SPEAKER_00: As has been mentioned, uh, I'm Zayn.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here.
SPEAKER_00: It's my joy to bring the word to you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And um just want to say thank you if you're a guest here.
SPEAKER_00: I know that this is Labor Day weekend, so you may be in town because of family, you may just be in town because you didn't have any other plans.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the case may be, we are grateful that you chose to come here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I may be partial, but I think this is the best place you can be, not namely Redeemer Church, but within church, hearing the Word of God, both sung, prayed, and now preached this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you're exploring the matters of faith, this is again the best place that I think you can be as we dive into the Word and seek to look at the Bible as our means of understanding how to live in the world before us.
SPEAKER_00: So, as you heard the passage read, you may have historical baggage, uh historical uh conceptions that come along with this passage.
SPEAKER_00: It is not an easy passage, especially in the context of America.
SPEAKER_00: Looking at our history through the American slave trade, this verse, this passage, uh, some verses within this passage have been used in great ways for wicked deeds.
SPEAKER_00: So, as we wade these waters together, I want to just kind of point out a couple of things before we do.
SPEAKER_00: So at Redeemer Church, we love expository preaching.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what is expository preaching?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna steal the late John MacArthur's definition of this.
SPEAKER_00: It says, in describing expository preaching, the message of preaching finds its sole source in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: The message is extracted from Scripture through careful exegesis.
SPEAKER_00: So looking at verse by verse, looking at the context of what it is.
SPEAKER_00: The message, preparation correctly interprets scripture in its normal sense and its context.
SPEAKER_00: The message clearly explains the original God-intended meaning of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: The message applies the scriptural meaning for today.
SPEAKER_00: So I want us to keep that definition in mind as I seek to expound, exposite Ephesians 6, verses 5 through 9, because parts of this passage, as I've mentioned, have been used by so-called Christians throughout history to carry out wicked acts against others made in the image of God, namely slave owners in the time of chattel slavery.
SPEAKER_00: But also, even in the here today, it's often used by so-called religious leaders to lord over those under their care, to lord over those who are under their authority.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that has been the case for so-called religious and so-called Christians, but this these verses have also been on the other side of the spectrum.
SPEAKER_00: They've been used against Christians as a means to discredit the Bible, because Paul, in these words and elsewhere, doesn't flat out condone slavery or condemn slavery.
SPEAKER_00: They use these verses as a means to say we should not follow Scripture because slavery was obviously wicked.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I would say both of these groups are, were incredibly wrong in their approach to this text.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is not seeking to talk about social reform or social revolt.
SPEAKER_00: As we look at this passage, we want to take in the context, the evidence, and that's why it's important to understand what would the readers at this time, when they're hearing this letter read aloud in their gathering, what would have been going on in their minds?
SPEAKER_00: And then as we seek to understand that, bridge the gap to here and today.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I point out that disclaimer because oftentimes there are passages in Scripture that we just cannot ignore, the historical context that comes with it.
SPEAKER_00: In expository preaching, as we seek to go verse by verse, we're not going to shy away from those things.
SPEAKER_00: We want to meet it head on.
SPEAKER_00: We want to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: But just know this morning, I'm going to seek to talk about what this verse means, not the ways in which it's necessarily been used wrongly.
SPEAKER_00: So as we seek to understand these verses in our context today, through the lens of the gospel and what it meant for the first uh century church in Ephesus, let us pray before we dive into that.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, God, we thank you for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: That every single word written in Scripture was inspired by you.
SPEAKER_00: That Lord, where things are abundantly clear, that was purposeful.
SPEAKER_00: Where things are vague, that was purposeful.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, as we seek to look at Ephesians 6, verses 5 through 9, God, would you give us clarity?
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, you you say in your word to ask for wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, this morning we ask for wisdom as we wade these waters.
SPEAKER_00: Father, would you help us understand your word and live in accordance to it, glorifying you in everything that we do.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So our main point for this morning is our work, because that's what this passage is, verses 5 through 9.
SPEAKER_00: It's about work.
SPEAKER_00: Our work, regardless of what it is, is ultimately for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: So that's our main point.
SPEAKER_00: Our work, regardless of what it is, regardless of what you do, regardless of your social status, regardless of all of that, your work is ultimately for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, these verses in the context of Ephesians is the last part of what scholars call the household code.
SPEAKER_00: So it's important to understand that Paul is talking about the household.
SPEAKER_00: So two weeks ago we talked about wives and husbands within the household.
SPEAKER_00: This divine institution that God ordained, family, husbands and wives, act this way.
SPEAKER_00: And then in chapter 6, it moves on to children and parents.
SPEAKER_00: And now we move to the what CSB labels as slaves and masters.
SPEAKER_00: This is part of the household code.
SPEAKER_00: He's addressed these different variations of the household that were God ordained: wives, husbands, parents, children.
SPEAKER_00: But now when we get to this part of the household code, this is not a God-ordained situation.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is addressing the social construct of the time.
SPEAKER_00: So we want to separate family issues from societal issues, but all of these are in the context of this household code.
SPEAKER_00: So why?
SPEAKER_00: That begs the question, why is Paul needing to address slaves and masters as part of this household code?
SPEAKER_00: Which gives us our first observation.
SPEAKER_00: Work is not a consequence of sin, but the very difficulties we find within work are.
SPEAKER_00: So I'll repeat that.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is having to talk about work in the context of this household code because of what the culture has done, because of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Sin has wrecked the original design that God had ordained in creation with Adam and Eve in the garden.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to do a little biblical theology before we really dive into this, these verses.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to flip there.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be jumping a little bit in Genesis 1, 2, and 3.
SPEAKER_00: But let's take it back to Genesis 1, where God creates everything.
SPEAKER_00: So here we see God working.
SPEAKER_00: So work was God doing creation.
SPEAKER_00: God spoke.
SPEAKER_00: And elsewhere in chapter 2, it talks about him creating.
SPEAKER_00: So God is creating things.
SPEAKER_00: That's a work that God is doing.
SPEAKER_00: Work existed before the fall.
SPEAKER_00: He created man out of the dust.
SPEAKER_00: He formed man.
SPEAKER_00: He's shaping man and created Eve out of the rib of man.
SPEAKER_00: So God is working and molding and shaping and creating everything that we have ever known.
SPEAKER_00: And listen to this in Genesis 1 28.
SPEAKER_00: It says, God blessed them, Adam and Eve, and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it, rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.
SPEAKER_00: So not only did God start creation, start the world, he existed before time, but in starting what we live in today, everything that we know, he is working it together.
SPEAKER_00: And then he creates Adam and Eve and puts them in this creation and says, work it.
SPEAKER_00: Be fruitful and multiply.
SPEAKER_00: So there we see the God ordained family, Adam and Eve marriage, and then we see parents.
SPEAKER_00: God is ordaining that and he's ordaining work.
SPEAKER_00: So we are created to work.
SPEAKER_00: Before the fall, God gave Adam and Eve a job.
SPEAKER_00: They existed in this creation to work for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: God created everything.
SPEAKER_00: And can you imagine how beautiful it was for Adam and Eve?
SPEAKER_00: But you think of vacation, and I'm not a beach person, I know a lot of y'all are, but like you think about sitting on the beach and enjoying the scenery, sitting and relaxing.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Adam and Eve probably were able to do that in the garden.
SPEAKER_00: They were probably able to enjoy that, but God doesn't say, hey, kick up a chair, kick back, relax, take it all in.
SPEAKER_00: No, God gives them a job.
SPEAKER_00: He says, work it, subdue it, rule over everything.
SPEAKER_00: So work existed before the fall.
SPEAKER_00: Work in and of itself is a good thing, it is a God-ordained thing.
SPEAKER_00: I love this quote by John Piper.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of his mantra, really, but God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
SPEAKER_00: So when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, if you think about that quote, they are going to experience God's goodness and be most glorified in him when they're most satisfied in him, when they're enjoying and working and doing exactly what he had created them to do.
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve would be most satisfied in God by working and subduing all of creation.
SPEAKER_00: But catch this, this is really important, especially on this topic, as we get into slave and free.
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve weren't free to do whatever they wanted.
SPEAKER_00: God gave them parameters.
SPEAKER_00: He said, This is all yours, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: Don't touch it, don't eat from it.
SPEAKER_00: He gives them parameters.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Go, subdue, rule over everything, but don't do this one thing.
SPEAKER_00: So they weren't free to do whatever they wanted.
SPEAKER_00: So that's a that's a let's get that out of our minds.
SPEAKER_00: We're not free to do whatever we want.
SPEAKER_00: We're within the confines of what God ordains, what God places in the structures in which He puts us.
SPEAKER_00: So God established in that moment that He is the ultimate master.
SPEAKER_00: He is in total control of the situation.
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve are not on level standing with God before the fall.
SPEAKER_00: They are subjects to the master.
SPEAKER_00: They are created by God.
SPEAKER_00: God is the master, and he gives them parameters to work in.
SPEAKER_00: So Genesis 2, 15 through 17 goes a little further.
SPEAKER_00: It says, The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.
SPEAKER_00: The world was their oyster.
SPEAKER_00: They could do what God had given them to do, except for eat from the tree of knowledge and good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: But they were deceived by the serpent.
SPEAKER_00: They ate from the tree that was forbidden and sin because of their actions, because of them effectively saying, God, we see you as master, but we want to be our own masters.
SPEAKER_00: We're not going to live in the context of what you're telling us.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to go do our own thing.
SPEAKER_00: Sin enters into the world, and God reveals the consequences of sin in that moment in Genesis 3.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm only going to highlight what he says to Adam in this, but there's also strong words for Eve.
SPEAKER_00: But in Genesis 3, 17 through 19, God says to Adam, after they have taken other fruit and are exposed of their sin, says, Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, do not eat from it.
SPEAKER_00: The ground is cursed because of you.
SPEAKER_00: You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_00: It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
SPEAKER_00: You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it, for you are dust, and you will return to dust.
SPEAKER_00: Because of their selfish desire to work for themselves rather than for God in the way that they were created, in the confines in which God had created, sin entered into creation and wrecked everything.
SPEAKER_00: They're cast out of the Garden of Eden, and again we see God at work.
SPEAKER_00: God makes clothes for them.
SPEAKER_00: But they're cast out.
SPEAKER_00: And as you go through the Old Testament, we see time and time again where people did what was right in their own eyes.
SPEAKER_00: That is the way of sin.
SPEAKER_00: When people do what is right in their own eyes rather than what God has commanded.
SPEAKER_00: Which brings us to the context of what we find in this Greco-Roman culture, the historical context for our passage today.
SPEAKER_00: Christians in Ephesus are living in a society that was not founded on the law of Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in some commentators, when they're looking at these verses, they're like, oh, well, there's a year of Jubilee where the seventh year the slave would be free.
SPEAKER_00: They're in the Roman context.
SPEAKER_00: This is the church in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_00: They are likely filled with Gentiles who were immersed in this pagan culture.
SPEAKER_00: They were not living for God, they were living for themselves and for whatever God they worshiped outside of that.
SPEAKER_00: They were immersed in the culture.
SPEAKER_00: That is where we find this passage today.
SPEAKER_00: One historian writes that out of a total, out of a total Roman imperial population of some 70 million people, roughly 7 to 10 million people were enslaved.
SPEAKER_00: So it's around 10 to 15%.
SPEAKER_00: And slavery at that time, some scholars will say it was very different than what we know of as chattel slavery in America.
SPEAKER_00: But let's just strip it down and say the slave system was predominantly class-based in Greco-Roman culture.
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't race-based like we find in historical slavery in America.
SPEAKER_00: It was class-based.
SPEAKER_00: But what we can say of both systems, they were both wicked.
SPEAKER_00: They both enslaved people, took away their rights, and dehumanized them.
SPEAKER_00: The Greco-Roman culture, there were more means that you could get out of it because it was a class system.
SPEAKER_00: So if you were in debt, you could voluntarily become a slave.
SPEAKER_00: And primarily you would be a household slave.
SPEAKER_00: You more than likely wouldn't be working in a field.
SPEAKER_00: That was usually reserved for those who were captured in battle.
SPEAKER_00: But there were different types of slaves in this time.
SPEAKER_00: But as we look at this passage in Ephesians, it seems as if Paul is talking primarily to household slaves, because it's the household that he's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: But there would have been other slaves in their midst, hearing these words of Paul.
SPEAKER_00: So as we look at this, both systems, the Greco-Roman culture, system of slavery, and slavery in America, both were wicked systems.
SPEAKER_00: Let's not downplay either one.
SPEAKER_00: There was wickedness in both because they were enslaving humans.
SPEAKER_00: The slaves in the Greco-Roman culture would have been able to work for their freedom in a way that American slavery did not allow.
SPEAKER_00: But what Paul was doing here, let's keep this in mind, Paul was not speaking in terms of social revolt.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't trying to stir up slaves to fight against the system.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul was doing was sowing seeds of how to live differently within this context.
SPEAKER_00: Paul was giving the early church the tools that would one day, and this is historical data, one day destroy the slave system as a whole.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't change it primarily in 60, 70 A.D., but come 330 A.D., the slave system was destroyed in the Greco-Roman culture by the work of Christians, taking the words that Paul is saying to heart and changing the way that they lived.
SPEAKER_00: And as we look back at historical data in America, it was predominantly Christians that rose and were abolitionists and fought against slavery in America.
SPEAKER_00: So when we look at scripture, we look at these things, we it's not that the silence is because God does not care about those things.
SPEAKER_00: Paul here, for the context of the church in Ephesus, is giving them the tools to live within the sinful structure that they find themselves in.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what what we seek to do as we look at this passage today.
SPEAKER_00: I know this is a hard jump, but bridging the gap from then to now, because right now our time in America is different.
SPEAKER_00: So when we think of those things, this context is more of an employer-employee relationship.
SPEAKER_00: So as we think, as we bridge the gap to think about today, we can take these words from an employee-employer perspective.
SPEAKER_00: So as we shift and look at these verses, I'm going to read verses five through eight, and we'll move into our second observation of how you work reveals who has your heart.
SPEAKER_00: How you work reveals who has your heart.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at verses five through eight.
SPEAKER_00: It says, slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Don't work only while being watched, as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Do God's will from your heart, serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now again, a cursory glance at these verses would make them hard to swallow.
SPEAKER_00: But especially especially given the historical context, you think of someone, uh a first century slave hearing those words, slaves, obey your masters as to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: That's a hard pill to swallow.
SPEAKER_00: But let's let's take it into the context of what Paul has already said in Ephesians 5.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not like the slaves in this time were outside of the room when the letter was being read.
SPEAKER_00: They would have heard the whole context of this.
SPEAKER_00: And when Paul is talking about the Christian life, consistency within the Christian life, verse 21 says submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So as Christians, we are to submit to one another.
SPEAKER_00: And what Paul is bringing up here is that slaves are not exempt from this just because of their status.
SPEAKER_00: They're included in this family of God.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of social status, they're included in this family of God, in this in these family instructions.
SPEAKER_00: He's giving slaves in that time tools to see that it's not just who they are because of their position, but who they are because of who God says they are.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's words are meant to draw the slaves' eyes upward to Christ rather than downward at their physical position and their social status.
SPEAKER_00: So I love the way that Paul structured this.
SPEAKER_00: So look at five, six, and seven.
SPEAKER_00: So there's some verbs, there's obey, there's work, there's serve.
SPEAKER_00: And in this we see obey your human masters with fear and trembling, as you would Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So he's he's recognizing, obey your human masters, this is where you are, but as you would Christ, lifting your eyes upward.
SPEAKER_00: Don't work only while being watched, as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So again, he's pointing out it it may be easy for you to just do your work only when my master is watching.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul is saying, no, no, no, don't just do that.
SPEAKER_00: You're a slave of Christ first and foremost.
SPEAKER_00: Serve with a good attitude as to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So obey as you would Christ, work as slaves of Christ, serve as to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He's drawing their eyes upward rather than downward, and pointing out that we are in our work, we're working first and foremost for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So bridging the gap to today, this is true today.
SPEAKER_00: It was true of the slaves then, it is true of today.
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, whatever your work is, if you're a stay-at-home parent, if you go to the office every day, if you're in a factory, if you're in a field, if you're retired, whatever you're doing in a day-to-day, first and foremost, it is for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We are to lift our eyes upward and say, God, what I do is for you.
SPEAKER_00: It's not for me, it's not for my spouse, it's not for my kids.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that I do is for you.
SPEAKER_00: First and first.
SPEAKER_00: And foremost.
SPEAKER_00: So catch how that is lifting the slaves' eyes upward rather than downward in their lowly position.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is pointing their hearts, pointing to their hearts rather than their actions.
SPEAKER_00: So don't just obey your human masters because they're telling you what to do.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Obey your human masters with fear and trembling as to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We're to work out our salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We are to revere the Lord who is strong and mighty to save with fear and trembling, not with pride and arrogance.
SPEAKER_00: That is how we are to serve the Lord and in turn submit to one another.
SPEAKER_00: We submit to one another with fear and trembling.
SPEAKER_00: In the sincerity of our heart, he's pointing out the heart need in this.
SPEAKER_00: And that our hearts are what dictate our actions.
SPEAKER_00: So all in this, Paul isn't talking about their status, humanly speaking.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about their status before God and how that dictates what they're doing.
SPEAKER_00: And when their heart is set on Christ, they're going to be the best workers.
SPEAKER_00: For you today, you are going to be the best worker when your heart is set on Christ, not because you're skilled in whatever your job is.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about your actions, it's about your heart posture, about who you are in Christ, not by what your position is.
SPEAKER_00: So as he's pointing out these, do this, don't do that, look at the opposite of these things.
SPEAKER_00: As I've mentioned in verse 5, he's saying, serve with fear and trembling, not with pride and with arrogance.
SPEAKER_00: Don't work only while being watched as people pleasers.
SPEAKER_00: Be diligent in your work.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be lazy.
SPEAKER_00: So these are these are action points for us today in our work.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 7, serve with a good attitude.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be grumpy.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul is bringing out in this.
SPEAKER_00: The slaves would have every every right to want to be prideful and arrogant and say, I don't deserve this position.
SPEAKER_00: I don't deserve to be in this place that I'm at.
SPEAKER_00: I deserve to be a little lazy when my boss, when my master isn't looking.
SPEAKER_00: How often do you find yourself in that same position in your work today?
SPEAKER_00: How often do you find yourself prideful and arrogant, potentially in your position of work?
SPEAKER_00: How often do you want to just be lazy?
SPEAKER_00: How often do you just want to be grumpy and complain about whatever is going on in your work?
SPEAKER_00: I work full time.
SPEAKER_00: I understand what it is like to be in the work field.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it is easy to shift into looking at our status, whatever our role is, whatever our earthly status is, rather than looking upward and looking at Christ and knowing everything that we're doing, first and foremost is for the Lord, not for our earthly boss, not for our human master.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: It is first and foremost for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I love this quote from Tim Keller as he, I think Tim Keller just does a good job of looking at the social uh landscape and just uh pointing out fallacies in the American culture, uh, for instance.
SPEAKER_00: But in in looking at our culture today, in this American dream, where we're where we're just we're essentially suffocating ourselves with work, that there's always another hill to climb, there's always another step that we can take within the business world.
SPEAKER_00: Tim Keller says Christians should be the hardest workers, but not overworkers.
SPEAKER_00: Christians should be the hardest workers, but not overworkers.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you, if you were a boss, you might be saying, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I want my, I want those under me to be hard workers.
SPEAKER_00: I want them to work diligently.
SPEAKER_00: A phrase that I heard often, I've heard often is like, work until your work is complete.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what if that work is always churning up?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We get stuck in this rat race that we are in.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I would say that is an outlier, and not what I'm meaning by overwork in this.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think what Tim Keller was meaning about overwork.
SPEAKER_00: Overwork, what I'm bringing up in this is generally like the people-pleasing aspect.
SPEAKER_00: Like, no, no, I'm gonna work as hard as I can because I need to I want to get this promotion.
SPEAKER_00: I want to get more money.
SPEAKER_00: So there's greed involved, there's people pleasing involved, there's fear of man involved.
SPEAKER_00: It's I need to keep working because if I don't, someone else is gonna get that position.
SPEAKER_00: If I don't do this, if I don't make X amount of money this year, I'm gonna view myself as a failure.
SPEAKER_00: If I don't do this every single day, I'm going to be a failure, which leads to overwork.
SPEAKER_00: We should be hard workers.
SPEAKER_00: Christians should be the hardest workers in any job field ever.
SPEAKER_00: Stay-at-home moms should be like incredible workers, and they are.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm amazed at the work that stay-at-home moms do.
SPEAKER_00: That the world would say is not work, but is an incredibly hard job.
SPEAKER_00: Christians should be hard, hard workers, but we should not be overworkers.
SPEAKER_00: We should not be dictated by our jobs and how that shapes and molds our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Our hearts need to be fixated on Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And as you're looking at your job, if it is drawing you away from Christ and causing you to neglect family, causing you to neglect being a parent, causing you to neglect your church family, causing you to be stressed out to the max to where you can't even sit down and pray, you can't even look at the word, you can't have conversations, you can't meet with people, then I would say, because of the context we live in today, look for a different job.
SPEAKER_00: You should not stay in a job to overwork just to get that next position.
SPEAKER_00: If there's promise of easier, you know, greener grass on the other side.
SPEAKER_00: We live in the American society that is a churning wheel that seeks to keep you motivated, to keep you pumping out money to somebody else's pocket.
SPEAKER_00: That's that is I'm being brutally honest in that.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen it, I've been in it, I've wanted that next promotion because I think, oh man, when I get that, I'll have more time to spend with my family.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then I get that promotion and I get more responsibility and more things that draw me away from family.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that is not going to be the case with every single person in every single job and every single case.
SPEAKER_00: This is a matter of wisdom and prudence as we look at our culture today and look at what where we find ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: That's why I say what Paul is bringing up here in the cultural context of their time was giving them the tools to live within the societal construct that they're in.
SPEAKER_00: And again, today, it is giving us tools to be faithful followers of Christ, regardless of what our job is.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I didn't include a quote from Martin Luther.
SPEAKER_00: Martin Luther, the great reformer, in his day and age, work was considered holy work, was only for the monks and priests.
SPEAKER_00: All other work was just meaningless work.
SPEAKER_00: So as an employee in a factory at that time, like they didn't find anything sacred in what they were doing.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have this text that they were looking at because they were led astray by those religious leaders of their time.
SPEAKER_00: But what Martin Luther sought to bring out in that was no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you do, we do for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Every bit of work can be for the Lord, regardless of what your job is.
SPEAKER_00: I know for me when I was in college, it's like, well, I want to do full-time ministry because that's that's the Lord's work.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not neglect neglecting the fact that being a full-time person in ministry is hard work and it is God glorifying work.
SPEAKER_00: But someone who is a um a garbage truck driver or a janitor at a school, up to a CEO of a major corporation, anywhere in between, all of that work can be God glorifying because it matters of how you are operating within the construct of the job that you are in.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the job itself that brings glory to God.
SPEAKER_00: It's your heart in giving God the glory in it.
SPEAKER_00: So, regardless of what your job is, don't look at the job itself.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the evidences, look at the fruit within that job.
SPEAKER_00: Is this job helping me glorify God?
SPEAKER_00: Or am I being a people-pleasing, greedy person in this?
SPEAKER_00: Am I stuck in the cog of the wheel as we move on in this world?
SPEAKER_00: I love these uh read from Psalm and Ecclesiastes, just two wisdom points.
SPEAKER_00: So in Psalm 127, verse 2, it says, In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves, not to the one who works hardest and works all of these hours.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: Our rest comes from the Lord, not your paycheck.
SPEAKER_00: Trust me when I say, if you get that extra pay bump, you're quickly going to be looking to the next paycheck.
SPEAKER_00: Man, wouldn't it be nice to just have a little more?
SPEAKER_00: True contentment comes when we find our rest in God, not in our job, not in our paycheck, not in our ease of life.
SPEAKER_00: In Ecclesiastes 5, verse 12 says, the sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.
SPEAKER_00: The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.
SPEAKER_00: So what does that mean as you find yourself in whatever your job is?
SPEAKER_00: And and I uh when I'm talking about work, I keep bringing up stay-at-home moms, I keep bringing up people in offices and doing uh working for companies, being an employee, employee, employee, employer relationship.
SPEAKER_00: But this also includes those of you who are retired.
SPEAKER_00: It does we're to work.
SPEAKER_00: We're to work.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you're retired doesn't mean you just kick back and relax and don't do anything.
SPEAKER_00: No, the scripture's clear like, no, no, you're you're to teach the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: You're to carry on the gospel proclamation to the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: So this is for everyone, regardless of where your status is.
SPEAKER_00: So in the confines of work, wherever you find yourself, whatever your job is, we should abhor what is evil and we should hold fast to what is good.
SPEAKER_00: This doesn't give us the freedom to do whatever our boss is telling us to do.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're in a job and your boss is telling you to do something that is immoral or goes against the word, as a Christian, you should not do that.
SPEAKER_00: You just deal with the ramifications when they come.
SPEAKER_00: I've been in situations like that.
SPEAKER_00: You would be surprised when you stand your ground and say, no, no, no, because of my belief, like I can't do that.
SPEAKER_00: You might get fired.
SPEAKER_00: Or you might not.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless, we're seeking to honor Christ, not do whatever we are told.
SPEAKER_00: Because our master is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be partakers of evil.
SPEAKER_00: So we can't just neglect what Scripture says because our work is telling us to do X, Y, and Z.
SPEAKER_00: We should make the most use of our time.
SPEAKER_00: We should be hard workers, but not overworkers.
SPEAKER_00: We should be ready at all times to give an account for the hope that we have in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So wherever you find yourself in your work, hopefully there are unbelievers around you.
SPEAKER_00: It is an opportunity for you to work diligently, to be a hard worker, to set an example, and be ready to have a defense when they say, but our boss isn't watching, just take a break.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I'm working for God.
SPEAKER_00: That's who I'm seeking to honor, not earthly matters.
SPEAKER_00: We should not partake in gossip and slander that oftentimes is ravaging the workfield.
SPEAKER_00: Those who are under management.
SPEAKER_00: It is so easy to get caught up in gossiping about those who are in authority above us.
SPEAKER_00: We should not gossip or slander, but rather build up and encourage those around us.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way that Paul is urging these slaves to obey their human masters with fear and trembling.
SPEAKER_00: This would have been counter-cultural.
SPEAKER_00: He's telling him to seek to honor them.
SPEAKER_00: Love them, serve them as you would Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It is counter-cultural.
SPEAKER_00: In our jobs, we should be displaying the fruit of the Spirit rather than the works of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: We should be displaying the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
SPEAKER_00: Those should be the markers of your work in your job.
SPEAKER_00: All of this points others, those who see you doing this work, to Christ, not yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Catch that.
SPEAKER_00: Paul was not telling slaves to do this so that they would gain more favor from their masters.
SPEAKER_00: Elsewhere, he's he tells slaves, whether they're cruel or whether they're kind, serve them, love them, in a way that is pointing them to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I love this quote.
SPEAKER_00: Since he looked upon me, my heart is not my own.
SPEAKER_00: He has run away to heaven with it.
SPEAKER_00: So in Christ, regardless of your status, regardless of what your job, in Christ, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in and through you.
SPEAKER_00: That quote, I love it because it's saying, like, no, no, no, our heart, our lives, what we mean by our heart is our actions.
SPEAKER_00: What flows out of us is dictated by our heart.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the scripture means when it talks about the heart.
SPEAKER_00: That is with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Christ owns that.
SPEAKER_00: He is our heavenly master.
SPEAKER_00: He is our all-in-all.
SPEAKER_00: He has run away to heaven with our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, let us serve, let us be diligent in our work.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of if you're slave or free, as he goes on in verse 8, we are to seek to do good and trust the Lord in it, because he is the one who is actually in control.
SPEAKER_00: Our ultimate wage comes from him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, our earthly wage, yes, comes from the work that we do.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a society where the work that you do, hopefully, you get paid for it.
SPEAKER_00: But our ultimate wage, our ultimate reward, as Paul points out in verse 8, says, knowing whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Our ultimate reward is Christ Himself.
SPEAKER_00: That when He returns to call us to Himself, He is our reward.
SPEAKER_00: For this culture, for these slaves in this time, that is hope.
SPEAKER_00: That is encouragement to press on in it.
SPEAKER_00: I think of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18.
SPEAKER_00: It says, He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.
SPEAKER_00: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
SPEAKER_00: The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself.
SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
SPEAKER_00: I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get.
SPEAKER_00: But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his chest and saying, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: I tell you, this one went down to his house justified, rather than the other.
SPEAKER_00: Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
SPEAKER_00: What we do, how we live, how we act in our day-to-day lives reveals who has our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Has Christ run away with your heart to heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Are your actions dictating that that is true?
SPEAKER_00: Kevin DeYoung in his book Crazy Busy, which I would highly recommend, it's a really short book, it's really good.
SPEAKER_00: Um uses this as a good reflection exercise.
SPEAKER_00: So think about this as you look back on your last week.
SPEAKER_00: If someone recorded your life this past week, every minute of it, and then showed it to a group of strangers, what would they guess is the good portion in your life?
SPEAKER_00: What would they guess controls your heart?
SPEAKER_00: What would they conclude is the one thing you must get done every day?
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: It's so convicting for myself.
SPEAKER_00: If someone recorded every minute of your last week and played it for a group of strangers, how would they describe how you live?
SPEAKER_00: How would they describe who has your heart?
SPEAKER_00: Our context today is very different than the context that these slaves were hearing.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have the ability to just dip out, to leave the house that they were in as a slave, or leave whatever job they find themselves in as a slave.
SPEAKER_00: They were stuck in it.
SPEAKER_00: So they had no choice but to live this out.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as we come to today, we have more ability to change jobs, to change our situation.
SPEAKER_00: But in that, we need to use wisdom and prudence.
SPEAKER_00: We should not just change jobs because it got hard.
SPEAKER_00: You should ask for help in discerning: is this a good reason to leave my job?
SPEAKER_00: Or should I stay there?
SPEAKER_00: Is this where God has me right now?
SPEAKER_00: And I should just work diligently, more and more focusing on what Paul is talking about to these slaves and saying, no, no, no, I just need to work harder for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: Not overworking, but working harder and diligently to glorify God in the midst of this.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul kind of he brings this up.
SPEAKER_00: So I think this is often missed, especially from those who look at slavery in America and say that the Bible doesn't say anything about it.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called.
SPEAKER_00: Were you called while a slave?
SPEAKER_00: Don't let it concern you.
SPEAKER_00: But if you can become free, by all means, take the opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord's is the Lord's freed man.
SPEAKER_00: Likewise, he was called as a free man is Christ's slave.
SPEAKER_00: You were bought at a price.
SPEAKER_00: Do not become slaves of people.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.
SPEAKER_00: So I point out, I read that verse.
SPEAKER_00: If you can become free, by all means, take that opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: If you have the ability and the means to work diligently, not overworking, but be hardworking and retire early, so that you can be free of this social construct that we find ourselves in, by all means do it.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have the means to do that and you have to keep working, and you can't retire at 65, and you have to keep going, by all means do it.
SPEAKER_00: Do where do what the Lord has you where he has you.
SPEAKER_00: If you have the ability to become free from that situation, do it.
SPEAKER_00: That is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 7 in our charge for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So now we shift to verse 9, the verse that is often neglected, especially from those who discredit the Bible try to discredit the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Um verse 9 in our third observation says, authority is given from God to be used rightly.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, authority is given from God to be used rightly.
SPEAKER_00: So it says, And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
SPEAKER_00: These words would have wrecked the hearers.
SPEAKER_00: It would have been so countercultural to them.
SPEAKER_00: As a master in that room hearing that, wait, I'm supposed to treat my slaves the same way that they're to treat me without threatening?
SPEAKER_00: Because we're on the same playing field from a spiritual level?
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul's bringing up here.
SPEAKER_00: It's like no slave or free, master or slave.
SPEAKER_00: Your master is in heaven, and he shows no favoritism.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't look at your social status, he doesn't care about your social status, he cares about your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Masters had every right in their context in first century Rome to threaten, to mistreat, to abuse physically and sexually.
SPEAKER_00: They had every right to do that to their slaves.
SPEAKER_00: So this was counter-cultural for Paul to say this.
SPEAKER_00: It was working against the culture.
SPEAKER_00: Because they too are slaves of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That was revolutionary.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of the class status, they are both to obey as they would Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So looking back at verses 5, 6, and 7, so masters are to obey as they would.
SPEAKER_00: Would Christ, to work as slaves of Christ, to serve as to the Lord, because their their heavenly master is the same.
SPEAKER_00: So what does that look like then?
SPEAKER_00: How are they then to obey, work, and serve?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we have Christ as our perfect example of what good authority looks like.
SPEAKER_00: He is the lion and the lamb, as he is described.
SPEAKER_00: He is the master, but he is also the sacrificial servant.
SPEAKER_00: So in Mark 10, verses 41 through 45, this is when the argument comes up about John and James wanting to they're fighting for position.
SPEAKER_00: Says when the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus called them over and said to them, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentile, of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.
SPEAKER_00: But it is not so among you.
SPEAKER_00: On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be slave to all.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes on later with his disciples, and the most beautiful scene of how a master becomes a slave and what true servant leadership looks like when Jesus knelt down before his disciples and washed their feet.
SPEAKER_00: He was relating to slaves in that time.
SPEAKER_00: But he in it was also saying, No, no, no, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: This is what good authority looks like.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't look like lording it over you, it doesn't mean dictating every single move, every single action.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is our perfect master.
SPEAKER_00: He, as those verses said, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: He went to the fullest extent of showing what he meant by servant-mindedness.
SPEAKER_00: He took the form of a servant and he took on our sin in shame.
SPEAKER_00: He willingly went to the cross to die for those who were his enemies.
SPEAKER_00: He took on the wrath of God in our place.
SPEAKER_00: He rose on the third day, and he's ruling even now, and he will one day bring us with him to glory, where we will work with him in the new heavens and the new earth.
SPEAKER_00: We're not just gonna be kicked back, relaxing with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be working with him.
SPEAKER_00: We are created to work.
SPEAKER_00: If you are in a position of authority, Jesus Christ should be your example of good authority.
SPEAKER_00: Servant leadership should be the marker of your leadership, not whatever book you read on what the best way of doing leadership is.
SPEAKER_00: That can be helpful, yes.
SPEAKER_00: But if it's teaching you to degrade those who are under you, to put on more work than is necessary, to treat them in a way that is essentially dehumanizing them and making them just a cog and a wheel.
SPEAKER_00: That is not servant leadership.
SPEAKER_00: That is not what Christ intends.
SPEAKER_00: Masters, treat your slaves the same way without threatening them, because you know that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no favoritism with him.
SPEAKER_00: Paul leveled the playing field for this early church.
SPEAKER_00: He put slaves and masters on the same playing field.
SPEAKER_00: Even though their social status was different, their spiritual status was the same.
SPEAKER_00: They were to be slaves of Christ, children of God.
SPEAKER_00: You are either a slave to sin or you a slave to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's what it is.
SPEAKER_00: In this world, you are either a slave to sin or you are a slave to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Where do you find yourself this morning?
SPEAKER_00: As you look back on your week, as you look back on your month, are you being dictated by people?
SPEAKER_00: Are you being a slave to sin?
SPEAKER_00: Even though if you are in Christ, like you are a slave to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You're no longer bound by the sins and shackles that entangle you, but they can still bog you down.
SPEAKER_00: Are they bringing you down?
SPEAKER_00: Is your sin weighing on you?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you freeing yourself of whatever the society, societal construct, whatever it is, and telling you what to do?
SPEAKER_00: Are you being a slave to Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Are you working for him?
SPEAKER_00: Are you working for your boss?
SPEAKER_00: If you are in a position of authority, you have very clear instructions.
SPEAKER_00: You are not to lord it over them.
SPEAKER_00: You are not to make your employees overwork.
SPEAKER_00: You should be a safe haven for those who are under your late under your leadership.
SPEAKER_00: You should be reflecting Christ's leadership and how he served his disciples and how he even still serves those of us in Christ every single day by interceding to the Father on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: He is continuously working for those who he has redeemed.
SPEAKER_00: He is the author and perfecter of our faith, as Hebrews says.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is working all things for our good and his glory.
SPEAKER_00: He is continuously working for our good and his glory.
SPEAKER_00: So in our jobs, as employees, as employers, we should seek to do the same.
SPEAKER_00: We should work for Christ, seeking to honor him in all that we do.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 2, in conclusion, is a good landing spot for this.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 3 through 8, it says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
SPEAKER_00: How would you approach your work differently if you read those verses before you stepped into your work?
SPEAKER_00: If you, for the next week before you started your workday, whatever your workday is, whether you're retired, whether your workday starts as soon as you get out of bed and your kid wakes up, or as soon as you step into your office or your school or your hospital, wherever it is, what if you read those verses?
SPEAKER_00: How would that change how you act?
SPEAKER_00: How would that change your heart position in taking on whatever the world, sin, Satan, and our flesh throws at us?
SPEAKER_00: How would we be different?
SPEAKER_00: And going further in Ephesians 2, as we look to Christ, says, adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Christ went to the fullest extent to show that he does what the Father tells him to do.
SPEAKER_00: Would we seek to replicate that in our day-to-day lives?
SPEAKER_00: Would we be slaves of Christ and not slaves to sin?
SPEAKER_00: Would we cast off those weights and sins that entangle us, that draw us into that and draw our eyes downward at our physical position instead of upward to our spiritual position as a child of God, who the Son sets free is free indeed.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of where you are at, these words are true for you.
SPEAKER_00: If you are in Christ, you are a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: It is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in and through you.
SPEAKER_00: If you are not a Christian this morning, these words are true.
SPEAKER_00: I promise they are true.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of how historical uses of this passage have been used and falsely giving Christians a bad name, the words of Christ are true.
SPEAKER_00: He took the form of a servant.
SPEAKER_00: He could have, at any moment of time, called upon a legion of angels and overthrown Rome and ushered in the kingdom of heaven in a physical instance.
SPEAKER_00: But he chose to do what he did because he was not serving man, but he was serving God.
SPEAKER_00: There was no sin found in him.
SPEAKER_00: So that we, fallen man, could experience, could understand his love for us, and be drawn back into what we were originally created to do, to work for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: Without that, we're working for the world, our jobs, we're working for ourselves, we're our own masters.
SPEAKER_00: Are you a slave to Christ or are you or are you a slave to sin?
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.