are three more positive virtues that are all summed up in the final
statement. Sound in faith, in love, in perseverance...sound means healthy,
without weakness, without disease, without debilitation. They have strong well whole
attitudes in these areas.

1. First are to be HEALTHY IN FAITH.

 Titus 1:13 ESV This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them
sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
 "Faith" may be objective, as the doctrinal content of the faith
professed, but the following two items suggest that it is
subjective, their personal faith in the Lord.
 Older men should have the healthy faith in God that comes from
trusting God in the practical matters of life over the years.
 MH. Sound in the faith, sincere and stedfast, constantly adhering
to the truth of the gospel, not fond of novelties, nor ready to run
into corrupt opinions or to be taken with Jewish fables or
traditions.
 NIVBC: "Faith" may be objective, as the doctrinal content of the
faith professed, but the following two items suggest that it is
subjective, their personal faith in the Lord.
 Gill: they should be sound in the doctrine of faith, lest they
should lead others into error; and their faith in Christ should
appear to be right and genuine;
 Barclay: He must be healthy in faith. If a man lives really
close to Christ, the passing of the years and the experiences of
life far from taking his faith away will make his faith even

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 stronger. The years must teach us, not to trust God less but to
trust him more.

 MacArthur

They have spiritual faith that is healthy, whole, well, sound, solid.
What does that mean? That means their faith in God is unwavering.
They've seen enough. They've been through enough. The 50, 60, 70,
80 years have shown them God and God is to be trusted, right? They
don't doubt. They don't question God. They never lose their trust in
God's good intention. They never lose their confidence in God's plan.
They never lose their hope for God's sovereignty to fulfill itself. They
never accuse God of disappointing them. They never doubt the truth of
Scripture. They never question the power of the Holy Spirit. They
never ever question whether the gospel can save. They know, they've
seen it.

Those who have lived through all the years and God has shown
Himself and shown Himself and shown Himself and shown Himself
through all of the vicissitudes and struggles and all the difficulties of
life, he has been there and he has proven himself and he's an old man
now and he says...I believe God. And his faith holds up the church.
He's strong. His faith is courageous because a life of believing has
taught him to trust God. God has proven Himself faithful over the long
years. In all the hospitals, at all the funerals, in all the losses and
disappointments of life, God has been faithful. Through all of the sins
and the temptations and trials and the repentances and the renewals,
through all of the exposure to the truth and the application of the
Word, it has been as God said it would be and He can be believed. And
that kind of mature faith holds up the church. It gives us a faith to
emulate.

2. Secondly he says he is to be HEALTHY IN LOVE.

 NIVBC: They must be mature in their exercise of genuine "love,"
not bitter and vindictive
 Barnes: The meaning is, that an old man should evince love for
all, especially for those who are good. He should have overcome,
at his time of life, all the fiery, impetuous, envious, wrathful
passions of his early years, and his mind should be subdued into
sweet benevolence to all mankind.
 Barclay: He must be healthy in love. It may well be that the
greatest danger of age is that it should drift into censoriousness
and fault-finding. Sometimes the years take kindly sympathy
away. It is fatally possible for a man to become so settled in his
ways that he comes unconsciously to resent all new thoughts
and ways. But the years ought to bring, not increasing
intolerance but increasing sympathy with the views and mistakes
of others.

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  As you grow older, rather than becoming more grouchy or hard
to live with, you should become more loving. Rather than
becoming more intolerant and hardened towards others, you
should become more gracious and compassionate. Measure
yourself by the list in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

 MacArthur

Here is a man who has learned through the years what ought to be
loved and what not to love. His love is set on things that should be
loved. He's learned to love when love is not returned. He's learned to
love when love is rejected. He's learned to love when love isn't even
deserved. He's learned to love and in his love to forgive and in his love
to serve. He's learned to love patiently, kindly. His love is not jealous.
His love does not brag. His love is not arrogant. It doesn't act
unbecomingly. It doesn't seek its own. It isn't provoked. It doesn't
take into account a wrong suffered. It never rejoices in somebody
else's sin, it rejoices with the truth. His is a love that bears all things,
believes all things and hopes all things, endures all things and his love
never fails.

One of the tragedies of old age is when people become unloving and
bitter and selfish. This older man that the church desperately needs is
healthy in his love. He doesn't love out of emotion, he loves out of
principle. He loves because it's right. He loves with his will not his
feelings. Part of growing old is that you don't do everything by your
feelings.

3. Third, he is to be sound in steadfastness

 NIVBC: they must display active "endurance," that steadfast
persistence that bravely bears the trials and afflictions of life.
 Barclay: He must be healthy in fortitude. The years should
temper a man like steel, so that he can bear more and more,
and emerge more and more the conqueror over life's troubles.
 Barnes Sound in patience - In the infirmities of old age - in the
trials resulting from the loss of the friends of their early years -
in their loneliness in the world, they should show that the effect
of all God’s dealings with them has been to produce patience.
The aged should submit to the trials of their advanced years with
resignation - for they will soon be over. A few more sighs, and
they will sigh no more; a little longer bearing up under their
infirmities, and they will renew their youth before the throne of
God.
 Older men should know how to bear up under life’s trials with a
buoyant hope in the promises of God. Rather than dropping out

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 of the race, older men should be running with endurance by
fixing their eyes on the Lord Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2).

 2Co 6:4-5 Paul proceeds to itemize his hardships (cf. 1Co 4:9-
13; 2Co 4:8-9; 11:23-29) as he seeks to commend and defend
his ministry as a servant of God and to provide the Corinthians
with further material they might use in his defense (cf. 5:12).
Paul's commendation was a matter of actions, not words.
After a reference to the "great endurance" that marked all his
service and suffering (cf. 12:12), Paul lists nine afflictions, which fall
into three groups. (1) General trials: "troubles" are oppressive
experiences; "hardships" refer to unrelieved adverse circumstances;
"distresses" are frustrating tight corners (cf. 4:8). (2) Sufferings
directly inflicted by others: "beatings, imprisonments and riots." (3)
Self-inflicted hardships: "hard work" includes the arduous task of
incessant preaching and the toil of manual labor (cf. 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:7-
8); "sleepless nights" means voluntary abstention from sleep (cf. Ac
20:7-11); "hunger" probably refers to voluntary fastings (cf. 11:27).

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