Discipleship in the Workplace

Grace Reformation Bible Church

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May 31, 2025

Preacher: Greg Magazu Scripture: Colossians 3:22-24 Church Retreat 2025

00:01: All right, am I on? All right, excellent. Well, during this morning session, we are going to consider discipleship in the workplace.
00:13: In our memory verse, this would be verses 23 to 24, but I'm going to go all the way to chapter four, verse one, as this is the conclusion of the thought.
00:22: Bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men -pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing
00:30: God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the
00:37: Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
00:47: Masters, give your bond servants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
00:56: So by way of an outline, I'm going to quickly talk about what bond servants refer to today.
01:02: I'm going to talk about what it means to obey in all things, what it means to work unto the
01:08: Lord. We're going to look at the rewards and the warnings. Then we're going to talk to masters for a moment.
01:16: And then finally, we're going to take a brief detour to Titus two and talk about what it means to be workers at home.
01:25: So bond servant in the Greek is the word doulos and literally means slave or can be translated servant.
01:32: In this day and age, it's a wonderful grace of God that we do not have slavery in this country, or at least government sanctioned slavery anyway.
01:40: This does not mean we can ignore these verses because none of us are slaves. In the theology of work project, we read, much as working for wages or a salary is the dominant form of labor in developed countries today, slavery was the dominant form of labor in the
01:55: Roman Empire. Many slaves worked in jobs we would recognize today as occupations, receiving food, shelter, and often a modicum of comforts in return.
02:06: Slaveholders power over their slaves was similar in some respects to, but much more extreme than the power that employers or managers have over workers today.
02:15: The general principles Paul puts forth concerning slaves and masters in this letter can be applied to modern managers and employers, provided we adjust for the significant differences between our situation now and theirs then.
02:28: So we're talking about our workplaces today. Certainly our bosses don't have the type of power over us as masters did over their slaves, but depending on your occupation, it can be very similar.
02:38: Think about a situation where someone works in a very specialized role, perhaps for the only employer who does that in the area, and they receive a very good wage for it.
02:46: That employer has significant power over that employee, and even though that employee can quit at any time, that might be very hard to do considering they might not easily find similar paying work locally.
02:58: In another situation, think about the employee who is working for a pension from their employer. We have several in our church.
03:05: Can these people quit at any time? Well, of course, but think about what they would be forced to give up if they had not met the requirements for collecting that pension.
03:14: It could be a major problem for them financially and for retirement. So as employees, we are not slaves, but the relationships have similarities.
03:26: Now, when we're talking about obeying all things, I actually wanna start by talking about what obeying is not, and I would rather do this first in effort to not take the teeth out of this verse when we get into it directly.
03:38: So the verse says, obey in all things, but all does not really mean all. We must not obey masters when they go against what
03:47: God has said, right, Acts 4, 19 and 20. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge, for we cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard.
03:59: We must also do what is right before any law of man that does not contradict God's law. Romans 13, one and two, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
04:13: Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
04:20: And then, of course, we must do what's right before our own conscience. First Peter three says, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed, for it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
04:37: And of course, we all know Martin Luther's famous quote, I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.
04:44: Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. And again, we've had situations like this in our own church.
04:50: We can think about Joshua and Joe during COVID, right? They had to make decisions as to whether or not to take the vaccine, and those decisions had consequences, right, they lost employment because of it, right?
05:01: So we all have to make these decisions in our workplace. So we obey our masters in all things, but all doesn't always mean all.
05:09: There's one more situation that we have today that is unique to other times. Integrity in the workplace today has another caveat.
05:18: Our boss may not be the owner. So ultimately, our integrity in doing what is right means doing what is right for the company that we work for and not necessarily our direct boss.
05:29: You guys have probably heard of the company Farinos. This was a company that had developed technology where, or at least they claimed to have developed technology where if we just a few drops of blood, they could perform a host of laboratory tests that today require costly machines and vials of blood.
05:47: Had they been able to do this, they could have revolutionized the healthcare system. This company was founded by Elizabeth Holmes, and Farinos at one point was valued at $10 billion and backed by high -profile investors, politicians, and the media.
06:02: Tyler Schultz was a young graduate working at Farinos as an employee in the research and development department.
06:09: Tyler noticed serious problems. The devices didn't produce reliable results. Tests were often done using traditional machines rather than Farinos' own technology.
06:18: The company was misleading doctors, patients, and investors. Tyler brought his concerns to management and was ignored.
06:26: He then warned the board and ultimately spoke to a journalist from the Wall Street Journal, exposing the truth.
06:32: The backlash was swift and intense. Tyler's own grandfather, George Schultz, was a
06:38: Farinos board member and he didn't believe him at first. Farinos hired powerful lawyers to intimidate
06:43: Tyler and his family, and he had to spend over $400 ,000 in legal fees, lost personal relationships, and put his career at risk, but he never backed down, and his decision helped uncover one of the biggest frauds in modern biotech history.
06:56: In 2018, Farinos collapsed, and Elizabeth Holm and other executives were eventually persecuted for fraud.
07:02: So in a situation like that, we do not obey in all things our masters. However, putting these exceptions aside, generally speaking, if our boss tells us to do something, our job is to do it, to the best of our ability, not just to the letter, but to the spirit of that obedience.
07:24: Verse 22 says, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. Now, some might describe me at times at having a bit of a chip on my shoulder in different points in my career when
07:37: I disagreed with the direction of things. I'm always respectful to my bosses when interacting with them, but that's not what this is saying.
07:46: It's saying obey in all things, even if they're a jerk, even if you disagree with what they want done.
07:53: That is hard obedience for a rebel like me to give, but God is serious about this. He mentions it multiple times in his word, and in multiple places.
08:03: Here's just a few other examples. Ephesians 6 .5, bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters. No qualifications in that verse.
08:10: Titus 2 .9, exhort bond servants to be obedient to their masters, to be well -pleasing in all things.
08:17: And then 1 Peter says, servants, be submissive to your own masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.
08:25: Respect isn't earned, it is given, much to the chagrin of our culture. So what does this look like for us?
08:33: Well, the verse mentions integrity, not with eye service as men -pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing
08:39: God. So we are to go above and beyond in our obedience. We are to be actively seeking to obey as best we can.
08:47: We don't just look busy when the boss is around, and then the rest of the time, mail it in or do just enough to get by.
08:53: We, in fact, need to apply the same definition of obedience that we use with our children. Right, what do we tell our children obedience must be?
09:02: It must be right away, all the way, and with a happy heart. Right, so we obey our bosses in the same way.
09:09: We must obey them right away. It means we do not delay that obedience. We are not procrastinators, right?
09:15: We don't say to ourselves, I know my boss wants this cleaned up, but I'll do it tomorrow. Our integrity is based on doing what we say we will when we say we will.
09:24: Jesus says, let your yes be yes and your no be no. He's basically saying, if you say you're gonna do something, do it.
09:32: There is also an aspect of setting realistic expectations with our boss and being willing to set them. If our boss asks us to do something and we have no intention of doing it right now because we have more important things to do, we need to let our boss know that, right?
09:47: Another fun story from my work history. So I used to have a two -email list.
09:53: My two -email list was for people that often asked me to do things and then forgot they asked me to do it after I'd spent two days working on it.
10:00: You went on my two -email list, meaning until I got that second email, I wasn't gonna do what you asked me.
10:06: Now, I don't do that anymore. But that is not obeying at all things, right?
10:11: If I have a problem with what my boss is asking me to do or I don't have time to do it, I have a responsibility to push on that, to say, are you sure you need this?
10:20: I'm working on these other things right now. Can I get it to you in a couple of weeks? Not just to put them on a two -email list.
10:28: Our obedience must be all the way. When we obey, we should obey all the way. We should adhere to the letter and the spirit of what our boss says or our job requires, right?
10:40: We all have our kids, right, who we technically told them to do something and they technically did it, but it wasn't exactly what we were looking for.
10:49: At my last job, my best employee was actually a Christian. And she was someone that I could trust to get done what needed to be done.
10:56: I didn't need to micromanage her. I didn't need to check up and make sure she had done it. She was someone
11:01: I could just say, Colette, I need you to look into and resolve this. And she would analyze the situation, determine what the right thing to do was, and get it done.
11:09: I never had to worry about someone coming to me and saying, hey, that thing Colette was supposed to do, we have a problem.
11:17: That's the type of obedience we should be giving our masters. And then finally, we should have a happy heart when we do it.
11:23: This talks about our attitudes, right? We all, again, we have children, right, who technically are doing what you're doing, but they're complaining about it or they're kicking something on their way to do what you just asked them to do.
11:34: Do we think that is obedient? No, we usually correct them for that. And so we shouldn't think that it's okay to do that to our bosses, right?
11:43: We need to do what we're asked to do without grumbling and complaining. Philippians says, do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.
12:00: So when we have a good attitude, when we do what we're asked to do without complaining and disputing, we can even be a light to those around us.
12:09: A critical and complaining spirit makes life miserable for a leader. Think about Moses in the wilderness, right?
12:15: The people were constantly complaining about what was going on and what they were doing, right? They were complaining that there was no water.
12:23: Moses, in his frustration, strikes the rock rather than speaking to it, disobeying God himself, and he was punished by God for it, right?
12:31: He didn't get to go into the promised land. We don't wanna be those types of bond servants to our masters.
12:39: A critical spirit also causes strife at work, right? Think about Proverbs. It says, scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath.
12:49: Let's make sure we're never accused of being a scoffer. The type of obedience we give our masters must be the same as that of our children to parents or even us to the
13:01: Lord. We should be seeking to obey in all things. That means obeying quickly, completely, and with a good attitude.
13:07: We want to go above and beyond in these things because we want to be an example. We also want to be a good witness before our coworkers.
13:14: Imagine trying to witness to someone at work and you have a reputation for being lazy or having a bad attitude. We should be those who humbly seek to do our best at whatever we do.
13:25: I found a story online that illustrates this point well. At a large hospital in the Midwest, Michael, the night shift janitor, quietly worked the 11 to seven shift.
13:36: Few people saw him. He was responsible for sanitizing surgical suites, hallways, and waiting rooms after hours, work that rarely got recognized and was almost always done alone.
13:47: What set Michael apart wasn't just that he did his job, it was how he did it. He went beyond the basic checklist.
13:53: He noticed when nursing stations was low in supplies and he restocked them. He disinfected high -touch areas that no one else bothered with.
14:01: He would fix squeaky wheels on gurneys, tighten loose door handles, and neatly organize cluttered equipment rooms.
14:08: None of this was in his job description. No one told him to do it. And often, no one knew he had.
14:14: One day during a hospital accreditation inspection, the surveyors arrived early before anyone expected them and walked through a wing that Michael had just cleaned.
14:22: The inspectors commented that it was one of the cleanest, most orderly wings they'd ever seen. When his supervisor tried to give him public credit,
14:30: Michael simply said, I just do what's right. If the patients deserve the best during the day, they deserve it at night too.
14:38: This is what it means to have integrity. We work under the Lord and we do our very best because of that higher purpose.
14:44: It gives real meaning to even the most mundane of assignments. A wonderful example of integrity in the
14:51: Bible is Joseph. Here was a man whose circumstances were unjust. You know, he didn't end up a slave because he got himself into debt or because he was part of a conquered people, but because of the deceit of his brothers.
15:04: Over and over again, he showed himself to be a model of integrity. In Potiphar's house, he distinguished himself by his hard work and intelligence.
15:11: And even when Potiphar's wife cast longing eyes at him, he feared God and would not sin against him. In the dungeon, he could have given up, but instead he once again distinguished himself with hard work and was put over the prisoners.
15:25: And finally, when he was raised up by Pharaoh, he didn't use his power to lord it over people or to make himself rich, but he served others and gave the glory to God.
15:34: Even when his own brothers came before him and the power was in his hand to do them harm, he showed them mercy and ultimately provided for them.
15:42: The scriptures say these things were all because of the mercy of God, but I don't think it's too far to assume that the mercy of God was working with Joseph's hard work to raise him up in each of these circumstances.
15:53: And we know that Joseph always gave the glory to God. Before Potiphar's wife, he said, how then can
15:59: I do this great wickedness and sin against God? To the chief baker and butler, when they told him about his dream, and they said to him, each of us have had a dream and there is no interpreter of it.
16:10: So Joseph said to them, do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please. He says the same thing to Pharaoh.
16:16: So Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, it is not me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And then finally to his brothers, and God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
16:32: We do all of this in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the
16:39: Lord and not to men. The concept is repeated in this verse. We work for God in whatever we do.
16:46: And when we work for God, we should do our very best. These verses give all secular work purpose.
16:52: As much as those who labor in the word are worthy of double honor, there is honor no matter what we do, if we do it unto the
16:59: Lord. And then working under the Lord carries two ideas. Number one, we represent
17:05: Jesus in the workplace as his disciples. And working in Jesus' name means that he is our boss.
17:13: There is both a horizontal and a vertical aspect of our work. Do you realize that when you work under the
17:20: Lord, you're actually building treasure in heaven? Now, I've already spoken about the first aspect.
17:29: In order to have a good witness to our coworkers, we need to work with integrity, or we can bring shame on Jesus' name if we don't.
17:36: The second way, do we truly work as if Jesus is our boss? One commentator says an even deeper way would be to begin the day by imagining what our daily goals would be if God were the owner of our workplace.
17:48: With this understanding of Paul's injunction, we would do all the day's work in pursuit of goals that honor
17:54: God. The apostle's point is that in God's kingdom, our work and prayer are integrated activities.
18:01: We tend to see them as two separate activities that need to be balanced, but they are two aspects of the same activity, namely working to accomplish what
18:10: God wants accomplished in fellowship with other people and with God. If God cares about everything we do, and he does, then why is it that we so often go to work and not consider him, pray to him, seek him for his will for us and what we're doing?
18:28: Lord, help me to quote a fair price for this work I will be doing. Lord, guide me as I create this presentation and help me to represent the situation accurately.
18:38: Lord, guide me as I cut up this animal so that I might not waste anything. Lord, help me to see this situation clearly and apply the law correctly to those involved.
18:49: Lord, help me to diagnose this systems issue and identify a fix quickly. When we fear the
18:55: Lord and we work heartily unto him, it can change our whole outlook. We will honor our masters and do as they ask.
19:02: We will complete our jobs rightly when we seek to do it for our master in heaven. Consider the care you would take in doing your job if it was for God.
19:11: If you imagined the wall you were painting or the cable you were running was in God's palace, or the road you were plowing led up to it.
19:20: If you considered that the plane you were flying had Jesus sitting in first class. Or what if packages that were getting delivered all said
19:28: Jesus on them? How much more carefully would you be handling them? Now, you would do these things more carefully just out of a love for Jesus, but what if there was a reward as well?
19:40: What if your faithfulness to do a job that both honored his name and was in accordance to his ways not only pleased your savior, but he would reward you for it as well?
19:49: Well, he does. Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the
19:57: Lord Christ. Paul tells us this is the reason why. We are to do all things unto
20:03: God and so work is no different. Let's look at this inheritance. Hebrews 9 .15 says, and for this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of the internal inheritance.
20:20: First Peter 1 .3 says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
20:43: We work unto God in whatever state we're in and whatever we are called to do because we have an inheritance.
20:49: Eternal life in Christ Jesus, a place in his kingdom and a hope that is sure. In Revelations it's described like this.
20:57: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
21:04: Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
21:10: And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people.
21:18: God himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
21:24: There should be no more death nor sorrow nor crying. There should be no more pain for the former things have passed away.
21:31: Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, write for these words are true and faithful.
21:38: And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
21:48: He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.
21:59: Now there's also warnings. As is true in many places in scripture, God tells us about the reward but he also gives us the warning.
22:08: In verse 25 it says, but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done and there is no partiality.
22:15: We can expect that if we don't obey our masters in sincerity and do what God has for us heartily unto him, then we will face consequences.
22:24: Do we think of that as well? We fear God in our workplace because he cares about it.
22:30: He cares so there is purpose and reward but also he cares so there are consequences for dishonor as well.
22:38: The verse says there's no partiality, meaning God doesn't care if you're an employee, an employer, if your position is critical or expendable or what type of work you do.
22:49: God will hold us accountable when we do wrong. In fact, because we are children, his children and represent his name, we are likely to face greater punishment for doing wrong in the workplace.
23:01: I want to look at a few of the things Paul warns us about in this chapter and apply them to work. Mainly anger, filthy language and lying.
23:10: In verses eight and nine of chapter three it says, but now you yourselves are to put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
23:21: Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds. Let's look at lying.
23:28: Now obviously we're not to lie wherever we are and work is no exception but I can't think of a place where the temptation to lie or be deceitful is strongest.
23:38: Again, in the theology of work project it says, lying can result from promoting the company's prospects or the product's benefits inaccurately.
23:46: It is proper for every enterprise to have a vision for its products, services and its organization that goes beyond what is presently in place.
23:54: A sales brochure ought to describe that product in its highest best use along with warnings about the product's limitations.
24:01: A stock prospectus ought to describe what the company hopes to accomplish if it is successful but also the risks the company may encounter along the way.
24:11: If the desire to portray a product, service, company or person in a visionary light crosses the line of deception, an unbalanced portrayal of risks versus reward or misdirection or plain fabrication and lies then sin once again reigns.
24:27: These are areas as Christians where we are called to distinguish ourselves by our master in heaven.
24:33: They are also the places where we will be most tempted to let something just happen or to look the other way when we know it is wrong especially if we're in a position to call out something that our master on earth wants done.
24:49: When it comes to anger, anger, wrath and malice is another area where we need to guard ourselves in the workplace.
24:56: In today's culture the worst thing you can commit is not being nice and that should not stop us from being bold but let us always do it in a controlled and winsome manner.
25:07: Imagine trying to represent your Lord in a place where you have a reputation for flying off the handle. Again, another commentator said anger can appear in conflict.
25:17: It is necessary for conflict to be expressed, explored and resolved in any workplace but if conflict is not dealt with openly and fairly it degenerates into unresolved anger, rage and malicious intent and sin has taken hold.
25:30: As Christians we are most aware of sin and how it manifests and how to deal with it even in situations where repentance is in short supply we must be those who have self -control and are able to maintain professionalism in the face of it.
25:47: And then finally let's talk about filthy language which I really put this one in here for myself. Finally, another area that stabs me in the heart.
25:56: Now I grew up around my father's business and my father worked around mechanics and these folks excelled in swearing to the point where you might think it was a unique language they spoke.
26:06: I mean every other word was an F -bomb or something as vulgar. As Melanie can attest
26:11: I have always had trouble with this and when I'm around people who swear a lot
26:16: I can find myself slipping into old ways. And nowadays this isn't just with mechanics.
26:22: I had a COO at my last job who every other word out of his mouth was a swear. However, my upbringing is no excuse for this.
26:31: I am a new creation in Christ and I need to learn a new language. This is an area where we can just sound like everyone else or we can distinguish ourselves as different and therefore glorify our master in heaven.
26:43: If you are in a workplace where this happens all the time and you don't participate in it, you look different.
26:49: In fact, if they know you are a Christian and you endeavor to not swear often your coworkers will try not to swear around you.
26:56: Or they may even apologize to you when they do it. This is a wonderful thing. Let's also remember to watch ourselves around all forms of filthiness.
27:05: Let's not laugh at lewd jokes or things that make a mockery of sin. One of my favorite stories from Dan McFarlane is that when someone used to use the
27:15: Lord's name in vain in the workplace, he used to run over to the group and say, oh, are you guys praying? Can I join you? Now you can imagine what that probably made
27:23: Dan seem like in the workplace, but I bet you they didn't use the Lord's name in vain. Now let's talk about masters.
27:35: Masters, give your bond servants what is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven. As bond servants, we can bring shame or glory.
27:44: As bond servants, we can bring shame or glory to God's name in the workplace, but how much more so as masters?
27:51: If you manage people or own your own business, you can set a tone in the workplace that brings glory to God. The verse says to give your employees what is just and fair and we need to seek
28:01: God for what that looks like in each situation. Do we give a livable wage? Do we provide for our employees as best as we are able?
28:09: Do we seek to exalt God's ways and our practices or are we just about profits? I don't know if anyone's heard of Stanley Tam.
28:20: He's a founder and former CEO of US Plastics Corporation. You can read about, he has a book called
28:26: God Owns My Business. And he was someone who grew up in the
28:32: Great Depression. He actually died two years ago at 107. And he struggled in business early on.
28:41: He became a Christian and then he started dedicating more and more of his business to the Lord. He eventually put over 51 % into a trust run by a charity so that all of the profits from the business were owned by the charity.
28:56: And then eventually God called him to put the entire business in the trust. And so he was just, or as he described it,
29:02: I'm just an employee of God. And so 100 % of his profits went to the charity and the charity could distribute them as they want.
29:12: Now again, Stanley Tam is a George Mueller sort of story. And amazing what happened.
29:17: It's amazing how the Lord used him and the things that he did through him. But it doesn't necessarily mean as Christians we all need to run our business this way.
29:24: But the things that he prized were he always paid his employees well and always significantly more than market.
29:30: But while him and his family drew a modest salary off the business, he was a lover of the gospel and he used his business and his business influence to spread the gospel.
29:42: He was someone who truly exemplified Colossians 4 .1 and how he ran his business, how he treated his employees, and how he stewarded what
29:49: God had given him. He understood that all that he had is from the Lord's hands and that he was to remember, and that is what we are to remember as masters, right?
29:59: You don't own your business, God does. When God has put us in a position where we have people under us, we always have a greater responsibility.
30:10: This is true in the business world as well. We have a responsibility to treat them fairly and justly in all that we do.
30:16: When we enter the work world, we can't say to ourselves, well, this is my business and I have to support my family so I have to work like the world does.
30:23: We are called to be different and that means looking to God's word for what is just and fair, not to what the world considers just and fair.
30:31: The reason is that even as masters, you also have a master. You will give an account to him for how you ran your business and manage your employees.
30:40: Just as husbands will give an account, just as fathers will give an account, just as elders will give an account, just as magistrates will give an account, so you as a master of your business will give an account for how you ran that business.
30:56: And then finally, I wanna take a detour to Titus 2 because I don't wanna leave the ladies out. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good so that they may encourage the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husband so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
31:23: For that quote, I used the NASB mainly because it translated that phrase workers at home rather than homemakers and I like it better.
31:32: So, first we must state that men are not the only workers. Women are workers as well.
31:38: The dominion mandate was given to both Adam and Eve. So God created man in his own image.
31:43: In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.
31:52: Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
31:59: If we take a look at Proverbs 31, we read, the heart of her husband safely trusts her so he will have no lack of gain.
32:06: She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands.
32:13: She is like the merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and a portion for her maidservants.
32:23: She considers a field and buys it. From her profits, she plants a vineyard.
32:29: She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good and her lamp does not go out by night.
32:38: She stretches out her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor.
32:44: Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. Here we have a picture of a woman who provides food for her household, engages in real estate transactions and develops that real estate, has maidservants to manage, she has her own profits and merchandise, and she uses her resources to bless and to give.
33:04: Now let's read Colossians 3 again. Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men -pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing
33:13: God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the
33:19: Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
33:27: Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. If we break these things down at a principal level, we see that all of Colossians 3 related to bondservants and masters also relates to women in the home.
33:42: She serves her husband not with eye service, but with integrity. She serves in sincerity of heart, fearing
33:47: God, just as her husband does in the workplace. Whatever she does at home, whether it's housekeeping, homeschooling, running a business, working land, raising the children, she does heartily as to the
33:59: Lord and not to men. She can look forward to the same reward of inheritance because she serves the
34:05: Lord Christ. She can also expect discipline if she does wrong, for there is no partiality with her either.
34:12: She must not be lazy and spend half her day on social media. She must model honesty and a gentle spirit before her children.
34:22: And although I don't think the ladies struggle with foul language as men often do, but if you do,
34:27: I mean, you shouldn't be doing that before your children. Finally, even relationship to managing the children as they grow older in the house, there is an aspect of being a master and treating your children with justice and fairness.
34:42: For you have a master in heaven as well, and you will give an account to him of how you ran your home and treated your children and the people of your household.
34:50: As I'm preaching this now, I realize I probably should have started the entire talk with this because this talk is just as relevant to the ladies as it is to the men.
34:59: Because even though it might look different for a woman at home, she must work in similar ways as her husband does in the workplace.
35:08: As I conclude, I will bring up one more application for the men, which is probably not as relevant for the ladies.
35:15: There is keeping a balance in our lives and remembering that we will give an account, as the ladies will, for the type of husband and father we are.
35:23: Men often look at verses like, and whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. Or, but if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially of those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
35:36: And we can use these verses to justify being a workaholic. We are to work hard, and we are to provide, but that is not our only responsibility.
35:47: And physical things are not the only provision that we bring. Men can easily become workaholics.
35:53: For some men, myself included, it is easier to work and provide than it is to love our wives, or love and shepherd our children.
36:01: And so we tend to use verses like this, like I just read, to justify spending all of our time working.
36:10: Let us not be wonderful providers and forget our responsibilities to be priests in our home. Let us not forget that we must disciple our children and wash our wives with the water of the word.
36:23: Let us not forget that our families need us to be good bond servants or masters so that we can give them food and shelter, but they need us just as much, if not more, to provide them spiritual food and the shelter of protection and love that is the role of a husband and father.
36:40: We are to represent Christ in our families as well as in the workplace, and we have to determine how to faithfully do both in both places.
36:49: May God help us. What Paul is telling us is that we cannot compartmentalize work separately from our faith.
36:58: We are disciples in our homes as parents and children and as wives and husbands. We are also disciples in our workplace, and we have to consider what it looks like to work for our master in heaven in this area of our lives.
37:12: In fact, when we look at our verses, Paul uses more ink on this area than the others combined, so this must be important to God.
37:21: Work is central to creation. We will continue to work even in eternity, so let us consider what it looks like to do that work unto
37:30: God for his glory. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you,
37:39: O God, for this time. We thank you, Lord, for these verses. We thank you,
37:45: Father, for the reminders that, Lord, there is no area of our lives that you don't care about,
37:52: Lord. There's no areas of your life where we don't have to obey your ways and seek your face and seek to glorify your name.
38:02: Father, you care about it all, and, Father, it is a testimony to your love for us that you care about it all.
38:10: Father, we pray that you would guide us as men and women as we do our work, that we would do it unto you and for your glory.
38:19: Lord, I know for myself some of the greatest areas where I am tempted to sin is in the workplace.
38:28: Lord, when I'm dealing with the things that I have to deal with and I can so often separate in my own mind what
38:34: I do at work from what I do the rest of the time. But, Lord, you don't see a separation, and so,
38:42: Father, help me and help us not to see that separation. Lord, help us to do all that we do unto your glory.
38:48: Help us to do it heartily. Let's help us to do it with integrity, and help us, O Lord, to glorify you in our workplace.