All right, you can turn to Colossians chapter 3. We are going to finish up, Lord willing, chapter 3 tonight and get into the first part of chapter 4, the first verse of chapter 4, which I believe is part of this section here. Colossians chapter 3, verses 22 through chapter 4 and verse 1. And for the last five messages, we have been in this section concentrating and focusing on God's design for the family or the home as we've been studying it in Colossians chapter 3 verses 18 through 21. Tonight we come to a separate but somewhat related subject, servants and masters. And so we're going to talk about work tonight, work, the work relationships. It is separate in that these are not direct family relationships, but it is related in that, in that day, many of the times, the slaves were actually part of the home. They were a part of the master's household, and so it is also related in that the ability to carry out this responsibility between a slave and a master was the same, really, the same dependence upon Jesus Christ, as we've talked about all these other relationships that we have been looking at. And so the person who is going to be successful in the workplace, the person, the master who's going to be a good master, and the servant who's going to be a good servant, is going to be one who's under the control of the master, Jesus Christ. As those who have been raised up with Christ and therefore seeking things which are above, Christians then are to set aside all of these old sinful ways and there to be new creatures in Christ. And that includes a new creature in the workplace. And so let's look at this section. We'll read this. section, these five verses, and then we'll get into it here this evening. Verse 22 says, servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. And there is no respect of persons. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. Let's pray and then we'll get into this. Father, thank you for this time that we can come and look at your word and pray that you'd help us to apply it in our own lives and put it into practice, that which you would have for us here this evening. In Jesus' name, amen. You've probably heard the slogan, good help is hard to find, or something similar to that. And that's because it is. Good help is actually hard to find. Of course, good jobs are hard to find as well. And maybe you've experienced that at some point in your life. You've gotten a job and you thought, well, this is going to be the one. And then you were there for a short period of time and you realized that it was not the one. Imagine an ad though, advertising for a job that said something like this, help wanted, menial job, no pay except for room and board, no chance for advancement, no benefits, no days off, no vacation time, on call 24 hours a day. Once accepted for employment, the management has the legal right to beat you or even kill you as they see fit. Any takers? Now, some of you might be saying, oh, I work there right now. I'm currently in that job right now. But that job description really truly fits the situation that many of those that were in the Church of Colossae were experiencing here when Paul was writing. They were slaves. They were owned by their masters. They were regarded in the Roman world as a piece of property, not as a human being. They had no rights. And so the owner could do with them as they pleased. But in our text, Paul shows how that Christian slaves and Christian masters are to behave. How Christian slaves and Christian masters were to relate to one another. And interestingly enough, Paul devotes more time to writing about this relationship than he does any of the other relationships that we've looked at. Now, he probably did this along with this letter because he was also sending this letter. If you remember, we talked about this way back at the beginning. But Paul was sending the runaway slave Onesimus along with this Paul and this runaway slave Onesimus was someone who Paul had led to Christ, a slave that had ran away from Philemon. And he was sending this letter along with Onesimus back to Antiochus as well, but back to the church at Colossae, but also to deliver this message to Philemon to receive back Onesimus. And no doubt there would have been other slaves in the Colossian church as well. There would have been no need to write this if there weren't slaves in the church. Slaves were considered part of the household and so Paul deals with this relationship here in the context of the family relationships. He wanted to make sure, though, that no Christian slave mistook what Onesimus did as acceptable, and that that conversion, his conversion, his salvation, meant that other slaves could do what Onesimus did, as well as that no Christian master could take retribution or abuse his authority over his slave. But why didn't Paul take this opportunity to attack or tear down the institution at that time of slavery as being something that was evil? Why didn't he encourage slaves to resist their masters or to fight against their masters? Why didn't he denounce those who called themselves Christians and yet owned slaves? We'll answer this briefly, but I'd like for you to look at 1 Timothy briefly, at 1 Timothy chapter one, to mention that Paul has already in other epistles, including here in 1 Timothy one, laid the foundation that the old world idea of slavery was not right. You see this in chapter one. Look at verse number nine and 10. Actually back up to verse 8, but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully Knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient For the ungodly and for sinners for unholy and profane for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers for manslayers for whoremongers for them that defile themselves with mankind for men stealers and for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. Now that word there in verse 10, men stealers, the meaning of that word is a kidnapper or a slave catcher. So Paul here actually in this verse categorizes those who steal away people to take people away for the purpose of making them slaves is contrary to sound doctrine. It is not made. This is unrighteous behavior. And so Paul in other epistles has, in a sense, he's going after slavery in an indirect way without really coming out after it in a harsh way. And so you don't really see Paul here going after slavery in a very direct and poignant way. And part of that, I believe, is because it's not really the church's role and the church's responsibility to fight social justice wars. And so Paul doesn't make that a primary point here. Part of this conversation, I believe, as we look at it, we must take a careful approach to this issue from the perspective not of what we think of slavery as today, but what slavery was like back in the first century, back in that time, back in that scene. At that time, slavery was a very widespread institution in the Roman world. I mean, it was completely embedded in the fabric of their society. Slavery was, I believe I read something where it said that in the Roman Empire, there was about half of the population would have been slaves. So millions of people were slaves at this time. And so this concept and this practice of slavery was very, very prevalent in the society. It was normal practice. And one commentator stated this, that if Paul was to prohibit slavery and that there was to be some kind of slave war, it would have teared society into shreds. And ultimately, it would have resulted in a bloody slave war with much loss of human life and would have resulted in a very dubious outcome. And so for Paul to just attack slavery head on could have caused major issues. Slavery in the ancient times, but especially in a Christian home, was similar to that, and this is how we're going to apply this for us today, of the employer-employee relationship. The forced slavery that we saw in the pre-Civil War era here in America is not, it was really an abuse to what was in existence by Christians during Bible times. Slavery in that time was not necessarily racially based. The masters at the time tended to be the more wealthy people, those who could afford to hire servants in a more contractual type of situation. And the slave would then trade his own service for food and for lodging and for shelter. And in a sense, I mean, you could say in a sense, today, employees, those who work for someone else, are really kind of slaves to the employer, in that we do what they say and they renumerate us for the work that we do in different ways. And at this point in time in history, the Christian, the group of Christians was very small, relatively small to the world. And it was not a very powerful or public force. It was almost an unheard of splinter that had broken off from Judaism. And so if Paul and other early Christian leaders had associated the faith with an anti-slavery movement, and that movement had actually been defeated, then what would have happened to all the Christians? Many of them would have been killed off in this bloody slave rebellion. And even if that had won, let's say the Christian idea of anti-slavery would have won, it would have created some major mass chaos in social life where you may have had all these freed slaves that didn't have jobs or were unable to find work to support themselves. And so what Paul does here in Colossians, and in other places in his epistles, is he really lays down these universal principles. He lays down foundational principles, which ultimately undermined, later on, the evils of slavery, and eventually did lead to its demise. Roman slave owners at that time had come to view work as low and degrading. They didn't want to do it. I mean, it's just the human flesh. We don't want to work. Paul, though, elevates all work, whether manual labor or whether you're overseeing those doing manual labor. Paul elevates all of it by saying that whatever we do, whatever position we are in, it is to be done heartily as unto the Lord and not for men. And so Paul goes against what the people of the day were saying and elevates work. He lifts up work as being something that is unique and special. because it's to be done for God. He taught that then, something that would have been a very radical principle, and that is this, that in Christ, there is no slave or free man, but Christ is all and in all. Look back at chapter three, verse 11. where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. This establishes the personhood and equality of the slave and the master. And so the slave in Christ is then a brother to his master. Actually, go over to the book of Philemon. Philemon was this slave owner. of whom Onesimus ran away from. And in verse 15 it says, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season, speaking of Onesimus, that thou shouldest receive him forever, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother, beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee. both in the flesh and in the Lord. And so there's this establishment of the equality between the slave and master that Paul is really emphasizing. The slave in Christ is a brother to his master. And Paul doesn't stop by just telling slaves here to do their work well. He does tell them that, but he goes on further and he tells the masters, he gives masters what in that day would have been a very counter-cultural command to treat their slaves with fairness, with justice, with equity, reminding them that they too have a master in heaven to whom they are accountable. Now, Paul specifically speaks here of slaves and masters in this passage. In Bible days, slavery was very common, as we've mentioned. Slaves had, at that time, little motivation to do a good job with their work, other than to just not get beat, or not get some kind of negative consequence. Unsaved masters were often unkind and unfair with their slaves. And so the relationship between the master and the slave was often a very attentious relationship, a very unloving relationship. But when a slave or a master became a Christian, that relationship was to change. God changes the life of a believer, but he also changes their work ethic. He changes how they work. And the instructions that are given in this section of verses were to help the Christian slave and they were to help the Christian master be able to develop and promote these good work relationships. Now, though we are neither slaves nor masters today, in a sense, as these people were, the principles given the slave and master apply to us just as well in this situation of our work, employer-employee relationships. At times, employers or employees can be very difficult to work with, and you've probably experienced that. Maybe the good boss or the bad boss, or you have a coworker that, you know, we've all experienced it. But God knows that, and God will enable you to do right if we are spirit-filled and if we are word-filled, letting the word of Christ dwelling us richly. And so tonight, we look at the new employee and his responsibility to his employer, and then the new employer and his responsibility to his employees. So let's first look at the new employee. And we're gonna look again at the responsibility and the reason. just like we have in all these other relationships. So first, the responsibility. What principles are there in this text for employees to follow? What are the principles that the employees should be looking for? in how we work, and really, these principles can apply to any kind of work we do, not just necessarily the work we do in the public sector or wherever you're at, but you can apply these principles to any kind of work you're doing or any kind of situation where you have a inferior to, a superior to inferior situation. These principles can all be applied in those situations as well. But the first responsibility of the employee is that the employee is to be obedient in all things. You see that there in verse 22. Servants obey in all things. God has commanded us to obey our employers. And the same word that is used here for obey is the same as the word that is used back in verse 20 for children. children obey. And the word obey there comes from a compound word which carries with it the idea of submission and listening. So you're to listen to what is said and then you're to do it. Listen and obey. Employees then are to obey their employers in everything at all times, just like children are to obey their parents in all things. And then you see this phrase here, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. This phrase, according to the flesh, makes it clear here that God is actually speaking of human masters. They are masters within the earthly realm, within the earthly sphere. the sphere of human relationships. And that would be in contrast to the Master who is not according to the flesh, the Lord God in heaven. And so this should be a reminder to us all that although the command here is to obey in all things, There is another obedience that takes even a higher priority than that, and that is that we have a master who is not of this world, and that's God, and we're to be obedient to him above all things, including our masters on this earth. Our allegiance is to the Lord God first and foremost, and so we cannot violate his commands. And so if your employer tells you to violate a scriptural command, you should not obey that command. In fact, as those who are raised up in Christ, every believer here is to set his mind and to seek those things which are above, okay, our heavenly master, not those things which are on the earth. So we're to be obedient to our employers, but we obey the Lord first. This means that as long as you are not asked to violate any of God's commands, then what should you do? Obey your employer. Do what they say. Follow their instructions. Obey your boss. How your employer treats you or how you feel about your employer's orders or directions has no bearing on whether or not you should obey them. Look at 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 18. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? There is no glory in that. But if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, that is acceptable with God. And so we see here in this passage that Peter makes it clear that we're to obey our employer even if they are an unreasonable employer. So we obey them. For the slave, disobedience could have endangered his life. And certainly for the Christian slave, it would have discredited and undermined his Christianity. But active, cheerful obedience of all duty would benefit himself and promote Christ. And so when we think about our own relationships that we have with our employers today, we must recognize that we have a testimony. Most of us, I would hope, in whatever place you work or wherever you're at, people know that you're a Christian. And if we fail to do the things that we are asked, employers are going to know and it's going to undermine our testimony and it's going to undermine our credibility as a Christian and so how do we act we obey cheerfully we have a good attitude at work you know Christians should be some of the best workers Christians should be the best employees Now, you know, I would say that you should be the employee of the year. But in my line of work, you don't want to be the employee of the year, at least in my department. That means that you're probably, it's probably a joke, and you're not the actually employee of the year. But you should be the one that your boss counts on. You should be the one that your boss goes to because he knows that he can count on you to get a task complete. That's how we should be as Christians, and we should be striving for that. And I know if you've ever been in the workplace and you're that way, you sometimes get overloaded because the boss goes, well, I know if I give him this job, he's going to get it done. And so what happens is you just get all the jobs because they know that they're going to get done. But that should be us. That should be us as Christians. We should be the ones that our employers can count on to get the job done and to get it done right. For us today, disobedience to our employers can endanger our job. It won't endanger our life like it did the slaves, but it can endanger our job. And it'll also harm our testimony. But obedience, on the other hand, and following God's command and obeying the boss, will make a positive impression for the cause of Christ. Whether or not they get saved and follow Christ themselves, that's not something that we can decide. But we can create a testimony or have a testimony that they can look at and see something's different about This person. So we're to obey in all things. But let's look secondly at the nature of our obedience. The nature of our obedience. If you'll look over to Ephesians in the parallel passage, Ephesians chapter six, Paul addresses this same topic with the church at Ephesus as well. And he actually includes a little phrase here in Ephesians that he does not include in Colossians. So this will be our first point. But Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5, Paul says here to the church at Ephesus, servants, be obedient to them that are masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling. and singleness of heart as unto Christ. And so we see this phrase here with fear and trembling. This isn't the idea of being scared or nervous or cowering before our employers, but the idea here is of giving honor and respect to someone, someone who you want to please. And notice here again that since the purpose of the Christian's life is different from the purpose of just the regular person in the world, the true believer can actually behave differently in the workplace. Regardless of who your employer is or what they are like, whether they're a good employer or a bad employer, regardless of that, You as the employee are to respectfully submit to their orders, except in issues of disobedience to God. Now, we talk about this idea about respect with our kids, honor and respect with our kids, right? And we want our kids to honor us, and we want them to respect us as parents. But we, as adults, have an obligation to do the same exact thing with our employers, to honor them, to respect them, If your boss wants you to do something that you do not think is best, then you can certainly appeal to them. You can certainly ask them in a respectful way if they would consider something different. But ultimately, we leave that matter in their hands. And we make sure that they know that whatever they decide, you will do it. We don't argue. We don't get mad. We don't get angry. We don't talk about them behind their back. We don't sulk. We're not disrespectful in any way. The same standard that you would apply to your children and their relationship to you, apply it to yourself and your relationship to your boss. Submit. Simply submit and follow your employer's instructions. As a believer, our purpose is to demonstrate Christ honoring behavior, no matter of any kind of short-term consequences to ourselves. So what do we do? We obey respectfully. That's the first point here under the nature of our obedience, obey respectfully. Second, obey with sincerity. It says here back in our text, servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers. So we obey with sincerity. A Christian should never do work just when they're being watched. Sometimes, you've got the time-honored person, or even the child. They go clean your room, and they go upstairs, and you're not there. They go up there, and they start playing, and as soon as they hear you coming up the stairs, they are the most industrious cleaners in that room. Then, you leave, and then back to playing. That's not how we're to be at work. We should never work just when we're being watched. I-service here, and obviously we do think it's funny, but it actually happens. And Paul here addresses it. So if it wasn't happening, there'd be no need for Paul to address it. But I-service here refers to working only when being watched. And the idea with men pleasers is that you're seeking to just please or impress the boss. And so they work when the boss watches, not because they care about doing a good job or pleasing God, but because they want to get on the boss's good side or they want to gain some sort of personal benefit. Now, in that day, the slave's goal was to avoid punishment. The slave's goal was to not get punished. And so he didn't really care about his work. He only cared about himself and protecting himself. And the same is true about many workers today. When the boss is out, when the boss is, what do they say, the cat's away and the mice will play? When the boss is away, they take extra breaks. They slow their pace of work. They mess around, they waste time, whatever it might be. Christians, we can't be that way. As a Christian, God expects us to care about how we work, whether the boss is watching or not. But then the verse goes on and says, but in singleness, heart fearing God the word but here stresses the contrast or the difference that ought to be present in a Christians work okay Christians are to be different the idea of singleness of heart here stresses that there's a singleness there's a single motive we are to work diligently without seeking any kind of special benefits or earned privileges. Why? What are we doing? What's the purpose? What's the motive? It's because we have a single motive, because we remember that God is watching. God is watching, God is keeping track, God is keeping records. The boss may not see you when you do a good job, but the boss does see you when you do a good job. The ultimate boss sees you. And that's who we're ultimately working for. We have this singleness of heart that's focused on pleasing God and God alone. And so to fear God is to honor and respect his wishes in this area. And if you will fear God, then he will truly give you this singleness of heart. So we obey. We obey respectfully, we obey with sincerity, but third, we obey heartily. Verses 23 through 25. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons." So, Christian employees, we are to work heartily as to the Lord. This word heartily means from within, from out of the soul, from the heart. And the idea is that we are to work with our whole heart. It reminds me of Ecclesiastes. Whatsoever thy hand find it to do, do it with all thy might, all thy heart. Put your heart into your work. Do first-class work. Do all your work without grumbling and without complaining and without reluctance. And do it honestly and cheerfully. Doing a good job. And really, this is what makes a good worker. Working heartily is what makes a good worker. And kids, you learn how to work when you're young. If you're lazy when you're young, you'll be lazy when you're old. So work hard, even now, even in your young age, and do it without complaining and grumbling. When assisting the boss or the other workers, working heartily is to watch and to think ahead, and this is practical, of what you will need next and have it ready for them. I can think of like if you're a carpenter, right? And you know the guy needs a hammer. The boss needs a hammer. You see it. Rather than waiting for him to tell you to get the hammer, you just get the hammer. OK? Think ahead. We know that some bosses are unfair. We know that. We know that their unsaved bosses are going to be unfair. They have many different kinds of motivation. They give promotions based on friendship rather than workmanship. You've probably seen that in the workplaces. You're going, that guy, I don't know why he got the promotion. Actually, I do know why he got the promotion. It's because he's buddies with the guy. But he's not qualified, but he gets it anyway. And you can look at that, and it can make you angry, and it can make you bitter, and it can make you upset. And these unsaved bosses can assign more difficult jobs to you. They might actually not like the fact that you're a Christian. And they give you the dirty jobs. They give you the jobs that nobody wants to do. They may deny you privileges that they give to their buddies. But you know there's nothing that you can do about that except leave it in the hands of the Lord. Leave it in the hands of the Lord. Work as to the Lord. Recognize that you're not really working for that boss. You're working for the Lord. Do the job like you would do it for the Lord, no matter whether or not that boss is fair or not. Remember that the Lord will repay you with his inheritance. Slaves in that day had no earthly inheritance. They had nothing. But God has promised every Christian an inheritance in heaven that is far better than any earthly payment you can get from your boss. 1 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4 says this, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you. So God will repay you above and beyond any earthly oversight. God sees your work, he sees your motives, he knows your thoughts, he knows the intents of your heart. And so remember that you are serving the greatest master that there is, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is the king of kings, and he is the Lord of lords, and he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and you work for him. We work for him. And we must keep this in mind when we go to work and if we're discouraged and if we're oppressed by the sinfulness of this world. and the ill treatment that you might receive at work, remember that God will have his day one day. And why do we say that? Well, because that takes us into the reason, and that is that there will be a reward. Look at verse 24 and 25, knowing that of the Lord, ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ, But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. So the Christian is to work heartily as for the Lord, because he knows that in proper time he will receive a reward from the Lord. And the Lord is truly a better boss in every respect than any earthly boss. So we not only have the Lord taking care of us in the present and His care is more than sufficient. And a lot of times we think that we can do a better job than the Lord, but His care is sufficient. And we also have the promise of the reward of salvation and in eternal rewards that we're gonna get in the future when we are in the presence of His glory. And so what do we do on earth? We work with that in view. There was a course that we sang when I was younger with eternity's values in view. We work with that view, that eternity is coming, that there are future rewards that will last forever, not just temporal rewards that we get here on this earth. That's the positive, but the negative is that we also must remember that God will punish any wrongdoing that we do because he is no, and he is no respecter of persons. God said those that do wrong will receive wrong back. If you cheat your boss, guess what? You can expect to be cheated. Many workers will steal time or they'll steal materials from their employer. And then they try to justify it by saying, well, he's a bad employer, he owes it to me. God says, no, do right and let him take care of the rest. Let God settle the score. Stealing time or stealing materials or undermining your employer is wrong, it's sin. And God will hold those accountable who are guilty of wrong. And it says there in verse 25 that He has no respect of persons. There's no favoritism. No partiality. He is not a respecter of persons. He never favors one over the other. Earthly employers may favor. They may show favoritism. They may show partiality. But God shows no partiality. He will always be just because He knows all the facts. He knows everything. So don't allow yourself to be tempted to do your work the same way that everyone else does it. Be an excellent worker. Be a worker that tries to excel and do your work for God. Your employers, the employees around you may compromise moral practices, they may do immoral things to try to gain a short-term advantage, but they will eventually reap the consequences of the wrong that they do, both here on earth and also in eternity. So do your work for the Lord, because you will receive a better reward of an eternal inheritance. Now quickly, we look at the employer and his responsibility to his employee, and we see this in chapter four, in verse one. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. So what is the employer's responsibility? The responsibility here is that the employer must pay fairly. Paul addresses his masters here, but we will apply this principle to employers or if you're in a position over top of other employees, which is really the equivalent here in our society. Now these commands in this passage they apply to everyone whether they be Christian or not but here again it will be the Christian it will be the one who is walking with Christ that will most easily be able to fulfill this command. The word here, give, means to render of yourself, or to give of yourself. And so the application is that an employer is to take of their own substance, of their own things, and they're to pay those who work for them. And what is the description here about the payment? Well, the payment is to be just, and it is to be equal. just and equal to the amount of work that is done. And so it is wrong for an employer to cheat his employees out of their money. It is wrong for the employer to underpay his employees or to pay them less than what he's promised them and what they are working for. Employees that do a good job, they should be paid for doing a good job. But employers are also to be respectful. And they're to run their business, or they're to run their job, or they're to oversee those underneath them. And they're to direct their employees according to his standards of righteousness and truth and honesty. And so as an employer, as someone who's over workers, we're to ensure that our first priority is that we are also doing everything that we do as unto the Lord, seeking his will above our own. And see, that's a lot of times, even as an employee or an employer, we can try to make it about us. But we're to be making this about what God wants and seeking his will. The employer should not let his authority go to his head, and we've all worked for that guy or that person that allows the authority to go to their head, and they just crush everybody, and they're proud and puffed up. And this is common in the world, but it's wrong, and a Christian should not be this way. We are not, as an employer, a superior of such nature that you can't associate with your laborers. That's what the unsaved master did. Slave. Can't talk to you. Just go do the work. Stay away. We ought not be that way. We should not allow our position to puff us up. We are not someone that should be set apart or unreachable. And ultimately, our leadership in our work and in our places of employment, when we have people under us, we should be setting the example, setting a good example. An example for them to follow. And so the employer is to care personally about his employees. He's to care about their welfare. And he understands that the business is for their benefit as much as it is for his own. And that's the right kind of a perspective for an employer. And so a wise employer will be humble, and he will be open to suggestions from his employees. Like sometimes you think, okay, I'm going to give this suggestion, and I hope that he just doesn't say no just because it's coming from, you know, an inferior. If someone says, hey, I got this idea, and it's a great idea, don't be so proud that you can't accept the idea. The employer is to lead his workers also without threatening them. So if you don't do this, I'm going to do this to you. That ought not be the environment that we create as a Christian employer. The employer is to be just, fair, equitable, patient. and truthful. He makes no threats, because he is just and fair. But what does he do? This is one of the first things they teach you in supervisor class, is make sure that you set your expectations. Make sure the people that work under you know what your expectations are, and then when they don't follow those expectations, you hold them accountable. And when they do meet those expectations, you recognize them. Because the employer is just and fair, he's not arbitrary in his decision making. He doesn't treat one person one way when they do something and treat another person a different way. Neither does he treat his employees with favoritism. He listens carefully when there are complaints or disputes and then he makes a just decision. You know, scripture, we talk about this when we talk about lawsuits, you know, in the church, and that we can make judgments in the church, scriptural judgments. As a Christian employer, we should be able to make good scriptural decisions in the workplace. Why? What's the reason? because the employer is to do all of this because he has a master too, which is in heaven. And that's the second part of this verse, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. The employer may own the business. He may be in charge. He may get to sit in the, you know, in the fat seat and sit back and tell everybody what to do. He may sign the checks and he may have all the responsibility and power and authority over all that happens in the business or in the company, but he ultimately is accountable to the one who holds all power and authority, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Christian employer recognizes that with the Lord, there is no respecter of persons. There's no partiality. He plays no favorites. He recognizes that whatever position that he has in life, the employer, he has because of the grace and the mercy of God. And so there's no room for pride. because he knows that God will judge with all justice and all fairness and all righteousness. So Christian employers recognize that you're a slave for Christ. You are a servant of Christ. And so we should oversee our employees accordingly. We must not forget that we are under what? A higher master. We are under Jesus Christ, the one who is over all, the ruler over all, and so don't misuse your position. as an earthly master because God is no respecter of persons. Now many of us here this evening either work for someone or we have someone working for you and even children you may work for your parents or you may do work around the church or you may do some work for a family member, whatever it may be. As a worker, God commands that we obey fearfully and we work heartily, from the heart, with singleness of heart. We must not be lazy, even when we think no one will notice. Why? Because we have a master who will notice. We must work as if the Lord himself was our employer. Do your work as though you're doing it for the Lord directly, because ultimately, you are. If you get cheated, don't worry, because the Lord will reward you if you do your work well. But if you do wrong, the Lord will also hold you accountable. And if you're over other workers, if you're a supervisor or you're an employer and you hire workers, make sure you treat them the same way that the Lord would treat them. You have a Master in Heaven. And isn't He a good Master? So be a good master here on earth. Honor him and follow his example. And I mentioned this earlier, but a Christian employer should be the best employer to work for. Why? Because they're fair and just and they run their business according to God's commands and for his glory. If you're a supervisor in the workplace, you should be the one that everybody wants to work for. And a Christian employee should be the best employee to hire. because they work for the Lord, and they do a good job. So let us all be sure that we do all of our work, not for our boss, but for him, whether you're an employer or an employee, so that ultimately, God gets all the glory, and God gets all the praise. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful for your word, and we're thankful for this time that we can spend in it. We pray that you'd be honored and glorified. In Jesus' name, amen. These practical sections of these epistles. All right, this time we're going to be dismissed to prayer. So if you stay in this room, try to keep it quiet enough so people around you can pray. If you want to talk, you can, of course, go out to any places out there. But we're going to go to the Lord in prayer. All right.