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Reading 1 Timothy 6:1-2 where Paul gives instructions to bondservants that they need to show honor to their masters so the name of God would not be reviled. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
The Bible urges that those who are in slavery were supposed to serve their masters with joy. And if it was upon a slave to have to have that kind of attitude, how much more should it be upon us who are free when we understand the text?
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt .com.
Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. And thank you, listener, for letting my church hijack the podcast last week as we posted the sermons that were delivered in our evening services during Passion Week. I didn't have much of a voice last week and the one sermon of mine that you heard, which would have been Thursday, I was doped up on cough drops and honey and lemon tea.
So I had a lot of medication in my head to even give me a noise, enough voice to get through that. And what you didn't hear was episodes of coughing edited out on top of that. I'm steadily getting back up to speed here.
Becky and I have both been knocked out for about the same amount of time. We both got sick at the same time, our poor kids. So we've got some projects we've been doing here at the house. Those things have been put on hold while we're trying to get better.
As you can tell, I am getting there. My voice is pretty good today. So we're going to get back to the study right where we left off in First Timothy, Chapter 6. We've got all of Chapter 6 yet to go. And today I'm basically just going to get through the first couple of verses.
But let's read, let's see, through about verse 10 here. First Timothy, Chapter 6, starting in verse 1. Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better, since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many pangs. So we come back to the start of chapter 6 here with Paul saying, let all who are under a yoke as bond servants.
And I must say that this is one of the places where I don't think that the ESV translators did this well. I think they should have stuck with the word slaves, doulos in the Greek, which is translated as slaves.
Bond servants really isn't any better. I think it's supposed to come across as a softer word, but I mean a bond servant is a slave. That's what a bond servant is. Let all who are under a yoke as bond servants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
As somebody who has been a Christian apologist, one of those issues that I can say I'm kind of weary of apologizing for has been when a critic will lambast the Bible for giving the thumbs up to slavery.
And they'll use passages just like this and say, see, Paul is saying that slavery is okay. The Bible says slavery is all right, so you should just dismiss it. We shouldn't be reading this archaic text, which allows for the oppression of human beings and all this kind of thing.
But way back at the start of this study, at the beginning of 1 Timothy, in chapter 1, verses 8 through 11, we read the following. Paul said, now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and the disobedient, for the ungodly and the sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
So right there, Paul said that those who enslave other human beings do what is contrary to sound doctrine. He stated that almost at the very beginning of the letter. So when we get here to chapter 6, this is not Paul giving the okay to a system of slavery.
When he says, let all who are under a yoke of slavery regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, that's not what he's saying here at all. Those who enslave, they're going to have to answer to God.
Those who abuse or mistreat their slaves, especially so. But for you who are under a yoke as a bond servant, and that could be for any reason, maybe it's because in the system of slavery that existed in Rome at this particular time, which was more widespread and there were more slaves in the Roman Empire than there were in American history, I must add.
But a person who was a slave in the Roman Empire, they could have been a slave because they were part of a people that had been conquered by the Romans. And so they enslaved those people. They could have been a slave because they owed a debt.
They could have even been born into slavery. There was that possibility as well. And although it wasn't like American slavery, like the like the transatlantic slave system of the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States of America, it was still a system of slavery in which those who were slaves were treated as less than human.
They did not have the kinds of rights that a person who was free had. And if a slave mistreated their master, if they rebelled, if they ran away, if they robbed from their master, the law actually allowed for their master to put them to death if they so desire.
So it was it was not an easy circumstance for a person who was a slave, even in first century slave slavery in the Roman Empire. And there were many times in which a person would come to Christ as a slave, so in which case they were in slavery prior to becoming a Christian.
Now they're in Christ. They're still in slavery. What should we do? Should we rebel? Should we revolt? What should be our response to this? Since we're no longer slaves, but we've been set free in Christ.
And so Paul, in multiple places, encourages slaves to be submissive to their earthly masters. Let me go back to Ephesians chapter six, where we read in verse five, bond servants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ.
For Paul put it to the Romans in his letter to the Romans that we are slaves to Christ. You're either a slave to sin or you're a slave to Christ. You're a slave to the one whom you serve. So we are all slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.
Verse seven, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this, he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bond servant or is free.
And then Paul gave instruction to masters as well. Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him.
In other words, the way that a master treats his slave, he's going to have to answer for that. But for you, who is the slave, you need to be submissive to your master, knowing that you are working for God before you are working for any man.
The Lord sees the work that you do, and he knows that you are working as a just man and not somebody who is worthy of a beating. Should you be working for a master that is that abusive, but instead you still need to be submissive to that master as unto the Lord.
Paul gave a similar instruction in Colossians chapter three, verse 22, where he says bond servants obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ, verse 25, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. So you have a master that mistreats you. He's going to stand before the Lord.
That's not for you to decide what is going to happen to him. And who knows? But the way that you serve him as unto serving the Lord, maybe a testimony to him of the Christ whom you serve, the gospel that you believe in, and he may come to believe because of your good conduct instead of your rebellious conduct.
But the way that he treated you, he's going to have to stand before the Lord to answer for that. Paul goes on to address masters in chapter four, verse one, masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
And so then we come back to first Timothy, chapter six, where Paul says, let all who are under yoke as bond servants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, treating them with dignity and respect.
And then Paul gives the reason for that in the next part, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. You say that you have been set free in Christ and you are not bound by any earthly man.
Show it in your conduct, not that you need to revolt against your master, but that in a testimony to your master, you know that you serve a higher authority than he. God is your master. He is your accountability and he sees all.
There is nothing that you can do that God does not know. And so because you serve the Lord Christ before you serve any man, let that be displayed in your conduct, that that may be a testimony even to your master, since he needs to know he has a master in heaven.
Likewise, Peter also addressed these issues in first Peter, chapter two, beginning in verse 13, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors is sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
For this is the will of God, that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God.
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Servants be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle masters, but also to the unjust masters. For this is a gracious thing when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure, but if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
So back again to first Timothy chapter six, let all who are under a yoke as slaves regard their masters as someone who is worthy of all honor so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
Once again, Christ himself was reviled and he did not revile in return. So the slave must treat their master the same way, even if the master would revile them, that they not revile back, but continue to entrust themselves to him who judges justly.
And that is God who is in heaven. Now, of course, we're talking about this in the context of slavery. You might be wondering, well, what does that have to do with me? I'm not a slave. I don't live in slavery in this present time and age.
So how would this even apply to me now? Well, if this was being said of servants who were slaves and had to respond to even at times abusive masters, then how should you be in your workplace when you work for an employer or a boss who may be abusive to his employees?
A boss or an employer who may cut you down with his words may say some things that are incredibly inappropriate. Maybe you are underpaid. Your services are not valued in the place where you work. Maybe that's the way that you think of the job that you do, that you're just not appreciated enough.
The amount of money that is seen on your paycheck does not reflect the level of work that you do for that business. And you think that you deserve more. Well, if a servant, a slave was being told that they needed to submit to their earthly master and treat them with respect, even if they were disrespectfully treated, how much more should you be in a job that you could leave anytime you wanted?
You could leave that job and go get another job if you wanted to. You are not enslaved to that particular position. But yet that employer is providing for you. You are receiving a paycheck so that you might be able to pay your bills and put food on the table and these kinds of things.
Shouldn't you be grateful to God for that? Shouldn't you do that job to the best of your ability, regardless of whether or not you're appreciated for that job, because you know that you serve the Lord Christ before you serve any man, that you take joy in that job because God is providing for you.
If the slave was supposed to rejoice in his condition, how much more should you be rejoicing because you have what you have been given the freedom that you have in Christ, the freedom that you have in the place where you live in the job that you do and a job that you are not obligated to have to do as though you are enslaved to it, but a job you do to receive a paycheck and are receiving a paycheck.
So give glory to God for that. And treat those employers respectfully. Do it with joy. Do it with a good attitude. That's easier said than done, but it does need to be done. We don't really teach our young people in our culture today, especially to have a good attitude at their jobs.
Rather, it seems like the climate of news and current events and things like that is to complain about your circumstances. I'm being oppressed because I'm not making $15 an hour. You know, we've heard that.
We've seen that story in the headlines, that minimum wage should be $15 an hour instead of, hey, I'm grateful for this opportunity and this money that I'm making to be able to pay my bills and put food on the table.
Being grateful for what it is that we have. James 1 verses 2 and 3 counted all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds. Yet that's not what we're teaching. We're teaching one another to complain about our circumstances.
And even though we live in a free culture and in a free society in which we're receiving more rights now than we've ever had before, yet we continue to try to beat that drum and shout that rallying cry to say, I am not getting what I think that I deserve rather than rejoicing in the fact that we have received far more than we deserve.
You know, I grew up in the South. I was born in Columbia, South Carolina. I'm still a Carolina Gamecocks fan, even though I've lived in Kansas more of my life than I've lived in in South Carolina right now.
As a matter of fact, I'm wearing my South Carolina Gamecock shirt, my sweatshirt, the hoodie that my in-laws bought for me for one Christmas a couple of years ago. But I was surrounded by those those black spirituals when I lived in the South.
And probably the most well-known is Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. You know that one, right? Coming for to carry me home. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. I looked over Jordan. What do I see coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me, coming for to carry me home. And, you know, the majority of these black spirituals were written during a time of slavery. And yet what you hear in those spirituals is the gospel.
One of those spirituals called Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel. And in one of those verses, it says, Deliver Daniel, deliver Daniel. Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel? And why not every man? I see my foot on the gospel ship and the ship begin to sail.
It landed me over on Canaan's shore and I'll never come back no more. These were these were during times of oppression. And yet within these lyrics, you see an understanding of sinfulness and a need for the gospel, even among the slave who was being oppressed.
The song Lonesome Valley. You got to go to the Lonesome Valley. You got to go there by yourself. Nobody else can go for you. You got to go there by yourself. Well, this is about, you know, going through oppression and slavery by yourself, right?
No, it's about confessing your sins before God. And you need to do that. And no one else can do it for you. For the next line is, oh, you got to ask the Lord's forgiveness. Nobody else can ask him for you.
And these were the kinds of songs that were coming out of the South during a time of oppression, during a time when blacks in this nation did not have nearly the rights that they have now. And yet they understood the truth of the gospel and that the gospel would deliver them.
Not any system of man would deliver them out of their state, out of this system of oppression. They would be delivered from their sins by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is not something that I see in our culture as much anymore.
An understanding that the gospel is our deliverance. Rather, we're still trying to change the system of man. And we think that our situation would be better if we could just tweak this and just tweak that and shout down that person and tear down this other person.
We need the gospel. The gospel is the thing that heals, that forgives sin, that rescues a person out of death and transfers them into the kingdom of God. And nothing will do that but the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Changing our cultural condition is not going to do that. Changing our culture will save nobody. Preaching the gospel will. Romans 1 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
I'm grateful for growing up where I did in the South and being exposed to that, to the Negro spirituals. That I would hear the heart of a people who were being oppressed, and yet they were clinging to the gospel of Christ for their hope and salvation, rather than a change in the system of man.
And that taught me to be more grateful for my circumstances and rejoice in the Lord always. Let us pray. Lord, in wherever it is that we find ourselves, I pray that we would submit ourselves fully unto you.
We are told in Romans 12 1 that we need to submit our bodies unto the Lord as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you. And this is our spiritual act of worship. And so teach us what it means to do that.
That with our whole mind and heart and body, we are grateful to God for all that we have been given. And every opportunity that we have today has been ordained by God to give you praise. And so may that be the attitude of our hearts.
And to not be discouraged because we're not getting what we think we deserve. For the truth is we deserve nothing. We deserve death. And yet you have given us so much more through the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, laying his own life down for our sins.
You raised him again from the grave so that all who believe in him will not perish. We become fellow heirs of a kingdom, an entire kingdom, made up of races and tongues and nations of men together, singing your praises in glory for all eternity.
Lord, bring us home and help us to always be looking for that kingdom as our hope. Not anything else in this world, but the kingdom that is promised for us if we endure to the end. We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.