SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 50

TITLE: INSTRUCTIONS TO SLAVES AND MASTERS

TEXT: EPHESIANS 6:5-9

INTRODUCTION: (1) IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THERE WERE SOME 60 MILLION SLAVES IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

* THAT MEANS ABOUT HALF OF THE POPULATION WAS ENSLAVED TO THE OTHER HALF.

** SLAVERY THEN WAS A PART OF THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FABRIC OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, A PART OF EVERYDAY LIVING.

*** NOW SOMETIMES A SLAVE SITUATION WAS QUITE GOOD IN THAT DAY IF HE HAD A KIND MASTER.

**** YET THERE WAS OFTEN TERRIBLE CRUELTY AND ABUSE.

(2) A SLAVE COULD BE WHIPPED, BRANDED, MUTILATED OR KILLED.

* WILLIAM BARCLAY SAID, “THE TERROR OF THE SLAVE WAS THAT HE WAS ABSOLUTELY AT THE CAPRICE OF HIS MASTER.”

** SO IT WAS A TERRIBLE INSTITUTION AS IT WAS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY EARLY ON.

*** YET PAUL IN OUR TEXT TODAY DOES NOT CALL FOR ITS ABOLISHMENT.

**** AND YOU MIGHT THINK THAT THE APOSTLE PAUL WOULD TELL SLAVES WHO HAD BECOME CHRISTIANS (WHICH WOULD BE MANY) TO REVOLT, TO PROTEST, TO BE DEFIANT, TO FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS.

(3) BUT HE DIDN’T, HE DID NOT TELL THEM TO REBEL, TO PROTEST FOR THEIR RIGHTS, HE TOLD THEM TO SUBMIT, TO BE OBEDIENT AND REMINDED THEM THAT THEIR TRUE MASTER WAS CHRIST. (AND HOW REVOLUTIONARY THAT WAS).

(4) AND IT WOULD BE REVOLUTIONARY IN ITS IMPACT. FOR THE ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS OF CHRISTIAN SLAVES AND THE INFLUENCE OF GENUINE CHRISTIANITY HAD A BIG PART IN BRINGING THE COLLAPSE OF SLAVERY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND IN MORE RECENT HISTORY IN ENGLAND AND IN OUR OWN NATION.

* AND IT’S INTERESTING THAT N.T. TEACHING DOES NOT FOCUS ON REFORMING AND RESTRUCTURING HUMAN SYSTEMS, LIKE SLAVERY, WHICH ARE NEVER THE ROOT CAUSE OF HUMAN PROBLEMS.

** N.T. TEACHING FOCUSES ON THE TRUE ISSUE, THE HEART OF MAN, WHICH WHEN WICKED WILL CORRUPT THE BEST OF SYSTEMS AND WHEN CONVERTED WILL IMPROVED THE WORST.

*** FOR YOU SEE THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS, IF MEN’S SINFUL HEARTS ARE NOT CHANGED, THEY WILL FIND WAYS TO OPPRESS OTHERS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS ACTUAL SLAVERY.

(5) BELOVED, MAN’S BASIC PROBLEMS AND NEEDS ARE NOT POLITICAL, SOCIAL OR ECONOMIC BUT SPIRITUAL, AND THAT IS THE AREA ON WHICH PAUL HERE CONCENTRATES IN OUR TEXT TODAY.

* HE TALKS ABOUT HOW THE NEW MAN BECOMES A NEW SLAVE AND HOW THE NEW MAN BECOMES A NEW MASTER.

** AND THESE TRUTHS LIVED OUT WERE AND ARE REVOLUTIONARY. THEY WERE REVOLUTIONARY IN BRINGING DOWN THE TERRIBLE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY AND THEY ARE REVOLUTIONARY TODAY AS THESE TRUTHS ARE APPLIED TO EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS.

*** FOR WHEN APPLIED, THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST IS CLEARLY COMMUNICATED AND CONVICTING AND WILL RESULT IN HEARTS BEING TOUCHED AND CHANGED AS PEOPLE SEE CHRIST IN US.

**** FOR YOU SEE, THERE IS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT CHRISTIANITY TODAY, BY PROFESSING CHRISTIANS. AND DON’T GET ME WRONG, WE MUST DECLARE CHRIST.

(6) BUT THE PROBLEM IS, MANY CHRISTIANS DROWN OUT THEIR WITNESS AND TALK BY THEIR LIVES AND IT FALLS ON DEAF EARS.

* THERE IS AN INTEGRITY PROBLEM BY PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY ARE CHRISTIANS WHO DON’T WORK HARD, WHO LIE, WHO CHEAT ON THEIR MATES, WHO DIVORCE THEIR MATES, WHO DON’T PAY THEIR BILLS YET BUY NEW THINGS FOR THEMSELVES, WHO LOVE MONEY AND THINGS, WHO ARE CRITICAL ABOUT EVERYTHING AND ON AND ON I COULD GO.

** AND IT’S NO WONDER THAT THIS KIND OF BRAND OF CHRISTIANITY HAS VERY LITTLE IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND THERE ARE MORE CHURCHES THAN EVER IN THE U.S.

*** FOR UNSAVED PEOPLE SAY, YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND ME IS YOU GO TO CHURCH AND I DON’T. WHY DO I NEED WHAT YOU HAVE?

**** AND THAT’S A GOOD POINT. BUT GENUINE BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY LIVED OUT CHANGES LIVES AND ATTITUDES. WE’RE DIFFERENT IN A GOOD WAY.

***** AND LISTEN, CHRISTIAN SLAVES IN PAUL’S DAY AND CHRISTIAN MASTERS WOULD HAVE REALLY STOOD OUT. THEIR LIVES WOULD BE A PART OF THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION THAT EVENTUALLY BROUGHT DOWN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

(7) AND PAUL TALKS ABOUT THAT KIND OF LIVING IN OUR TEXT TODAY WHICH I’VE SIMPLY TITLED: “INSTRUCTIONS TO SLAVES AND MASTERS.”

* AND IN OUR STUDY OF THIS TEXT IN EPHESIANS 6:5-9 WE’LL LOOK AT 3 MAIN POINTS: NO. 1 THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SLAVES TO THEIR MASTERS AND TO THEIR ULTIMATE MASTER – CHRIST, VV. 5-7.

** NO. 2 THE REWARD FOR SLAVES IN OBEYING THESE REQUIREMENTS, V. 8 AND NO. 3 THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MASTERS, V. 9.

*** NOW WITH THAT OUTLINE TO GUIDE OUR STUDY TODAY, LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE REQUIREMENTS.

I. THE REQUIREMENTS, (READ V. 5)

A. NOW THE WORD SLAVES IN V. 5 IS THE GREEK WORD DOULOS WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

* AND IT LIT. MEANS A BONDMAN, A SERVANT, A PERSON THAT IS IN A SERVICE CONDITION AND IS USED 130 TIMES IN THE NAS IN THE N.T., SOMETIMES LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT SLAVES AND SOMETIMES FIGURATIVELY OR METAPHORICALLY TALKING ABOUT THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST.

** FOR EXAMPLE IN PHILIPPIANS 1:1 PAUL USES THIS WORD TO DESCRIBE HIS SERVICE AND SUBMISSION TO CHRIST, FOR CHRIST WAS HIS MASTER, READ PHILIPPIANS 1:1 AND GALATIANS 1:10, II CORINTHIANS 4:5 AND II TIMOTHY 2:24.

*** SO ALL CHRISTIANS ARE SLAVES, SERVANTS OF CHRIST FOR HE IS OUR MASTER, BUT IN THE CONTEXT OF EPHESIANS 6:5, PAUL WAS TALKING ABOUT LITERAL SLAVES WHO HAD HUMAN MASTERS.

**** NOW THE REQUIREMENTS, THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF SLAVES ARE GIVEN STARTING HERE IN V. 5 GOING THROUGH V. 7 AND THE FIRST ONE IS TO BE OBEDIENT TO YOUR MASTERS.

1. AND KEEP IN MIND PAUL IS ADDRESSING CHRISTIAN SLAVES HERE WHO MOST LIKELY HAD UNSAVED MASTERS.

* BUT HE SAYS FIRST OF ALL OBEY YOUR MASTERS. AND THE VERB “OBEY” OR “BE OBEDIENT” IS A PRESENT IMPERATIVE INDICATING UNINTERRUPTED OBEDIENCE AND IS A COMMAND, THE SAME VERB USED IN EPHESIANS 6:1 IN THE INSTRUCTIONS TO CHILDREN (READ IT).

** SLAVES WERE TO OBEY IN EVERYTHING AND AT ALL TIMES, THE ONLY EXCEPTION BEING WHEN THEY ARE INSTRUCTED TO DISOBEY GOD, TO SIN, AS IN ALL THE OTHER AREAS OF AUTHORITY AND SUBMISSION WITH HUSBANDS AND WIVES AND PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

*** NOW KEEP IN MIND, THAT THIS ADMONITION BY PAUL APPLIES EQUALLY WELL TO ALL EMPLOYEES TODAY.

**** FOR THE SAME PRINCIPLE OF WORKING FOR AN AUTHORITY APPLIES, THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BEING THEY DON’T OWN YOU, ALTHOUGH SOME BOSSES MAY THINK THEY DO.

2. BUT THE SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES HERE, SUBMIT TO, OBEY YOUR AUTHORITY, NOT ONLY IN MATTERS THAT ARE PLEASANT AND AGREEABLE, BUT ALSO IN MATTERS UNPLEASANT AND DIFFICULT.

* AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT HUMAN MASTERS HERE, HUMAN BOSSES, MASTERS ACCORDING TO THE FLESH IT SAYS.

** AND THE SPIRIT OR ATTITUDE THAT THIS IS TO BE DONE IS IN “FEAR AND TREMBLING” IN THE NEXT PHRASE IN V. 5.

*** AND THIS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT A SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS, A FRIGHT TYPE OF ATTITUDE AND RESPONSE, BUT WITH CHRISTIAN REVERENCE AND RESPECT FOR THE MASTER’S POSITION AND AUTHORITY, OR YOUR BOSSES POSITION AND AUTHORITY.

**** HONOR AND RESPECT IS THE RESPONSE HERE AND THE ATTITUDE, EVEN IF YOUR BOSS DOESN’T DESERVE IT AND IS A JERK, AN IDIOT. AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS AND WORDS WE DON’T USE IN OUR VOCABULARY AS CHRISTIANS.

3. FOR I PETER 2:18–20 SAYS: “SERVANTS, BE SUBMISSIVE TO YOUR MASTERS WITH ALL RESPECT, NOT ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE GOOD AND GENTLE, BUT ALSO TO THOSE WHO ARE UNREASONABLE.”

V. 19 – “FOR THIS FINDS FAVOR, IF FOR THE SAKE OF CONSCIENCE TOWARD GOD A PERSON BEARS UP UNDER SORROWS WHEN SUFFERING UNJUSTLY.”

V. 20 – FOR WHAT CREDIT IS THERE IF, WHEN YOU SIN AND ARE HARSHLY TREATED, YOU ENDURE IT WITH PATIENCE? BUT IF WHEN YOU DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND SUFFER FOR IT YOU PATIENTLY ENDURE IT, THIS FINDS FAVOR WITH GOD.”

* NOW THIS KIND OF ATTITUDE HONORS AND GLORIFIES GOD AND IT HELPS YOU TO BE A LIGHT, A WITNESS TO YOUR BOSS OF GENUINE CHRISTIANITY AND WHAT IT IS.

** AND BELOVED WE MUST REALIZE THAT THE PLACES WE WORK IS A PART OF OUR FIELD OF SERVICE FOR THE LORD AND IT IS OFTEN A MISSION FIELD.

*** AND WHEN WE DO OUR WORK CAREFULLY AND RESPECTFULLY IT IS A TESTIMONY TO UNBELIEVERS, AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO BELIEVERS AND AN ACT OF SERVICE TO GOD.

**** AND THIS SERVICE TO GOD IS CHARACTERIZED AT THE END OF V. 5, “IN THE SINCERITY OF YOUR HEART AS TO CHRIST”.

4. AND THIS MEANS OUR WORK IS CHARACTERIZED BY INTEGRITY AND SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE. OUR HEART PORTRAYED HERE AS THE INNER CENTER OF OUR LIFE WHICH DETERMINES ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS, THE HEART IS MARKED BY SINCERITY AND PURITY OF MOTIVE.

* FOR ULTIMATELY OUR WORK AND ATTITUDES ARE RENDERED “AS TO CHRIST” AT THE END OF V. 5.

** HE IS OUR BOSS, HE IS OUR FOREMAN, HE IS OUR MASTER AND WE DO AS UNTO HIM.

*** AND CERTAINLY THAT ELEVATES OUR PURPOSE AND MOTIVES FOR WORK, I MEAN IF YOU WENT IN TO WORK AND CHRIST WAS YOUR BOSS, WOULD YOUR WORK ETHIC AND ATTITUDE CHANGE? I THINK SO.

**** AND WHEN YOU DO, NOTHING TASKS AND DIFFICULT TASKS CAN BE NOBLE TASKS, FOR WHO ARE YOU DOING THEM FOR? AGAIN FOR CHRIST, HE IS YOUR BOSS.

- AND THIS THEN IS REPEATED IN VV. 6-8. AND WE NEED TO MOVE ON SO LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE AS THE REQUIREMENT CONTINUES FOR WORKERS.

B. READ V. 6. NOW CHRISTIAN WORK FOR A BOSS OR A MASTER IN THAT DAY WAS NOT TO BE DONE DILIGENTLY ONLY WHEN THE BOSS WAS WATCHING, JUST TO PLEASE HIM.

* ALL WORKERS KNOW WHAT PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT. FOR SOME PEOPLE WORK HARD WHEN THE BOSS IS AROUND AND LAY OFF WHEN HE IS NOT AROUND.

** SO DO YOU WORK HARDER WHEN THE BOSS IS WATCHING OR DO YOU WORK JUST AS HARD WHEN HE IS NOT AROUND?

** DO YOU STOP TALKING WHEN THE BOSS IS AROUND AND GET BACK TO WORK? DO YOU GET OFF THE PHONE WHEN THE BOSS COMES INTO YOUR OFFICE WITH LONG PERSONAL CALLS AND YOU ARE BEING PAID BY THE HOUR?

**** AND THEN PAUL USES THE WORD MEN PLEASERS HERE WHICH HAS TO DO WITH DOING YOUR JOB TO MAKE JUST A GOOD IMPRESSION, WHICH IS NOT WRONG.

1. BUT AGAIN THERE IS AN ULTIMATE ETERNAL MOTIVE FOR WHAT WE DO IN WORKING HARD, WE ARE THE “SLAVES OF CHRIST DOING THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART.”

* CHRISTIANS ARE TO WORK DILIGENTLY BECAUSE TO DO SO IS THE WILL OF GOD AND IS THE SINCERE DESIRE OF OUR HEARTS BECAUSE WE ULTIMATELY ARE SLAVES OF CHRIST.

** AGAIN HE IS OUR MASTER, WE WORK FOR HIM. AND I MADE REFERENCE TO THIS EARLIER.

*** IN V. 5 WE SEE OUR OBEDIENCE AND WORK IS TO BE DONE “AS TO CHRIST”.

**** IN V. 6, “AS SLAVES OF CHRIST”. IN V. 7 “AS TO THE LORD” AND V. 8 “FROM THE LORD” WHEN IT COMES TO WORKING HARD AND THE REWARD THAT COMES “FROM THE LORD”.

2. AND CHRISTIAN, IF THE TRUTH IS APPLIED WHOLEHEARTEDLY, IT WILL BE REVOLUTIONARY. FOR WORK IS NOT ONLY TO “MAKE A LIVING” AND TO SUSTAIN YOUR MINISTRY, WORK IS MINISTRY RENDERED TO THE LORD.

* WORK IS DONE FOR CHRIST AND TO CHRIST AS HE IS YOUR BOSS AND MASTER.

** AND I REALIZE THAT WORK SITUATIONS ARE NOT BECOMING MORE PLEASANT, BUT ARE GETTING TOUGHER WITH DOWNSIZING, A WORLD ECONOMY AND COMPANIES THAT NEED MORE FOR LESS BECAUSE OF COMPETITION.

*** SO THERE ARE MORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND MORE PRESSURES TO PRODUCE ON A LOT OF JOBS.

**** BUT BY GOD’S GRACE, REMEMBER WHO YOUR BOSS IS AND WHO YOU ARE REPRESENTING – CHRIST.

3. AND THANK GOD THAT YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE THAT IS A PIECE OF PROPERTY, CHATTEL FOR ANOTHER PERSON ALTHOUGH YOU MAY FEEL YOU ARE TREATED THAT WAY.

* BELOVED, RISE ABOVE THAT AND LOOK AT YOUR JOB WITH A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT AND BY GOD’S GRACE RISE ABOVE THE BAD ATTITUDES AROUND YOU AND DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN CONSTANT COMPLAINING.

** REMEMBER YOU ARE THE SLAVES OF CHRIST AND SO DO YOUR JOB AS THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART AND V. 7 JUST REINFORCES THIS PRINCIPLE. LOOK AT V. 7 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 7. NOW V. 7 REPEATS AND REINFORCES WHAT PAUL HAS JUST SAID.

* AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE BEGINNING OF V. 7 GOOD WILL EXPRESSES THE ATTITUDE OF THE WORKER WHO DOES NOT NEED PROMPTING OR COMPELLING.

** AS THE NIV TRANSLATES IN V. 7, SERVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY. WORK ENTHUSIASTICALLY WITH ZEAL, WITH EAGERNESS IS THE IDEA HERE.

*** AND WHEN A CHRISTIAN WORKS THAT WAY, HIS SERVICE IS TRULY RENDERED TO THE LORD AND NOT TO MEN.

**** AND THIS IS THE WORK ATTITUDE OF A SPIRIT FILLED CHRISTIAN, READ ROMANS 12:11 AND COLOSSIANS 3:23 WHICH IS THE COMPANION PARALLEL PASSAGE TO OUR TEXT.

1. NOW AGAIN WE MUST SEE OUR WORK AS SERVICE TO OUR LORD, AND IF WE DO THAT, THERE WILL BE REWARD, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE REWARD, LOOK AT V. 8 TODAY.

II. THE REWARD, (READ V. 8)

A. NOW GOD’S CREDITS AND REWARDS ARE ALWAYS DEPENDABLE AND ALWAYS APPROPRIATE.

* AND A SLAVE OWNER IN THAT DAY OR A BOSS, AN EMPLOYER IN OUR DAY, MAY NOT APPRECIATE OR EVEN BE AWARE OF YOUR GOOD WORK AND DEPENDABILITY AND PUNCTUALITY.

** BUT GOD KNOWS AND GOD REWARDS. FOR NO GOOD THING DONE IN CHRIST’S NAME AND FOR HIS GLORY CAN PASS HIS NOTICE OR FAIL TO RECEIVE HIS BLESSING AND REWARD.

*** BELOVED, OUR HEAVENLY BOSS WILL REWARD US FOR HARD WORK RENDERED TO HIM, FOR NOTHING ESCAPES OUR HEAVENLY MASTER’S GAZE.

**** AND SOME OF YOU MAY GET PASSED OVER FOR PROMOTIONS OR NO RAISE, MAYBE A PAY CUT AND THAT’S DISCOURAGING, BUT REMEMBER WHATEVER GOOD THING YOU DO IN YOUR WORK WILL NOT BE MISSED, BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE BACK FROM THE LORD, READ COLOSSIANS 3:23&24, I CORINTHIANS 3:11-14 AND II CORINTHIANS 5:10.

1. SO ALL WORKS DONE FOR CHRIST WILL BE REWARDED AT A FUTURE TIME, BUT ALSO THE REWARD OF JOY NOW KNOWING YOU WORKED HARD FOR YOUR HEAVENLY MASTER, AGAIN EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT PAID WELL OR NOT APPRECIATED NOW.

* BUT ALSO NOTICE AT THE END OF V. 8 THIS APPLIES TO THE SLAVE OR THE FREE.

** SOCIAL STATUS AT THIS POINT IS IMMATERIAL, AND NO ONE WILL RECEIVE SPECIAL TREATMENT OR FAVORITISM, THIS APPLIES TO ALL REGARDLESS WHETHER THEY WERE FREE AT THAT TIME OR SLAVES. THIS GOES FOR ALL WORKERS.

*** REWARD WILL COME ONE DAY FOR THOSE WHO DO WHAT THEY DO TO THE LORD. SO AGAIN NO JOB IS MERELY WORK, IT IS A CONTEXT FOR SERVING CHRIST AND CAN HELP WITH THE DISCOURAGEMENT OF A QUOTE “DEAD END JOB” OR A JOB THAT IS NOT FULFILLING OR REWARDING.

**** IF DONE FOR CHRIST, REWARD WILL COME.

2. AND LET ME PAUSE HERE FOR A MOMENT AND COMMUNICATE THAT IT IS VERY DIFFICULT IN OUR CULTURE TO DEAL WITH ANY KIND OF DEFERRED GRATIFICATION OR REWARD.

* WE WANT AND DEMAND INSTANT GRATIFICATION AND WE ARE SO USED TO THAT WE HAVE LOST THE TRUTH OF ETERNITY AND HEAVEN.

** AND WE DON’T THINK ABOUT HEAVEN ENOUGH NORMALLY BUT WE MUST LEARN TO FOCUS ON IT AS A MEANS FOR LIVING AND DOING THINGS THAT LAST.

*** ETERNAL REWARD AND ETERNAL VALUES THEN ARE MOTIVATION FACTORS. DEFERRED REWARD IS SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

**** AND REWARD IS COMING TO THE FAITHFUL HARD WORKER FOR THE LORD, WHICH LEADS US FROM SLAVES AND WORKERS TO MASTERS AND BOSSES IN OUR LAST VERSE TODAY IN V. 9 WHICH TALKS ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BOSSES AND MASTERS. LOOK AT V. 9 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE THE RESPONSIBILITY.

III. THE RESPONSIBILITY, (READ V. 9)

A. NOW PAUL BEGINS IN V. 9 IN WHAT MIGHT BE CALLED THE “MANAGERIAL GOLDEN RULE” – MASTERS, BOSSES, DO THE SAME THINGS TO YOUR EMPLOYEES, OR IN THAT DAY WITH YOUR SLAVES.

* IN OTHER WORDS, TREAT THEM IN THE SAME WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED.

** IF YOU WANT RESPECT, SHOW RESPECT. IF YOU WANT SINCERITY, BE SINCERE. IF YOU WANT CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, BE CONSCIENTIOUS. IF YOU WANT PLEASANTNESS, MODEL PLEASANTNESS.

*** PROMOTE THE WELFARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEE AS YOU EXPECT THEM TO PROMOTE YOURS.

**** SO CHRISTIAN BOSSES, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES THE SAME WAY THAT YOU WANT TO BE TREATED, READ LUKE 6:31.

1. AND WHAT A TERRIBLE TESTIMONY FOR A CHRISTIAN BOSS OR EMPLOYER WHEN ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES SAYS: “MY BOSS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHRISTIAN, BUT YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW IT!”

* BOSSES APPLY THE GOLDEN RULE WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES.

** BUT ALSO “GIVE UP THREATENING”. AND THE WORD USED HERE IN THE GREEK SUGGEST THE IDEA OF LOOSENING UP OR RELEASING.

*** MEANING CHRISTIAN BOSSES MUST LOOSEN UP ON THREATENING AS A MEANS TO GET WORK DONE.

**** THIS KIND OF BOSS USES HIS AUTHORITY AND POWER AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE AND DOES NOT THROW HIS WEIGHT AROUND OR LORD IT OVER THOSE UNDER HIM.

2. THIS KIND NEVER GIVES ABUSIVE THREATS. THEY LOOSEN UP AND RELEASE THIS KIND OF MANAGEMENT STYLE.

* A CHRISTIAN BOSS KNOWS THAT HE AND HIS WORKERS ALIKE ARE UNDER THE SUPREME AUTHORITY OF GOD, THAT THEIR MASTER AND HIS IS NOT ON EARTH BUT IN HEAVEN.

** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, A CHRISTIAN BOSS KNOWS THAT HE IS A FELLOW SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST WITH HIS EMPLOYEES AND IS ACCOUNTABLE TO THE SAME MASTER.

*** BUT GET THIS, IN THE LAST PART OF V. 9, THIS KIND OF BOSS ALSO KNOWS THAT BEFORE GOD HE IS NO MORE IMPORTANT OUR WORTHY IN HIMSELF THAN THE LEAST OF HIS EMPLOYEES, BECAUSE THERE IS NO PARTIALITY WITH HIS ULTIMATE BOSS, THE LORD HIMSELF, READ ROMANS 2:11 AND JAMES 2:1.

**** SO IN APPLICATION OF THIS TRUTH, A CHRISTIAN BOSS PLAYS NO FAVORITES AND TREATS ALL OF HIS EMPLOYEES, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST, AGAIN IN THE WAY HE OR SHE WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED.

AND AS I WRAP UP OUR STUDY TODAY: (1) I WANT TO GIVE YOU A CLOSING ILLUSTRATION THAT SUMMARIZES OUR TEXT.

* R. C. SPROUL WAS SPEAKING TO SOME EXECUTIVES OF A LARGE CORPORATION AND THEY WERE UNEASY ABOUT HIS LINKING RELIGION AND BUSINESS.

** EVENTUALLY HE CAUGHT THE UNDERSTANDING AND THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE BOARD CHAIRMAN.

*** THIS MAN SAID, “LET ME SEE IF I CAN CONNECT WHAT YOU’RE SAYING. WHAT I HEAR IS THAT OUR BUSINESS LIFE IS AFFECTED BY HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE. HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE IS A MATTER OF ETHICS. ETHICS ARE DETERMINED BY OUR PHILOSOPHY, OUR PHILOSOPHY REFLECTS OUR THEOLOGY, SO RESPECTING PEOPLE IS REALLY A THEOLOGICAL MATTER.”

**** NOW THIS BOARD CHAIRMAN “GOT IT”. FOR WHAT HE SAID IS A PROGRESSION, AN OUTLINE OF HOW CHRISTIANITY HAS CHANGED THE WORLD INCLUDING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES, OUR ATTITUDES AT THE WORKPLACE.

(2) CHRISTIANITY IS A NEW THEOLOGY. AND THEOLOGY CHANGES PHILOSOPHY. PHILOSOPHY EFFECTS ETHICS AND THESE TRANSFORMED ETHICS DETERMINE HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE AT HOME, SCHOOL, CHURCH, WORK AND EVERYWHERE WE GO.

* AND THIS NEW THEOLOGY IS A CONTINUING TRANSFORMATION, IT IS PRACTICAL PROGRESSIVE SANCTIFICATION. AND IT AFFECTS ALL OF LIFE AND ALL OUR RELATIONSHIPS IN THE DIFFERENT ROLES WE HAVE IN AUTHORITY SUBMISSION RELATIONSHIPS.

** AND IN THIS TRANSFORMATION THERE IS NO SEPARATION OF SACRED AND SECULAR. ALL OF LIFE IS SACRED, LIVED FOR THE LORD.

*** HE IS OUR BOSS, OUR MASTER, OUR LORD. AND LIFE IS SERVICE RENDERED TO HIM. AND IT WILL AFFECT OUR WORK, OUR WALK, OUR WORDS, AND OUR WITNESS.

**** WE WILL TREAT PEOPLE, NOT IN THE WAY THEY ALWAYS DESERVE, BUT THE WAY WE WANT TO BE TREATED AND THE WAY WE TREAT OUR LORD, FOR HE IS OUR MASTER IN HEAVEN.

(3) SO THEOLOGY IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT. FOR UNDERSTOOD AND APPLIED IT CONTROLS OUR PHILOSOPHY, OUR ETHICS AND THE WAY WE TREAT PEOPLE. IT RADICALLY AFFECTS ALL OF OUR LIVES.

* SO MAY WE LIVE OUT THIS NEW THEOLOGY OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOME AND AT WORK. AND AS WE DO WE WILL BE LIGHTS FOR OUR LORD IN A COLD DARK DEPRAVED WORLD AND ATTRACT PEOPLE TO OUR SAVIOR AND LORD. (CLOSE WITH MATTHEW 5:14-16 AND I CORINTHIANS 10:31 AND PRAY).