Living and Working in a Bad Situation - Part 2 (Eph. 6:5-9)

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Living and Working in a Bad Situation - Part 3 | Adult Sunday School

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Glad to see you all out this morning. We're gonna open with a word of prayer.

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But before we do, why don't you just get your Bibles open to the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter six, and then we'll pray.

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That'll give time for those that are staggering in late. I was gonna say sauntering, but staggering sounded less offensive.

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All right, well, welcome. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, thank you for this time again.

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As we gather and open your word, we pray, Father, for your spirit to do his good work in us this morning from the word.

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May you enable us to have ears to hear, that we might hear and that we might do, that we might believe, and that we might grow in the likeness of Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.

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All right, so we are in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, where text before us is verses five through nine,

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Ephesians chapter six, and verses five through nine. We began last week, this is the second, and there'll be one more next week, so it'll be three parts total.

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It's entitled Living and Working in a Bad Situation. Living and Working in a

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Bad Situation. After next week, I'm done, and Jim will be beginning a series on the imprecatory

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Psalms. So I'm looking forward to that. And so that begins the week after next.

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But here we are, we're in part two, Living and Working in a Bad Situation. You remember last week, it was mostly introduction last week.

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So just to remind you quickly of some of what we covered, the overall context of this section of this epistle here in five and six, or five through nine, is the household code.

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We talked about that, the household code. In other words, that Paul's words here, really beginning in verse 22 and running all the way through six, nine, deal with the various aspects of a first century, a well -to -do, but nonetheless, a first century household.

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Perhaps the household that hosted the church at Ephesus. That's certainly a possibility as well.

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And so he dealt with husbands and wives, and he dealt with the relationship between parents and their children, and now he's dealing with the relationship between the head of the house and the slaves who supported that house.

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We spent a fair amount of time kind of talking about all of that, and we're obviously not gonna re -plow that ground, but just a few points to get your thinking.

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We noted last time, and this is important, that there is no theological foundation in the

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New Testament for slavery. There is no theological foundation for slavery in the

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New Testament. There is just a recognition that this reality exists in the world into which the gospel entered.

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So the New Testament recognizes the reality of the situation into which it comes, and it begins to work almost, one could say, like leaven, and over a substantial period of time, transforms a society such that slavery itself becomes abhorrent to it.

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But it does not directly address slavery, and it just assumes that reality.

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The Roman system itself, slavery in the Roman system, again, just to get some ideas about this, that slavery, the

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Roman system depended on slavery. It was supported by slavery. The estimates are somewhere around 15 % of the people of the

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Roman Empire were slaves themselves, and we talked about they came from all walks of life, all walks of life, and in fact, in the large cities, the percentage of slaves could be as high as 30%.

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So in a city like Ephesus, there could be 30 % of the population of the city could be slaves, and certainly within the church, it's probably much higher than that, probably even higher than that.

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The slaves could earn money, they could own property, they could even own other slaves.

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If they had adequate resources, they could even purchase their own redemption. It was very different than our historical situation here in this country with African slavery.

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Some of the slaves were very well treated by their masters, others were not, and it was the reality into which the

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New Testament spoke, and Peter speaks about that, working for an unreasonable master and how to respond to that and so forth, and Paul's going to address here that same kind of an idea.

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It supported the whole economic and social system of the Roman society, although it was, of course, ultimately based on violence and coercion as a final motivating factor.

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And it's into this social economic setting, this environment that the gospel of the

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Lord Jesus Christ comes. And it comes to set people free, not first and foremost free from their physical bonds, but free from the eternally harsh and cruel slavery of sin.

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That's what the gospel comes to deliver people from. And it does an amazing job, does it not?

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So, what about us? Is this just like a historically interesting section of the epistle?

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Well, no, no, we don't operate in a slave economy, but we can understand

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Paul's teaching here, we can apply his teaching on the subject of slaves and masters, and make that application with regard to our own orientation to work environment.

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And so that's basically what we're gonna try to do. We'll explain the text, but we will be applying the text as we go.

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So let's read it, beginning in verse five. Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

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With fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, ask Christ, not by way of eye service, as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

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With goodwill, render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the

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Lord, whether slave or free. And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with them.

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Way I'd like to look at it with you today and next week is under the rubric of five principles.

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So there will be five principles that govern how we are to live and work when we find ourselves in a bad situation.

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Five principles that govern how we are to live and work when we find ourselves in a bad situation.

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And some of you are right now presently in a bad work situation. I'm aware of a few, and I'm sure there are many more that I'm not.

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So some of you are right here, and this is gonna be super applicable to you. Others of you have your dream job.

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You've got your absolute dream job, and presently you think, I could not possibly relate to what you're gonna be talking about for the next two weeks.

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I mean, I love my work. I got my dream job, and you know what? My answer to you is congratulations.

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I'm happy for you, and I really am. I'm happy for you. And may the Lord grant you that the rest of your working days.

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But recognize this. For most people, at some point in their working lives, they're gonna find themselves in a bad situation.

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If you're not there now, good likelihood you will at some point. So I think it's still applicable to you.

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So here we go. First principle. First principle. And for this, I'm going to have to turn you back to Paul's letter to the church at Corinth.

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So go back to 1 Corinthians chapter seven, and the first principle is this. Change what you can.

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The first principle is change what you can. 1 Corinthians chapter seven, and verses 20 through 24.

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1 Corinthians seven, 20 to 24. Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.

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Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it. But if you are able also to become free, rather do that.

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For he who was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's free man. Likewise, he who was called while free is

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Christ's slave. You were bought for the price. Do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

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When a person comes to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ there is a radical reorienting that happens.

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A radical reorienting. We move, to use some of the

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New Testament metaphors, we move from death to life. We go from slavery to freedom in Christ.

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In fact, Jesus himself says in John 8, 36, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

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As followers of Christ, we think differently. We feel differently.

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We speak differently. We plan differently.

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And we invest differently. All as a result of the radical reorientation of our lives brought about by the new birth in Christ.

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We recognize that we are now citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

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And it is tempting when we come to that recognition to despise the present living situation that we have.

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Our citizenship is in heaven, not here. And so there's a temptation to despise what is here. And one of the places that can show up is in discontentment with our station in life.

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Discontentment in our station. Hey, listen, I am a king. I am the son of a king. I am the brother of Christ.

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There is treasures in heaven for me. And look at me now. Look at me now. Discontentment with our station in life.

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Now, specifically here in 1 Corinthians 7, the confusion revolves around the topic of marriage.

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The topic of marriage. Questions like, should they marry? Should they divorce their unbelieving spouse?

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What if their unbelieving spouse leaves them because of their new faith in Christ? And Paul takes up and addresses these kinds of questions.

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And in order to counteract the various false teaching that was circulating among them,

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Paul lays out a basic reality of the gospel. Here it is. God did not save us in order to change our social or economic circumstances.

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God did not save us in order to change our social or economic circumstances.

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And so Paul's teaching to the church here is don't overly focus on the temporal issues, the temporal things of life.

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Look at verse 20, where he says, each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.

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Verse 24, brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

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In other words, don't get overly focused on your present circumstances.

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When you become a Christian, Paul would say, stay where you are. Stay in the same social, economic position in which

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God has placed you and live for Christ in that environment. Live for Christ in that environment.

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Become an ambassador for Christ to your new relationships.

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Certainly in the first century, the slaves, the masters, all of that. For us, you have these relationships of friends and families and work associates and so forth.

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And so you are to live for Christ in that setting. In other words, when you get saved, the first thing you should not do is quit your job and go become an itinerant street preacher.

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That is not what the gospel would have you do. Not without exception, but in a very general sense, that's true.

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However, you may find that your work environment has suddenly grown pretty difficult.

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One might even say hostile as a result of your commitment to Christ. You used to run with them in one direction and now you no longer do.

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And that may change the situation so that it becomes not so good anymore.

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It becomes pretty hostile. If you find yourself there, what do you do? What should you do?

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And I think slavery here provides a perfect example of arguing from the greater to the lesser.

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And so to the slave, Paul says, if you're able to get out of your slavery legitimately, then do it, then do so.

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But don't make it your primary goal. Don't make it your primary goal.

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If you can change the situation, change it, do it. But don't make that the pinnacle of your quest.

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Verse 21, you called while a slave, do not worry about it.

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But if you are able also to become free, rather do that.

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It is better to be free, it is better. It is better not to work in a bad situation, it's better.

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But don't make that the ultimate quest of your heart. Now, the reason and the ability to find the contentment and serve

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Christ in our situation is rooted in the understanding of what has happened.

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We have exchanged our temporal, earthly condition of slavery and or freedom, which formerly defined us, and now we have exchanged it for an eternal reality of freedom from sin and obedience to Christ as our

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Lord. Something dramatic has happened, and it transcends the temporal situations.

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Again, verse 22, for he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the

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Lord's freed man. Likewise, he who is called while free is

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Christ's slave. In other words, called by Christ, and he's speaking about called unto salvation, is a transformation ultimately of your reality.

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You are no longer merely a slave. You are now free in Christ, and you who are not a slave are yet still under the

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Lordship of Christ and his servant. So I think we can legitimately say this.

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No one is more free than he who is in Christ, and no one is more bound than he who is a slave to sin.

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No one is more free than he who is in Christ, and no one is more bound than he who is a slave to sin.

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In light of this tremendous cost that Christ has paid to redeem us from the slave market of sin, we're not to allow ourselves to be enslaved again by human philosophies, by the social and economic constraints, or by the various religious systems that swirl around us and would seek to draw us away from our new allegiance to Christ.

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Verse 23, you were bought with a price. You have been redeemed.

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You have bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.

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Slaves of men, the idea being under the various anti -Christian philosophies that swirl around us and make us a slave of men.

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So what are these kinds of things? What can draw us away? Well, materialism can draw us away.

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Materialism or covetousness, the idea of keeping up with the

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Joneses, or he who dies with the most toys wins. Right?

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That kind of a hedonistic approach to life draws one from their affections to Christ and their service to him.

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I think that materialism and covetousness often lies behind bondage to debt and becoming what the

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Proverbs call a debt slave, a debt slave. You remember the seven dwarfs, right?

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And their song, I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. Yeah, becoming debt slaves, debt slaves.

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Jesus says in Luke 12, 15, beware, beware. Be on your guard against every form of greed for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.

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Without Christ, that's all you've got is your possessions. With Christ, you have everything, and the possessions are really at a great level irrelevant.

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We can be drawn away and come under the slavery of men by finding self -worth in our jobs, by looking to find our self -worth in our jobs.

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Ideas like this, you know, busyness is next to godliness, right? That's probably in the Bible somewhere.

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No, no, or spirituality equals activity.

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No, no. If we seek self -worth anywhere other than Christ, we're on a fool's mission, we're on a fool's mission.

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I think about this whole pursuit of work, and this is often a male problem, but this pursuit of the self -worth through our employment,

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I think one helpful idea with that is this, right?

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Work with me on this. If God provided a Sabbath rest for slaves under the

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Mosaic code, then would it not make good sense to reflect upon that and the reality for those of us who are free in Christ that we ought to have periodic rest as well?

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Don't you think that makes sense? I mean, God built it into the code for the slaves, right? You get three week -long holidays a year, plus you get every seventh day off and various other things, and yet as Christians, we have somehow,

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I think, confused spirituality with business, and we don't know how to rest.

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We don't know how to rest. So finding our self -worth in our work.

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Maybe one other, anxiety over providing for your family can capture your heart with an anti -Christian philosophy.

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Anxiety over providing for your family. You know, the idea that I dare not stop running or I'm gonna fall off the treadmill, which, by the way, happened to me once on a treadmill.

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Making really good progress and getting tired and thought I'll just slow down a little, like I was running on the street.

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You know, you just kind of slow down a little. Well, didn't end well, didn't end well.

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And you know, sometimes that's how we approach work.

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We're like on this treadmill and we feel like, oh, we gotta run, we gotta run, we gotta run. If we do not run, we will run out of money, and we will have nothing to support our families.

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And to that idea, Jesus says in Luke 12, 24, "'Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap.

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"'They have no storeroom or barn, and yet God feeds them.'"

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How much more valuable you are than the birds. How much more valuable you are than the birds.

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God will provide for you. He will provide your needs. Maybe not your greeds, but he will provide your needs.

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So the first principle to govern how we live and work in a bad situation is to change what you can.

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Change what you can. Second, obey where you must.

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Change what you can, obey where you must. For this, we will go back to Ephesians chapter six, in the first part of verse five.

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Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

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Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh. Now, just like his directive to the wives and the children,

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Paul here first addresses those who are in the subordinate role in the relationship.

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He talks to wives, then husbands, children, then parents, now it's slaves and then masters. That's been his motif through the whole section.

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And then, of course, after speaking to those who are in the subordinate role in the relationship, he turns and he speaks to those who are in the authority role in the relationship.

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Here, masters in verse nine. Now, one of the things that immediately stands out,

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I think, from this passage is the simple fact that Paul addresses the slaves as free moral agents.

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Free moral agents who are ethically responsible members of a local Christian congregation.

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In other words, they're going to be sitting there on Sunday morning listening to this letter read to the church and they're going to hear this instruction.

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And they're gonna hear it and the masters are gonna hear it and the children are gonna hear it and the parents are gonna hear it and the husbands are gonna hear it and the wives are gonna hear it and they're all gonna hear it.

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In other words, they're just like the way he treated the children. They are believers, that's the assumption, they are believers capable of walking in the power of the

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Holy Spirit. And so, like he treated children, verse one, children obey your parents in the

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Lord for this is right. In that same fashion, he treats the slaves. He assumes them to be followers of Christ.

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He treats them as responsible, ethical individuals who will make a clear choice to follow

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Christ or not follow Christ, who walk by the Spirit, verse 18, chapter five, or not, in the same fashion.

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Now that contradicts the Roman notion of slaves as being merely property, doesn't it?

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In fact, you remember last time I told you that they referred to them as in the Latin, instrumentum vocalis, talking tools.

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This is, they are not talking tools, they are people. They are people capable of hearing the word of God, understanding the word of God, obeying the word of God.

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In Paul's mind, both the masters and the slaves are equal parts of the same church body.

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Even though their temporal circumstances differ significantly, right, some are masters according to the flesh, in other words, they are earthly masters, and some are the earthly slaves, they are still equal before God in Christ.

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Now that fact alone is immensely countercultural. It is immensely countercultural, in fact,

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I would say this sets the foundation, or better said, this begins to disrupt the foundation, to fracture the foundation of slavery.

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And as this gospel begins to move out and conquer the

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Roman Empire, slavery, of course, becomes a passing thing. It's immensely countercultural, and it is so because it's apparent by the inherent contradiction between spiritual equality and societal slavery.

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Spiritually equal, and yet societally slave master. It doesn't add up.

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But I don't believe it was Paul's intention to overthrow the century -old situation of Roman slavery.

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That was not his goal. But rather it was to direct the new believers in Christ, both slave and master, to live out the immediate implications of the gospel in their societal context.

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In other words, the gospel can go anywhere in the world, and it can release people from their ultimate and true slavery to sin, and without reference to their societal situations.

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Now, to the extent that they are ungodly, they will transform over time as a necessary result of the gospel, but it is not the gospel's intention to go and to overturn all of the unrighteous societies of man.

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Now, notice here in verse five, Paul's address to the slaves is very simple, very straightforward, just like to the children in verse one.

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Be obedient, same Greek verb. Be obedient to your master.

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There it is. Slaves, be obedient to your master. Children, obey your parents, same

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Greek verb. In other words, while the natural reaction to understanding that they were spiritually equal could lead to resentment and disdain, my mind thinks about Hagar, right?

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Genesis six, once she gives birth to Abraham's son, she despises her mistress, we're told.

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So the natural reaction to understanding that, hey, you know what? Yeah, maybe you're my master, but we're spiritually equal.

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Hey, you know what? How about if I'm the elder? I'm a slave elder, and you're a master non -elder.

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That would set up some interesting dynamics now, wouldn't it? But Paul wants the believing slaves to lean into the gospel, to lean into the gospel and accept their temporary situation and be the best slaves possible, and that, he spills out in the balance of verse five all the way through verse eight.

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It all begins with being obedient. It all begins with being obedient. All right, here we go.

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I'm an employee, I'm not a slave. I'm an employee, I'm not a slave. So how do

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I apply this teaching? I understand what you're saying about slaves, but hey, you know what? Reality check, 21st century

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America, not really a slave. What are the limits to my obedience to my employer?

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Are there any? Here you go.

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As an employee, you are obligated to do what your boss tells you to do unless it is illegal, unethical, or immoral.

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It's as simple as that. Your boss tells you to do something, you are obligated to do it unless it is illegal or unethical or immoral in which case,

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Acts 529, we must obey God rather than men comes into play, but also recognize that with that kind of a statement often comes persecution.

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So listen, if you find your job intolerable, I think the application of all of this is you're free to change.

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You are free to change. But what you are not free to do, here's what you're not free to do.

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You're free to change if it's an intolerable situation. This is what you're free to do. What you're not free to do is have a bad attitude.

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You're not free to do that. You're not free to mock your supervisor. You're not free to complain to your coworkers about him.

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You're not free to cheat your employer by goofing off or by engaging in work slowdowns or by taking extended breaks or by misusing company property.

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No, you're not free to do that. You're not free to pilfer by padding your expense account because you didn't get the raise you thought you deserved.

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You're not free to help yourself to free samples. Like, hey, how about a handful of ballpoint pens?

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Take them home. Because once in a while I do work at home. You're not free to waste your employer's time by engaging in conversations about sports or politics or the gospel.

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You're being paid to work. That is what you're being paid to do. And that is your obligation.

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If you find that work environment intolerable, then find another job, find another job.

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So change what you can, obey where you must. Third, serve with integrity.

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Serve with integrity. Verse five, slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in sincerity of your heart as to Christ, not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

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With good will, render service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the

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Lord, whether a slave or free. As Christian slaves,

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Paul is not only concerned with the fact that they obey their masters because this was like the base expectation of society, but he's interested in the manner in which they obeyed, the manner in which they obeyed, as well as the theological motivation behind their obedience.

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So both manner and motivation is what Paul is after here.

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Simply put, as a follower of Christ, they were to be qualitatively and quantitatively different from the unsaved world.

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That should not strike us as radical. What should strike us as radical is we've been saved.

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That's radical. We've been saved. Now we are merely working out the implications of that new life in Christ.

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And so Paul gives us here, I see a fourfold description of Christian service.

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So serve with integrity, and I think he gives us kind of a fourfold description of what that looks like.

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For example, in verse five, we're to serve sincerely. Sincerely, verse five.

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We're to serve honestly, the first part of verse six. We're to serve honestly, so sincerely and honestly.

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Then we're to serve wholeheartedly, second half of verse six. And then finally, enthusiastically, there in verse seven.

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So sincerely, honestly, wholeheartedly, and enthusiastically, that is quantitatively and qualitatively different.

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So let's unpack a little bit. And then to work sincerely, verse five.

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Working sincerely, with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ.

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Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, here it is, with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ.

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Now, this concept of the fear of Christ, one commentator says, and I think quite well, acts as an envelope around the entire household code.

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We see it, for example, in verse 21, that leads into it. Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

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And then, of course, you'll remember, hopefully, that Paul's now spelling out what it means to be submissive to one another.

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It's wives to the husbands, it's children to the parents, and it's slaves to the masters. All done in the fear of Christ.

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So that's the beginning of the envelope, or the inclusio, however you wanna talk about it. And in verse five, we see it again, with fear and trembling.

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So this idea of the fear of the Lord, or the fear of Christ, it's talking about a reverence and an awe that believers feel towards Christ when they consider his lordship, when they think seriously about his lordship.

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It brings a reverence, it brings an awe, it brings a fear. It is the ascended

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Christ who stands behind and authenticates the various authority structures by which he providentially rules over his people.

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He is the one who stands behind it, it is his idea. And therefore, when we submit to these structures, we are, in point of fact, submitting to Christ, specifically,

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Paul here states that their submission is to be characterized by, you see the word, sincerity of heart, sincerity of heart.

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The idea is an inner sincerity, or one could say a personal integrity.

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An inner sincerity, or a personal integrity. That is how we are to serve in light of the lordship of Christ over us.

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One commentator says this, in other words, there should be no division between the quality of the labor produced and the attitude of the one who produces it.

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It's pretty good. There should be no division between the quality of the labor produced and the attitude of the one who produces it, they should be in sync.

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Paul is dealing here now in these verses with the motives behind their work.

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He's dealing with their motives. They're not only to do what they're told, but they are to do so with the kind of attitude that would be expected of one who is a follower of Christ.

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As if Christ himself were standing there and giving them that order.

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When they receive the order from the master, they are to look through the master and see Christ himself. Unless you think

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I'm making that up, I'm gonna take you over to Colossians, the sister letter, chapter three, where Paul deals more briefly with the same topic.

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I notice verses 23 and 24. Again, the context of slaves, verse 22, right?

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I'll read the whole thing, 22 to 24. Slaves, in all things, obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the

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Lord. Does this sound familiar to us? Yes, it does. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the

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Lord, rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the

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Lord Christ whom you serve. Okay, there it is. That's pretty black and white. We need to be able to look through this human authority structure and see the risen

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Christ who stands behind it all. That breaks down the false distinction between secular and sacred work.

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The false distinction between secular and sacred work.

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In other words, there is sacred work, that's like missionaries and pastors and church planters and evangelists and so on, and then there's all the rest of us with our secular work.

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And so how do we serve the Lord? We put money in the offering plate and try not to get involved in any big sins, right?

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That couldn't be further from the truth. Couldn't be further from the truth. Every task, every task, there's an assumption here, every honest task, every honest task, no matter how small or insignificant or unpleasant, falls within the sphere of the

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Lordship of Christ and is to be done to please Him. There is no such thing as an insignificant job.

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It is all done for the glory of Christ, and He receives His glory when we do it qualitatively with excellence, and quantitatively with excellence, and qualitatively with a heart of service.

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Serving our earthly masters, understanding that ultimately we are serving our

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King. Okay, let's tie an interim bow around it because we're coming back to it again next week, okay?

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What have we learned? What have we learned this morning? Be quiet. That's the notice that says you have 10 minutes left.

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Don't start another topic. That's what that means. All right, so what have we learned?

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Let's look at it this way. What have we learned? We learned this. When you're in a bad situation at work, you should get out of it if you can.

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You should. If you're in a bad situation, if you can get out of it, get out of it.

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You may have to make some serious decisions, right? Like pay cuts and maybe relocations.

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And I mean, there's a lot that goes into the decision. But if you're in a bad situation and you can get out,

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I think Paul would say do it. But escape from the situation should not be our highest goal.

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But rather glorifying Christ by living a gospel -directed life, understanding our freedom from sin, and that the greatest gift that he could give us is not a pleasant work environment.

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The greatest gift he can give us is new life. New life. Second, while on the job, even the one we hate, we're to do what we are told by our boss.

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Without grumbling, unless it is illegal, unethical, or immoral.

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Those are the no -gos. Beyond that, do what you're told.

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Do what you're told. In working for our employer, we are to understand that our attitude as well as our actions reflect our submission to Christ.

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So it is both our attitude towards our boss, our coworkers, our job, what we make, what we do, all of that, as well as how we do it, demonstrates our submission to the

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Lordship of Christ. We are willing to bring it all under his Lordship. We're not trying to reserve one aspect to ourselves and say,

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Jesus, you're Lord of my life, fix, suffer here. Suffer here.

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We put it all under his Lordship. Knowing that he is at work in us to bring about the conformity to the image of Christ, himself a sufferer.

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So maybe a probably good place to say this here, it may not be a good idea to hit the ripcord immediately. Like, hey, you know what, you're going to work, you get chewed out on a

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Monday, it's probably not a great idea to just resign Monday afternoon, okay? Take a little while, maybe think about it, get some advice.

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The resignation of a discouraged man is never valid. I heard that years ago by an old pastor when

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I was first beginning myself. He said, David, let me tell you two things. Number one, never turn in a resignation on a

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Monday morning because you are going to be depleted after Sunday. So never resign on a

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Monday. And secondly, the resignation of a discouraged man is never valid. I've tried to live by it, so far it's worked.

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Pass it on to you. Fourth, here it is. We are to have personal integrity in these matters.

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Personal integrity. Something that cannot be coerced.

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Integrity cannot be coerced, isn't that cool? That means even a slave under the flesh in this time can serve with integrity and it cannot be coerced.

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You can't beat integrity out of somebody, right?

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The floggings will continue until morale improves, right? We've all heard that. You can't beat it into somebody.

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Personal integrity comes from the inside out and it comes as a demonstration ultimately of true freedom.

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True freedom. Even for a slave. Even for a slave.

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Well, beloved, that gets us started. We will come back next week, we will finish it and then we will turn to masters and those of you who are in positions of authority over other employees, there's something for you here too.

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So let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for the gift of eternal life that has been lavished upon us in your son.

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Everything has changed for us. We are now free in Christ.

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If Christ sets you free, you are free indeed. And yet, so often we either don't understand the implication of that freedom or we substitute things that are really just baubles, cheap substitutes for the true freedom we have in Christ and then wonder why life just doesn't work.

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May you, our Father, through your indwelling spirit, apply the truth of your word where it is needful for each and every one of us.