Sunday Morning Worship Service July 12, 2020

Well, good morning. Good to see you on this Lord's day beautiful day. The Lord has given us today and Looking forward to our worshiping the

Lord together and hearing from his word that will I think challenge us and encourage us in our different areas of responsibility

In our jobs or careers, whatever the Lord has given to us to do as a way of serving him

Before we begin the service just some announcements to share One I as we've mentioned tonight, we'll be resuming our evening service at six o 'clock.

This will be a Different structure a little bit. It'll be shorter there.

We won't have a bunch of songs and so forth and So just we'll just open with a song and I'll get right into our message for tonight and tonight's message is really kind of Built on this morning's message because Our text this morning in Ephesians 6 begins talking about bond servants or servants and the the

Greek word is the word doulos and it can apply to it can apply to a variety of kinds of bond servants from Indentured slaves to slaves that have been sold on a slave market or whatever so I didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about slavery in the morning service, but I did want to talk about it because it's obviously a really hot topic in the culture today and so tonight in the evening service,

I'll take some time to talk about slavery in the scriptures and See what the

Bible has to say subjects that'll be at six o 'clock tonight and Service will not be any longer will not be more than an hour long

So during the week, I'm continuing to do the daily devotions I hope you're able to watch those if you can't watch them when they air at Noon or six o 'clock on Facebook.

You can always watch them They're always always aired live on Facebook as well as the other things you see that on the right side of your bulletin

There's a stay connected column and it tells you where you can see those live But those also are recordings that just stay on The church website so you can watch those at any time

If you can't get there at 12 or at 6, so that's every day Monday through Friday and then

Wednesday night at 7 o 'clock we meet in the fellowship hall and started last

Wednesday night with a video series entitled epic and The nature of this series is each week

The host takes us to different places in the world looking for artifacts related to the history of Christianity and so it's interesting approach to church history and Last week we went to where'd we go

Jerusalem and Italy and this Wednesday will be going to England So I look forward to that Bunch of other things there in your bulletin that you can read and note for yourself

Not pay it not point those out to you, but do take the time to note those if you will

So I've come together today to worship the Lord and want to begin with the Lord calling us to worship from Psalm 717 where the psalmist says

I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the

Lord Most high and let's do just that we'll sing praise to the Lord the

Almighty Jim, please come with us Thank You pastor number 26 in your hymnals number 26

Praise to the Lord the Almighty. There's four verses. We're just gonna sing the first three one through three of number 26

Let's all stand together, please and sing praise to the Lord the Almighty our father again, we

Thank you for Your grace and your mercy these past weeks and months

Father may we Take heed to your word this morning as we hear it preached

May the Spirit of God work in our hearts in our lives And father way maybe

Let that word of God settle in our hearts help us to Know that your word is everlasting

Eternal Father we praise your holy name pray now that as we worship you that We would worship you in spirit and in truth

We pray these things in Jesus name Amen, you may be seated So Psalm reading want to read portion of Psalm 139 verses 13 through 19 one of the underlying

Presuppositions of the exhortations that Paul is going to give to servants and masters and Ephesians is the truth that God in his providence and in his sovereignty has

Created us and placed us in this world. He's called us to our callings and this section of the psalm talks about God creating and making us and His thoughts toward us

So follow along as I read Psalm 139 verses 13 through 19

Says for thou has possessed my reins Thou has covered me in my mother's womb I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well

My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth

Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written which in Continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me? Oh God How great is the sum of them if I should count them they are more in number than the sand

When I am awake when I awake I am still with thee Surely thou wilt slay the wicked.

Oh God Depart from me. Therefore you bloody men the

Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word Take your song supplement books number 61 in your blue books

Number 61 the sovereign God will sing verses 1 and 3 of the sovereign was the sovereign

God Oh sovereign

Eternal King your reign in over Everything the highest

King The weakest hour are ever subject to your power so sovereign

God I trust your plan, you know the ways of every man

Eternal King to you above I give my heart to be your throne

I Love life, you know my days

My feeble plans are not your ways if blessings come or hardships fall

My sovereign father knows them all so sovereign

God I trust your plan, you know the ways of every man

Eternal King to you alone. I give my heart to be

Some prayer together today and then after prayer we'll have another another song and it'll just be one stanza of a song and during that stanza

We will have children's church available again today starting today So Lynn will be leading that so during that song children ages 4 through 8 are

Free to go to children's church as we pray together today Came across this psalm this morning in my reading

I thought was very appropriate regarding current events Psalms are often prayers, you know, and the psalmist wrote this he said why does the wicked renounce

God and say in his heart? You will not call to account But you do see for you note mischief and vexation that you may take it into your hands

To you the helpless commits himself You have been the helper of the fatherless Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer

Call his wickedness to account till you find none. I think that is certainly an appropriate prayer for us to pray in our

Society in our culture today that the Lord would break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer and Call his wickedness to account the

Lord does see and he notes the mischief and the vexation that is being caused in our nation and We should and can and should pray for the

Lord to deal with all of that sort of thing We also want to pray for the hynix our missionaries the week this week in Costa Rica I got an email from Mark the other day and he mentioned that there have been a tremendous number of illegal immigrants coming into Costa Rica violating the border borders of the of the nations and a lot of those who have come in have been apparently been infected with the corona virus and there is therefore been a surge of this

Virus in Costa Rica and consequently the government has Really clamped down and locked down everything again the complication for the hynix and this was the reason for the the email

Is that their daughter Elizabeth is a student at Bob Jones and they are having on campus classes beginning resuming in the middle of August, I believe it is and And So Elizabeth needs to get from Costa Rica back to the

States, however The borders are all closed. She was however able to get a ticket on a repatriation flight for this

Wednesday so that's a praise the problem is that You can only travel on Certain days according to your license plate number in Costa Rica and the hynix

Travel day is on Monday. They're only allowed to travel on Just to pray that they can find someone who is able to travel on Wednesday So that Elizabeth their daughter can get that repatriation flight and get back to the

United States If she can't do that, they don't know what What will come of it?

So so pray for the hynix in those restrictions also asked to pray for For Janet who is driving from Wisconsin to North Carolina this week and then back driving alone

So pray for her as she travels to Wisconsin from Wisconsin to North Carolina and then back home the following week

And then continue to pray for Bob Klein. He Has his next round of chemo starting tomorrow and and that'll be a couple hours long.

So pray for him Continue to pray for Kent glad that he's here today, but it's been a

Difficult week for Kent physically and then for Maxine gomer Chuck just mentioned to me this morning

Maxine Had a fall this morning. She was out sweeping her porch and took a tumble and they think maybe fractured her wrist hit her head and apparently

Has some bleeding in in the in the brain and so they are transporting her to Peoria even now

So we want to pray for Maxine that God would be gracious to her and give her healing

Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Shall we? So our

Father and our God we are Grateful that you are the sovereign God We read of that in Psalm 139 you sovereignly providentially

Arranged even our very our very individual distinct characteristics as people you're also a

God who's sovereign over all the nations and even our own and What's happening in this nation today?

The division the strife the violence the anger the hatred the vulgarity the

The Damage that's being caused Unnecessarily Lord, you know all of these things.

None of this escapes your your knowledge. You see it all and Father we we trust in you as the sovereign

God That you have your purposes for allowing all of this to take place we are a nation that is accountable to you and We certainly

Certainly have done much in the last half -century To raise your ire as a nation officially

Sanctioning that which is abhorrent Sanctioning the murder of innocent babies the father is so much more so much more and It is indeed true that as a nation

We deserve a lot of the chaos that we're getting Father, we don't ask that you give what is deserved.

We ask for mercy upon our people upon our nation there are a host of people who are

Who have done nothing amiss in terms of other people and the way they're being treated and yet are suffering greatly

You who are the father to the fatherless I pray that in your compassion and in your mercy

You would look down upon us as a nation and that you would indeed

Break the arm of the wicked and those who are evildoers. I pray that you would call their wickedness to account

I Pray that you would bring humbling and bring law and order restore it.

I pray Bring these ones to account Father restore peace to our land.

We pray You have told us to pray to that end. You told us to pray for our leaders or those in authority over us that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and We do pray to that end today

We also pray father for your people who are in need we think of Maxine today and just ask that you would be

Gracious to her that you would give healing to her body and I pray that the whatever problems are

Existing of that fall. They would be discovered quickly and could be Remedied quickly we pray for her health for her vitality

We pray this also for Bob Klein and ask that you would Give him grace as he endures undergoes the chemotherapy and the difficulty that's often associated with that Continue to strengthen

Kent's body. We pray we ask for we ask for grace for him and father, we we would pray for Janet as she travels this week and I asked for journeying mercies for her and I pray that she visits with these friends and loved ones from Ministry of in the past that you would give a wonderful time for all and Father, we pray for Elizabeth Heineck that she would be would be able to get on that flight back to the

States on Wednesday Provide transportation for her to get to the airport and I pray that all of that would be worked out smoothly

We asked for grace there as well Father as you have brought us together to this place today

Again we ask that you would meet with us You would challenge us Courage us with your word.

We commit all of these things to you in the name of Jesus our Savior Amen, take your hymnals once again and turn to number of five hundred forty eight five hundred forty eight servants heart and as pastor mentioned just going to be singing one verse the first verse of Servants all stand together, please as we

Sing 548 together Like you

Living for others Humble and weak help be the weak love

The Give me

Lord a servant's heart Here's my life. Take every part

Give me Lord a servant's heart Help me draw so close to you

Let your love come shining through Give me Lord a servant's heart

Give me Lord Our scripture reading this morning for our message text is

Ephesians chapter 6 We've indicated and verses 5 through 9

Ephesians chapter 6 verses 5 through 9 encourage you to follow along your copy of scriptures

I read these five verses in the context of this passage all has been applying the

Subject of submission a mutual submission started that back in chapter 5 verse 21

Said submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God. He's applied this topic of submission in the husband -wife relationship

Also in the parent -child relationship and now in this servant master relationship so verse 5

Servants he writes be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto

Christ Not with I service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart

With goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the

Lord whether he be bond or free and He masters do the same things unto them forbearing threatening

Knowing that your master also is in heaven. Neither is their respective persons with him

Let's ask God to speak to us through this passage Father our word your word is open before us.

We pray that our hearts would be open to it Speak to us we pray in Jesus name.

Amen Several years ago. I read an article that Reported this said quote a dark cloud of dissatisfaction blankets today's workforce

Only one in ten workers say they are satisfied with their jobs For the overwhelming majority work is dull and meaningless this pervasive discontent has spawned the paradoxical problems of laziness on the one hand and overwork on the other

Patterson and Kim in their book the day America told the truth tell us that only one in four employees gives his or her best effort on the job and That 20 % of the average workers time is wasted the work needs a gospel transformation

It's kind of transformation that Paul is calling for here in this passage in Ephesians 6 verses 5 through 9 now to be absolutely clear

Make sure we understand Paul is addressing the first century relationship that exists between servants and masters and again,

I'm not going to go into that relationship and all the various Possibilities of the types of those relationships we'll talk about that tonight

But that relationship that existed in the first century is not one that exists in the 21st century.

Thank God the whole institution of Slavery in any form in our nation has been has been eradicated and we are we are grateful for that but the principles that are called for here the ideas that the exhortations that Paul gives to the respective participants in this

Servant master relationship our principles that do apply in the workplace

Because even though Even though your employer is not your master in a slavery kind of institutional way

There is a certain measure of authority and control that your employer would have over you and understandably rightfully so and likewise though you are not a slave to your to the company or the the employer that you work for and Though maybe at times you feel that way

You're really not you have the freedom to quit anytime you want to and you say well, it'd be too hard.

I can't do it I gotta have this job Well, you still can walk away from it if you want to you wouldn't have that option if you were truly a slave

But nevertheless in that role as an employee There are responsibilities you have to that employer if you want to keep your job

So the the counsel that Paul gives here to Slaves to bond servants or slaves or servants of any kind to their master and the master to the servant

Their principles that carry over in our day as well so these duties as I mentioned earlier, they continue the theme that Paul Began back in chapter 5 verse 21 where there is to be a mutual submission one to another

We should also understand that Paul is speaking here to to the church at Ephesus So when he writes to servants bond servants here in verse 5 and addresses them he's addressing bond servants that are believers in Christ followers of Jesus and When he addresses masters in verse 9, he's addressing

Christian masters and In some cases probably in the majority of the cases that Paul is talking about speaking to here both the both the bond servant and the master are in the same household and both are believers and they have a they have a responsibility to as believers in Christ as followers of Christ and Yet that's not exclusively.

So in other words, there would have been bond servants That were not serving

Christian masters they served in pagan houses In Christ and we're now a part of this church and likewise

There are masters who have bond servants and their servants themselves

May not have come to Christ So it doesn't matter whether you are serving in a Christian company or not if you're an employer

It doesn't matter if you have Christian employees or not The Principles are for you.

Their principles are for us in our day So notice first of all in verses 5 through 8 that employees have a duty they have a responsibility to their employer and the

Basic duty is spelled out here in verse 5 when Paul said servants be obedient to them

Are your masters? Be obedient to them. Oh As an employee you need to Obey your employer and that demands of us.

We accept the nature of the relationship that exists here the relationship is a servant to a master a

One who is one who is in a position of authority and one who is in a position under the

The exhortation for servants to obey the masters is an exhortation that parallels the

Exhortation that Paul gives to children back in verse 1. He says children obey your parents so just as the child is to obey his parent and just as the just as the child is to obey the parent the

Servant is to obey the master. There is a relationship here that needs to be accepted and That that is a fundamental of the workplace that is often

Causes a great deal of chafing, doesn't it? Employee employees, especially it seems in recent generations

Employees do not like the notion that they have to be under somebody's authority employers have tried to Accommodate that to some degree and a lot of companies they have what they call collaborative teams and They they kind of communicate the idea that everybody is an equal

But even still in a collaborative team that isn't Really true because every collaborative team has a team lead somebody is responsible to lead the team somebody sits at the desk when the team is gathered around the table and Records the the different ideas and the decisions and so forth and doles out the different areas of responsibility somebody is still in that position of leadership, so that's a the nature of that relationship that needs to be

Accepted and we have as believers in Christ should be ready and willing to accept that quite quickly quite readily

We also need to accept the legitimacy of this Relationship not only the nature of it, but the legitimacy of it

Paul says in verse 5 be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh

The SV translates that your earthly masters your earthly masters and again

Some Christians are not really very good at this when they work for non -christian employers

I Have come across some believers who have had the attitude that you know, my only master is

Christ Christ is my master and no man is going to be my master.

I'm not going to be the slave to any man and They may not say it quite so bluntly they demonstrate it more in their actions with things like If you have a company if you would have a company that has a dress code and that dress code that prohibits the wearing of religious jewelry or Any kind of a garment that would that would have a display a verbal display on it that Wants to declare some kind of religious position and the company's policy is across the board so they don't care whether you are

Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon or a Christian or a Muslim they don't care. It's just across the board

Some Christians seem to have the attitude. Hey, I don't care what my employer says I have a First Amendment right freedom of speech and all that kind of stuff and besides that Christ has given me that the

Responsibility to be a witness and so I'm going to wear my cross Jewelry, and I'm gonna wear this t -shirt that says

God so loved the world He gave his only begotten Son because I am to be a witness Well, one of the ways you witness as an employee is by following Paul's exhortation to obey your masters according to the flesh and realize that they have a legitimate role as Earthly masters to to tell you what to do to have such a such a policies and Regulations in place they have that respond.

They have that right They have that responsibility. I should say as well. So as an employee

You're responsible your duty is to obey your employer

But there's more to it than that Because as you well know especially those of you who are parents and have had children who have obeyed

Because they had to obey You know what I'm saying, right? the the the stereotypical joke of the

The child that has been told to sit down and he's standing up and the parent keeps telling him to sit down in his seat

Don't stand at your in your chair at the table and finally the child Under threat of some kind of punishment sits down on the chair and he says

I'm sitting down on the outside But I'm standing up on the inside Well that compliance is a form of obedience

But that's not the kind of attitude that Paul is calling for here In fact as you continue on in this passage, you see that you need to do more than merely

Obey the obedience that Paul is calling for has

Five different descriptors that we could add to it So first of all notice your obedience needs to be diligent.

You need to obey Diligently he says here in verse 5. Oh, but be obedient to those who are your masters according to flesh with fear and trembling

With fear and trembling now what he's not calling for here or what? He's not suggesting here is that the master, you know, you don't have the image of the the negative image of the 1850s southern plantation slaveholder who

Who was on horseback with his whip and would go around to his?

Slaves and anyone that wasn't picking cotton fast enough. He'd whip him with the whip Don't have that imagery here that that you need to be that kind of a slave who's with fear of trembling pull

Pulling the bowls off the cotton No What he's calling for here is a kind of respect

That results in a diligence in the in the labor This is exactly the thing that is befitting anyone who is given a responsibility

On As a believer in Christ remember Paul said in Philippians 2 12, he said work out your own salvation with what with fear and trembling

Now it wasn't say work for your salvation with fear and trembling He's saying work out as you as you as a

Christian live on this planet You are to let the fact that you are a

Christian let the fact that you're saved You need to let that work out you need to let that be demonstrated in every facet of your life and do so with fear and trembling that is diligently earnestly so in the workplace how that Practically applies is that you as an employee?

need to be truly concerned Not just not just giving lip service to but being truly concerned

With meeting the standards and the requirements that your employer has for your particular job for example

I'm not I'm not doing the chaplain work at micron anymore I gave that up at the end of the year for a lot of reasons but when

I was you know micron is a factory that builds transformers and there are lines automated lines where these different pieces come down the lines and The employer based on all its research established rate quotas

For for the different sizes of transformers and they said, you know We we need to be able to reach this rate per hour for these this kind of transformer

Well, you know some of the employees there They were really nonchalant about it.

They almost like couldn't kind of kind of couldn't care less others were far more diligent in wanting to meet peace rate and Main reason they wanted to meet it was because if they met peace rate frequently enough then there was a bonus

Financial bonus involved but as a Christian employee, how do you handle such things?

Do you do you say it's just arbitrary, you know They're just trying to drive us like a bunch of slaves and all that or do you take it seriously if?

you obey with fear and trembling then you look at that kind of a requirement that kind of standard as As a legitimate thing for them to do and you are concerned about doing your part

Diligently to meet those kinds of standards Same with things like product quality standards and and so on and so forth and different different Types of employment different types of work have different kinds of standards different kinds of requirements the

Christian employee sees those things and is really concerned about meeting them doesn't just doesn't just brush them off and also this idea of obeying with fear and trembling

Has with it the awareness of a legitimate Accountability that the employee has to his employer in other words he

Recognizes He's wise. He recognizes my employer has the has the right and even the

Responsibility to give me an evaluation to evaluate me and to see how am

I doing? According to the requirements and the standards of my particular job.

I'm accountable I will be held accountable So as an employee you do more than merely obey you obey diligently and then the last part of verse 5 says do so with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart that is

Sincerely Employees can be good

Hypocrites, right? You've heard the criticism. I don't want to go to church. It's filled with a bunch of hypocrites But do you go to work every day?

Because the the office or the factory or the place of employment wherever that is can also be filled with a bunch of hypocrites

You know that you've you've met them. I hope you haven't been one. I Sincerely don't believe you would be but you have met them at the workplace haven't you?

These are the these are the employees that you know When the boss is around and when they're being looked at they they feign this loyalty to the company, you know

They're a good loyal Employee and you can count on them and all the rest of that kind of stuff but then as soon as the

As soon as the spotlight is taken away from them and they're not under the they're not under the gun anymore

They turn to backstabbing they turn to you know, they undermine they will they may undermine the

The supervisor they may talk bad about him and all that kind of stuff

So on the one hand there, they're pretending to be real loyal. But on the other hand, they're backstabbing and they're undermining that's hypocrisy

That's not obeying with sincerity and another way that we can violate this obedience of sing in singleness of heart is when we're just so focused on our agenda

Rather than the bigger picture of the of the employer that I'm working for for example,

I remember a guy Church, I served who had a very responsible position in this company

He he would have been looked at as more one of the masters if you will in this relation to this dynamic and he had

People working under him and I remember you tell him one time that this new guy came on his came on the job

And in the first week the the employee had to sit down with the guy in my church and Had kind of like an entry interview dialogue kind of thing kind of just to get to know you sort of a thing and one of the first things the employee said to his supervisor the guy in my church was

Just so you know I'm out for your job I'm gonna get your job.

Well that tells you what this guy is going to be focusing on in the carrying out of his duties and responsibilities and as I understand

As I recall that employee didn't last long and he never did get the guy's job but But there there's that kind of an attitude that employees can have in the workplace

They're so focused on what they want they're so focused on their advancement

They're so focused on getting what they're after in their career or in their job that they're not concerned so much with the bigger picture

With what their employer wants of them obey diligently obey sincerely and thirdly

Paul says in verse 6 obey with integrity With integrity and this goes along with the avoidance of hypocrisy

But he says do this not with I service as men pleasers

Not with I service as men pleasers you ever worked with people like that those who were working with I Service, you know what you know what that's like, right?

You know the boss walks in the room and all of a sudden the The energy level picks up and the work the work starts to intensify right because the boss just walked in the room the boss walks out of the room and everybody goes really mean and they get back to their kind of What did what did that the 20 %?

the 20 % effort in the workplace I Saw this in a couple of different places when

I was in younger years We learn this early don't we

We learn this early in childhood. I think it was the the earliest that I can remember must have been fourth grade

Because I was a brat in fourth grade but You've experienced this too probably right the teacher says

Class I have to run down to the office for a minute Sit quietly work on your worksheet.

Don't talk Just do your work. Remember those remember those instructions and The teacher walks out the door the door closes and then what happens?

outcome the spitballs You know outcome the rubber bands all kinds of talking all kinds of carrying on and those who did not have a

Did not have a very good skill at timing we're right in the middle of one of these things when the door opened back up and the teacher walked in and They were still doing this kind of a thing chattering back and forth some of us who could

Time the teacher walking to the office and back We knew we we knew about 15 seconds before the door opened to be sitting there pretending like we were working hard That's childhood

Working with I service and it carries on into adulthood carries on into the workplace

For a short period of time. I worked at at a Kmart when a new

Kmart was built and and I Got into the place when they were still doing all the stocking before the store ever opened so they were doing all the stocking setting up all the display things and everything else and My co -workers

I was how old was I in my 30s? I guess my co -workers were all you know teenagers, you know high school kids and It was the same kind of a deal

We're given responsibility in certain areas things to do and so on and so forth and the boss walks in and Everybody's working really hard.

The boss walks away and everybody's goofing off and that carries on in Every stage of life and it can happen in every kind of workplace

Where we work just only only our best When we're being watched not with I service as men pleasers as men pleasers

And here's the corresponding idea that you're putting on a show. You're putting on a show to impress the higher -ups.

I Remember at that same Kmart The word came

I don't know why they do it this way, but the word came that on Came on Monday that on Thursday the area supervisor was going to come for an inspection

But why do they announce that ahead of time? Right. Why don't they just show up?

Then you see how things really are But announcing it three or four days ahead of time

We got the word the supervisors coming and boy the management of the store managers They just went ballistic for that next the next three or four days

Making sure everything was done, right and you got to do this you know, they were driving us like crazy to get all this stuff just looking perfectly right and everything cleaned up and this was after the store was open and then the day arrives the supervisor comes and we're all like see how good everything looks and The supervisor is duly impressed

Why did we do all of that for three or four days? Well because we're men pleasers now in both of these approaches

I service men pleasers if if that's the approach to your job, if that's the approach you're taking to your work

Then you're serving merely outwardly Without any inward dedication you realize that right and and if you're serving like this

You're serving selfishly for your benefit And not for the greater good of the company or people that you're working for So as an employee you are to obey diligently

Sincerely with integrity and fourthly with a good attitude with a good attitude at the end of verse 6

Paul says we're to do this. We're to do the will of God from the heart from the heart that is we we need to develop a measure of Enthusiasm for the work that we've been given to do and man this can really be tough sometimes can't it?

Can't it I Told you I was working at a Kmart for a while Do you think for a minute?

I wanted to be working at a Kmart I mean I was I was pastoring a church until the end of December of this particular year what year was in 1991 or 92

I 91 and I had to leave that church for a variety of reasons

It was my choice not anybody else's but I did I didn't have a place to go and I had some income guaranteed for a while, but you know still didn't have a place to go that income stops

I'm trying to find work. The only work I can find is to help get this new Kmart opened up Do you think

I wanted to be there? Do you think do you think I wanted to run around the store with my little red smock

So that I would run into people from the church that I left when they came into the store

Do you think I wanted to do that? Absolutely did not But this was the work

I had to do and it was a challenge to be able to to go to that workplace when

I was Signed by ours and to go with any degree of enthusiasm Thank the

Lord by his grace though, I will say that The manager of the store came to me one time.

He says hey You ever thought about going into the management program? How would you like to get into the management program of Kmart?

But looking at Kmart right now You can surely understand that would not have been a good career move But that was not of course my calling anyway, and so I turned him down but develop a measure of enthusiasm

The first the last part of verse 6 tells you and then in verse 7 it says with goodwill

Doing service that is talking about the attitude you have Toward your employer and taught not not toward your work so much as toward your employer and your the company or the place

You're working for you have goodwill toward them In other words you want to express a positive helpful spirit again having seen the inside of a workplace

You know on a factory level as well as other places as well, too it it is one of the biggest complaints of those in management that that people just They never hear any they never hear pot they rarely hear positive they hear grumbling they hear griping they're complaining

They always hear when things aren't perfect They never hear the the thanks they rarely hear the thanks and appreciation for the things that the company does for the employees and how refreshing it is to the to the human resources department the person in charge of human resources and for the individual supervisors in the out on the floor out in the workplace for how refreshing it is for them to Have an employee that actually has a good positive helpful spirit and once what's best for the company and wants to work hard for the company and to To help the employer succeed

That is so refreshing to the to the employer Serve with a good attitude and then fifthly obey with spiritual insight

And here we get down to being a Christian in the workplace being a Christian in the workplace

Obey with spiritual insight now look at look at this passage and notice the repetition of Christ in here, right?

so in verse 5 he says servants obey be obedient to them that are your masters and singleness of heart as Unto Christ as unto

Christ So the Christian responsibility is to see your boss.

All right. Here's a big challenge sometimes See your boss as representing

Jesus See your boss as representing Jesus you're serving that boss as if you were serving

Christ and Then in verse 6 the last part of the verse right in the middle

He says but you are to serve as the you're to obey as the servants of Christ the servants of Christ you see your boss as Representing Jesus and you see yourself as Christ's servant servant of Christ and in verse 7

You're to see your work as something that is offered to Christ. He says in verse 7 with goodwill doing your service as to the

Lord as to the Lord Now one thing I want to point out in each of these areas

That Paul has been talking about this subject of submission he has

He has shown how those areas reflect a spiritual reality

So for example when he talked about the husband -wife relationship He said that relationship is like the relationship between Christ and his church in the first four verses of chapter 6, he's talking about the parent -child relationship and that parent -child relationship for the

Christian should mirror should reflect the relationship between God the Father and his children and now in verses 5

Here of chapter 6 he's talking about the servant -master

Relationship and that reflects the relationship between Christ and his followers

Christ and his servants so there is a spiritual dimension to all of this that we must not miss and as a

Christian I must obey with that spiritual insight and Then as an employee a word about motivation in verse 6

You as an employee you? Obey your master you do more than merely obey, but you work with the right motivation

Verse 8 he says knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the

Lord whether he be bond or Free in other words your ultimate master is always watching and your ultimate master will reward appropriately

Now there is a distinction of course between how our ultimate master rewards and how our earthly master might reward our earthly masters looking at the job description the requirements for the job and our performance in relationship to those requirements our

Ultimate master. It's not so much looking at those things. What he's looking at is the attitude the effort the faithfulness

But he is looking So employees were to obey Employers also have duties they have duties to their employees and this is brought out in verse 9 and Paul says in verse 9 that employers are to notice what he says you are to do the same things unto them

Masters you to do the same things unto them what things what things is an employer to do?

For the servant that the servant is to do for the master what things promote their welfare

You want the employee to to promote your welfare as an employer as a company or whatever?

All right, you promote their welfare you be concerned about their welfare And you because you'd be just as much concerned about their their welfare as you expect them to be concerned about yours in the companies

You want them to show interest in the company and in the

Job that they're doing. All right, you show interest in them and in their efforts and then

You want them to serve you with respect and dignity? Guess what? You serve them with respect and dignity

This is what you are to submit to do as Employers you are to do the same things

But Paul also gives another responsibility places another responsibility on the shoulders of the employer.

He says for bearing threatening Control yourself control yourself.

Don't let your position go to your head don't let your authority result in a sort of an arrogant

Condescending attitude toward the employee where you treat them as Chattel you treat them as something less than human control yourself and and this will be you will be able to do so do so as you are as You are influenced by your priorities

Here's what I mean by that. What's more important to you if you have people working for you

Whether an owner of a company or a supervisor in a company or whatever What is your

What is your priority? the product or the people

Who make the product? right If your priority is the product

You will treat the people in a less than ideal way

You will have a greater difficulty of obeying this forbearing threatening command

It's also influenced by your perception How do you view those people who are working for you?

One of the things that one of the terms I don't like in the modern workplace and modern companies is the term

Human resources It's like you've got your physical resources of the plant

The shop the tools and then you've got the human tools, you know human resources

I'm not suggesting there's a better term. I that's not my place. But my point is you have to be careful

We need to be careful about how we perceive those who are employees do

Do you see them as? people With problems and needs and hurts and heartaches as well as aspirations and goals

Or are they just tools to be used in the process of making your stuff?

No, you're responsible to do the same things to them and to control yourself

And you're also to be driven by the right motivation. You want your employee to be driven by good motivations?

Well, you also need to be driven by the right motivation and Paul addresses that to the Christian employer or master here in the middle of verse 9

We says knowing that your master also is in heaven and neither is their respective persons with him

Be motivated by the awareness that both you and those who work for you serve the same ultimate master

The SV translates that part of the verse this way He who is both their master and yours is in heaven

You both serve the same ultimate master and you will be held accountable

For how you serve in your role as a master The judge the one who holds us accountable

He doesn't look at your position and say oh Well, you have this position in the company.

Well, okay I'll excuse certain things because you had a more

You had a higher level of responsibility in a higher position in the company. No, there's no respecter of persons

God doesn't look at you at your position and say and is impressed by that and is going to evaluate you differently

Less harshly or less severely or less critically Because of that position it will not excuse mistreatment

And your position will also not guarantee greater reward. Oh just because you

Got up the ladder to this role and you had all these people under you Automatically means

God is going to give you greater reward of some kind. No There is no

Respecter of persons. What does God look for in? His evaluation. What is he looking for?

masters Do the same things to them Do the same things to them.

This is what God is gonna be looking for Did you treat them as you wanted them to treat you? Did you behave toward them as you wanted them to behave toward you?

Did you carry out your role and responsibility? toward your employees as You wanted the employees to carry out their role and responsibility for the company.

This is what God is looking for now Understandably Paul is

Presupposing that the ones he's writing to in this passage are followers of Jesus They are employees who are

Christians. They are employers who are Christians So the question that has to be asked of each one of us in this room today is is that us am

I a Christian employee or a Christian Employer and if not

Let the gospel transform you Let the gospel transform you

That you might then be a transforming influence in the workplace let the gospel transform you come to faith in Christ turn from your sin and your selfishness and your

Your pride and your arrogance and all of the rest of that turn from your sin and put your trust in the

Savior Be a Christian become a Christian Whether you're an employee or an employee

But if you are a believer in Christ Let the gospel of Christ and the truth of the gospel transform you and The place you work

Whatever your position in it So our Father in heaven, I pray this morning that you would speak to us through this very very practical

Tangible passage of Scripture is something that we can all relate to in our everyday life And I pray that I pray that you would challenge us where we are

Failing or we are weak in these areas and Lord, I pray that by your grace we would we would determine to be

The people of God in the workplace that you've called us to be that you want us to be

This we pray in Jesus name Amen, how would you take your hymnal and turn to number?

547 547 want to sing just one stanza of the hymn give of your best to the master 547 stanza 2 second stanza

Let's stand together as we sing. Shall we give of your best to the master give him first place in your heart

Give of your best to the master Place in your

Gravely Let's how but grace of our

Lord Jesus Christ You be steadfast Always abounding in the work of the

Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor It's not a thing Pray this in Jesus name