Pauls Epistle to Colossians (20)

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in Light of God’s Word

Let's turn to Colossians 3, please. We addressed what the Holy Scriptures teach regarding marriage, divorce, and remarriage. It was really in preparation to address the passage before us which we never addressed.

A clear teaching about these matters of marriage, divorce, and remarriage in the light of God's Word, of course, reveals just how wayward our society is from God's will and ways respecting this institution that He created.

The fact is we have departed from the standards that He has established, standards by which He governs and will judge the world. And even among ourselves we find that perhaps we have transgressed His laws respecting these matters maybe we hadn't realized it before.

It should not cause us to despair, however, or become discouraged. Rather just the opposite, as Christians, this knowledge should cause us all the more to be grateful for the mercy and grace of God that He has given us in Christ.

Thank God there is forgiveness of sins and the promise that our latter end will be glorious no matter how ignominious our beginning. Isn't that true? And so don't be discouraged as you discover sin, it's there, it just hasn't been revealed to you.

There was an old Roman poet who once vainly said, oh, if I could only open the curtain of my heart that the world may see it. Spurgeon talked about it and he said, no, if he really saw his own heart he'd want to cover it up with more than a curtain.

And the longer you're a Christian, more things become exposed, do they not, to you? And we become more aware of our need and blessing that we have in Jesus Christ and Him alone. So don't be discouraged by these things that we rehearse.

Now again our rehearsal of this institution of marriage was with view to some of the commands that we had before us in our passage, Colossians 3, 18 and following. Let's read the paragraph again. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.

Very politically incorrect in these days, but there it is. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged.

Slaves, obey everything, those who are your earthly masters. Not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.

You're serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

Christian Duties in the Family and the Workplace

Practical instruction, both for the family and the workplace. This is instruction to family, even an extended family, a household that commonly existed among the well-to-do in the first century. This Church of Colossae probably met in one of these large Roman households to which this letter was sent.

Here, in the family, the Christian faith is most clearly manifest. As one wrote, it is in the closest and most familiar relationships of daily living that the reality of Christianity will be manifest.

But, in addition to the family context, there are instructions for us as Christians in the workplace, all in the same paragraph. Although the masters would have been the head of the household and the slaves would have been regarded as members of the household, for us the application is not only in family, but in the workplace.

That would be the principle that carries over. So, let's consider these first. Instruction to Wives. We read in verse 18, Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the law. God has not only established the institution of marriage in the family, but God has revealed how those relationships within that institution of marriage are to be regulated.

Paul wrote,.

Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the law. There are some parallels with the epistle to the Ephesians. Those two letters were probably written at the same time. So, there is similarity of language and themes.

So, we read similarly in Ephesians 5, Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body.

Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. That won't fly in today's world, will it? But, it is the word of God. And this is a way of peace and harmony within a home, a well-functioned family.

Of course, because of sin, the wife does not do this normally or naturally. For if the truth were known in the vast number of instances, the wife desires to be led by her husband, yes, but desires to be led in the way she wants him to lead.

And there is the rub, isn't it? In other words, because of sin, wives will tend to be controlling and manipulative rather than submissive. And it takes God's grace for a godly wife to live in the manner that the Lord has commanded her in this verse.

We would readily admit it doesn't come naturally. It's got to come supernaturally, through the grace of God. Because of sin, submission does not come naturally. It takes God's grace for a Christian wife to live in this manner consistently.

And with some of us husbands, it probably takes more grace than others for our dear wives. I had a Christian friend years ago who used to tease me whenever I did something that irritated him. He'd say, poor Mary, poor Mary.

He's the same one who had been single up until his early 30s. And I performed his wedding for him. And it was some months afterwards he said, I used to think I was a pretty good Christian until I got married.

Because he was put under the same roof and he couldn't run like he used to run from conflict he had to deal with it. And he just realized what kind of Christian he was when he was thrust into that situation.

We could look down through biblical history and see how wives had troubled their own households by taking matters into their own hands. As they resisted or rebelled against their husbands rather than submitting to them.

And of course Proverbs has some of those choice verses. Proverbs 19 .13 reads, the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. It's irritating. Proverbs 27 .15, a continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

Solomon had 700 wives. He probably knew something about what he was writing. Don't you think? And then 300 concubines on top of that. Proverbs 14 .1 describes what happens when a wife takes matters into her own hands.

Every wise woman builds her house but the foolish one plucks it down with her hands. That's when she starts to be in controlling. She starts manipulating. These are forces that we all deal with. Husbands have their issues.

Wives have their issues. So what scriptural principles should a wife know and follow to help her obey the Lord in this matter? First, certainly, wives are to be humble. To humble themselves before the Lord and purpose by God's grace to do the will of God in submitting to her husband's leadership.

This is a command. You can't get around it. You can't explain it away. It's there. And there's wisdom in it. There's purpose in it. She is to obey him seeking to do his will. Paul wrote, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

That is about as far-reaching as you could get, isn't it? Can we pick and choose what we obey of the Lord?

No.

And that is the pattern for wives. Again, take note of the scripture saying everything. Of course, this does not mean that she is to sin if her husband would have her do so. We are to obey God rather than man.

Colossians 3 .18 reads,. Why submit yourselves unto your own husbands as is fit in the Lord. And there are some things the husband expects the wife to submit to that are not fit in the Lord. And she shouldn't go there.

But aside from what is sinful, she is to obey her husband in all areas. To fail in this is to rebel against God and may even result in the word of God being blasphemed. We read in Titus 2 .5,. A wife is to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, and here is the purpose clause, so that the word of God be not blasphemed.

In other words, our witness, our testimony will be damaged. The wife's testimony of Christ will be damaged in the manner that they fail to submit to the leadership of their husbands. Secondly, not only is a wife to be humble before the Lord regarding this matter, but she is to recognize and respect her husband's position as the head of the marriage and family.

And I underscore position. I should have underscored it. Ephesians 5 .23 records, The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. And it is important that a wife distinguish between the position of her husband and him as a person, as her husband.

It's the position that the wife is to have regard for, and for her husband because he's in that position that God has ordained. And so she's to obey her husband, not because he's necessarily a great guy and ought to be obeyed because of that, but because God has placed him in that position, and God has dictated in his word how she is to obey him.

And so this is irrespective of whether he rises to the level of what a husband should be. It's very easy for a wife to disregard her husband. Well, you don't know my husband. If you did, you wouldn't expect me or say that I should obey him.

Now we're talking about the position, not the person. Respect the position, not the person, necessarily. He has that position irrespective of whether he's a Christian or not, by the way. Husbands are the head of their wives.

This is not in the church. Marriage is a creation ordinance, isn't it? God caused marriage between Adam and Eve. All people need to be married, Christians and non-Christians. This is God's institution.

This is the way he established it. But if a wife is to live in this manner, she has to recognize and respect her husband's position. Because he's going to do things that will denigrate him in your mind.

We have to overlook a lot, don't we? When you are in a marital relationship. Some more than others. But thirdly, a wife must certainly believe that God is sovereign and that he controls the decisions and directs the steps of her husband.

In reality, she knows that he's not in control. God is in control. Although my husband rules, God overrules. She doesn't need to fear. She knows that God will overrule even the poor decisions of her husband.

Thereby, the Lord will lead her by means of directing her husband. She must have confidence in God, who is guiding her in his providence. If she in faith believes this biblical truth, then she can be content in the Lord regardless of what her husband does.

She knows that even on those occasions when her husband makes foolish and selfish decisions, and we're known for that, that may adversely affect the life of the family, she's assured that through it all, God will accomplish his purposes for his glory and ultimately for her good.

If a wife doesn't have that confidence in a sovereign God who is overseeing her life in providence, she's going to have a real problem with this. And then fourthly, a wife must learn to appeal to her husband when she disagrees with his decision.

When we speak of a wife submitting to her husband, we're not suggesting silence on her part when she perceives things are not going as she thinks they should. She has a responsibility to make known her opinion, but to do so in a godly, humble, and biblical manner.

So what then is it for a wife to appeal to her husband? Well, it occurs when a wife politely and in a spirit of meekness attempts to lay out her case to her husband that she perceives to be the will of God.

Not just what I want to do, but why this is the right course that we should take. So she expresses to him in meekness and with respect toward him her assessment and her advice. But, and again this is important, she conveys to her husband that she will abide by his decision.

Again, if it's not sin to do so. Ultimately, right or wrong, it is his judgment call. God has made him responsible for his wife and children. And when we violate these principles, problems result. Well, there's also instruction to husbands, of course.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. And so husbands are to humble themselves and pursue by God's grace to do the will of God. And so this involves first, a husband denies himself of his own pleasures as the priority of his life.

And he assumes his responsibility to lovingly lead his wife. Husbands, love your wives. We've asserted in the past many times, you know, our understanding of Christian authority is never a right to be served by others, but always a responsibility to serve others with the ability and authority that God entrusts to you.

And a husband has a responsibility to serve his wife. He's not to set himself up in the home, hey, I'm the husband here, I'm the father, and you are to serve me, do my bidding because of who I am. No, he has the authority to appeal, to reason, maybe assert strongly, this is what we're going to do.

But it's all with design of true love and service to his wife and children. And a wife needs to understand that. It's no wonder that wives resist. I'm not justifying them in doing so, but it's no wonder that they do when they sense a husband has no real concern for them or their family.

And then secondly, a husband is to be patient with his wife to the point of patiently enduring her insensitivity or resistance to him. You know, a man can face the world and fight the world and fight the army, but his wife can cause him to be discouraged in a moment with a word.

He's vulnerable that way. The Lord Jesus provides an example for husbands. Husbands are to love their wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Christ is patient with his church.

Husbands are to be patient with their wives. The husband must not use coercion or force to impose his will. He is to lead her, not drive her. He is to be loving and patient toward his wife even when she resists or refuses to yield to him.

Again, love your wives and don't be bitter against them. Because they're not always going to be willing to follow you. And that's very discouraging when that happens to a husband. But fourth, a husband is to listen to his wife's counsel.

For she's designed by God to be his helpmeet. But again, ultimately the responsibility rests upon him. God has ordained that the husband determines the direction of his family. And there are times when he should listen to the advice of his wife.

And there are sometimes when it's wrong to listen to the advice of his wife. And you have illustrations of both of that in scripture. Pilate should have listened to his wife. Adam should not have listened to his wife.

You know, they're different occasions. Now again, one can look down through biblical history and see how husbands have failed their wives. I commented yesterday in the wedding ceremony, you're really hard-pressed to find an illustration of a good marriage in the Bible.

Think of one, find one. I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of one offhand. Abraham, he was a godly man, a good man. And yet he certainly was selfish. He put his wife in a terrible, difficult situation.

He and Sarah traveled to an area where he was afraid that the people in the land would take his wife. Because even though she was quite a bit older, she was nevertheless a beautiful woman. And so he tells Sarah, say you're my sister, not my wife.

Put her in a terrible, vulnerable position where she could be taken advantage of. But again, Sarah was a godly woman and a humble woman. She didn't react and rebel against Abraham, she did what she was told.

She was a godly woman who trusted the Lord to protect her and preserve her. And we read that that's exactly what God did, didn't he? He caused that king, Abimelech, to have a dream that night. Don't you touch that woman, she's another man's wife.

God was protecting Sarah. But she had submitted to her husband. And then you have the same scenario played out with Isaac, the son. He followed his father's example and acted the same way toward his wife, Rebekah.

Don't say you're my wife, unless the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah. Because she was fair to look upon. But again, God spared Rebekah through her difficult experience, just as he had spared Sarah before her.

Thankfully, God is sovereign in these matters. Well, after instruction to wives and husbands, we have instruction to children. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. And so children are to be obedient to their parents.

This is the will of God. God has appointed parents as the protectors and instructors of their children. Of course, we all have stories where parents failed miserably in this. You've got stories, I'm sure, many of you.

But it's the parent's responsibility to be faithful to their children in instruction, chastening, and training. It's the responsibility of children to obey their parents. And of course, this reflects the fifth commandment, doesn't it?

Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God has given you. And so a child honors his parent by obeying his parent. A child who disobeys his parent dishonors not only his parent, but dishonors God.

For God has appointed that parent as a guardian, a protector, a provider. God has placed that parent, mother and father, in that position of responsibility. And so the son or daughter that ignores or resists the guidance of the parent, incurs the displeasure of God, forfeiture of His blessing upon his or her life.

I can't quote the proverb, but doesn't it say that a son or daughter that despises his parent, he'll be basically slain in the field, and the eagle shall pluck his eyes out? I mean, it's a horrific account of a person encountering violence and death, and shame and death as well.

That's how the Bible presented a rebellious son or daughter, failing to recognize and submit to the authority of the parent. Interestingly, we have fourthly another word to fathers. Before moving on to relationships outside the immediate family, another word is given to fathers.

Verse 21, Fathers, do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged. Fathers have a great role within the family. Of course, in our society, that's completely broken down, isn't it? All across, sadly, particularly in black families across America, where the father is absent.

I forget the percentages, but it was terrible. You know, you read, I've read accounts of the black communities back in the early part of the 20th century, and some of them in those communities were the most healthy people around.

They had the best health care because they provided for themselves within their communities. Solid families. You ever watch that old movie back in the 30s, Cabin in the Sky? One of my favorite movies from Hollywood.

And it depicts the kind of Christian family and neighborhood there was. It's a wonderful movie. That's all been lost. You know, through drugs and sin, the illegitimate childbirth and whatnot, the family has been destroyed.

Government has come along and promised to be a surrogate father, and government can never be that. And it's a sad thing. I used to work in the projects, federal projects, in downtown Dallas when I was in my youth.

And it was some really rough areas. Blocks and blocks of federal buildings where families lived. They were both Hispanic, and there were African American communities. And I was amazed to find, particularly in the African American communities, the ones that were really holding everything together.

It was some mother who had seven or eight kids who basically held the community together. And I remember it was about 1975. We were having a big promotion. We obtained 5 ,000 free tickets to Six Flags over Texas.

And I was securing kids. I went into the federal projects to enlist kids to come with us. And we brought them to Six Flags, brought them in big amphitheater, preached the gospel to them. And I talked to this one African American lady within the federal project, told her what I was doing.

And on the opening day of the Dallas Football Cowboys, I think in the fall of 1975, she got us 19 Dallas City Transit buses to come into the federal projects, fill them up, and take them to Six Flags over Texas.

I mean, she had clout. And I met a number of these ladies, but the fathers were absent. It was a sad thing. And you could see how the families were ravaged by it.

Fathers.

F .F. Bruce quoted another regarding these matters. For the children, this is an abusive father, an irresponsible father. For the children, his only precept is obey your parents. Let parents see to it that they deserve obedience.

More than this, that they make obedience easy. Some parents make obedience hard. The law, which for the Christian is summed up in the word love, is formulated, and thou shalt not, for the law is disobedient, and that thou shalt not, sub sinai, have their counterpart in the don'ts of the nursery.

Grace teaches us to keep his commandments. Law warns us not to break them. And it's on this latter principle that children are generally trained. Don't be naughty is the nursery version of it. William Carrier, the father of modern missions, great Baptist missionary, wrote to his son, remember a gentleman is the next best character to a Christian, and the Christian includes the gentleman.

And if a little of the effort used to teach the children not to be naughty were devoted to training them to be gentlemen and ladies, parents would come nearer to fulfilling the apostolic precept. And that's right.

And yet, there are some fathers, you know, that can be very rigid. That's the kind of home I grew up in. And my dad was a good man in many respects. But he was also an alcoholic. And so there was inconsistency.

And there was violence. Never knew, you know, what was going to happen, what was going to come down. Again, Paul wrote, fathers, do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged. Sons and daughters will have difficulty in life.

Those children who become discouraged due to their father's failures. They will struggle not only while under the authority of their fathers, but they'll continue to struggle under authority throughout their life.

If they do not respond to the authority of the father, they will not respond well to authority in the workplace later in life, or in their own future marriage. A family is a training ground for building relationships and how to function in relationships.

To grow or become discouraged is to lose motivation for doing rightly and living rightly in order to please dad or mom. And fathers can cause discouragement. What kinds of failure by the father can result in a discouraged child?

We can perhaps list some things. I ground these out in no time. I'm sure the list could be expanded. A father may discourage his child through uncontrolled outbursts of anger. A father may discourage his child if the child witnesses glaring failures or inconsistencies in his father's behavior or character.

A father may discourage his child through his failure to honor his wife or his child's mother. A father may discourage his child by failing to make clear what pleases him. A father may discourage his child through a failure to discipline properly.

He may be too controlling in his discipline. He may be too slow or lax in his discipline. Or he may be too inconsistent in his discipline. One time you can get away with it, another time you don't. Leaving the child unclear as to when or how he'll be disciplined and when he'll escape discipline.

This causes discouragement. Now we have instruction to slaves. Colossians 3, 22 -25. And again, we're making the application of this to the workplace even though this would have been within the extended household.

Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance of your reward.

You're serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he's done, and there is no partiality. Again, before these verses, Paul addressed the Christian's responsibility within the family.

Here he gives instruction for the Christian in the workplace, we could say. There are varying estimates as to the number of slaves in the Roman Empire. It's thought in the city of Rome, I've read, some suggest one-third up to one-half of the population of the city of Rome were slaves.

I mentioned last week that the institution of slavery in the Roman Empire should not be equated with the institution of slavery that characterized Western civilization for a handful of centuries. And this is somewhat true, because there were other matters.

There were financial matters. You didn't declare bankruptcy in Rome, you ended up getting yourself sold into slavery until you paid your debt. Our Lord Jesus reflected that in some of his stories in the parables.

But there were many slaves that were forced into slavery because they had been conquered in their lands by Rome, and then they were brought back as slaves. In fact, there's one thought that really Rome began to disintegrate because the families became so dependent on these slaves, and the mothers of the Roman families basically became party-goers and neglected the family, turned it over to slaves to manage.

And so you had a complete breakdown of the nuclear family within Rome. Some attribute the decay of Rome to the breakdown of the mothers within the family. I don't know if that's true or not. But we recognize Christianity as applicable and practical in every kind of social and political environment.

And so although this is not endorsing slavery, it's giving instruction to Christians who find themselves in that situation. Paul makes it clear that every person who labors, however, even the slave who labors, is actually serving the Lord in what he does.

Slaves, obeying everything, those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service. You don't just work when you're being watched as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

You work just as hard when the boss isn't there, not looking upon you as when he is, because that's not your motivation. This is the key to living righteously in peace as a Christian in a fallen world.

It's a key principle. Whatever work we may do, we are to regard ourselves as serving the Lord in that work. This is Christian work, whatever it is, as long as it's not sinful. But it's legal. And the Christian in the workplace is such an important aspect of life, I thought that we should address this a little bit.

A Christian theology of work and how we should regard it. And I went back in my sermon notes and I saw that I did address this, but it was back in 2005. So numbers of you weren't here then, and the ones that were have probably forgotten it anyway.

And so I thought we would just rehearse some of these important principles about the spiritual matter of labor and work. Psalm 128, Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you.

And then he describes the blessing on the family. Your wife's going to be fruitful vine, while you're going to be sitting around your table with your children. There'll be like olive plants growing up around you.

This man will be blessed to the Lord who fears the Lord. And so we see here in Psalm 128, the blessing of God on the laborer who supports himself and his family through his work, through his labor. Psalm 128 is one of the 15 psalms that are called Songs of Ascent.

Jewish believers journeying to Jerusalem to worship God sung these songs as they ascended the mountains, traveling to Jerusalem. The psalm celebrates the goodness of God toward His people who order their life according to His ways, who seek to obey His law.

And the one who does so is a happy person. He's happy. He's blessed. And his marriage is solid. His children are happy. He's joyous toward his God, recognizing that God will continue to bless his life throughout as many days on earth.

But take note of the realm of God's blessing in the head of the list in the areas of God's blessing. When you eat the labor of your hands, you should be happy and it should be well with you. For the man who fears the ways of the Lord, or fears the Lord and walks in His ways, will be happy and successful in his work.

Notice the emphasis on manual labor, if you labor with your hands. And the Bible talks about that, doesn't it, as a thing of blessing. There's an emphasis, perhaps in our pre-modern society, when the Bible is written, of the value of hard work.

Hard labor is viewed as healthy. Normal and wholesome. And there's a sense of well-being and satisfaction when it's accomplished. Especially when it's hard. I've told you in the past, my friend who's with the Lord now, Carl Scott, he grew up in the Depression as a young man.

Hardest work for the least amount of money I ever heard of in my life. He had a pitchfork in the field with others, throwing sugar beets over the high side of the truck. And he would shovel, he said, 30 ton a day.

And he got paid 10 cents a ton. And he said, if you slowed down, put your pitchfork down, there were a dozen men on the side of the road, took your place. You know, he was a laborer. He was a hard-working man.

Not real educated. But he came to Christ when he was in his hard-working, you can imagine, a rough guy. Converted solidly, though, in his 60s. I remember he'd take his change, he told me he took his change out of his pocket every day, put it in his jar, and at the end of every year, he'd take it all out, usually two, three hundred dollars, and he'd give it to a missionary.

But there's satisfaction, and there's fulfillment in hard work. My grandfather was a driller for Standard Oil of California, 36 years. He worked 12 hours on and 12 hours off, for years. He would get 24 hours off every three months when they'd shift from day to night.

And he was a happy man. And my grandmother, I remember her saying, she'd sit there in this hot little Sears house they bought out of Sears Catalog in the southern Mojave Desert of California. She said their refrigeration was a burlap box that they, you know, the box that they made with shells with burlap and a water tray to drain water to the burlap.

She said if you can keep your butter from melting, you had a good system. And she said we didn't know anything but to be happy. Hard work, 36 years, and he retired. The day after he retired, he was in his shed out back where his workshop was, and his boss came by.

Oli, I don't see any Standard Oil tools, he said, because there aren't any here. And the next day he brought a truckload of them here. This is about 36 years worth. So he had a well-equipped tool shed, some tools which I have in my home today.

Hard work.

I think probably the greatest legacy my dad left us kids was hard work. My aunt and uncles used to accuse my dad of, you know, of child labor violations. Because I never remember a day I didn't work. I mean, when I was four years old, I was dusting cans in the grocery store or putting cans out of a box onto a shelf.

Two cents a case. And I don't ever remember a time when I didn't work. And that's the same with my family, my brothers and sister as well. It's a good legacy. Many of us, of course, are not involved principally in the area of manual labor.

Our work involves employment of skill or knowledge whereby commerce is transacted and service is rendered. We depend on our wit rather than our strength, perhaps, for work.

But that's good. That's okay.

But how do we view work as Christians? I've known some Christians over the years who've hated their work. Actually, there's very few people that really enjoy their work. And that's a sad thing, isn't it?

And I've known Christians over the years,.

They hated their work.

They wanted to get into a Christian business or a place where Christians worked. And so they despised the place where they worked because it was difficult. It was hard. Some view work as only a necessary evil.

They see their workplace as a place of drudgery, boredom, perhaps misery. That's a sad thing if that's how you view work. Perhaps it's a godless environment. You share labor. You labor beside those who are strangers to God's word and grace.