1 Timothy for the life of..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. Paul writing to young Timothy, let all who are under a yoke of bond servants 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. Amen. This is the word of the Lord so far. We've been working our way through this first epistle of Timothy, and for the last few weeks, we've actually been going through or considering the last, probably half of chapter five, which in particular from verses 15, no, from verse 17 through the end of the chapter, it is very much speaking of the elders in the church, focused on what the elders do in the church. And what we have done in the last few weeks, we've answered so many questions.

Our brother has, in the weeks before, like two weeks before, and myself last week, my brother answered some very important questions that the church ought to have in regards to the elders. So, for example, is Paul speaking about, in that section, that some elders rule well and some elders don't rule well, or that they all rule well? What does he mean by the elders should be honoured with double honour? Do all elders, do all pastors, do all shepherds, and we know that elder, pastor, and shepherd is synonymously used in the New Testament. One can be used or the other, and they mean the same person, same role, same function in the church.

Are they all meant to be honored in a material sense or only some? And how about the very important question, when an elder is accused of sin? How's the church to deal with that? How's the church to deal with when the person or the persons who teach them the word, who proclaim the gospel, who study and proclaim, and those who shepherd the flock when they're accused of sin, what is the biblical way to deal with these things? These are very important questions.

Because if the elder is accused falsely, if he's slandered as a result of gossip, then there can be quite severe consequences, especially to his reputation, the reputation of the church, and those on the outside looking in. So we need to deal with these things biblically. Now, unfortunately, as our brother said also, that sometimes those accusations are true. They're not false. that the elder or the shepherd or the pastor does fall into sin and commits a heinous sin.

How's the church to deal with those situations? What is biblical in that sense? Our brother took us through Matthew 18, and he explained to us what church discipline is. And church discipline is not only for the elder, but it's for any of the members, any of the body of Christ who fall into unrepentant sin, because Christ is very concerned with the purity of the church. Sin affects one another.

The sin of one member always affects others. The consequences are far-reaching. It's a ripple effect. And so we looked at how we should be dealing with these situations if they arise in the church, because obviously when they do, there are severe consequences. There's damage to the people of God.

There's damage to the reputation. And those from the outside looking in have now got a reason to revile or blaspheme the church of Jesus Christ, which ought to be pure and holy. It's a reflection of who he is. It's his presence on the earth. So the Apostle Paul gives very wise instructions to Timothy.

He's saying, look, the damage for a pastor who falls in sin or a pastor who begins to teach falsely, like has been the instances that we've seen already in this book, is devastating. Therefore, young Timothy, and this is what we went through last week, take your time. Don't be in haste to appoint an elder. Don't be in haste to put someone in that place. Now, it becomes obvious to us, reading through the epistle, that it's very likely that Timothy has some vacancies available, because it's been more than likely the false teachers who have arisen, and he may have had to dispose of them, and there may have been need in the church.

But even then, even when there's a need in the church for a pastor, for elders, Don't be in a hurry to appoint someone because it's not the human choice that you want Timothy. And by extension, that advice, that command should be given to all the New Testament churches, that it's not the human choice that we're looking for. We're looking for the man or the men that the Lord Jesus Christ, by his spirit, has called and has appointed and has gifted in order to shepherd the flock, in order to take care of his precious bride, of which he has paid for with his very precious blood. That man ought to, the church ought to take her time. That's what the emphasis was last week, the last few verses of chapter five.

Take your time, young Timothy. Examine the man's life. Examine his conduct. Examine his life amongst his wife and his family, even to the point, how do the outsiders see him? How is he seen in the workplace?

Is he respected by outsiders? Now, if you remember in chapter three, when we looked at the qualifications for an elder, that was one of the points, that the elder needs to be respected by outsiders. How do you know these things? Well, you don't unless you give it time. And that was the emphasis for Paul to young Timothy.

Give it some time. Because in time, this is what the Lord does. In time, sins that have been hidden. If there are hidden sins, if this man, a candidate for elder, for pastor, has hidden some sins or has sinister motives or agendas for the church, wolves in sheep's clothing, then in time, the Lord Jesus Christ will weed these people out and that sin will become revealed it comes to the top and then you can make or the church can make an informed decision about these men and the vice is also true when you have men among you who might not be outspoken their good works may be in secret then in time those good works Paul says also are revealed, because they too cannot remain hidden. So time, prayer, considering who you appoint, not in haste, but in biblical wisdom, is always best to take your time and to do it thoroughly and biblically.

And even then, some will slip through the cracks, but that's in the Lord's hands. Because when you give an account, young Timothy, You can stand before the Lord and say, I did what I believed your word said. I stand upon your word. And those who have slipped into the cracks, they are destined for destruction. Lord, they're in your hands.

Now, the verses that we are looking at this evening, It seems like the Apostle Paul has taken a little bit of a turn from the elders in the last half chapter of chapter 5 to a different type of authority. The elders are the ruling elders. They're the ones who have authority within the church. Now he takes us to a different type of authority, the authority of a master over slaves. And so we might ask ourselves, why is it?

Why is it that Paul dedicates a portion of Scripture in this passage only for you to remember other portions in Ephesus and Colossians and other places? Why does he dedicate portions of Scripture to address in particular slaves? Now, I think the best way to answer that is the first part of chapter 5. If you remember, if you look at your Bibles, the first half of chapter 5, what does it speak to? It speaks to the widows of the church.

And if you remember, we said that the widows of the church were plentiful. For some reason, many men in this time were dying quite young, and a lot of young women were becoming widows. And Paul was saying there are true widows in the church, and maybe some they're not so true. This is how the widows ought to conduct themselves in the church, this is how they should serve the church, and this is how the church should meet the needs of the widows. And if you remember, the first concern of the early New Testament church in Acts chapter 6 was the widows, the Greek widows and the Jewish widows.

The Greek widows were feeling that they were overlooked in the daily distributions, and therefore the apostles said to the church, go find seven men filled with the Holy Spirit. And let's appoint them as essentially the first deacons of the church to take care of the physical needs of the church so that the apostles could dedicate their time to preaching and prayer. Because that is the centrality of the church. It's built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and the apostles and the prophets. And it's their word.

It's the word of God. It's the proclamation of the gospel that is central. And so they were appointed for that reason. So what we have here is we have the Apostle Paul addressing slaves. And it's simply because of the same reason.

Like the widows were plentiful in this time and this age, slaves were plentiful in the Roman Empire. In fact, men and women in deep bondage to slavery were an essential part of the Roman economy. Historians estimate the first century Roman Empire, as far as its span, had an estimate of around one third, up to one third of the total population, were actually slaves. In fact, there are documentations that would support that even some slaves had slaves. That sounds odd, but it's true.

And so with a population of around about 150 to 200 million people in the first century, you think about how many a third of that would be, and we're talking upwards of 50 million slaves in this time. and in this age. And if these estimates are true, then it would be fair to say that the New Testament church consisted of a large portion of slaves. I mean, these are regular men and women that were converted into Christianity by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, trusting the Lord by faith, and being saved by the Holy Spirit, and then being added to the church. The missionary journeys that went into Asia Minor through Paul or Corinth or Athens or into Antioch or Syria, all these missionary journeys were bringing in converts, Gentile converts, from the Roman Empire.

And so up to a third were indeed slaves. So it's important that we keep that in the back of our mind because that's a very interesting dynamic. When you see the letters that Paul has written to the New Testament churches, When you put that in the back of your mind, you're thinking probably up to a third of the hearers of the letters, because the letters were read orally, up to a third of the hearers were most likely slaves. Then you probably get a different view. You'll see this is why he speaks so much to the slaves.

This is why he dedicates so much time to the masters and Peter and the other apostles as well. So we ought to keep that in the back of our minds. So let's look at what the verses before us says. Verse one. Let all who are under the yoke as bondservants, and the word here is doulos, and doulos means slave, slave, regard their owners as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and the teaching may not be revealed.

So let all who are under the yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. So that's honor here, the word really connotes esteem or respectfulness. Now I want you to realize a couple of things. Paul uses the term under a yoke and we all know what a yoke is. It's that device or the thing that goes over the head of the oxen that couples maybe two animals and restricts their movement so they can plow the ground.

The plowman can just pull on the yoke on one side or the other and the oxen does as he pleases. It's a heavy burden and that's what it means here that the yoke is a heavy burden. And the next word he uses here is master. your own master. And that word is, it means, it's despotes in Greek, and it connotes really a supreme authority, a person who has authority to demand what he pleases.

So really what we're looking at in the first century, the slaves really were people who were under the complete authority of their masters. Their masters, in fact, had full possession over them. full possession over them. Some were noble, some were caring and gentle, but many were harsh. Many were cruel.

In fact, there are many historians in secular history that would write about the slaves in this time are being treated so harshly. Some were chained, some were beaten, actually, and some were treated so badly that if you heard of or saw an animal treated that way, it would make your stomach turn over. In many instances, masters have been known to be quite harsh towards their slaves. But either way, that slave is a possession of the master. Whatever he says, he must do.

It may be begrudging. It may be willing. But when the master spoke, the slave obeyed. He had no two ways about it. And some Christians providentially found themselves in that situation in the first century.

They found themselves as slaves to masters, some better than others. But nonetheless, Paul is addressing these people who have a burden on their shoulders, who have masters who demand of them to do as they please, and they must, they must oblige. Now, I said earlier that some providentially found themselves in this situation because there was many ways to become slave in the first century. Some were by volition, by your own will. And that is, for example, if someone owed money or had a great debt that they couldn't pay, they could sell themselves.

They could opt to sell themselves to some person as a slave for a period so they could work off that debt. I'll be your possession. Do and ask of me as you will until I've paid off my debt. Now, that's someone's own volition, their own will. But there are many instances where people found themselves as slaves and it wasn't from their own will.

that it was forced upon them. For example, if your mum and dad were slaves and you were born, you were born a slave. You're born into a slave family. In many instances here, we have slaves that are slaves because, for instance, prisoners of war. They were captured and they were from another region, and when they're captured, they're sold into slavery.

There are instances of young children being targeted and kidnapped and then sold into the slave markets. That wasn't their volition. That wasn't their will. And they find themselves under that extreme burden when it's really no fault of their own. Or even worse, there are instances, of course we know of this, where parents were selling their own children.

into slavery, into bondage. In this day and age, we find it very difficult to even comprehend these truths. But they are truth. They are true indeed, because this was a different time to what we're experiencing here and now. And so in cases like this, where people found themselves as slaves, not over their own free will, you can understand that it's possible that they develop what we call a victim mentality.

That is, they start to feel it's not fair. I don't belong here. I didn't choose this life. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here.

These circumstances are unfair. I don't want to be in this place. It's easy for one to become hardened under those circumstances, to become resentful, to become bitter, especially towards, well, their masters, because it's their masters who are demanding of them to do what they need to do. And so in that time, in time, that resentment, the very nature of resentment is devoid of love. And so that resentment over time develops in a person an attitude of contempt and disrespect.

And Beloved, give it enough time, even hate, hate towards their masters. Why? Why should I be here? I don't deserve this. I hate you."

Now, they might not say it because they'll get beaten, but they may believe it. It may be something that's manifesting in their hearts and in their souls. And I want you to see something in Paul's writing. In these verses, and in fact, nowhere in the New Testament does he address the reasons or the circumstances behind the predicament of slaves becoming slaves. He doesn't address why or how they became slaves, whether it was their volition or whether it was under force.

He cuts straight to the chase. What does he say? He says, if you're a Christian, if you've been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, if you've been redeemed by faith upon the second member of the Trinity who shed his blood on the cross, and you've been cleansed and you've been added into the bride of Jesus Christ, and you're a slave, and you have a master, then you owe him respect. You owe him honor. You owe him respect and you owe him honor.

These are very difficult words, especially if they didn't choose to be there. If they had the victim mentality, they want to be heard. They want to complain. They want to whinge. They want sympathy.

But Paul, at this point, he's not giving sympathy. Paul is telling them, under God, this is your role. Under God, you have a master. and you need to obey that master. You see, there's something behind Paul's speech.

There's an overarching principle that Paul works by, and it's simply this, beloved. He totally believes in the sovereignty of God over all things. He believes in the sovereignty of God over all their circumstances, even if they're unfairly imprisoned into slavery or into the slave trade, God is still sovereign over your plight. You see, none of us are slaves, so we don't quite understand the dynamic. But I'm sure many of us have had the victim mentality.

I'm sure many of us have said to ourselves, why me? Well, this is not fair. I'm sure we understand somewhat of what these slaves were going through. And we really want Paul to write something here and abolish all slavery and get rid of it altogether. Just get rid of it.

You know, say, look, masters, get rid of your slaves, give them freedom. But he doesn't. He doesn't do that. He just tells the slaves, basically, he says, honour your masters. Be respectful of your masters.

If you're there, God is sovereign over your plight, He's sovereign over your circumstances. Trust the Lord and obey His precepts and show that you are in Christ. He gives principles a little bit later on and we'll look into those but I just want you to remember that at this point in time because it's up to you to do your bit and that is to be faithful and you leave God to do what He does in His own sovereignty. Now, you might remember, Scripture is replete with examples of the sovereignty of God, where people have found themselves in situations that they don't want to be in. And I'm sure one comes to your mind, as a congregation, we've just finished the book of Genesis, right?

What's the example that comes to our mind? Someone being sold into slavery, or as a slave, and then into Joseph. By his brothers unfairly, of no fault of his own, he's sold into slavery, Potiphar's house, and then he's in Potiphar's house, he's accused of doing something he did not do, and then he is sent to prison for a period of time. Now that's unfair. And he could have complained.

He could have said, it's why me, Lord? This is harsh. This is not fair. But we know through reading the scripture that in Potiphar's house, he honored his master. He had the favor of the Lord, but he honored his master.

He respected his master. He knew his place. And when the Potiphar's wife wanted to present himself before him, he said, no, I cannot dishonor him in this way or God. Right. So he knew his place.

And then he was sent to prison. And he could have sulked and wept and had that mentality, why me? But he didn't. Because we know even in prison, the prison guard gives him charge over all the prisoners. I'm not making an example of Joseph to say, go be like Joseph.

But I'm saying, beloved, that we ought to recognize that any place we're in, any authority that is over us, whether it's just or unjust, is under God. He's the supreme authority of all things. And if we're believing in a sovereign God, and He is sovereign, then we need to trust Him for all things and work in the situation faithfully, according to God's word, trusting Him for all things. That is to be diligent. That is to be respectful.

And that is to be respectful despite who the master is. Because the master could be a moral person, or he could be a completely immoral person. He could be harsh. He could beat these slaves. He could do the wrong thing by them, and Paul is not even addressing that.

You see, Paul doesn't even mention whether the slaves or the masters are harsh or whether they're gentle, loving people. He does a little later on, he says about believing masters, so we assume that they're gentle and loving and caring. But when he says that you are to honor your masters, he doesn't mention. He doesn't say, only the masters who are caring. No, he just gives that blanket statement and he says, honor or respect your masters.

Even if they're unfair. Even if they're unfair. And see, the Apostle Peter speaks to unfair masters. You probably know the passage I'm thinking about. It's 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 18 and 20.

Now, the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy doesn't speak to this point in particular. But because he makes that blanket statement, it is obvious to me, at least, that he is referring to all masters, even those who are harsh. And Peter brings some light to that situation because 1 Peter 2 verse 18 and 20 reads this way. He says, servants, be subject to your masters with all respect. Not only to the good and gentle, hear that?

Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing. When mindful of God, one endures sorrow while suffering unjustly. Whether harsh or cruel, treat your masters well. Treat them with honor, be diligent, be faithful in your work, and let God be in charge of the rest.

So we don't have masters. We have employers. And there's a different dynamic to employers than masters. Because if we wanted to, if our employer is treating us badly, we can resign. We can have a discussion with our employer and we can say, look, these circumstances are unfair.

Can we talk about this? We can have those discussions and we have the option to say, thank you. Two weeks notice, I'm gone. The slaves didn't have that option. But either way, brothers and sisters, If we don't have those discussions with our employers, or let's say we do, yet we choose to stay, then we must be diligent, we must be loyal, and we must honour and respect them as our authority, because we choose to stay.

Now, it wouldn't be right for us to address something, they don't fix the problem, and therefore we say, I'm going to be a little bit slothful, I'm going to be a bit lazy because I just don't respect them. No, that's dishonouring to the Lord. Because remember, we're doing things, and I haven't given you the principle yet, and it sounds a bit legalistic, but I've done that on purpose because we're going to get to the principle very soon. But we ought to remember that if we, and I want to apply this to us today, if we are thinking about our employers, then we ought to recognize their authority over us, and we ought to treat them with respect and the honor that is due. Okay.

And it's despite of their of their moral condition. Now, in verse 2, Paul takes it a different way. He says, those who are believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better since they benefit by their good service and are brothers and beloved. So you might think, That's a given.

Why is he instructing, why is Paul instructing the slaves not to be disrespectful to Christian masters? You would think that that would be joyous, that would be overwhelmed, that surely the Christian masters are caring and gentle and they show no partiality, and surely the slaves should see themselves as privileged to be working for Christian masters. Now, we don't know exactly what the circumstances were, but there's a few things you can think about. Think about it this way. Let's say there's a Christian slave and he's working for a Christian master.

It may be that he allows some carnal thoughts to come into his mind. It may be that he allows in his mind to think, hold on, I'm a Christian. You're a Christian. Why should I submit to you? Why should I submit to you?

Is it right for me to be a slave and in Christ we're both free? Maybe. Maybe that's what he's thinking. Maybe in his mind he's thinking that he wants preferential treatment. Maybe this slave thinks that because we're both Christian, the others aren't, you can treat me a little bit better.

You give me the lighter duties and give them the heavier duties. And maybe the master doesn't give him the preferential treatment. Maybe this master is a man who who takes James 2 seriously and doesn't show partiality, and treats people respectfully and treats people fairly. Or maybe the Christian expects to be rewarded better than the other slaves, and in his mind he's thinking, come on, we're brothers in Christ, now come, you should give me a little bit more of the perks than the other people. These are just hypothetical, we don't really know.

But it could be that that sort of thinking enters into a man's heart. And when it does, it creates resentment. And then in time, he will think little of his master. And what will happen is it will manifest into a lack of respect and a lack of honor for the other person. This is just the natural sinful inclinations of the heart.

Or it could be even more subtle. See, it could be that this Christian slave has misinterpreted Galatians chapter three, verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ.

Therefore, how could I be your slave? In Christ, there's none of this. You should treat me equally. Maybe that's the way he's thinking. Either way, Paul is saying, if he's your master, you owe him respect.

You owe him honor, whether he's believing or an unbelieving master. You owe him the honor he deserves and you owe him to work for him or to serve him joyfully. Now he does say when he's a Christian, you should find more joy in that because he is a brother in Christ. Don't expect better treatment. But you should find more joy because your service is benefiting a brother in Jesus Christ.

Your service is benefiting one person who is in the body of Christ, in the bride of Christ. Surely that should bring you joy. Surely it brings us joy to work with other true Christians that love the Lord. If a Christian who is our boss, who loves the Lord, it's a wonderful place to be. It's wonderful.

You're committed. You should be committed both ways, whether Christian or not. But there is more joy in serving a brother. brother in the Christ. Now that's the imperatives.

They're the things that Paul says, you know, you must do if you're slaves, or in our context, if we are employers, towards our employees, towards our employers. That's the what, what the slaves should do, or by extension, as New Testament Christians, what employees ought to do to their employers. But I want to get now, I want to get into the why. I want to see the principles behind why it is that we do that. Why it is that as Christians we ought to honour our masters, we ought to honour our bosses, we ought to honour our authorities.

Why is it that what's behind what Paul is saying in this text? See, I believe here Paul is communicating something very profound, and it's reiterated by other portions in Scripture. So yes, Christians, whether we're slave or free, the situation we are to see and recognize the situation that we're in from beyond the physical or the immediate physical settings and look at the spiritual, eternal realities. In other words, your eyes ought not to be so entrenched or immersed on the physical, what's going here and now, but rather beyond. See, his or her attitude ought to be one that conducts themselves and is determined by the relationship that we have or the slave has, not with the master, not in and of itself, with the master, but with Christ.

You see, Romans 6 tells us that we are no longer under the yoke of sin, but of God. Christians are slaves to righteousness. They're slaves to God. You see, Jesus is our Lord. Jesus is our master.

You remember the confession of Thomas in John 20, when he sees the risen Savior, he says, my Lord and my God. Ultimately, brothers and sisters, Christ is our master. And whenever we deal with anyone, whether it's authorities or other people, we deal with them under the master, Jesus Christ, because ultimately it's for Him that we live. So we've been redeemed from our sin. We die to our sin in order that we can live in Christ, to serve Christ as master.

And we do what He has instructed us to do, and we do it all for His glory ultimately. Remember 1 Corinthians 10, whatever you do, you do it unto the Lord for His glory. So we do everything for the glory of God. So whether we're slave or free, our attitude, our conduct in all that we do, in all of life, ought to be a reality. which is front and center, that we have one master, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the ultimate master for every Christian. And we serve him, and we seek to honor him, and we seek to glorify him in everything we do. And therefore, we serve our employers. Slaves serve their masters, beloved. Husbands serve their wives and wives their husbands, children, your parents, whatever relationships we have to authority, whatever relationships we have to one another, we ought to conduct those relationships before the Lord for the glory of God alone.

Because in all things, in all of life, we serve Him in everything that we do. This means that even if we find ourselves in situations that we don't want to be in. Even if we find ourselves in situations or in conditions that are harsh and unfriendly and unbecoming, then even in those situations, we do what we do faithfully because we serve our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, this is why Paul doesn't renounce slavery. He doesn't encourage slaves to run away and free or liberate themselves.

He doesn't even consider why they were captive. Why were they captive? Or argue whether this is just and this is unjust and play the adjudicator. Paul does none of this. He providentially knows that they are where they are under the sovereignty of God who cares and loves his people for a reason.

And because of that, he will instruct them to be joyful in their service not ultimately towards the master, but to Christ. Because the reflection, the way they serve their earthly master, ought to be a reflection of how they serve Jesus Christ in all of life. How do you serve Christ? How do you live before him? Is it joyfully?

Is it begrudgingly? Or is it willingly? This is the attitude that we ought to have when we serve our authorities, I love the way Paul reiterates this point in Ephesians chapter 6 verses 5 through 8. There he writes, and remember the church in Ephesus, this is where Timothy is, he's pastoring in Ephesus, so the letter to the Ephesians is in the same region where Timothy is. He writes, bond servants, again slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ.

Let me say that again. Bond servants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ. You obey them as you would Christ. This is phenomenal. This is pretty heavy, but it's true.

And then he goes on to say, he says, not by the way of eye service as people pleases, but as bond servants of Christ. doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord not meant. He's just said that point so many times in different ways, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or free. Whether he is a bondservant or free. So the way is slave.

serves his master or employee, his boss, is not based on the physical circumstances around us, beloved. It's not based on whether we like our job or we don't like our job. It's not based on we love our boss or we... He's harsh. He's immoral.

He treats me badly. He shows favoritism. These others are treated well, but I'm I'm not treated as well. He doesn't treat me with the respect that I deserve. You have an option.

You can move on. You can hand in your resignation and move on. This is the privilege that we have. These slaves did not have that. So I say to us, brothers and sisters, if we choose to remain, we don't remain begrudgingly.

We remain willingly as a product of our own will and therefore we ought to submit to the authorities and we ought to honor them, and we ought to respect them, and we ought to work towards them as we're working towards Christ. We serve them as we serve Jesus Christ himself. This is what Ephesians 5 is telling us. Beloved, this is a game changer. If you think about that, it changes everything.

If you think about your service to your employer, or your service to your wife, or your service to your husband, or to your children, if you think about that, and you think, ultimately, it's not about them, full stop, it is, of course, we love our family, we want to serve them well. But if we think, we think that we're doing it for the Lord, then we ask ourselves this question, is he worthy? You see, it's easy for me to have a look at an employer and say, you know, there's a lot of errors in that person. He doesn't deserve my commitment. He doesn't deserve my full attention.

He doesn't deserve for me to give him this many hours or this much time or this much. I can do that because he's a human being. And the thing is, it's wrong, but there isn't a tendency in a sinful human heart to go down that path. But would you ever think that way about Jesus? Would you ever think that way about Christ?

And Paul says, when you're serving these people, you're serving Jesus. How would you serve Him? Serve these people. Look beyond their morality. Look beyond the person.

Look beyond the dislikings of that person and see, I love Christ. And I'm going to serve this person as I serve Christ. Now, of course, there's no place for resentment in our hearts. There's no place for bitterness towards people, hatred. That's a no-go.

If there is, then we need to come before the Lord and repent of these things. But when we serve, as we serve the Lord, it changes everything. Beloved, it's a game changer. Because we can't be lazy in the workplace. We can't be idle.

we can't cheat we can't do things like it's easy for us to get into a for human beings to be able to to do what we do only in front of the boss when he's looking I mean we know the the example of the unfaithful servant right in Luke That when the master comes back, or when the master's in the presence, I'm doing everything, I'm such a wonderful person, but when he's away, I beat the other servants, I do as I please. Those people will be found out. But as Christians, we ought to serve faithfully, whether our bosses are looking, or whether they're not looking. because we're doing it unto the Lord. And beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ is omnipotent, and He's omniscient, and He's all-powerful, He's all-knowing, and His eyes are everywhere.

He sees all things. And we ought not to do it because we only fear Him. Reverentially, of course we do, but because we love Him. Our love for the Savior is what determines our service for the Savior. Beloved, this is This is so important.

And if we think about it, this is essential for us to understand. But Paul gives another reason. If you look in your Bibles, you'll see that he says, in verse one, part B, he says, so that, so you honour your masters, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Beloved, not only do we do these things for the glory of God, not only are we doing these things So because we serve our savior, because he is our master and we want to serve him in love. But also this is a gospel issue.

Because what we're seeing here is the way we conduct ourselves before our employers or the slaves before their masters is a reflection of what we believe. You see, Paul says, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Who are you? Do our bosses know, do our employers know that we are Christian? That we have one Lord and one Savior?

We probably try to proclaim the good news of the gospel to them on many occasions. They know who we serve. They know who we bend the knee to. And if we are disloyal to them, if we don't show respect where we show we ought to, if we try to cheat them or rob them in any way, what are we doing? We're reviling God, the God that we serve, and His teaching.

The God that we serve and His teaching, that's the gospel. The word that's used here is actually stronger again. It's blasphemed. So we're blaspheming God, and we're blaspheming the gospel. We bring reproach against Him, and we ought never do that.

Our gospel witness goes beyond what we say, and it goes into what we do. As one theologian once said, the greatest barrier to the gospel proclamation is our lives. Interesting, isn't it? The greatest barrier to the gospel proclamation is our lives, because we may be men and women who proclaim the truth of the gospel, We may be men and women who really are zealous and eager to hear people or to see people respond to the truths of our Savior. But how eager are we to live out the gospel truth?

Because our lives are open books. And if our words don't equate or equal to the things that we live by, then the question is, are we hypocrites? That's the question we need to ask ourselves. And if we are, then the God that we seek to serve, The gospel that we seek to proclaim is blasphemed among the people. It's darkened by a cloud of our own conduct.

This is why the Apostle Paul makes a big point in chapter 3 for the elders to be well thought of by outsiders, because our conduct matters. We proclaim the gospel, and we are to proclaim it in a way where it's winsome, where it's attractive. But if we don't, then if we live like rebels in our workplaces, then it doesn't matter what we say with our mouths, it's not going to be respected at all. Actually, there is a There is a wonderful verse in Titus chapter 1. If you open your Bibles, we'll go there and we'll read Titus chapter 2 verses 9 through 10.

And this really makes a point that the Apostle Paul is writing to Titus in Crete. And he makes a point on the same lines of what I've just said earlier about the gospel proclamation. Our lives ought to be a reflection of what we preach because those who see us and know us as Christians will equate our lives to the teaching, our lives to our God, our lives to the gospel. Listen to what the Apostle Paul writes to Titus in chapter two, verses nine through 10. Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything.

They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, that means not stealing, but showing all good faith so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God He'll hear that. But showing all good faith so that in everything, still speaking about the relationship of a servant or a slave to a master, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. The adorning means to make beautiful, to make winsome, to make attractive the gospel. Your conduct can either bring blasphemy against God and the gospel, or your conduct can bring a beauty out of the gospel in that your Lord, your master, so saved you and so changed you and so empowered you from within that your affections and your desires have changed that now you treat your master with respect and honor faithfully, whether he's there or not there, you're the same. and you bring this beauty out of the gospel, that those who see your life and conduct will respect the God that you serve.

Because our faith, beloved, is not just internal. It must be external. It must manifest in what we do. And what we do matters in the world. Is the world seeing that what we believe is beautiful?

Or is it reviled? This ought to be a real motivator. for us Christians. It ought to motivate our lives to holiness, to godliness, to good conduct in Christ, of course. No matter how harsh, no matter how cruel our masters are, no matter how unfair or unjust our employers are, you see, Paul doesn't address those things for a reason, because it doesn't matter.

What matters is, who do you bend your knee to? Who is your master? then live your life as though everything you do, you're serving Him and Him alone. And finally, we know. We know how we ought to serve because our Savior has given us a wonderful example of what it is to be a servant.

We know We know how He lived His life. We know that He is the eternal second member of the Trinity, the Son of God. He has no beginning, He has no end. Yet when He came in the Incarnation, Philippians 2 tells us that He took the form of a servant. This is incredible.

The condescension from being eternally in relationship and fellowship with the Trinity. to coming down to this earth, taking a body just like you and I, a real body with a real soul, and humbling himself to take the form of a servant. And as we see him in the Gospels, it's incredible, because he shows how he was a servant. John 13, verse 12 through 15, after washing the disciples' feet, after washing the disciples' feet, this is what he says. Do you understand what I have done to you?

You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for I am so. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you." And then Mark 10 45 reads, Jesus speaking again, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Beloved, true serving is to lay down our lives for one another.

We lay down our lives for one another because of our love for the Savior. He speaks of His bride. We lay down our lives for His bride, the brothers and sisters, but also when we serve those who are not part of His bride. We are also to lay down our lives in our service because that service is to the Lord. And how do you know and how do I know that through our service, which is faithful, honorable and respectful, that we will not win some to the Lord?

Is that not our motive? Is that not our motivation? to see some come to the Lord, to see the lost sheep brought into the pen, the sheep pen of our Lord and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He's given the example. May it be that we follow His example and all that we do in our lives in servitude, whether it's to authorities, rulers, to one another, that we do it as though unto the Lord.

Amen.