That's a beautiful singing again, and those are powerful songs, aren't they? And can it be? Have you asked yourself that question before? And can it be that God would be gracious to ourselves? Well, I know John mentioned me being a friend, a buddy of Erwin Lutzer. I don't even know how many people know Erwin Lutzer. Maybe us over 40, I don't know. He's being silly, I'm not buddies with him, I wish, but he was a pastor of Moody Church in Chicago. He might still be, although when I met him, it was 20 years ago. And our church at that time in California had a midweek service, and they would invite kind of famous pastors and professors and scholars to teach on a Wednesday night. So there was D.A. Carson, Alistair Begg, a lot of these big names, and then there was Earl Mutzer came one night, and I was on staff, and the pastor, told me that Erwin Lutzer was in this room over here by himself. And he said, it's half an hour till the service. Jason, can you go in there and just kind of keep him company? And I was nervous at that moment. Like, me? What am I supposed to tell this man? So I got to hang out with Erwin Lutzer for half an hour. And I think I didn't put him at ease. He put me at ease. I think he was a very gracious man. But Erwin Lutzer could do the best Billy Graham impersonation anyone has ever heard. I mean, go on YouTube. I'm sure it's on there. Erwin Lutzer, Billy Graham. He did the altar call thing with Billy Graham, and it was great. So yeah, sometimes I've gotten to meet some of those people along the way, but the Lord has many shepherds everywhere, and he's a good one. He's also written a lot of books that are very helpful in the Christian life. But let's jump in, I'm no Erwin Lutzer, but we have the word of God, which is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword, and that's good enough, I hope. So, we're in Ephesians chapter six, so turn there, we are nearing the end. I was trying to finish Ephesians before I go to Serbia, but that's not gonna happen. because the last section, main section, is the armor of God. I don't wanna like, you know, breeze through that. That's a very well-known, important section. But we are in the passage right before there, chapter six, verses five through nine, and I've titled it A New Slavery. We're gonna talk about slavery this morning. And the details of Serbia are actually coming together finally. I mentioned, I think, last time there were very few, and I feel better now. So I know some of these people I'm connecting with. And the seminary there in Novi Sad, they have a bachelor's program for pastors, but they are developing a master's degree program. I was telling Matt this. I don't know if they're going to even be interested in me, I don't expect that at all, but they're going to be, I'm guessing, needing a new set of teachers to come and teach the master's level for these pastors. So it's really exciting when you hear these seminaries in other countries where they are building the churches and preparing the shepherds there. And it's an exciting time, so I will certainly update you when I return. But I'm here one more Sunday, so I think everyone thought I was going to be gone. I'm still here, so don't rejoice yet. Well, let's jump in. The gospel of Jesus Christ is transformative. I hope you've seen that in the book of Ephesians. Positionally and practically transformative. Paul continues to belabor this point, even on a practical level. So let me read our verses, chapter six, verses five through nine. A last exhortation here to people in the local church. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ. not by way of eye service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 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, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. So our passage takes us once again to the practical transforming nature of the gospel, how we treat each other in the local church, how we treat others outside the local church. And let me kind of give you an overall picture of Ephesians again, since this is the last kind of section directed to a people group before the armor of God. There are essentially three changes that take place for the Christian. A change of position, a change of nature, and a change of relationship. So there's first a change of position we've seen. You as a believer are now in Christ. I think that's Paul's favorite language in all of his epistles. He says in Christ more than anything else. He says more than justification by faith. You are now in Christ. There's a union that you have with him. Paul says there that we are in the heavenly places. this kind of language, remember verse three, that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And why is that the case when you're here on earth? You are here in Texas, you are in heaven yet, you're aware of that I'm sure this morning when you woke up and you looked in the mirror. I'm not there yet, but yet you are, you are in the heavenly places. You've been blessed with every spiritual blessings and you're in Christ. And that's because our life is hidden with Christ, as he says in Colossians 3. Even though you're here, yes, even though there's sin within you, you're in the sanctification process, there's this position you have where you are in Christ now. You are in heaven with him. Our lives are hidden with Christ, Colossians 3, verse 2. You have been placed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and his spirit has been placed within you. That's that special bond and union that you have, but it's a position that you have. There is now this special, eternal, unbreakable union that you have with Christ. Remember chapter one, he mentioned there that he's given his spirit, which is a seal of your future inheritance. You have been claimed to be the Lord. You are marked. You do not have the mark of the beast. Don't worry, you won't get that. You won't get that at the grocery store or wherever it might be. You, according to Ephesians 1, have been marked by the Holy Spirit. You are his property. There's also a change of nature. There's a change of nature. You were dead in your sins and trespasses, right? Ephesians 2. But you've been made alive in Christ. You have been born again. You are now a living creature since you were dead before. There's been a spiritual rebirth, you've been given life in Christ. This new creation language, and Paul wants you to think this way, even again though, you're not glorified, you're still a sinner. But he wants you to think this way, you are now a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come, and now you put off the old man and what do you do? You put on the new man. So we have gone from the grave to the sky, as Paul says in Ephesians 2. All of this means not only do you have new life, but we now have a new ability with the aid of the Spirit to actually do the will of God. It's an amazing thought, isn't it? Prior to knowing Christ, you could not accomplish the will of God. You could do works in this world, but you could not do good works, as Paul's language is in the New Testament. So this changes everything. You have a new position. You now have a new nature. And thirdly, you have a new relationship with God. All of these truths are magnificent. Now, being born again, being in Christ, you have a different relationship with God. John had mentioned Romans 1. Prior to Christ, you faced judgment. You were under the wrath of God. That was your relationship with God. Now, in Christ, now born again, you have a relationship that's reconciled with God. Now, your unfriendly terms because of the Lord Jesus Christ's work on the cross. And Paul had talked about that earlier in Ephesians 1, how Jesus was the means of redemption and reconciliation, and he made all of this possible that we might have a new relationship with God. Because of Christ's work, we are forgiven. We are reconciled eternally. God has brought together Jew and Gentile, two people that we didn't think was possible together into one body. Now we have a new relationship with each other as well, not just vertically, but horizontally. Now we can have Aggies and Longhorns be together. We can have things that we didn't think were imaginable, that we can be reconciled with each other. As different as we are, Jew and Gentile, Rich and poor, strong and weak all come together. And all of this means that you're a child of God now. And that's a language that Paul loves here in Ephesians and Galatians and Romans, that you're a child of God. You call God your father now. Now you pray. Now you have a close relationship with the Lord. And that changes everything. Three changes for the believer. Positionally, our own nature and being on top of position as well as our relationship with the Lord. But one question Paul has answered many times throughout his epistle is this, in my new status, in my new nature, in my new relationship with God, how then do I live? How do I conduct myself? I used to live as a dead person. Now I'm actually alive. How do I live? How do I conduct my ways as a new creation? We are to put off the old and put on the new, Paul has told us. We are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. We are to speak the truth in love. We are to pursue reconciliation with each other. We're to put away ungodly anger. We're to put on a tender heart, gentleness, and a forgiving spirit. There's a radical change that has taken place, but now we actually exert spirit-empowered effort into the Christian life in our sanctification. There are things that we actually do. Yes, we are dependent upon the Spirit and His grace, nevertheless. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling, as Paul says in Philippians. So the gospel is applied by Paul again and again and again. and in particular in our relationships. We've seen in chapter five and six that he applies the gospel now to the dynamic of authority in the local church, authority and submission. We saw this with marriage, the husband and the wife. We saw it with parents and children. And in our passage, we're gonna see it with masters and slaves, which for us right now is gonna be kind of a new world for us to enter. But he addresses the issue of the dynamic of slaves and masters. How does one conduct himself when under authority? And how does one conduct himself who has authority? Our new life, our new position, and our new nature and relationship change all of this. And so the apostle applies it one more time, as I think he's thinking about everyone sitting in the church of Ephesus, and he knows there are masters who own slaves, and there are slaves in church who have masters. So let's observe six ways. and I'm gonna apply it to us, even though I don't think we have masters and slaves here this morning, that we should conduct ourselves learning from the dynamic of masters and slaves. Six ways to conduct ourselves. The first is to honor and obey your earthly masters. Honor and obey your earthly masters. This is a common New Testament theme, isn't it? We can think of Peter, in 1 Peter 2, Verse 13 says, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to the governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. Every human institution. I was trying to think of some specific examples. The most recent one I've been subject to is my HOA. You know, making sure the lawn is mowed, making sure the trash cans aren't out too early and too late. So Peter says, every human institution, be subject to them. Or Paul in Romans 13.1, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist have been instituted by God. There's a reminder. Even we might say governments in this world, you think, how can there be anything of God there? But there's this providential institution by God of the governing authorities. And back then, it was not a glamorous government. You would have corrupt leaders who had so much power. Unlike our own country's forefathers who created a system that would be a system of checks and balances that would limit authority in government, back then it was a very different thing when you had Caesar, who was seen as a kind of god incarnate who had this great power. And so these were weighty passages to Christians in that first century. Be subject to the governing authority. And so you have this authority submission dynamic here with slaves and masters. Notice that order. He addresses slaves, verse 5 first, and then masters, and that's been his pattern, isn't it? Paul addressed wives, then husbands, children, then parents, slaves, then masters, listing the subordinate party first. And now, of course, these are not the same forms of submission. Husbands, I hope you know that, that your wife is not a slave. Don't apply that incorrectly in this passage. That's not the connection at all. But the connection is, we do have in our life, all of us do, actually, none of us are exempt from having to submit to different levels of authority. And that's what Paul has been addressing. It's a hard thing, isn't it? Like I said, it's a difficult task for a wife to submit in any way to a sinful, imperfect husband who may lack wisdom and does lack wisdom at times. That's a difficult position. Children are to submit to their parents. Maybe their parents are unreasonable. Maybe they're very demanding. the exhortation is for children to do that. Here, we're going to see something very difficult. Often, maybe the most difficult in society, slaves submitting to their masters. My son was asking about the next passage and topic, you know, the parenting children series. And I said, well, we're going to talk about slaves this morning. And it doesn't deal with children, but. We'll keep you busy, but it's a different topic than children being your slave. So we have to be careful with wrong application. But this is the way the Roman Empire functioned. It's a different thing. Slavery was throughout the Roman Empire. I mean, it was, in a sense, the kind of bedrock. It was the way it was built. the way it functioned, and Paul now is addressing an issue that I have no doubt would be shocking to people in that first century, particularly to masters. It would be a very surprising thing for the apostle to tell masters. Now, remember, look earlier in chapter 5, verse 21. Remember that a result of the filling of the spirit we saw was when you have a spirit-filled church, you have men and women who are submitting to one another. You have this kind of mutual submission, humility, deference in the church. So when we gather together, we put each other first. And so a spirit-filled church is characterized by this mutual submission, humility. principle. And so already, no matter who you are and what position you are, including elders of the church, we are to count others more significant. We are to put each other first. That's the Christian principle that Paul applied there in chapter 5, verse 21. And I really think that affects this whole section. It should affect wives. It should affect husbands. That's why he says, husbands, love your wife. in a sacrificial way as Christ loved the church. This is affecting children, it's affecting parents, it's affecting slaves, it's affecting masters. Because we all stand equal at the foot of the cross, right? We all stand in grace. And we know if we're real with ourselves that we are, we should know that we ourselves are the chief of sinners. Because we know our sin better than anyone else's. that we know we are dependent upon the grace of God. And so we start to view other people in that lens. You know what? They're not worse than me. There can be no one worse than me. I know my sinfulness and I know that I stand in the grace of God. I know my brother and my sister also stand in the grace of God. We do not deserve anything, any favorable treatment at all by the Lord. And that's the position all of us in the church are in. And that's really kind of the feel of this whole section here. But here's a challenge. Verse five, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling. Please God, Paul says, slaves, by obeying your earthly masters. It's estimated that in the first century, as Paul is addressing masters and slaves here, there were over 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire. That's a lot, 60 million. I heard there's around, I think 340 million Americans total. Think about 60 million slaves. In fact, a third of Ephesus was actually slaves, just as a third of Corinth was slaves, just as a third of Rome was made up of slaves. So, no doubt, you were either a slave, a master, or you knew one, or both. They were around us all the time. And many in the church would be in those positions. Ken Hughes writes, under Roman law, according to Gaius, a slave was a thing to be owned and bought and sold and not a legal person. And I think that maybe the slavery image we have is here in the United States. This position of a slave in the Roman Empire, I think Ken Hughes is right, you weren't even really seen as a person at all. You weren't even like, there was no legal protection for you. As we're gonna find out, you could be easily abused. And we've seen this in a lot of different forms of slavery, abused in all kinds of aspects of world history. And that was true here in the Roman Empire. We would see a wild thing, though, if you were to walk into a local church in the first century. You would walk in and you'd see masters and slaves sitting together in church. This would be a very strange thing. You would expect to see the masters sitting in church, but the slaves, you would not expect them to be sitting next to masters, because they weren't seen on the same level. So this is a radical statement by Paul. It said that almost 50% of slaves would actually become free by the age of 30, though. I did not know this. Imagine, though, the first 30 years of your life, you are as slave to someone else, you have no rights, and you really are up to them to take care of you and to protect you and to feed you and these things. And so the beginning of your life is not a life of independence. Maybe our teens will feel better. You know, you're ready to get your driver's license so you have independence. But think of it, until 30, and then some much longer were slaves for decades. If you weren't a slave, you knew one. But we need to understand one important note. The Apostle Paul here does not actually address the topic of slavery in a sense of trying to analyze slavery and free Christians from slavery. I think sometimes we want to find that here in our text. The Apostle Paul says, slavery is wrong, do away with it. We don't find that here. I actually think we find some of that in Philemon. I think he's telling his brother Philemon there to free his slave. That's the good thing to do. I think he's imploring him to do that because now they're both believers. But this is normal life back then. There's no commentary on slavery here. Paul's intention in his letter is not to change the government or the culture, but what is his intention? It's always been the same. How to function as a Christian in the context you're in. So, husbands, if you're a husband, how do you function as a husband? Wife, how do you function as a Christian wife? Children, parents, and on it goes. How do you function as a Christian in the context you find yourself today? Paul is clear Honor and obey your earthly masters. He doesn't eradicate this relationship. He doesn't have a divine word from the Lord that now that you're a believer, escape from your master, or masters, you must release your slaves. But notice what he says, obey them with what? Fear and trembling. Interesting, Jesse read Psalm 55, and there's that phrase, fear and trembling in Psalm 55. Paul uses this language a number of times, like in 1 Corinthians 2, that when he came to the Corinthians, he came with fear and trembling. And that idea doesn't mean you're shaking in your boots. It doesn't mean you're nervous in that way. The idea of fear and trembling is respect. Great reverence is the idea. Paul came to the Corinthians in great reverence and respect. You kind of think it would be the other way, right? The Apostle Paul's in town. Is it Erwin Luther today? No, it's Paul. It's Apostle Paul. You would have great reverence for him, but he came with great reverence. So slaves, have great reverence for your masters. There's nothing here that says if they're good, reasonable, kind masters, does it? That might be easier to do. But what if they're unreasonable? What if they're abusive masters? Paul says, obey them with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ. You slave, be God's person in your current role. And I think there's gospel ramifications for this. You know, Paul's always thinking, how can the gospel impact the world that we live in. Imagine now a slave who's become a Christian, and he's got a horrible master. And now he's showing more respect to his master, and he's quick to obey. And all of a sudden, the master sees this change in his slave. The Lord can use that and did use that, I'm sure, in that testimony of the slave. But this applies to us all, right? Now, some of you may feel like slaves at work, depending upon the kind of boss you have. But we're to obey and honor the authority above us is the principle. If a slave was to do so, how much more you and I? Number two, be a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser. Be a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser. Notice again, Paul says, with a sincere heart as you would Christ, verse six, not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. And just looking at that phrase, not by the way of eye service as people pleasers. Do you struggle with pleasing people? Harold Hohner says, they are ones who have no real interest in their own, but only aim at making a favorable impression on their owners by fits of ostentatious zeal doing the minimum of work. Okay, this is like, reminds me, I worked in a warehouse in Southern California, and all the guys would be shooting the breeze. And then the boss would walk in. And they'd all scatter and look busy and start doing work, right? That's by way of eye service. We're going to get really busy if the boss sees us. But the boss is gone right now, so we can kick back and chill. Paul says, you should not be so, slaves. You're not to do the work when you're being watched. Only, you're to serve your master as of Christ. You are to work diligently all the time. You're not gonna do it for their eye, for their pleasure or impression. Rather, you're gonna do it for the Lord. You're not gonna only work while you are seen. I think we could remind ourselves of a principle of the nature of God here, that he sees all things, right? He sees whether you're working or not. Do we do things in compassion? Are we not really who we are? Are we acting a certain way on the outside to please somebody, but not being true to who we are or true to the Lord? It's the idea of pleasing people. Proverbs talks about how the fear of man is a trap. And you get stuck in that, right? Where you're just trying to please others, but you start making compromises, right? I start making compromises and not glorifying God because I'm trying to please other people. And it's the test, isn't it? How do you do your work or conduct yourself when no one is around? When no one sees? A reminder that the Lord sees. Do you do your work for God? You see, if you do your work for God, it doesn't matter who sees, right? You could do all your work independently and no one sees what you're doing, but if you're doing it for the Lord, then praise God. You can have satisfaction in that. Yes, it's nice. I understand it's nice to get some encouragement and praise from someone. I mean, it is nice to have a boss that says, you're doing a great job. I had a boss who, I never was sure if I was doing a good job or not. There was really never any feedback. So you weren't really sure, am I in good standing or not? I understand that. That's different, I think, than I'm trying to give a certain impression. And I'm not really honoring the Lord and being consistent in my heart. But God sees, right? And with slaves, how much an issue, especially with demanding and abusive masters. No cutting corners, no seeking to impress. Working as a Christian should work ultimately for who? Notice, as you would Christ. That changes everything, doesn't it? Apply this to your home, your workplace. Apply it to your lawn, you know? I'm gonna do this as to the Lord. You know, I heard someone use the illustration once, what if the president's coming to your house this week? What would you do differently? Well, I'd get the house ready. I'd make it look really good. What about to the Lord, the resurrected Lord of the universe? Do your work as unto him. I think we need to know this, that people-pleasing is not people-loving. People-pleasing is not people-loving. There's a difference there, right? Martin Lloyd-Jones told us, I've quoted this, ultimately he says, our only reason for pleasing men around us is that we may please ourselves. Our real desire is not to please others as such. We want to please them because we know that if we do, they will think better of us. Right? So yeah, you do seek to please each other. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7, the husband is to please his wife and the wife is to please her husband. There's nothing wrong with pleasing people in that sense. We don't want to wake up and hope everyone's our enemy, right? We want to please each other, love each other. But there's a difference, right, with this sinful kind of pleasing, and Lloyd-Jones is right, It's really, we want people to think better of ourselves, which is what? It's a pride issue, isn't it? You know, pride is subtle and it's cloaked, and Lloyd-Jones is addressing that issue. We're not really seeking to honor or please somebody, we're seeking to honor ourself. So Paul presses this on slaves. Be God-pleasers, not people-pleasers. Do your work for the Lord, and everything kind of falls in place. Number three, Again, addressing slaves here still, but we can find application. Number three, do God's will with a sincere heart. What a similar idea, right? Do God's will with a sincere heart. Now, the temptation for a slave, particularly if they were abused, is to bitterness, actually. To bitterness. Remember earlier, Paul addressed this, actually. Chapter four, verse 31, what did he tell us to put off? bitterness, right? And sinful anger, out-of-control anger. But bitterness is kind of that deep-seated anger and that unforgiving spirit. And it can slowly deepen in our life where we become unforgiving towards someone. And there was certainly a temptation for that as a slave. If you have a a master who is abusing you or your family. Mistreatment by masters could include threats of being punished, being beaten, sexual harassment, especially for female slaves, also threats to sell your spouse or your children if you didn't measure up as a slave. These are great things that slaves endured, and Paul was fully aware of that when he's saying to honor them and obey your earthly masters. The gravity of the situation is huge. Being abused physically, sexually, having your spouse or your children sold if your master is not happy. I mean, there's a great temptation to anger, right? And to bitterness. Maybe it makes more sense what he said in chapter four, verses 31 and 32, to put away bitterness and anger, and to have a tender heart to be forgiving. It's a difficult thing when your master is someone like this. Sometimes the slave could be tempted to steal from their masters. because they were angry with them. They wanted to get back at them, right? They wanted to retaliate against their masters. Paul says there in Romans, to not take revenge, leave it in the Lord's hands. There was a lot of injustice done, and there always has been in the context of slavery itself, in any context, in any country. Many abuses. We had abuses in our own country. And the Roman Empire was not exempt. In fact, it was kind of built on that system. where masters essentially had all power. Look with me at Titus, chapter 2. Titus, chapter 2. That's a way of getting my son's attention, making sure he's listening. Titus, Titus, chapter 2. Very similar exhortation, verse 9. Slaves are to be submissive to their own master's notice in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering or stealing, but showing all good faith, and here's the reason, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. Just as may be common as a master abusing, mistreating their slaves, you'd have slaves getting back at their masters. Now we have a slave that doesn't do that. Wow. You know, and you gotta think, even if they're unbelieving masters, Maybe at least some of them, maybe not all of them, they have a conscience. They know in their hearts they're abusing, they're mistreating their slaves. Maybe they weren't ever gonna say that, but now the slave is respecting them? Now the slave is not cutting corners and not mistreating them and not stealing? Wow, it would be a great testimony to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. Paul says here in Ephesians, do the will of God, notice, from the heart, with a sincere heart. Paul, the Lord always gets to the heart, doesn't he? Again, God is not interested in external behavior only and just doing things right on the outside. He wants our hearts. Do the will of God as a slave from the heart for God. God wants slaves, and he wants all of us under any authority in our life to honor God with a genuine, sincere heart. Not obeying on the outside merely, but on the inside. Proverbs 23, 26. My son, give me your heart. You know, remember when God looked at David in 1 Samuel, he looked at the heart. He didn't look at the tall, dark, and handsome Saul on the outside. He looked at this little shepherd boy who had a heart for Yahweh, and we see that when he fought Goliath. He was really concerned about the glory of Yahweh, and he was willing to face a giant. God wants pure motives from his people. Not hypocrisy, not as James says, the double-minded man unstable in all his ways. He wants a single, undivided heart. You could write down Psalm 86 11 as a prayer. 86 11, unite my heart to fear your name. Do you feel like sometimes you have that divided heart? I kind of want to do the Lord's will, but I don't. Or I'm doing it, but maybe I'm not really genuine, sincere in what I'm doing. Unite my heart, Lord. Lord, help me to have pure motives in what I'm doing, in home, in the workplace, and elsewhere. Maybe you are under someone who abuses their authority, and they're difficult to work with, to work under. Maybe it causes us to get on our knees and pray and ask the Lord's help. Paul always comes back to honoring Christ, doesn't he? No matter what. Do this, he says, as to the Lord, as to Christ, verse five. Verse six, as servants of Christ, verse six, doing the will of God from the heart, verse seven, rendering service with a goodwill, as to who? The Lord, and not to who? Man, now he doesn't mean they don't care about what people think at all, you know, you don't care about your boss. That's not his idea. The idea is, ultimately, your eye is to the Lord. I'm doing this ultimately for the Lord. This is what I was telling with wives, when you're dealing with a difficult husband. You are living for the Christ, ultimately. And when you start doing that, that begins to change how you deal with people, home and the workplace. Because people are gonna fail you. You might have that boss, and you really can't get out from under that, but you can do your work as to the Lord, and the Lord can be pleased. Your master may not be pleased, but the Lord will be pleased by your work. It's a great encouragement. Number four, use authority as one under authority. Use authority as one under authority, like the centurion who came to Jesus. And now he's addressing masters here, and I'll return to verse eight. in a little bit. But he says, verse 9, Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him. Masters, again, they could obviously abuse their authority. They could get away with it. There were no legal ramifications. It was a cruel system, but it was common. I know somebody who used to work some in Washington, D.C., and they would go to the White House. And they said, this was during President Obama's administration, he said whenever he came to the White House, people lived in fear that worked in the White House. That doesn't sound healthy, does it? So take that whatever it means, but there may be an authority that creates fear. I worked for a pastor once. When I came into the office, all the women on staff were crying. I told someone this the other day at dinner. Because the pastor lost it. He lost his temper. And all these women were crying. I thought someone died. But no one's exempt from abusing their authority, right? It was a great method for masters to put fear in their slaves, to threaten them. If you do this, we talked about this as parenting, right? If you don't eat your dinner, you're not going to eat for the rest of the week. We can do threats, and masters would do that, and they could certainly follow through with those threats. And so the temptation here is masters are going to use fear to drive their slaves. So he says, verse nine, stop your threatening. Don't manipulate them in that way. Don't use fear in that way at all. It's not so for the Christian master. Now, as a Christian master, you operate differently. Doesn't matter what you can get away with, you operate as a Christian. And what's the great principle of being a Christian now? It's to love your neighbor, right? It's to love others. And I've been loved by Christ in a sacrificial way that should change you if you are in a position of authority. It doesn't change the dynamic of authority in of itself, but it changes how you handle your authority. We do not threaten now. So this is the put off for masters, put off threatening. Don't abuse your authority. It's the same with husbands. It's the same with parents. Any authority that God gives you. Mothers have authority as well. You might have authority again in the workplace. We are not to abuse that authority. Peter tells elders and pastors this in 1 Peter 5. You're to exercise oversight, shepherd the flock of God, but not to be domineering. Not to be controlling and to abuse your authority. Authority is a difficult thing to handle, isn't it? Certainly is. But Christians, we're not gonna operate like that in this world. We're a new creation. We've been loved and forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ. That changes everything we do. And we are under the Lord Jesus' authority, one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. Masters do the same to them. He says, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, And there is no partiality with him. What is he doing for masters? He's reminding them, you have a master, right? That's a big thing. We can forget that in positions of authority. I know us elders here, we like to talk about, this is Christ's church. I remember MacArthur not liking MacArthur's church. It's Christ's church. We're under shepherds, but it's Christ's church. Masters, God has given you authority. Those of you who have authority, God's given that to you. But who's your authority? It's the Lord, right? And notice, there's accountability here, isn't there? The master shows no partiality. Kind of a very interesting thought. If you read the Gospels, does Jesus ever show favoritism to anyone? He never does. It's amazing. Could you really tell Judas was the guy? Probably not. I mean, the disciples look around that night like, who's gonna betray you? It wasn't like weeks and months of going, yeah, it's gotta be Judas. You know, watching Jesus with him, whoo. Nobody knew because he doesn't show favoritism. It's an amazing thought about the person of Christ. But Masters, he doesn't show any favoritism here. He is an impartial judge. He is the only perfectly impartial judge in the history of humanity. and he is the resurrected judge of the world. Christian masters, do not threaten them. Don't use fear. Don't abuse your authority. Be a good, gracious master. Treat your slaves well. And this would have been shocking. Really, you're telling me I have to conduct myself this way? And then think of the testimony to those around them, other masters being abused. Oh, I've got a really good master. He's really good to us. He takes care of us. We all need to be reminded of this this morning, that we serve one master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that changes everything. Two more, number five, a fifth way of conducting ourselves, and I think really a truth that undergirds this whole section, is conduct yourself as a slave of Jesus Christ. Conduct yourself as a slave of Jesus Christ. Did you know you're a slave if you are a believer, if you're a Christian? We are all now slaves. He says that, right, knowing that he who is both their master and yours, oh wait, oh, masters, you're slaves too. Did you know that? Did you know you, a believer, are a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ? Stop your threatening knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven. All believers in the church are under the Lord Jesus Christ. The ESV actually says bondservants, but the word is doulos, which means slaves. It can be used for the word servant, but generally the normal use is for slaves, and I believe the New Testament usage is actually that of slaves. So here it would be verse five, slaves, but also later in bondservants would be slaves, or other places where it says bondservant, I think typically should be read slave. Did you know when God freed you from sin and from the prince of the power of the air, and from slavery to sin and death, that you became a new slave? You know, you were a slave to sin and to Satan, and now, even though you are free, Paul uses that language in Galatians, you're free, you are actually a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the greatest freedom there is, to be a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what he tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6? He says you were bought. He says you were bought with a price. You're owned. Do you feel free now? Do you feel good? You are owned by the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a slave and we call him the Lord Jesus Christ. If you call Jesus Lord, you are calling yourself a slave. You see, it's the Lord's slave language. And that was the Christian motto in the first century. Jesus is Lord. That was the statement those first century Christians would make. And that would get you in a lot of trouble because everyone said Caesar is Lord. And the Christian comes along and says, you know, there's a new master. Jesus is Lord. I serve him. I worship him. I am his slave. It's a recognition that a believer has one master, and that is the Lord himself. If he is Lord and master, that implies we are slaves. Slaves in that church were slaves, but masters in that church were slaves, just as the elders of Ephesus were also slaves. We have this in common. Turn with me to Philippians chapter one. Here's somebody else who's a slave. Philippians one, verse one, Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. Isn't that great? Even Paul's not exempt from being a slave. And young Timothy is a slave of Christ. Turn with me to 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1. You have James, Peter, and John. 2 Peter 1. Simon Peter, a servant, or better, slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul says he was a slave. What does Peter say? I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. And I love the fact that he mentions that before he mentions he's an apostle. Isn't that great? This is the language of the apostles. If the apostles, where do we stand then? We are slaves as well. No matter who you are as a believer, no matter whether you're a slave, master, husband, wife, Christian child, Christian parent, Christian great-grandparent, no matter who you are as a believer, you are a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you one more way to conduct yourself. This is a promise, go back to Ephesians now. It's a promise for slaves, I believe it's a promise for all believers. And number six is look to the divine reward. Look to the divine reward. A slave may not be rewarded by his earthly master. In fact, again, he might be mistreated, or she might be abused. Paul knows this. So how do you encourage someone? Here's a truth. You may be abused, but you may never be rewarded for good behavior as a believer in this earth, but you will one day in the future. He tells them your reward awaits by your heavenly master. Verse seven. rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man, knowing, I put emphasis on that, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. The language of free there actually is likely meaning someone who used to be a slave and who now is free from slavery. No matter who you are, here's a reward for you. Knowing this with certainty, right? Paul kind of uses that language, doesn't he? Philippians 1, 6, there about your completion of your salvation. I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. Here's some certainty as well. God sees your work, and he is the one to reward you. That's a great encouragement. Let us think about this for a moment. as we're about to close. Think about a reward from the divine master himself. Think of a reward from the one who created all things. There can be no greater reward and no greater reward giver. The master of all slaves, the master of all masters, the master of the universe. What is the reward? Did you notice? I can't find it. I don't see it in the text. And I kind of like that. What is the reward? And we can only imagine, right? It's gonna be greater than we can imagine. That's what is to look forward to. Who do you ultimately serve in your life? You ultimately serve the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where Paul ends his section with people group in the church. We stand in grace, don't we? He told us in chapter two, we are reconciled in one body through the cross. We are one new man. We all serve now the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the master of us all. And Paul is a slave just like you and I. God, the Lord doesn't favor one over another. He is the perfect impartial judge, and he rewards his people in the future. These are great reminders, aren't they? You are in Christ. You are a child of God. You are a new creation. You are a slave of Jesus, but he's the greatest, most gracious master there possibly can be. And he's gonna reward you for your work of faithfulness and all the things that you do that go unnoticed. I'll end with Galatians 3.28. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are the resurrected master of all of your creation. Lord, would you please draw our hearts to serve you with a sincere, willing heart. No matter what context we are in, Lord, would you help us to serve you ultimately and to bear the gospel light to those around us. Lord, we thank you for the promise of a future reward. Would you please give us endurance to run the