Thank you Music Ministry. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Ephesians chapter number 6.
While you're turning there and you are looking upon the screen,
trust you've enjoyed having Kyle Abair here last week to preach. When Kyle and I greet
one another, we always say, "My brother, I'm another mother and the same heavenly father."
Now, I also always say to people when we're together, "Kyle was way worse than me."
Okay, Kyle was a real gangster. I was a pretend wannabe gangster. Real gangsters go to the penitentiary,
but that brother has had a remarkable work done in his life and so I'm thankful for him. Now let's
begin. Today, we're back to Ephesians. We're reading our text, which is going to be verses 5 through 9.
Ephesians chapter 6. The Bible says, "Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters,
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ,
not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God
from the heart, with good will render service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever
good thing each one does, he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And masters
do the same things to them and give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in
heaven and there is no partiality with him." Now, this text, by way of application today,
is going to teach us a biblical way of thinking about and engaging in our work. So no matter
whether you're retired right now or you're actively working, if you're retired, you can even use what's
going to be said today to help others who are the other who are still working. So we can all benefit
from this. You've all heard the term the Protestant work ethic. And one definition I found for the
Protestant work ethic was this, I thought it was a pretty good one, a concept that a person
has a spiritual duty to work hard and use the money earned from that work in a disciplined
and careful way. It grew from the Calvinistic approach to religion and life as lived out
by the Puritan settlers in America in the 17th century. That's where it got its origin. Many
people don't know. I can't remember exactly something like that. Between 80 to 90% of the
original 13 colonies, the Christians were reformed in their theology and it came out of that.
And that Protestant work ethic is the work ethic that continued to build and to grow our nation.
And it continued on into the 20th century. But now, here in the 21st century, primarily,
not exclusively, but primarily within the millennial generation and on down the Gen Z. And now I think
it's Gen Alpha, whatever's after Z. I don't know who comes up with these names, but they do.
But these days, I don't think I have to tell you that the Protestant work ethic,
especially among our young people, has fallen on hard times. If you work with young people right
now, you know that to be the case across the board. Socialism has become something that,
unbelievably, is very appealing to these younger generation folk. We saw many people, do you
remember, back in COVID, especially among the young, how much they loved the fact that they were
getting money and they didn't have to go to work and they loved staying home and getting a check
from the government. What our society in America here has continued to continually find
more and more most important about life is leisure. Americans love to relax and Americans love to be
entertained. And of course, as we discussed often, the Marxist-Socialist worldview indoctrination
of young people in our colleges has played a large role in this serious dilemma amongst literally
millions of our young people. They are taught, hey, somebody owes you a living. They are taught
things like health care is a right. They are told you should make demands for what you want.
And really, we shouldn't have to work to make a living unless we just really want to. I've even
heard politicians left say things like that. Add to that, for so many people, work is just
nothing more than a necessary evil. It's what you have to do to pay the bills. Many, many,
many people hate their jobs. That's really a shame. And they come home continually complaining
about the ills and the workplace and all the things they have to go through and how tired
they are of dealing with it. And really, if you think about it, many children grow up in homes
and that is the way work is viewed. And they hear it constantly, the constant complaining about
having to go to work and what's happening at work. So what happens? Well, as children,
they form the same opinions about work. And oftentimes, that's how they go into the workforce,
complaining about it. So work has fallen on hard times. Work is not a popular theme. And you
combine this with socialism literally being on the rise, as you know well within politics,
as a viable system of government with our young folks. And you can't help but be deeply concerned
about what our nation is going to look like in the decades ahead. And especially after we're all
gone and our grandchildren from many of us are into adulthood. And that is why it is the church's
responsibility to preach from the Word of God a biblical view of our work. What does God have to
say about our labor? We can add to America's ills, and you know this from history, the rise of the
labor unions in America. And there are oftentimes where there are legitimate complaints, especially
in the early 20th century with the labor unions and all of that. But really more today,
I think it's greed that drives both sides. It's the employers want more profits and the employees
want more salary and we have these strikes and we have these labor disputes. And that causes all
kind of problems in our economy. And then after that, our government's wonderful way of handling our
economy no matter who's in charge and constantly overspending and printing money that we really
don't have, which causes massive inflation. And then you combine all that with this massive
welfare state that the government finances. And what does all that do? It results in all kind of
issues for the working class. And unless somebody in here is secretly absolutely uber wealthy,
I think we're all in the working class here at Providence. And you know well that the biblical
reality is the love, not money itself, right? The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
And economic trouble is one of those kinds of evil. Add to that the sin of selfishness. Add to
that the sin of greed and materialism. And we have quite a mess here in the land of plenty.
Money hungry people actually drive a large portion of our economy. If they didn't,
things would be different. But they work for man centered reasons. They work for selfish reasons.
The reason, the motivation that they have for getting up in the morning and going to work
is they are wanting to acquire the American dream, the big house, the fancy cars, the extended
vacations. And look, there is absolutely nothing sinful at all about having nice things that you
have worked hard for. But the can be, if you're motive for getting them and acquiring them is
sinful, if that is the reason for why you are working to gain such things. What we're going
to learn today is God's perspective on work. It's not driven by greed. It's not driven by selfishness
or self-fulfillment or a hunger for power or any of those man centered motivations. There is a much
bigger picture in play for how it is as Christians we are to view our work. If we are going to be
obedient to the word of God, then we have to come to settle conclusions when it comes to work
out of this very text. And as we come to this text, dealing with the issue of work, this is what
we're going to find. The principle of submission. That was the same theme that you remember was so
important with the structure of the family. That same principle of submission is going to continue
in this text. Remember we learned back in Ephesians 5 about a mutual submission that believers to have
toward one another. Remember 521 of Ephesians chapter 5 verse 21. Look what it says. How are
we to do it in the fear of Christ? Very important. That carries over into the family. Remember we
went through those where that's true for the husband and for the wife. A mutual submission,
just like we have for all believers, but also at the same time that's done in the context of the
authority structure that God has ordained. We went through that. Remember, what's the authority
structure? Wives submit to your husbands. Husbands love your wives. Children obey your parents. Well,
guess what? That principle of mutual submission is going to continue to be the theme in this very
verse. That's why I look at verse 5. It says, "Slaves, be obedient to your masters according to the
flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ." Now, let's lay this
groundwork first. Slaves, by way of application for today in our situation here in America,
that's workers, okay? Employers. Be obedient. Submit to masters, employees. I'm sorry,
employers. The masters, by way of application for today, are employers. The worker is to submit
to the one who is over him. And as we see, the employer also exercises a kind of submission
in the sense that he, the employer, is to seek what is best for the employee. That is his role
as a Christian boss, if you will. Just like everything we've studied so far here in Ephesians,
we're under this heading in Ephesians at this point, chapters 4, 5, and 6, of the subject of
Christian living. This, right here, what I'm going to give you today, and I've already apologized
to Sonia in advance, what I'm going to give you for today is the gold standard for how we are to
behave as Christian employees and Christian employers. Now, first, we have to deal with the
term "slaves and masters" found in verse 5, if we're going to approach this from a historical
basis. And I've read through a ton of historical material, and I just put it in my mind, as I
always do with all the materials, especially from MacArthur, just to condense this in a very
summarized statement. So I'm not going to be anywhere close to exhaustive on this subject,
but I'm going to give you a very summarized statement on the issue of actual slavery,
because those are the words that Paul is using here. Number one, Scripture never advocates
slavery, not in one verse, but it does recognize slavery as an element of ancient society,
as Paul is doing right here in this text. That could have been more beneficial if slaves and
masters had treated each other properly, as Paul calls for in this verse, but for us,
especially here in America, when we hear the term "slavery," what's the first thing we think of?
Well, most people automatically think about American 19th century chattel slavery, the
slavery of Africans in the Civil War time. But guess what? That is only one form of slavery
amongst many down through history, many different situations. In ancient times, guess what?
Slavery was a way of life, especially in Roman and Greek culture. It was very different,
very different from American 19th century chattel slavery, and just like any kind of
employment situation, it could be both good or bad, depending on the character of the people
involved. And in our text, really, as we get into this, you're going to see this. Really,
slavery is not the issue in this text at all. There were good masters all down through history,
and there were bad ones. There were good slaves, and there were bad ones. There were definitely,
definitely many, very cool masters of slaves who treated their slaves absolutely horribly
and abused them in unspeakable ways. But there were also slaves who abused good masters and
stole from them, masters that were being good to them. And so what I'm trying to get across to you
is that there were all different kinds of situations between slaves and masters, which was
very much in Paul's day. Again, it was the lifeblood of their economy, just exactly like the labor
force is today. That was the way things worked in Paul's day. There was the indentured servitude.
You remember that from school, maybe, where they would work off their debt, and then when that was
over, they were free to go. There were cases where the slaves, excuse me, the slaves were treated
so well, the slaves and their families, so well that a slave would not even dream of leaving
their master, because that was how they lived. That's how they had sustenance. That's how they
lived their lives out. Now, listen, very important. I am not glazing over the very
inhumane treatment of slaves down through history, from chattel slavery in America and all through,
including Old Testament times, you can go back and read that. What I'm doing is for time's sake,
what I'm trying to give you is just this summary of the subject of slavery historically,
because really, Paul is using these terms, and he's writing in his day as what is going on in
his day as really, when most laborers were slaves, really what he's getting at is this relationship,
this relationship that exists now in our day between an employer and an employee, and that's
how we apply it again today. This was a workable system in Paul's day. Just like in our day,
where most employers provide salary, insurance, and retirement, most employers,
the slaves in Paul's time had housing and food and all the necessary care provided by the slave
owners in the same way. So the issue biblically, again, is how do people interact with one another
in this relationship, no matter what period we're in and time, no matter what context we're in,
and when it comes to the Word of God, just remember before we go forward, the Bible doesn't
advocate slavery, but it does deal with the reality that it exists, and most importantly,
whatever form of employment might be, it must be regulated by the right.
That's going to be the linchpin here. That's what we're going to learn about.
Also, one more thing before we get started into this text, very important, remember this truth,
look at Galatians 3/28 with me, and you know this one. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free man. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
This means when it comes to the spiritual realm, within the body of Christ, there are no inequalities.
Everybody is equal in the body of Christ. The ground is level at the foot of the cross, as we
always say. Today, we're not going to be talking about spiritual differences. We're only going
to be talking about the things that apply to the ordering of society, this area of work down here
in responsibility land. It's only our response to this subject and how we behave with this knowledge
that would take us into the spiritual realm. And in particular, we're going to again apply
slaves and masters to employers and employees. You're with me? On this. All right. Now,
as you can imagine, again, the gold standard is for Christians to be filled with the Spirit
and carry into the workplace an attitude of joy, an attitude of gratitude, an attitude of submission.
So, workers, get ready to be very convicted, as was I, because I have failed miserably many,
many, many times over to meet the standard that I am fixing to preach to you out of this text.
First, we'll start as the text does with slaves, employees in our day. And let's just read again,
because that was a long introduction, I know. So, let's read again this text in five to nine.
"Laves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling,
and the sincerity of your heart as to Christ, not by way of eye service as men pleasers,
but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will,
render service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does,
this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free, and masters do the same things to
them and give up threatening, knowing that their master and yours is in heaven and there is no
partiality with him." Now, folks, that's pretty, a lot of that is self-explanatory, right?
I mean, that's the pattern for all employees and employers who want to engage in the workplace
in God's way. And by the way, do you ever read in the New Testament anywhere where Jesus or Paul
tries to abolish slavery? Anybody come up with that verse? You won't find it. Now, what they do
is they try to deal with the abuses of slavery, and that's what Paul is doing right here in this text.
What is God most interested in? God is most interested in changing hearts,
where there is a true heart change. Guess what? Injustice disappears, where you have
spirit-filled people in a workplace. Right relationships can actually be cultivated. So,
what Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is teaching all generations of time is that
whatever the present structure of your workplace is right now,
here is how you are to act in that workplace. All right? You ready for that, Joey?
Pretty interesting that there were an estimated six million slaves in the Roman
Empire during Paul's day. And yet again, I will tell you that nowhere in the New Testament
is slavery ever attacked. In fact, slavery is borrowed as a proper analogy of Christian's
relationship to God. What are we called? Slaves. Duelos. Paul happily called himself a slave of
Christ. We are called to be slaves of Christ as well. So, rather than overturn all of that,
Paul makes it the analogy by which we can identify our own service to God. Now, the first part I
want to call your attention to in this text, number one is this. Right behavior. Look at verse five.
It starts out with slaves be obedient. That is the same exact great word from verse one here in
chapter six. Children obey your parents. Same word. Again, pretty simple. The principle here
is apply to our day. If you are employed by someone, you are to obey them. If you are a spirit
field Christian, that right there should be just automatic for you. This is another one of those
present tense verses. What it really is, is keep on continuously obeying. That's the principle.
You don't know my boss. You don't know my situation at work. The man is so unfair.
I have every right to protest. I mean, really, at my work, we should go on strike is what we
really should do. We should go on strike. Let me tell you something. If that is your way of thinking,
then I have some tough Bible news for you. Turn with me over to 1 Peter chapter two.
Let's just all get throat punched by Peter together, shall we?
1 Peter chapter two verses 18 to 21.
Look what Peter writes. Using the same language. Servants, be submissive to your masters with
all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.
For this finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God, a person bears up under sorrows
when suffering unjustly. Well, what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated,
you endure it with patience, but if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently
endure it. This finds favor with God, for you have been called for this purpose since Christ
also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps. Sorry, uh,
that is some serious Christian living right there. Go back tonight and read that one again.
Uh, after you're done, read it a third time. When Peter wrote this, all right, when he wrote this,
he was well aware that there were slaves who had become Christians, slaves, actual slaves,
and then think about this. They were getting worse treatment than you or I ever will.
In any job that you could possibly think of when he wrote those words there,
these were actual slaves. Some of these slaves were being beaten. You think about this and look
what Peter says, but guess what? As he wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
the principle of how to behave didn't change. Servants be submissive to your masters with
all respect. Now go back to Ephesians six, one same exact thing Paul is saying here in Ephesians
six, one slaves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh. Sorry,
but this principle will never change. And it actually is a principle that holds
society together for heaven's sakes. I mean, you think about it. I mean, our society cannot survive
anarchy and constant protest and rebellion. We see how much damage those things do in our day
right here in the measure that they do. My son Jeremy sent me a video yesterday,
airline, highway, all these protesters protesting ICE and it's all these foreigners who are here
hating our country and hating the fact that people who are here illegally are getting sent back home.
We can't have that constantly. So what I'm giving you is just the Bible truth
that we are to be, as Peter says, submissive to our employer, no matter what kind of employer
we have. And that's the linchpin right there in Peter's text, right? And what he's getting
is this. This is our Christian witness work when we're under this. Peter uses the example of who?
Jesus in this text that we just read who was the most mistreated person in the history
of humanity. That's Peter's example for how we are to behave when we're mistreated. The Christian
employee is called to, I'm sorry, yeah, employee is called, we're called to demonstrate to the world
that being completely changed by saving faith makes you no longer a disgruntled employee,
but a person who is diligent in their work, no matter what the circumstances are. Now,
just like I said in the other text with marriage, that is a general principle,
that is a general rule. Of course, there are nuanced times that we could think about where, hey,
it's time to go, all right? But this is a general principle. Let me be quick to say this. It'll
be very clear that I, me, I have failed in spectacular fashion many times in many different
work situations throughout my employment career. My wife can be quick to tell you,
I like to structure how I am going to work at the workplace, and I like to set it up,
and I like to be in charge of it. Here's how I'm going to work for you, and you're going to obey
how I say it needs to go, right? And it's just like we studied with the structure of the family
in chapter five and chapter six. What we're looking at right here is God's design for Christians
in the workplace. Now, think of what else we learned. We learned that God has designed
authority in marriage, right? We learned that God has designed authority in the family, parents
over children. He designed authority in the church with the elders of the church over the
congregation. He even designs authority in government. That's Romans 13 that you know
well. Government is to punish the evil and benefit the good, and we are to follow their
instruction as long as we're not commanded to do something that's contrary to the word of God,
of course. And then there's also authority given in the workplace. And as Christians,
our testimony for Christ has to be seen on a daily basis in the faithfulness that we carry out our
daily task with. If we are lazy at work, unfaithful, disobedient, malcontent, whining and complaining,
every job I have ever worked on, there's always at least one person who continuously
never stops complaining about the job that they currently have. When we act like that,
we bring reproach on Jesus. Why? Because on the other hand, we sit there and profess
with our lips how he changed our lives. But we're not acting like it. And if your employer is actually
a Christian, a genuine, regenerate Christian, and you should never abuse that wonderful privilege,
in fact, you should be even more diligent to have that privilege of having a Christian employee.
You should be more faithful to that employer, even though you're both one in Christ, right?
Even though you're equals spiritually, you don't take advantage of that relationship.
But no matter what your relationship is with your boss, what I'm saying to you is this,
the principle remains the same. And it's found multiple times in the tip. You want another one?
Here we go. Look at Titus, Titus chapter 2, verses 9 through 10, again, using slaves for employees,
urge bond slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well pleasing,
not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith. So that, look, here's the reason,
so that they will adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in every respect.
And as I said earlier, in many cases, these slaves that they're being written to in that
time period were under far, far harsher situations than any of us have ever experienced in any
workplace. But notice again, notice again how Paul ends Titus 2.10,
but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in every
respect. How in the world are you ever going to convince an unbelieving boss that God is a saving
God who transforms people's lives if you are a disgruntled employee who's always just complaining
about your work? It's not going to happen. Now, secondly, we have to, we have to have the right
perspective. Go back to Ephesians 6-5. Look at that phrase, "According to the flesh,
be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh." And here we're talking
about specifically nothing more. This is a, this is a human temporal relationship. According to the
flesh, the right behavior is submission. The right perspective is simply this, this human
fleshly relationship that we have with our employer. Your boss has authority over you
only in that area, only in that human fleshly area, not in the spiritual realm. Now, if he's a
Christian, yeah, you can pray with him. You can even disciple him if he's not a mature believer,
or vice versa. If he's lost, certainly you can present the gospel to him. But I'm talking about
as far as the relationship itself, it's according to the flesh. That's the right perspective. We
are to be obedient. And then thirdly, the right attitude. Look next in verse 5, "With fear and
trembling." Now, does that mean we're supposed to be living in terror of our boss? Absolutely not.
This is not fear and trembling of the boss, folks. This is fear and trembling of the one who ordained
him to be your boss. That's what Paul was getting at with fear and trembling. The real boss who works
behind him. We should always have a healthy respect and a healthy reverence for the fact
that in the big picture, God has ordained this kind of order and structure for human life to
flourish on the earth. And we should have a healthy biblical fear of offending our employer,
knowing as Christians that he has been given this place of leadership on purpose, ordained by
God in our life. And then next we come to number four, the right commitment. Look again
at verse five, "In the sincerity of your heart." The only way you can really be a great employee
is when it comes from your heart. That means you really care about what you're doing.
You care about your workplace, about doing a good job. I love 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 to 12. Look
at this one. "And to make it your own ambition, to lead a quiet life, and attend to your own business,
and work with your hands, just as we have commanded you, so that," here's the reason,
again, "so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." So important.
It's just simple. You give eight hours of work for eight hours of pay. Serity of your heart.
That means you're at work, work, the work, the boss, the structure has your undivided
attention. There's no division in your loyalty. And then lastly, most importantly,
right motive. Look at verse five, "As to Christ." And really thinking from this perspective, really,
there's no distinction between your Christian life and your work life.
There is this sense, now listen to me, sense in which you don't have a spiritual life over here
and a secular life over there. You understand what I'm saying? You just have your life.
Okay? Now, sure, I refer to my job at Baton Ridge Industries as my secular job. And by itself,
that's what it is. It's my secular job, and this is my pastoral job. But for Christians,
there is an added sense to this. Everything we do, no matter whether you're working in a plant,
whether you're working as a secretary or a teacher or a accounts payable or construction
or sales, no matter what you're doing, what this verse is saying is whatever it is,
all that you do in your workday is to be done. It's unto Christ. That's how we're to look at it.
Our whole life, every minute of every day, has to be viewed that way. You know well,
1 Corinthians 10, 31, and that's exactly the point of this verse, whether then you eat or drink,
put it in caps or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I'm telling you,
if you can get this, as R.C. says, down into your bloodstream, it will change your whole
experience as an employee at your workplace. I promise you it will. Understand that as a Christian,
your job is your service every day, most of all to King Jesus. Just as much as praying,
just as much as reading your Bible, just as much as coming to church. You are to work and offer
your service to this earthly employer that God has ordained for you as if you are serving King
Jesus, because you are. View yourself, as God's Word makes clear here, and you get up in the morning
as working for God's glory. Let that be the first thing you think about. You are in full-time Christian
service to Jesus Christ, no matter what job title you hold. I don't care if you're digging ditches,
doesn't matter. Again, any Christian who is discontent with their job, who's a poor worker,
who's lazy, who's not diligent, who's not always looking to get out of doing as much work as they
actually can. You ever work with people? They work harder at not working, at trying not to work,
and if they just go on and do the job, they get things done, right? Let me tell you something.
If you're a Christian and that's how you act at work, you are a dishonor to the Lord Jesus Christ
when you act like that at work. Then Paul goes on next in Ephesians 6-6, "Not by way of eye service
as men pleasers, but slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart." That's right
back to the singularity of the heart. So important, and maybe we could call this the right diligence.
Paul says, "Not by way of eye service," and you know that drill.
Like putting on a show when the boss is watching, when it's time for that evaluation or that raise,
but then as soon as that little time period is over, you go back to sloughing off.
Don't go hard only when somebody's looking. Go hard all the time, every day.
Don't be looking to just do the absolute minimum you could possibly do and still have a job.
Work the exact same way every day whether somebody's looking or not, and don't even be
watching to see who's looking. It doesn't matter. As a Christian, you keep in mind who's always looking.
The real boss of Paul says, and that's God himself. He is always watching. Paul was very
intentional and serious about this subject. Look over again at Colossians 3. Look at Colossians 3
verses 22 to 24. Slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external
service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart fearing the Lord. There it is
again. Whatever you do, do your work heartily. How and why? As far the Lord rather than for men,
knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord
Christ whom you serve. That says it all. Right there. That's how we'd review our work. Just think
about what you're doing at your job every day at serving the Lord, because in the big picture,
the Bible is making clear that that is exactly what it is. And you can do this.
You can, but the only way, the only way that you can, is in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And I'm telling you, I promise you, I promise you, it will change everything about how you
experience your work day. And then Paul keeps this up. Look next in verse 7, "With good will,
render service as to the Lord and not to men." Again, we could say the right diligence here.
He's saying here that we are not just to go to our work, grating our teeth, just, "Oh, man,
I got to go over there again and just get through this." Get up early. Read your Bible. Drink your
coffee. Hit the ground running. Ready to get at it with the thought, "I'm going to serve King Jesus
today." Look at your job that way. It doesn't matter if you're hammering nails, teaching kids,
flipping hamburgers. Doesn't matter. I don't care what it is. Your mindset is I am serving the Lord
doing this today. I'm not working for men, as Paul has said several times. I'm serving Christ.
And I'm serving Christ right in front of a watching world and so oftentimes in front of a
world of unbelievers. And I'm his servant. I'm going to tell you, this is an undefeated
perspective. If you can keep it going on your job and you can, you can in the power of the Spirit.
Now, we know, we know that we have to have money to survive and to live in this world.
But money shouldn't be your motive on top of the joy of serving Jesus in your role. Serving Jesus
is even ahead of money. It's right at the top. If you're only chasing after money,
it will corrupt your motives. If you do your job for God's glory and your motive is right,
God's going to bless you. Look at verse 8, knowing that whatever good thing each one does,
he will receive what? Back from the Lord, whether slave or free. Man, that is big
time. That was surely more difficult if you were a slave, but the same is true.
Whether you're a slave or free, God will reward you for what you have rendered to him with your
work with the right motive. Jesus is the ultimate payroll boss.
And Christy can tell you this. It's quite a ride to be on in the car with a bivocational pastor.
He ain't ever riding in a Mercedes, right? And over the years, it's been wild to observe this
for me. We, Christy and I, have had amazing changes in our overall gross income up and down
in 24 years of ministry because of the struggle to find the right job to fit with doing this work.
One time, I will share with you one time that I went from making $50,000 a year to $10 an hour.
That, ordinarily, you would think, man, that would be a disaster, right? But what do we do?
We stepped out in faith, and we've always done this through all my day job adventures.
Nobody has been more amazed than me to watch God just sovereignly make it work.
Same bills. The bills didn't change. We're blessed. Our needs are met, right? Not rich,
but the bills are paid. We eat every day. We live comfortably in spite of however my particular
circumstances may seem from the outside, even now, to this very day. But I'm here to tell you, that's
God. I can't explain that any other way. I really can't. I marvel at it all the time.
Now, there's one final word for today, verse nine. It starts out masters and masters. And this is
the other side, okay? This is employers. This is the boss. Look at verse nine. And masters
do the same things to them. That sums it up pretty good, right? What does that include?
Well, that includes what we just read. Serve them with honor and respect. Employer, boss,
serve them sincerely. Serve your employees just as if you were serving Jesus, boss man.
Do what's good and beneficial for them as unto the Lord and not to men. Treat your employees
in such a way that it will bring about your eternal reward. That's an act of service to King Jesus.
Same thing. Don't use them just to make yourself rich. Look in verse nine and give up threatening.
You know what that means? Don't yell at your people. Don't abuse your people verbally, boss man.
Don't do that. That's not how a spirit-filled, spirit-controlled employer operates with his people.
That has no value. Be encouraging to your employees. Be rewarding. Why? Again, it's the same motivation.
Look next. Same motivation for the boss. Verse nine. Knowing that both their master and yours
is in heaven and here he's focusing on both parties being Christian. This means simply
God is watching. He's watching every day and he is the final authority. Let me tell you,
for all those bosses out there, CEOs, people running companies, whatever their level of authority is
on the workplace, your boss, God is not impressed at all with your accomplishments at all. Anything
you got, you got from him, whether you realize it or not. He's not impressed with your power.
He's not impressed with the politician's power. If you have those again, he's the one that gave
them to you. What God is impressed with is how you treat your employees, boss man. Now, look lastly.
Verse nine. And there is no partiality with him. Did you love that? All earthly distinctions
are leveled in the presence of the King. All God is really interested in these relationships is
very simple. How do you treat one another? What is your motive for why you do what you do in your
workplace? And how do you behave when you're doing it? Christian understand whether you are an employee
or an employer. If you don't get anything else of what I said today, it is your spiritual service
to Christ that you do in your work. Show the evidence at work that God really has changed your
life through regeneration and saving faith. And then you can really preach the gospel,
not only in deeds, but with words, because you will have built capital with that
boss in the way that you behave. So that's the theology of work. Don't be mad at me. I'm just
the mailman. I just deliver the mail. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day.
I pray that we would take these great truths of Paul's theology of work, apply them to our lives,
that we might go to work tomorrow with a new sense of purpose of serving King Jesus above all
things. And we pray that everything we've done here today has been done in such a way as to bring
you maximum glory. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.