Well, good evening, everyone. Our sermon text is from the book of Titus. Once again, tonight we're in Titus chapter 2, verse 9 and 10. If you have your copy of God's Word with you, let's listen to this as I read it. Exhort bond servants to be obedient to their own masters. to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Well, this is the word of the living God, and we say, thanks be to God. Amen. Please be seated. Our Father in heaven, we come to you before Opening up this text, we ask for your blessing upon it as we consider it. We pray that you would quicken us this evening, those who hear, and for me, myself, that you would bless us. Bless me as I speak. Bless your people as they hear. I pray that we will each benefit from this text, though none of us are bond servants. in the sense that these people in Crete were bond servants. Each of us, I think, can benefit. So we pray that the Holy Spirit would apply this text to our hearts. We pray that you would help us now to see what you would have for us in the week ahead. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. or text this evening. is the last of a list of sorts about qualities of a sound church. These are instructions to various parties within the church in Crete. And Titus is told to teach these people, but not only that, he's told to tell them how to behave in their various stations in life. And over the last several weeks, we've slowed down a bit in this series, and we've considered each party and how they might adorn the gospel. how they are to live in step with sound doctrine. The beginning of the chapter, chapter 2, verse 1, Paul tells Titus, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. That is, speak those things which are proper for Christians. How are Christians to behave once they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? And then he tells them, Do not just give them blanket statements, but tell the older men how they should obey the Lord. Tell the older women, the younger women, the younger men. And now tonight, bondservants. Last of all, but a group of people whom God cares for. It seems in the New Testament that God wants us to see how much, indeed, he cares for the lowly and the downcast. And I hope that we can see that tonight. In God's providence, some of the same themes that you heard this morning, I think, but we will hear tonight. That bond servants are told to honor their earthly authorities. That's my objective. My objective is that you would see that obedience to earthly masters glorifies your heavenly master. Being a former missionary, one of the things that I was taught again and again was about strategy. How should Christians strategically go about their mission in the world? For missionaries, particularly, that's how do you accomplish the Great Commission? How do you start churches? How do you make disciples? In our context, there's North American church planting too. And you'll hear many church leaders talk about strategy. And there are all kinds of books that will detail how you should plant churches, how you should make disciples, how you should be winsome and wise in this age, not alienating people. And all those things are good, right? One of the things I think that some of these strategists do is that they overlook some of the basic principles of the scriptures. I think one of those basic principles that people and leaders will often overlook is a principle that we see in this text. What are bond servants actually told to do? They're told to obey their masters. and adorn the gospel. That's it. Now, that's not all they are to do, but immediately, in this text, that's their mission, if you will. Do you think about your own mission in life? Perhaps you think to yourself, I wish my mission field, if you will, I wish my calling were different, I wish my circumstances were different, I wish I had more money so that I could do more for the kingdom of God? If I were in different circumstances, I could be more influential and strategic? Well, consider this text. Consider how God works in the world. So first, as we look at this text this evening, consider that bondservants are told to honor God where they are. We're told elsewhere in Scripture that if bond servants can get into a position of influence, they are to do so. It's in 1 Corinthians 7. We'll get to that in just a moment. These bond servants are told to obey their masters where they are. That's their mission in life. So as we dig into this, first consider, what are bond servants? Bond servants are, by definition, servants who are bound to a master by law. Legally speaking, they have an earthly master they are bound to, often for life. They're addressed many times in the New Testament. I think highlighting how God cares for them. surprising to think about how many times they are addressed. They're addressed here, they're given instructions here in Titus 2, but also Colossians 3, 1 Timothy 6, 1 Peter 2, Ephesians 6, and then 1 Corinthians 7. They're singled out, and they're told how to behave. There's also Deuteronomy 15, where there's laws about bondservants and how the Israelites are to interact with them. And then there's also Philemon, An entire New Testament letter about a slave named Onesimus being received as a brother in Christ. So I slow down here in part because I think it's helpful to consider the plight of people who are bond servants. Though we may not have any in our midst, I think it's helpful to walk in their shoes a little while, to consider what are their temptations, what are their weaknesses. How might we learn from this situation in Crete and elsewhere in the New Testament? When the gospel began to spread in the Roman Empire, all types of people were converted, and it made for a very interesting mix of people, really for the first time. Jew, Gentile, men, women, freemen, bond servants, wealthy, poor, all mixed together. Some bondservants, of course, they were not able to leave the house, but many were able to leave the house. Some were not able to marry, but others were allowed to marry and even have children. Some bondservants lived in worse conditions than others. Some were allowed to leave and go about the house and city. And in God's goodness, whether they were in the house or out of the house, many bond servants believed the gospel, and they became saved. They too became Christians, and they too have a mission in life. And they're told, 1 Corinthians 7, that they are to stay in their situation in life. In fact, Paul addresses the church in Corinth and he says, was anyone at the time already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision, for circumcision counts for nothing nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one, Paul says, should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can, gain your freedom. Avail yourself of the opportunity." So if you can avail yourself of the opportunity to be a freeman, do it, bondservants. But Paul's attitude here, if you listen to the text carefully, is almost as if You are called into a particular context and you can glorify God where you are. Do not fret. If you cannot get freedom, obey God where you are. That is your mission in life. Adorn the gospel where you are. And that's essentially what I hope you carry away this evening. Titus is told directly to exhort the bondservants to be obedient to their masters. I think for some of these bondservants it would not be immediately obvious how they were to obey the Lord once they become born again. The slaves and other members of the church. How do they go about living their new faith together? Imagine what it would have been like if a wealthy man comes to Christ, along with some middle-class families, but along with a few bondservants, some belonging to this master, some belonging to that master. Well, Titus is in that very scenario. And Titus meets these various believers, and he tells them to assemble themselves together. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, but worship the Lord. And so these believers, even if they're of different classes, different races, they're gonna meet together. What a spectacle I think that must have been. Not just for them, but for the other people in that town. Jews, Gentiles, lawyers, merchants, perhaps some landowners, and then in their midst are bondservants, slaves. Perhaps their masters are with them. Perhaps, in some cases, their masters are not believers. But still, this interesting group of people gather together to worship the Lord. And what I want to know is what it was like at the end of the service, when they shook hands and And they said goodbye. The wealthy landowner, he goes home with his family. And what does he come home to? Well, he comes home and he's waited on by his servants. Imagine a woman making her way home back to an unbelieving husband and wayward children. Or a merchant who goes home knowing the next day he will continue his buying and selling as usual. And now he's a Christian. And then last of all, there's a few slaves who walk back to their masters. But in their case, perhaps, their master is not in a particularly good mood that day. And as soon as upon entering the home, he's berated by his master. And just an hour before, he's mingling with the wealthy men of the city. He's standing side by side, singing of their common inheritance in Christ. And now he's home, and he's berated by his master. What sort of temptations would that man face? Well, we're told in the scriptures this bondservant is to adorn the gospel in his situation. And in his situation, he may not be able to avail himself of freedom. So he's going to stay there with his unbelieving master. And he's told to obey his master. The man who was just sitting alongside wealthy landowners, perhaps taking the Lord's Supper right next to them, is now to obey someone. He's an unbeliever. difficult, and Titus' instructions are to help this bondservant adorn the gospel. So how do bondservants adorn the gospel? Firstly, there's two vices that are common to bondservants that they are to avoid. What kind of mindset would they adopt after living for years, even as Christians, in circumstances like that? Perhaps, I think, they would develop this attitude where they would just want to argue back. Because perhaps this bondservant, he grows in knowledge. He grows in wisdom. He grows in understanding. What does that bondservant want to do? He wants to talk back. He wants to be rude. He doesn't want to be told what to do every minute of every day. He wants respect, so he talks back. Well, Titus says, do not answer back. Christians are not to complain. We're not to be bitter. We're not to be rude. We're not to be angry towards others. Our answers to our superiors should be simple and clear and cheerful. Now the text is not suggesting that bond servants never speak up for themselves or say anything at all. But bond servants are not to be rude when they answer back. They should honor God by doing their duty well. If they complain or argue, even if they carry through with their work, they will signify that their heart is embittered. They will not showcase the new hope that they have. Remember, their mission is to adorn the gospel, make the gospel look good. Think of a man and a woman and the man proposes to the woman, as a token of our engagement, I'm going to adorn my new fiance with a ring. That's adornment. She's already beautiful, but I'm gonna add something. You're so beautiful. I just want to make you that much more beautiful. And he places the ring upon her finger. That's adornment. It's adding jewels to something. So one way the bondservant is told to adorn is to not answer back. This is talked about in 1 Peter, in Christ. is the prime example in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2. Christ, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, when he was reviled, did not revile in return when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Bondservants, no matter your circumstances, consider Christ above all. He was hung upon a cross, but he did not revile. Have you gotten to that point? This is how you adorn the gospel. This is how you give off the aroma of Christ. You don't say anything. You answer well. Those in lowly status, even in our day, they often will be tempted to demand respect, because they're not respected often. Sometimes it's their own doing. Sometimes it's just thrust upon them. So this is a great temptation for those in lowly status. They want to stick up for themselves. Say, don't you say that to me. But the scripture is saying something else. They're also told not to pilfer. You might see how bond servants would be prone to this. Pilfering is stealing. Often, pilfering is like stealing little by little, often over a period of time. And you might see how they would be prone to this. This is one little way I could get back at my superior. This is how they often will rebel. In fact, in one place I've found that the word for slave and the word for thief are sometimes exchanged for one another. It happens so often that a slave is a thief and a thief is a slave. Pilfering could be just taking a little bit off the top. It could be pilfering time, stealing your boss's time, There's one prominent writer who was speaking, and this story has probably been told now to tens of thousands of people, but he was speaking about a time when he was writing for a very prominent newspaper, and he did not like the story that they told him to cover. He did not like covering hurricanes. He could care less about the weather, he said. So his boss told him, go down to Columbia, North Carolina, there's a hurricane. and I want you to go to Columbia, North Carolina, and I want you to report about what you see there. So this writer went to Columbia, South Carolina, on purpose. His boss, and he's laughing as he's telling the story, and his boss calls him up, and he goes, what is it like down there? Do you have a report for us? He goes, hey, I'm in Columbia, but there's no hurricane. He's like, really, no. Columbia, North Carolina, right now, there's definitely a hurricane. He goes, North Carolina? I'm in Columbia, South Carolina. And the audience laughs. He pilfered time. It wasn't pleasing to his boss. And this is something that people look at, that people look at this particular writer. They thought this was so clever. Look at how smart you are. You got out of it. They never put him on a hurricane duty again, he said. And he was so happy about it. And how often do employees in their various contexts today do similar things? Or they just, ah, thought you said this. The same word, pilfer, is only used one other time in the New Testament. It's not translated pilfer there, but it's translated kept back. Ananias and Sapphira. When they came, they sold a possession. In their early church, they were pooling their money together. And Ananias kept back part of the selling. He pilfered. He just kept a little for himself. Little by little. And what happens to Ananias and Sapphira? The Holy Spirit strike them dead. It's a serious thing. Why? Because they're not obeying their earthly master. You see, this is their mission in life. It's not just to pool your money together, to go out and send missionaries into the world. It's not just to gather together to preach the gospel. It's to adorn the gospel. And though they gave great money to the church, they were not adorning the gospel. They were pilfering. They weren't bond servants either, to my knowledge. Surely not. They were landowners, but they kept back. See, the heart of this is, I think, in all of us. All of us are tempted in one way or another, whether you're employed or not, to pilfer, to talk back. There's another way Titus tells the bond servants to adorn the gospel, and it's this, that they be well-pleasing towards their masters, having all fidelity towards their masters. To be well-pleasing to your master would be to do your job completely. But I think it goes beyond that. To be well-pleasing to anyone is to get to know them. What are they like? What do they want? So a good bond servant doesn't need to be instructed every five minutes about what he should do next. A good bond servant's gonna know what to do. He's gonna get to know his boss. He's gonna get to know his master. And he's gonna do it before he's told. He's gonna be well-pleasing. Ephesians 6 addresses this. In sincerity of heart as to Christ. This is your job, bondservant. You serve Christ by serving your earthly master. And again, speaking as an American, I don't like to hear this. I wanna get out of that situation. I don't like it. I wanna serve the Lord in some other way. But this is their calling. These are your authorities. And I know they're rough around the edges. And I know that you might be smarter than some of them. More spiritual. You want to talk back. You don't want to be well-pleasing. You want to do the minimum. The scriptures say, well-pleasing in all things. Sincerity of heart. Fear and trembling. You are to serve them with fear and trembling. Not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. So you should obey them even if they're not looking, in other words. Now, a caveat was offered in Pastor Ryan's sermon this morning. I have the same caveat. This cannot mean that bondservants are to follow their masters into sin. If your earthly master encourages you to sin, you cannot do it. Just as citizens should not follow their king into sin, just as wives should not follow their husbands into sin, neither should bondservants follow their earthly masters into transgression. And this is increasingly relevant today. Managers of companies will pressure employees to cut corners in small ways all day long. They do it. They want to meet deadlines, they want to meet quotas, they want to balance expense reports. Personally, there have been at least three companies that I've worked for where I have been told by a supervisor to cut corners. And they didn't feel, like, real good about it when I just looked at them blankly. But this is common, and I think increasingly common in our day. I know the manual says do it this way. We got a deadline, though. You can't waste time doing it the long way. We don't have time for that. We will lose profit if you do it that way. Literally, at least three of the companies, and I'm sure many of you can relate, and young people, as you go out into the workforce, this is probably only going to get worse. Managers will pressure you to cut corners. You are not to follow them into sin. That is not what is meant by this passage. Bond servants are also told to show all good fidelity, that is faithfulness to a person, honesty. You're to show that you're even-handed and honest towards your masters in all dealings. They should be able to just leave you alone and do your job. They trust you. What a sight that must have been when some of these slaves become Christians. Imagine Joseph in Egypt as he's taken down, and he's a slave, but he's faithful. And what happens? He's given more responsibility. He honors God. He adorns the gospel. In his case, he was brought out of his slavery. In some of these cases, Modern times, or in this particular situation on Crete, these bond servants may never come out of their bondage, their slavery. But nonetheless, their mission is Joseph's mission while he was enslaved. That is, obey your earthly master, for that is your mission in life. That's how you glorify God. And do it from the heart. Obey your master from the heart. It's not just all cheers and smiles, but honestly obeying them from the heart. When we consider how to obey earthly masters from the heart, there is more to say and there's ways that we could apply a passage like this to our various scenarios. But when I read texts like I've just read this evening, and I consider that it says that we are to obey our earthly masters, I know what often the flesh will do, even in my own heart, perhaps in some of yours, where you just wanna get out of that situation, and you want a different mission in life, and in some cases, you're just not able to get out of it. I remember Jesus Christ going to Gethsemane, asking God the Father, is there another way? There wasn't another way for him to get out of his particular mission and save the world and honor God. When Jesus Christ was taken to the cross, and he was beaten, and he was hung, and he obeyed the Lord, though he was God, he did not count His divinity is something to just rub in people's faces. But he knew his mission, and he submitted himself to being a servant, to even being hung upon a cross. And that is the model for bondservants in the book of 1 Peter. Consider that. You are to obey the Lord no matter your circumstances. And I don't know all of the different circumstances we have in this assembly tonight. I know some of them are difficult, perhaps more difficult than I'm aware of, that I can imagine. The principle here is for all of us that we may obey our earthly masters, for this is your mission. This is how you might glorify the Lord. Looking to the Lord Jesus is the prime example. So let's now pray together. Father, we thank you for this text. These few simple verses, and we ask that we may learn from it. We pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be content in our life circumstances. Some of us push and rebel, complain and mumble about wanting different circumstances, help us now to consider the plight of bondservants in the Roman Empire, and how many of them turned the world upside down by their faithfulness, by pointing to Christ. May we do the same, no matter our circumstances. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.