Please open up your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 6. This morning we will be finishing what many scholars call the household code. Namely the relationships within the family or the structured family units in first century Roman times. and how we are to live in light of Christ and how the gospel transforms the most fundamental and the most basic of relations that we have in this world. The gospel is not just a Sunday morning phenomenon. The Gospel really transforms who we are and how we see everything, how we relate not just to unbelievers when we're sharing the Gospel, but how we relate and how we interact with those who are closest to us and those whom we spend the most time with. Let me read verses 5 through 9. In my Bible it's entitled Slaves and Masters and I want to show us this morning how this is applicable to us who are perhaps not slaves or as it were masters, but how it applies to us who work every day whether we're a stay-at-home mom, an entrepreneur, whether we have an 8-5, whether you're a pastor. This principle that Paul is enunciating here is practical. and is very profitable for how we go out in this world. Remember chapter 4, that we're to live in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called? Well, that includes our Monday to Friday 8 to 5 as well. It's not just a Sunday morning thing that we can choose to put on and put off. Rather, this is all of life. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 5. Slaves, or as the ESV 2011 says, bond servants. Obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ. Not by the way of eye-service as people-pleasers, but as bond-servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Masters, do the same to them. Stop your threatening, knowing that He, who is both their Master and yours, is in heaven. And there is no partiality with Him. Let's pray. Father, help us this morning to see Christ in this. Please don't let this just be a moralistic, how to be a better employee tomorrow morning. Please show us how. how Christ transforms everything. That we who are in Christ are indeed a new creation. That we no longer see people the way we once used to. Now we see people as you are to see people. Now we see work as you are to see work. Lord, we pray, give us this heavenly perspective. Give us gospel glasses this morning. Father, I pray that this would be not only practical, but Lord, you would use this to comfort, Lord, any who are afflicted, and perhaps to afflict any who have a false notion of comfort. Lord, would You be pleased to use the preaching of Your Word, especially as we look to Christ this morning. Would You be pleased, Lord, to bless it for our good and for Your glory. Help us, Father. Would You send the Holy Spirit to convict us in the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. O Spirit, would You even bring to my mind passages that are relevant Lord, would we glory in Christ this morning. May this not just be an exercise of religiosity, a man doing his quote-unquote job, reading the Bible and sermonizing. Father, remind us the source of the Scriptures is the Spirit of God. Father, remind us that we are under an ultimate authority, the Lord Jesus Christ. Grant us submissive hearts, Lord. To Him this morning we pray, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. I don't know if the chart is up or not but last night I was googling I love how that word has become a verb and I just wanted to sort of see how most of us in North America use our time because I wanted to show you how relevant this message was and so this is a fancy little pie chart and like everyone else in the world we only have 24 hours sometimes I wish I had more so I could sleep more but notice the largest chunk of that pie that's like the daddy piece of pie when we have pie at home and it says working and related activities 8.8 hours and so all I did was I took 8 and I divided by 24 and that's 37% of your day has to do with your work and for some of us even more because the work sometimes comes home with us and sometimes we can leave work but work doesn't leave us I can imagine Mark when he owned his own business The day didn't stop when the sun went down. I'm sure work was still going on in his brain. And so that's a significant portion of your day. Which led me to remember Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 through 17. That we're to be careful in how we walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Verse 16, redeeming, making the best use of our time for the days are evil. We're not to be foolish, but we're to understand what the will of the Lord is. God has given us 24 hours, and in His economy of time, we are to work. Work is not a bad thing. I'm not going to do a theology of work. Work was instituted. in the original creation order, before sin came into play. Work is not bad. Work is not something that needs to be eliminated. Work is something that needs to be redeemed. And I want to show us how the gospel redeems work. Hence the title of this morning's sermon, The Gospel at Work. Or as you're going to see, as a sort of sub-plotline running through the sermon, a subtitle could be, Work as Worship. I don't want you to think that work is a Monday to Friday phenomenon, and then after you're done work, then you can really do what God wants you to do. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is from October the 23rd, 2013, so it's not that outdated. And it's actually from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, so it's not something I found that will really make my sermon seem relevant. I have a little post-it note that I have beside my computer in my office, and it says, I don't need to make the Bible relevant. The Bible is relevant, I just need to show you how. Okay, so I don't want this chart, you know, occupying your mind, but I do want you to understand that working composes A significant portion of our day. And if we're to redeem the time, we must say, how do we redeem work? How do we redeem what we do at work? Even the most mundane things like washing dishes or putting siding on a house. Can that be redeemed? Is there really a secular versus a spiritual segregation? Is there a sacred and a secular? No, we're going to see that all of life is worship. And that if you're just going to work for money, and if you're just begrudgingly grunting through the day, You're wasting a significant time of the day where you could be worshipping God with the hands He gave you, the mind He's equipped you with, and with the energy you have. Okay, so I just want to show us that this is very important. David Platt said this, I read a book this week that just came out this week, and it's called The Gospel at Work, though they stole my title, I'm not the other way around, and it's by some Nine Marks guys, and in the foreword David Platt said this, and he's resonating to me, so I want you to know where I'm coming from, he says, if the people I pastor worked 40 hours a week, some of you work a lot more than that, but just 40 hours, And they work for 40 years of their lives. That adds up to 80,000 hours of work in their lifetime. Not to mention the thousands of hours some put in schooling, training, as well as thinking and overtime. 80,000 hours. That's a lot you can do for the Lord in 80,000 hours. It's also a lot of time you can waste. He says this, consequently, One of our greatest needs, I think he's talking to pastors, one of our greatest needs in the church is an understanding of how our daily work is supposed to be tied into God's ultimate purposes in the world. I like that sentence. We need to understand how our daily work ties into God's purposes for the world. It's not like God's just working once you punch out. God is working while you're punched in, if you will. Ephesians 1.10 tells us what God's ultimate purpose is, and how work sits underneath of that umbrella, right? God is summing up in Christ all things. That's God's eternal purpose, is to show that Christ is the head of all things, and how He is glorious, and how He's summing up and uniting all things in Himself, and He does so through the church. Now in the early church, in Paul's time, the church was comprised of families. And as we're going to see that these slaves were actually part of the family. Okay, so Paul is talking to families within the church and how those who are called slaves or better bond servants are to utilize their time now as Christians for the glory of God. That they might be using as it were their bond service for the glory of God and seeing all things summed up in Christ through the church. Chapter 4 verse 7, Paul reminds us that the ascended Christ has given grace to every member of his body. But to each one of you, grace was given. And then if you continue on in Ephesians 4, he says that Christ gave another kind of grace. And he gave the apostles and prophets and evangelists and shepherd teachers to equip the saints with their grace. For the work of the ministry. That's how I would translate it. For the work of the ministry. For the building up of the body of Christ. And so I translate this, that as one of the shepherds of this church, it is my responsibility to equip you to use the grace God has given you for this greater purpose of summing up all things in Christ. In using your grace, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5. That you would have a heavenly perspective on your work. That you would see your work time redeemed. Our text this morning must be seen as one of the most practical ways we as Christ's people can employ the grace He has given us for His glory in our lives. So I'm basically going to do what my professor in seminary told us never to do. He said, never work through the text like a running commentary. You need to give points and anchor people in and alliterate and all those fun things. I really didn't feel led to do that this morning. I'm going to just give you a running commentary because I think this is a very self-evident text. I don't need to really make it pretty for you. It's just simple. Just memorize it. That's what I spent most of my time doing this week. We're just meditating on it and asking God, would you please help me to apply it? You don't need to be a Greek scholar to get this. This is very simple. And so I don't want to unnecessarily complicate this. So I'm just going to work through it. And I'm just going to make some pointed points. Some applicable references and commentary for you. Okay, so this is important. This is very important. The first thing he does is he addresses the slaves. the slaves, or the bondservants, which is a word many of us, what? What's a bondservant? Well, I'll explain that. But before I unpack this, I want to answer two questions that you should be asking. I'm very inquisitive. God's not afraid for us to be inquisitive with this book. It's got all the answers we need. And the two questions I asked, and I don't know, maybe you have or you haven't, were, how can I preach this in the 21st century to workers who are not slaves? This might be applicable concretely for people in other countries. When I went to India, they have, as it were, bond servants in their houses. It made me very uncomfortable. This girl slapping my underwear on a rock, washing it every morning. But that's how their culture works in so many places of the world. There's a ton of slaves, but we don't see that in our culture. Slavery's been abolished for over 200 years. So how do I take this? Do we just say, This is not applicable to us, or do we just sort of, you know, do a little anachronism, come in to sort of, you know... How do we make the Bible written 2,000 years ago applicable for today? You should always be asking that. It's very important. This is addressed to slaves. You're not a slave. So do you just sort of cut this out? Again, I want to show you the principle of hermeneutics. The second question. You should say, if slavery is so wicked, why is Paul not condemning it? It seems like he's condoning it. Or he's just saying, it's not a big deal. And I'll give you a little explanation of why he doesn't do that as well. But the first question I want to answer, when he addresses the slaves, is how is this relevant for us? How does this fit in to our day and age, when slavery connotes in our minds something that is wicked? I'm not a slave, I'm just a worker, or I'm an entrepreneur, I'm my own boss. This is why you need what is called hermeneutics. It's one of those fancy nerdy seminarian terms. Basically all hermeneutics is, is interpreting the Bible of what it meant to its original audience and gleaning from that text the concrete principles which are applicable for every generation and then making it applicable in our day and age. In the words of John Stott, it's bridging two worlds, the original audience and the contemporary audience, and you have to say, what did Paul mean originally? And what does that have to do for us today? This is important as you read your Bibles, because otherwise you're going to get all messed up. I was thinking, not of anyone in particular, but I think of an old stinky guy who never brushes his teeth, and he's like, how come you never teach on holy kissing? Paul commands you to greet one another with a holy kiss, and he's just really eager to be a literalist. Are we to greet one another with a holy kiss? And this is where hermeneutics comes in. What's the principle that Paul is trying to show? There's to be a warmth. There's to be a love between brothers and sisters in Christ. A hospitality, a kinship, a fellowship. And so I don't feel compelled to give Lazarus a holy kiss this morning. I can give him the bra, you know, hey, good morning brother, or a good firm handshake. The same thing you could apply with, how come we're not wearing head coverings? Right? Paul seems to advocate it, perhaps. And that's why you say, what does he mean? And what are the underlying principles that are non-negotiable? And I think it has to do with authority structures within the family that were relevant at those times. And so I might not bring in the head coverings of 1st century, but I will bring in the authority structures that a woman is, as it were, to submit to her head, who is the husband. And in the 1st century, she did so by wearing a head covering. But how does a woman submit to her husband in the 21st century? It might not be a head covering, it might be a plethora of other ways. And so what I want us to see then, in this ancient text, how this command of slaves is applicable for us today. The unchanging principles that I found in this text would be these. Paul is addressing servants or workers, and his instructions have to do with attitude, manner of service and motivation. Okay? And thus, we have an abundant applicability to a variety of authority relationships. You might not be a slave or an indentured servant, but Paul's not so much talking about that, he's talking about inward things. As you serve the one in authority to you, make sure you have a right attitude and the right motivation. Make sure that your service is unto the Lord. Okay, so if any of you are working for someone else, you're under an authority. The principles then still apply to you. Okay, so Paul is talking about attitude, manner of service and motivation. Here, Paul is strongly challenging the common tendencies of Roman era slaves to be lazy, resentful, and working hard only on the occasions when they can make a good impression. Do you think that's a first century thing that has never changed? That people under authority resent those who are over them? That they're lazy and they work only when people are watching? Well, that's not a first century phenomenon that happens every day. Perhaps some of you are guilty of it. And so that's what I can say is this text is directly applicable to you. Paul's not dealing with the outer shell, he's dealing with the inner. He's not saying just clean up the outside. He's saying you gotta get to the inward, the eternal, the abiding principles. So that's why I think with good hermeneutics I can say slaves, bondservants, workers, employees. These are for you in the 21st century. Just as much as they were for slaves or indentured bondservants in the 1st century. So that's the first question. Can we justify preaching this message from A.D. 65 and A.D. 2014? Yeah. The Bible is relevant. You just need to know how to unpack it and apply it. The second question. Why doesn't Paul condemn this practice? Slavery is wicked. It is. Paul makes it abundantly clear elsewhere that we're not to be slaves of anyone except Christ. Let me give you a quote from a man named Greg Gilbert of the book I aforementioned. He says, we may wonder why the writers of the New Testament seem to accept the existence of slavery. The main reason they do, and I want you to listen, is that their aim was simply deeper than the reformation of an outward social system. The gospel doesn't just deal with outward things. We don't just clean the outside of the cup. He says they were focused on the root of the problem, the sinful state of the human heart. The fact is that the unjust system wasn't the root of the sin of slavery, sin is. The problem so much is not the infrastructure, it's what underlies it, it's the foundation of that. And thus simply changing the system will not solve the problem in any long term sense. The sinful human heart would just find another way to oppress others. Have you ever seen that? When I'm counseling people and they have a sin problem, if we just try to clean up that sin problem, you know what they inevitably do? They just find another sin. So they'll replace pornography with self-righteousness, or gambling, or sports, but in an inordinate amount of time of TV. And that's what we do, when we just sort of clean up the outside. And so Paul's not... try to just clean up the outside. He's getting at the root of the issue, which over time, if consistently applied, will destroy the entire structure. Okay? Understand that. Paul's not attacking so much slavery, but the roots of slavery. The abuse of authority. Anybody can clean up sort of visible moral problems in our world. They can't solve the long-term effects like the gospel can. Okay? The gospel takes aim at not the outward infrastructure, rather it takes plane at the inner root, the sinful human heart. Whatever system that heart finds itself under. Jesus says that we need to clean which part of the cup first. The inside. We need to clean the inside of the cup first. And so as one man says, though the outer institutional shell might remain in the first century, the gospel of Christ's redemptive emancipation had in effect destroyed the slavery within that. That's just a fancy way of saying that the shell of slavery and the institution was there, but the gospel was working inside. And so if you had a Christian believer who was a master and a Christian believer who was a slave, Though slavery was sort of the shell that had nothing to do with it. And I remember reading last month of a missionary report of someone in the Middle East who had a household slave. And yet, they were able to conduct themselves in a manner worthy. And so they, as the masters, were able to show the love of Christ. And to show that God makes all people equal. That He does not show preference. As Paul says even to the masters, there's no partiality with God. were all made in His image. And so these people were very kind to their slaves. And they began treating them like family and bringing them in for family devotion. That slave girl got saved. And it was amazing, because now it was like family. And though there was still the title of master and slave, it wasn't really that. It was just there in a shell. But inwardly, the gospel was at work, producing fruit. And amazingly enough, they said that this slave girl who became converted by the gospel of Christ, began talking to the other slave people. And it was almost like a little house church of slaves was planted through that. So I want you to understand that slavery is bad, but the gospel is so much more about cleaning up the outer. The gospel wants to get at the foundation and the root. It gets at the sin which resides within us so deeply. So Paul says, the slaves, We can actually say, you who are workers. Okay? You all have different kinds of work. I'm not going to get into every kind. You who work for someone else, obey. Same word you use for children who need to obey their parents. It's the present tense. You need to keep obeying. You don't just pick and choose and you don't take a vote. Okay, you told me to do these five things. I choose to do three. No, slaves, bond servants, obey. Obey your masters. Listen under, we saw, was the word. And in 520, Kupotasso, when he says you need to ultimately submit to Christ, you show your submission to Christ, you come under Christ's submission by coming under your master's commands. It's a play on words, which is hard to see in the English. But slaves, or workers, obey your boss. I'm going to explain why, but you just got to obey. It's not an option. And if you want to say, but, but, but, but, but, just keep reading the text. Workers, obey. Who do you obey? Literally, those who are according to the flesh, lords. The ESV would translate it very well, your earthly masters. But the Greek reminds us that though there is one Lord, we submit to that one Lord, By submitting to other lords. And I'm not talking about deities. It's a play on words. You submit to one master in heaven, and you express your submission to him by obeying your earthly masters. Some people like to disconnect. I'm just following Jesus. Then why don't you listen to your boss? He's not my lord. Have you read Ephesians 6, man? I only submit to God. Well, it says you submit to God by obeying your boss. Look at this pious false talk. Get to work, man. Our work is unto the Lord. Then get to work. I told you it was a simple message. So Christ is our one Lord. Paul recognizes that in Christ's ordered household, remember Ephesians chapter 2, there's this household of faith. And he's saying that how we live within this other structured household shows how we live within Christ's household. So how you submit to one master ultimately shows your submission to the master. So if you're a lazy worker, you're not submitting to Christ. Even if you just like, you know, you got like verses here and there. If you're a lazy worker and use all the pious talk in the world, you're not ultimately submitting to Christ. How are we to obey our earthly masters, literally those according to the flesh, with fear and trembling? Reverence. Respect. The word fear, again, goes back to Ephesians 5.21. When we're filled with the Spirit, we're going to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. But you know what it literally says? We're going to submit to one another in the fear of Christ. Phobos. Same word here. Submit to that Lord, With fear. Submit to your Lord in fear. You can't separate them. Paul's not separating them. He's not dividing the sacred and the secular. It's interesting because he uses the exact same phrase. He makes the best faces when you're preaching, Mark. It's great. Sorry, I shouldn't have embarrassed him. He uses the exact same phrase in Philippians chapter 2. And I thought it was very interesting. Therefore, my beloved, here's my paraphrase, whether I'm with you or I'm not with you. That was the danger in Philippi. But they would live differently when Paul was there in Philippians 1.27 and 2.12 than when he was there. When Paul's there, it's all good. When Paul's not there, it's party time. The cat's away, the mice will play. And Paul says, whether I'm here or not, work out your own salvation with what? With fear and trembling. It's identical in the Greek. And maybe it's wrong for me to do this, but it's the same apostle writing. And how do we work out our salvation with fear and trembling? By obeying our boss. No, no, salvation only has to do with the removal of sin. That's the foundation of it. But salvation is so much more than that. He doesn't just save us from the penalty of our sins. He saves us from the sin itself. He saves me from being a lazy, disobedient worker. He doesn't just forgive me for being a disobedient, lazy worker. He redeems me from that. From the inside out. And so please don't disconnect your work and how you work out your salvation. You work out your salvation at work. It's actually one of the greatest means of grace God gives us. One of the greatest means of grace God gives you is a nasty boss. Think about it. Right? You thought I was going to say nasty wife or husband, but I'm focusing here on this text. And you can think about that after. You're to obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, literally, in the sincerity of your heart, or as you see, with a sincere heart. Literally, the word means with singleness. With one heart, not a double motive. And when I look at this word in other contexts, it gives the sense of doing something with no strings attached. I know I often do that. Scratch my back. I'll scratch yours. If I want something from you, I'll do it. Paul says you're not to be like that. You're to respect them, whether they reward you or not. Whether you get noticed or not. Whether they say, well done, good and faithful servant. You're to do it with a singleness of heart, not expecting anything. No double hidden motives. You're to do it in sincerity. Or with singleness in your hearts, no strings attached, other than obedience to your one Lord. Doesn't that change things? How manipulative we are at work. How we pick and choose what we'll do based on what we'll get. See how the gospel transforms everything. Some of you kids are thinking, well I'm not working. This is good for you because when your dad comes home griping, take him to Ephesians 6 and say, Remember, Pastor Ryan said you're supposed to do things with singleness of heart. No strings attached. You didn't get the raise. God tell, right? Jared, when your dad comes home, he's griping and complaining. He never does that. But this is practical because God willing, Jared, you will be working in 10 years, 7 years, 4 years. Marks, I already got him put to indentured servitude right already. Okay, so this is for you too, Jared. Obey your dad. There's some overlap between the sections. Do with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your hearts, and here it is, as to who? Christ! Like every other relation within the household code, Christology drives our obedience. So let's just do a little bit of a review. So 521, when we're filled with the Spirit, we will submit to one another in fear, or literally, or as you speak, out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to who? As to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Okay, so that's the first one. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Parents, or fathers, do not exasperate your children, but what? Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Servants, bond servants, obey your masters as if they were Christ. Masters, the same way. Remember, you have a master in heaven. Every single commandment is tied in to who Christ is. And your relationship with Christ impacts your relationship with others. Okay? That's the main thing. You will not serve, or you will not obey, I should say, your earthly boss with fear and trembling, with sincerity heart, unless you're ultimately obeying Christ with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart. This is Christology. It's so important. It's the foundation. If we don't tie this into Christ, it's just moralism or legalism. So I'm not just saying, work hard, work hard. This should be worship. Work should be worship. Christ calls us to be disciples. And one of the greatest expressions of discipleship is working hard for a boss. Discipleship doesn't start once you punch out and start reading the Bible. Discipleship is all of life. This is the foundation. Colossians 3.22 also links one's sincere obedience to their earthly Lord to their fear of their heavenly Lord. In other words, reverence or fear of Christ leads to obedience to employers. Got it? So here's how I think. This is very simple. It's not surprising to some of you. Fearing Christ means obeying boss. If you're not obeying your boss, what does that mean? So I'm just a doctor, but you come into my office, I'm a pastor, I want some pastoral counseling, I'm not working. What should be my diagnosis? They are lazy, but why are they lazy? Because they don't fear Christ. Right? Remember? Fear of Christ leads to obedience. Fear of one Lord or one Master leads to obedience of the other. I'm not obeying. The root of it is that you don't fear Christ. You don't respect Him. You don't reverence. You don't honor Him. Which is why if you do read Colossians 3, it's within the context. It's lingering there. Colossians 3.16. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. So the problem of laziness finds itself rooted in the fact that Christ's Word is not dwelling in you richly. But if you're dwelling on the Word of Christ, you can put up that wall for the glory of God. You can clean that toilet for the glory of God. If the boss asks you to mop the front when that's not in your job description, you can do it as to Christ, because you honor Him. And you realize that Christ, who is the Head over His Church, and He's the One over all the world, He's the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, you can do that as unto Him. Who sovereignly put that boss over you? Christ. So serve that boss knowing that Christ has put him there. Serve your boss as unto the Lord. As a slave of Christ. Not by way of eye service, as man-pleasers. This reminds us that God and Christ are omniscient. Okay, I know for me, Just my sinful nature. So one of the duties for me as an elder is to manage my own household well. So this is something, this is me just being honest. I know I'm not supposed to say look at me but I just want to show you that your pastor is a sinner and I have to be careful of seeking to be a man pleaser who works with eye service. And so it's one day and I'm just having a great time of playing with the girls and we have a crocodile game so I'm chasing them. And I knew John was coming over. And I kept looking, is John going to see me playing with the kids, because then he'll realize that I'm a good father, and therefore I'm a good pastor. You know what I forgot? Is that Christ is pleased with me playing with my kids, whether or not John gets a flat and never comes or not. Is that crazy? It's just insane how sinful we are. We're not to do it as if men are watching, because Christ is watching. And I found some verses in the Proverbs that are to remind us of this. For a man's ways are before the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. So not just what you do, but the motivation. Whether or not your boss is there or not, Christ is ruling over all. He either ascended in Ephesians 4 out of all things, or He didn't. Christ as God is either omniscient and sees all things, or He doesn't. Your boss can only be in one place at one time, unless he has security cameras. But Christ sees everything, and even more, He sees the paths of our hearts. Proverbs 15.3, this is one of my favorites. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. This is going to be one of Paul's motivations. Remember, Christ sees, as he says in Hebrews, He's not unmindful. He doesn't overlook your service in the faith. Proverbs 21. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. Okay? And so he says, not according or not by means or not by the way of eye service as men pleasers. He's saying, ultimately understand Christ sees everything. Do you know that Christ is in this place? Isn't that crazy? Sometimes I forget when we're praying in here. I can preach to you more worried about what you think than what about Christ thinks. Isn't that crazy? Not by way of eye-services, men-pleasers, but rather, it's a strong conjunction, but rather, instead, as slaves, bond-servants of Christ. You are a slave. Everyone in this room is a slave. You're a slave of sin and unrighteousness, or you're a slave of Christ. This is not a denigrating title. when you have a genitive of Christ after it. When we think of slaves, bad word! Slave of Christ, glorious title. It was attributed to Moses, to Joshua, to David. Paul relished in this title. Right? Sometimes he calls himself an apostle when he has to, but when I read Romans, my favorite letter, my favorite book of the New Testament, Paul, doulos Christi. Slave of Christ! It's not a bad thing. To be a slave of Ryan is one thing. To be a slave of the King of England is another. Ultimately, the slaves in the first century had one Lord and one Master. And ultimately, if you're a Christian today, you have one Lord and one Master, and He is Christ. You are a slave of Christ. Which reminds me, there's a book written by John MacArthur called Slave. Good book. Just want to commend that to you. The one who has bought you at a great price, is ultimately Christ. That's what 1 Corinthians 6 says. Okay, so slaves are often purchased in that time. And Paul is saying, if you're a Christian, you have been purchased. But you've not been bought with things like silver or gold. But you've been redeemed or purchased with the precious blood of Christ. 1 Corinthians 7 says this. Paul's writing to slaves. And the kind of feeling cheated in life. Like the prosperity gospel, really I don't know what they do with this verse. But Paul says this, were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a free man in the Lord. Isn't that amazing? Slave, free. You can work that out. Likewise, he who is free when called as a slave of Christ. So it doesn't matter whether you're a CEO of a huge corporation or you're a janitor doing the most menial services. If you're in Christ, you're both a slave of Christ. And you both have that dignified title. He says, you were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. Paul, you're writing to slaves of men. The Gospel changes everything. I can serve my Master, not as a slave to Him, so much as a slave to Christ. This is the language of Exodus 21. After Exodus 19, God redeems them. We saw this morning in Exodus 20, God gives the commandments. In Exodus 21, it talks about the case of slavery. And if there was a slave who so loved his master and realized his master treated him very well and it was better to be a slave of this master, you know what he would do? He would say, here's a hammer, here's an awl, just kind of like a nail. I want you to do something kind of freaky to show that I want to serve you the rest of my life. What happened? He took that awl and he drove it through the ear into the door. Of course they let him down, but that little hole would be a reminder that even as he was serving his earthly master, he realized, yeah, ultimately I'm serving my heavenly master. Because remember, Exodus 19 is about redemption, Exodus 20 is how we live in light of redemption, and Exodus 21 is how slaves can serve their masters. Could be me, but I think I saw some New Testament parallels there. Not by way of eye service, as man believes, rather served sincerely with fear and trembling as slaves of Christ. What does this look like? Doing. It doesn't say pondering, but doing the will of God from the soul. Okay, for you Greek nerds, it's a present participle. So this explains how you serve Christ. You serve Christ as Lord by doing the will of God from your soul. So many of you want to know this morning, what is God's will for my life? This is God's will for your life. Work hard for your boss, as though Christ were your boss. Now that's just not deep enough. I want to go to Zambia, I want to go to India, or to New Guinea. It might be, but for the 99% of us, go to work tomorrow and work is for Christ. That's the will of God. It's exactly what He said in chapter 5. He says, you need to not be unwise, but wise. Discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Understand what the will of God is. So we've got the word philema, which is will, in chapter 6. And what I do is I go back to chapter 5. Discern what God's will is. This is God's will. Work hard, as unto Christ. We make life far more complicated than it needs to be. It is God's will for you to put in an honest, hard day of work for your boss and employer. After what we do, is that we put up some kind of wall of separation which Christ has torn down between the sacred and the secular. 1 Corinthians 10.31. It always reminds me of your family for some reason, because I taught this to your kids back in the day when you lived at the old house. 1 Corinthians 10.31. It destroys some kind of barrier between work and then holy service for God. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, and then he adds a remarkable clause, whatsoever you do, what are you to do it for? Do it for the glory of God. I think work would fit into whatsoever you do. It's not just preach the gospel on Sunday mornings. Wrestle with your kids for the glory of God. Eat that steak for the glory of God. Medium rare. Some of my Mennonite friends, who like burnt rubber tastes, Whatever you do, including work. Remember that pie chart? 37% of what you do is work. Do that for the glory of God. We need to see that work is a way we can worship God. We can express worship to God by working hard. We just think worship is singing songs on Sunday. That's crazy because you know the Greek and the Hebrew word for work or for worship have a double meaning of serve. Both Hebrew and Greek. Do I worship the Lord or do I serve Him? They're not supposed to be differentiated. You worship Him by serving Him. If you see work as a way to worship God, you will better be able to serve your boss from your heart. He says, rendering service from the heart. Literally, it's from the soul. Psyche. I was thinking of this. I love to quote Isaiah chapter 6. So he sees God in His resplendent glory. He's seen Christ. John 12 says it was Christ in Isaiah 6. And then Isaiah says something amazing. Here I am! Send me! For most of us, God is sending you to work. We just think, send me! Let me be a prophet! Go to work and honor Christ, having seen Him as glorious. Sometimes we just sensationalize it. We kind of feel, well, I guess I didn't see Christ. I need to be doing something big for God. Going to work and working hard is big for God. It's not outside of His redemptive purposes. He's using it actually within His redemptive purposes for this world. Here I am, send me. You can say, God, I'll do anything for You now, whatever Your will for me is. I'll go anywhere. Many of us are just saying, then get up early tomorrow and get to work on time. You have to do the will of God from the heart, or from the soul, or I would paraphrase it, with everything that is in you. In the Old Testament, when I check this out, it means to do something with great intensity. In Colossians 3, it's translated heartily. Here's how I translate it. So you might want to throw this one in the rubbish bin. Passionately. Doing the will of God passionately. So you're serving at work passionately for the glory of God. Which, you should ask, how do I get this passion? Have you ever scrubbed a toilet? Well, I have. Have you ever roofed? Okay. I know what you're thinking. How do I go to school passionately? How do I be a stay-at-home mom? Passionately. Because you have to understand that your service has been ordained from God. Once you get it in your mind that you're working to the Lord, it can become a passion for you. But if you just view it at a materialistic, horizontal level, I can understand. I could never be passionate about putting siding on a house. I know chance is, but I can't. But if you understand the glory of God and how you can serve Him, you can be passionate. Tony, let me know if he's passionate tomorrow. The problem when we don't have passion in our work is not our job, but our theology. Because you know what most people think? Once I get a better job, then I can serve. Once I graduate, you know, this McDonald's job, I'm just doing it for the money. Then I'll be passionate when I become a nurse, or whatever, fill in the blank. It's a fallacy. Whatever you do, work heartily as unto the Lord, not as unto men. Do it passionately. How do you get passionate? You remember Christ in the Gospel. The trouble with your passionless work is not your work, but your theology. Why? Because too many Christians let their feelings Or let the world's definition of the success determine their outlook on life rather than God's perspective. The gospel transforms the mundane into worship. So I know I'm getting perilously close to lunchtime. But here's the illustration I had. When I was in the charismatic church that God sovereignly saved me into and then sovereignly saved me out of, I had a friend, and I'm not going to name him, but he was a jumper. None of you Baptists have any idea what I'm talking about. But he was a jumper. It looked like he was doing, you know, jumping jacks on Sunday morning. And he would jump around the auditorium and, you know, some people would be runners with the flags as if it was the Olympics. You know, just charismatic churches are very interesting when it comes to worship. So on Sunday, you know, he'd be, honestly, he's like a big guy. He'd just do this massive leap onto the stage and be like dancing with like the worship team. And he was passionate about that. I'm passionate about my Lord. I've never met a man who great more about his work than him. Sunday morning, passionate worship. Monday morning, begrudging, grumbling. There's a disconnect there, isn't there? He thought you could worship God only on Sunday when you had everything amped up and a team behind him. No, no, no, no. You should be worshiping God just as passionately, who sees what you're doing Sunday morning, As much as he sees what you're doing on Monday morning. You see? He doesn't really believe that God is omniscient and omnipresent and sees all things and tests our hearts. Theology changes everything. It's not just this negative word for nerdy seminarians. Theology is life. You guys need good theology. It will change how you work tomorrow. You can travel that nice and smooth, Johnny, for the glory of God. Do a good job. He does do good work. I'm not saying he does bad work. There shouldn't be a difference today and tomorrow. If you're really feeling, you know, jacked up today about worship and then you go... Obviously you didn't meet with God. You just basically toyed with your emotions. You know, my awesome guitar solo maybe did something in you. But this theology should change how you work tomorrow. Okay? Let me say something I put in my note that I think you guys will like. I don't know if I should say this or not, but... Paul is reminding us this morning that God is to be worshipped just as passionately on Monday morning as he is Sunday morning. Which is not saying much for us as Baptists. Okay, so there's an encouragement. Don't be afraid to be a little more like David. See, Manuel likes it. But look, I've often thought, so an unbeliever comes in here, And he's here for Sunday morning, then he goes and he watches his television and he sees a football game with people dressed up and screaming their guts out and cheering and high-fiving and worshipping passionately. Why can't we worship as passionately? Anyways, that's just a little thing for us. Let me get to the next point before I get stoned. Serving with goodwill as to the Lord and not to men. One translation says, serving with a good attitude. Willingly serving, another translation. My definition is an anti-definition. A good will is the opposite of doing so begrudgingly. The first thing I thought of is our kids. Kids, can you help set the table? It's like their feet just become like a hundred pounds. And everything, it's like they got chronic arthritis. Bend down and get the plates. Yeah, I'll do it, and their lip is hanging down. That's not what you should look like. You shouldn't look like my kids. Or, when it's three in the morning, Christina wants me to maybe help with something. Slam the door, get the diaper, throw it down, beat the kid. That's not how we're going to do it. We're going to do it with a good will. Not with an evil will. Because you can serve your boss with an evil will. Ever done it? I've got a huge catalog of wicked things I've done as a pagan and as a Christian. You want me to do that? Oh, I'll do it, but I'll damage something. I'll get you back when you're not looking. No, you do it with a good will. You do it with a good attitude. You don't gripe and complain, which brought me to Philippians 2.14. Right after you work out your salvation with fear and trembling, it says, do all things without grumbling or questioning. Some translations, complaining. Next verse, that you might be sons of God. Or as Dan L.T. translates, that you might show yourselves to be sons of God, shining as lights in this dark, depraved world, holding fast to the word of life. It's crazy how doing service with a goodwill can be evangelistic. Paul says that when we render service with a good attitude, a goodwill to our boss, we ultimately do it as unto Jesus, which made me think of Matthew 25. Lord, when did we feed you? When did we give you a drink? When did we visit you in prison? We never saw you. And he says something remarkable. He says, insomuch that you have done this as to others, you have really done it to me. I think I can actually take that text and apply it in light of Ephesians 6. Lord, when did I work hard for you? When did I build... When you worked hard for your boss. You really worked hard for me. See how work can be worshipped? See how the Gospel translates, trans... changes the mundane, makes it worship. Let me quote to you Spurgeon. You can never go wrong, I really feel I'm beginning to sink here. The saying It nobles the weary routine of earthly employments and sheds a halo around the most humble occupations. Okay, some of you think I have a halo coming right now, but some of you can have that tomorrow too. Remember Tony's Working Hard Tomorrow chants? Just remember Spurgeon said it. To wash feet may be servile, but to wash Christ's feet is royal work. Some of you feel changing your kid's diapers is just useless and stinky and, you know, unessential. This is royal work for the king. Just so you know, stay-at-home moms. To unloose the shoe latchet is poor employment, but to unloose the great master's shoe is princely privilege. The shop, the barn, the scullery, the smithy become temples when men and women do all to the glory of God. Do you understand that? That your work can become a temple, as it were, tomorrow. He says, then divine service is not a thing of a few hours and a few places, but all of life becomes holiness unto the Lord. And every place and thing as consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden candlestick. I think he's talking about the end of Zechariah by the way. When all the plates become holy and the bells on the horses are holy. He's saying that. That everything becomes a priestly service as unto God when you get this mindset. doing the will of God, from Suwa, it says here, knowing that each, okay, I'll just quote DSV, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this you will receive back from the Lord, whether he's a slave or free. Faith. We walk by faith, and not by sight. You working hard tomorrow might never be recognized by your boss. You understand that? You might work 40 years and never get a pat on the back. You know why you work hard? You work hard by faith. 2 Corinthians 5, we walk by faith and not by sight. We're to work by faith. Turn with me to Hebrews 11. I just want to show you one of my favorite verses. In all the Bible. I think of this all the time, actually. Okay, I know it's talking about Moses, but I'm going to apply this of how we are to work hard by faith. Because you might never see a promotion. You might never see a raise. You might never get, you know, congratulated. No one might ever see you. A lot of you moms feel that way. This is a verse I memorized over Colossians 3. I applied it to my wife. You are serving the Lord Christ. You will receive as your reward the inheritance. Here's Hebrews 11, 23. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful and that they were not afraid of the king's edict. Here it is. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. That's a good verse for sanctification by the way. But let me think about the sermon this morning. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. Here it is. For he was looking to the reward. What's the reward? In the book of Hebrews 11 and 13 it makes it very clear. That the city, the reward they're seeking is the new heavens and earth. Christ is their master. Well done, good and faithful servant. So how could Moses do the unthinkable? How could Moses press on doing the uncomfortable? He was looking for the reward. Present tense. He kept his eyes fixed on the things that are not seen. Just like Abraham. Verse 27. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured... How does it finish? How did He endear? As seeing Him who is invisible. Why are you to be hard workers unto the Lord? Because the Lord will reward you. I don't feel He's rewarded me. That's why you need to walk by faith. I really wanted to get into a theology of rewards. Maybe in a topical sermon when I finish Ephesians I will do that. But please don't let this doctrine of grace make you think that somehow God does not reward. The Bible is filled with reward. Romans 2 says God is going to judge us according to our works. I'm not trying to deny justification by faith alone. But I'm also trying not to throw out what so much of the Bible says. God is going to reward you. Remember the parable of the talents? One who's given ten and five. What happens? Well done. He rewards him with more. Christ who is omniscient sees, and he rewards. Why do you work? Knowing that whatever good anyone does, and that good reminds me to Ephesians 2.10, God predestined us for good works. Whatever good works we do, Christ will reward us. If Jacob's motivation was his treasure, how much more should ours be? Like, who's Jacob? Remember in the Old Testament, sort of subtle, schemey Jacob. He gets a little bit of his own medicine when he works for Uncle Laban. He sees this beautiful girl who he just falls head over heels in love with, named Rachel. And he says, work for me seven years, she's yours. For those seven years he might not have fought it, but he believed that promise. And he worked heartily. It says that those seven years were like a day to him. Why? Because he had his eyes fixed on the reward. You know what is far more beautiful and satisfying than a lovely wife? And God's not going to sort of, you know, slip in a Leah? Christ. If Jacob could serve for seven years as if it were nothing for the reward of his lovely bride, how much more should we serve wholeheartedly with a goodwill as to the Lord For our reward is vastly superior than His. You need to remember that. When you want to be lazy. Oh, I didn't get my raise. That raise is not your reward, man. Christ is your reward. Remember that. Let's move on to the last verse. Then we'll finish up. The slaves... Verses 5 to 8, verses 9, literally, the masters, or you could translate, the lords, kurios, hoikurai. Do the same to them. So I can preach this really quick now. The attitudes and motivations and the ethic that the employee is to render to the boss. Those same attitudes and ethics are to be given back. Right? So now I'm thinking of people like Marvin or Mark. I was thinking of Charlie or Tony. You guys have people under you. Johnny. The same principle is truly the same for you as it was for the slave. The same things. God's going to reward you, Johnny, on how you treat your employees. Remember that. He's not just watching how they work for you. God is also watching how you lead them. How you, as it were, exercise your authority. And as we've seen all throughout this household, quote, authority is to be used for building up. Whether it's a husband building up his wife and his kids. Or a boss building up his employees. Remember, do the same things, present tense, to them. Why? Because you also know something. Their Lord is your Lord. Their boss is your boss. And you're thinking, no, I'm their boss. No, no, that's bad theology. Your boss is their boss, Christ. Remember that, and He will reward you as well. Know also that He is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. Let me quote to you one verse of the Old Testament, and I'll give you a fancy illustration to conclude everything. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were to treat their slaves and foreigners and the widow and the orphans differently. They were to treat those under them differently. Why? They were to treat them differently in light of their undeserved election and redemption. You can say, that slave doesn't deserve it. You were slaves in Egypt. I redeemed you out of Egypt. Don't treat your slaves the way you were treated in Egypt. So this is out of Leviticus, but it's all throughout Exodus and Deuteronomy as well. There's plenty. This is a major theme. Leviticus 25, 39 and following for you note takers. If your brother becomes poor besides you and sells himself to you, that's sort of what's going on in Paul's time. The indentured servant, basically you would sort of hire yourself out so you could get your debt paid off. And then once the debt was paid off, you're free. It wasn't usually lifelong slavery, but he says, if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, becomes an indentured servant or bond servant, you shall not make him serve as a slave. He shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve you until the year of the Jubilee. So much redemption in that, but I'm not going to go there. Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. In Moses' time, you didn't get to take your family with you. But God is saying, it's so much different among you. Here it is, 4. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. You shall not rule over them ruthlessly, but they shall fear you. Paul says, Master, stop threatening. In Colossians, he says, stop beating on them and being so mean. Leviticus 25 says the exact same thing. Why should we treat slaves differently as Christian bosses? Because we as slaves were redeemed out of slavery. For freedom Christ has set you free. Only do not use your freedom as an occasion for the flesh bosses. Exercise your authority the way Christ exercised His. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for the many. Mark 10.45 Let me give you a conclusion. You're like, finally! So I'm reading Martin Luther's biography right now, as I made evident in Sunday School as we worked through Galatians. I'm reading it. And one of the things that struck me is that when Luther was fighting against the evils of the Catholic system, One of the things he wanted to undermine was this false notion that you had the people who were really holy, and then everyone else. Basically, if you were near to God, you were a priest or a monk, and then there's everyone else. And that informed everything, even how they did the Lord's Table. There was a hierarchy. Luther wanted to undermine that because he understood in 1 Peter 2 that everyone in Christ is a priest. But there's no distinction in Galatians 3.28, right? We're all one in Christ, whether slave or free. And so one day, a young man approached Mr. Luther enthusiastically and announced to him that he had recently become a Christian. He said, Mr. Luther, what are I to do now? And he was sort of implying, should I quit my job? Should I go into the monastery? Right? Because Luther was an Augustinian monk. Should I go on a mission? Should I become an itinerant preacher? Should I give up everything to serve the Lord? Luther asked him, what do you do now? Well, I'm a cobbler. I'm a shoemaker. This is what many of you have heard. He says, then make a good shoe and sell it at a fair price. That's pretty deep stuff. I'll do anything. Here I am. Send me. Make a good shoe and sell it at a good price. Make a good shoe for the glory of God and sell it at a fair price because you love your neighbor as yourselves. Really, fulfilling the great law is as simple as that. You better believe it. In becoming a Christian, we don't need to retreat from the vocational calling we already have. Read 1 Corinthians 7, 21-24. Were you a slave when you were called? Right? Remain a slave. That's God's will. If you're free, remain free. Okay? We don't need to retreat from that. Rather, we are to exercise whatever our calling currently is. With a new God-glorifying motive. We don't change our job. So much as we change our attitude towards the job. Unless, you know, you're causing sin or something. Like if you're a drug dealer, you can't sell drugs to the glory of God. You gotta quit your job. But if you're just a framer or a cook or whatever you're doing, you have a new goal, a new aspiration, a new motive. You have a new calling as it were. The calling stays the same and yet it's so radically different when you become a Christian. Tony Introvigin says this, Church leaders, you make a huge mistake when you define a person's call in terms of participation inside the church alone. I'm not a deacon. I'm not an elder. I don't play on the worship team. I guess I'm a nobody and I can't be used for the kingdom of God. This is just an expression of it on Sunday morning. You can do whatever God has equipped and fashioned you to do for the glory of God just as much as I am here preaching. And that's a real danger in Reformed circles. I was thinking of a Spurgeon quote. Closing it to show you that I'm finishing. He says, if God has called you to be a preacher, do not stoop to be a king. And amen. But I would also tweak that in light of Ephesians 6. If God has called you to be a house mother, if God has called you to be a dishwasher, do not stoop to become a king. I think it's just as relevant. Let me pull the Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Slaves, obey your earthly masters. Or you could say according to the flesh. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as to the Lord, or as of Christ. Not by the way of eye service, as men pleasers, but doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with the good will as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether a slave or free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is your master's and is theirs is in heaven, and there's no partiality with him. I hope this has been a very practical way that you all understand, hopefully a new gospel sort of perspective, the gospel glasses to view work. Please don't grumble over your work. Please see it as an opportunity to worship your King. Right? Father, we thank you for the Gospel. We thank you that, Lord, you gave work as a gift and how the Gospel can redeem that. Help us, Lord, not to fall prey to how the world defines success, i.e. making lots of money or having a flashy job title. Lord, help us, whether we are a lowly servant or a highfalutin CEO, help us to see who we are in Christ. Help us, Lord, to work as for the Lord and not for men. Help us, Lord, to understand this as part of your great commission, that going we are to make disciples. Help us to see that work can be a mission field. Help us not to be lazy, horrible evangelists. Help us, Lord, whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, slave or free, to do it for Your glory, Father, and for Your purposes in Christ. We ask this in His name. Amen.