Ephesians 6:5-9 "Dealing With Those You Serve"

Ephesians six and we're gonna look at verses five through nine so today I want to talk to you about how to deal with those that you serve how do you deal with those that have authority over you in your life today those that you work for or if you're in the military and you are serving the government of the United States or how would the people of that day that Paul wrote in how would the slaves deal with their masters according to the flesh so those are the three ways that in three areas where this particular study and these particular verses would apply so let's read them here verse five there Paul says bond servants be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in sincerity of heart as to Christ not with eyeservice as men pleasers but as bond servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatever good anyone does he will receive the same from the Lord whether he is a slave or free and you masters do the same things to them giving up threatening knowing that your own master also is in heaven and there is no partiality with him so here is an excellent exhortation that I believe is just a great continuation of this message that Paul has been speaking here the last few weeks we've looked at the husband wife relationship and we've looked at the parent-child relationship and how there needs to be a mutual respect between them in this particular text he's dealing specifically with those that are you're serving whether you're an employee or an employer whether you are in the military whether you are in those days a slave so he's addressing this very practical issue so what Paul is doing is he's taking the truths of the gospel the truths of how we should relate to each other and he's taking it and taking it into the world into a very practical setting and saying this is how it works and so as he's done with husbands and wives as he's done with parents and children so here he's addressing this issue that most likely everyone in this room if you're not retired you deal with so we are basically if you are in you have a business you're either an employer or an employee if you're an employee you are a paid slave that's what you are get used to it and if you have to if you have that understanding it is a very encouraging to you especially if you obey the commands that are given here in this particular text of Scripture now notice he addresses here verse five he says bondservants now bondservants this is the Greek word Doulos it's it's it's a word that means literally a voluntary love slave it's interesting that if you read this and look for this particular word you'll see that the Apostle Paul refers to himself as a bond slave of Jesus Christ the brother of Jesus James referred to himself as a bond servant of Jesus Christ Jude another brother of Jesus declared himself to be a bond servant of Jesus Christ and all the apostles described themselves in these terms why they are acknowledging their physician as a servant of the Lord Jesus and so he he uses this particular word because it's a voluntary servitude so the doulos was a voluntary or an involuntary service so it was referring to those that were freed and and chose to serve or it's referring to those that were still slaves at that particular time in the first century and so he's describing here what they should do and how they should respond now this particular passage is troublesome to some they look at it they read it they say to themselves well here Paul is condoning slavery and why didn't Jesus talk about slavery when he ministered here on the earth when he was here and is that just you know his neglect of that subject is that not condoning slavery now have you ever heard that statement before if you have how do you respond to that how how do you answer that particular criticism of Christianity well let me give you some simple ways to do that first off in Israel most of the servants or slaves at that time were indentured servants an indentured servant I mean my family that came here to the United States in the 1840s were indentured servants and so if you know anything about how most of the people came here to the United States they came as indentured servants and an attention indentured servant is basically someone who paid was paid to serve and to pay off their debt through their labor in the time of Israel indentured servants they could only serve for six years and the seventh year they were set free so no matter how much their debt was they could only they would only have to serve for six years and at the seventh they would be set free you find this in Exodus chapter 21 verse 2 it says if you by a Hebrew servant he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing so yeah his debt is clear if you go down to verse five in that text it says but if the servant plainly says I love my master my wife and my children I will not go out free then the master shall bring him to the judges and he shall also bring him to the door or the doorpost and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl and he shall serve Him forever so under the Old Testament law if a person said I don't want to go out I don't I don't have any way of make any money I'm taking care of here I love my master my master loves me I want to stay here they would take them to the judges of the land or they would take them to a doorpost and they would put an awl through their ears so they would have a pierced ear so anybody with a pierced ear you would understand and know they were a bond slave a love slave someone who chose to stay where they were and in some circumstances that would be the wisest thing to do because if he didn't have a trade and you didn't have any way of making a living it was pretty rough in those days this also is interesting in the Old Testament it talks about Christ and in in a prophetic sense it says that his ear was dug in other words he had a pierced ear and so he came as the love slave of the Father to serve the will of God to save you and me and so it's a very powerful image and so that is why Paul uses this image here the bond servant the bond servants of Christ and then he says it again in verse 6 but as bond servants of Christ do the will of God from the heart so this issue was very important understand if a slave was treated cruelly they were immediately set free in Exodus 21 verses 26 and 27 it says if a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye and if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave or servant he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth so as small of crew t as just knocking somebody's tooth out you would immediately go free and so when people think that you know the slaves in the Old Testament I mean ace they it was just like the slavery that we had here in the United States is completely untrue it is not even compared to what was going on here in the United States in our earlier history Paul also affirms the Equality of all people free and slave and so there was never this is a more important person this is a more inferior person to another in Galatians 3:28 it says there there is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free there is neither male nor female for all of you are one in Christ Jesus pretty powerful statement this was a revolutionary statement to say Jews and Gentiles were equal oh that the Jews wouldn't have liked to hear that heard that at all slave and free are equal to each other well taya the those that owned slaves would never have liked to hear that and male and female they're equal to each other oh that was a radical statement in those days because women were looked at as property and so Paul is making here a revolutionary statement he was by no means a male chauvinist as many classify him today in 1st Corinthians 7 21 also Paul there says were you called while a slave do not be concerned about it but if you can be made free rather use it in other words use the freedom that you gain as an opportunity to serve the Lord and to serve the kingdom of God now why does he say here don't be concerned with it because there is an ultimate end that God has and his ultimate end is to change the heart of man and that is what he came to do and that is what changes the world that's what changes our society and by looking at where our society is at today men's hearts are not being changed not being transformed but what Christ is after he's not after a political or a social revolution that's why he never addressed this particular issue what he's after is a moral and spiritual revolution that deals with the heart of man and when he deals with the heart of man that ultimately will change and transform a nation jesus said when he spoke to Pilate he said My Kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world My servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews but now my kingdom is not from here now the ultimate issue here is that when he changes a person's heart he changes then a nation so where did the founding fathers get the concept that all men were created equal where did they get that idea well you know where they got that idea they got it from not from secular reasoning he they got it from the scriptures that's where they got it from because even the people that when they would sit there and listen to a sermon they would hear that particular message over and over again and that is what changes changed them and caused them to write that in our founding documents what was it that gave Abraham Lincoln such a hatred of slavery now I tell you I have read a lot of Abraham Lincoln he's one of my favorite characters of history and I have a book that's about that thick of all of his speeches and his writings and he makes it absolutely clear he hated slavery he thought it was a stain upon our nation's conscience he writes that in his second inaugural address and he declares that this is the reason why the War Between the States was taking place and so he's pretty clear about what he believed where did he get that because of his faith and because of what he believed in the Word of God and so that's what changes men's hearts and it then changes Nations and the freedom that we have here today is a direct result from the judeo-christian ethic that has been taught throughout our history and now that it is not being taught and not reverenced that is why you see the change in our moral climate here in the United States and it spells disaster for our republic and I hope that you are praying for a spiritual awakening in this land because without it there is it's we're toast we're history because every Republic in the history of man has always failed and this one will be no different so you better be praying next what is the responsibility of an employee there are three basic responsibilities he lays out here to be obedient to have the right attitude and to have the right motivation for service so those three let's look at them individually first he says here bond servants be obedient that's in the word be--there's and the verb is in the present tense it describes a continuous obedience the word obedience means to heed Authority and so he's saying continually you need to heed the authority that is over your life and over the decisions of your life and so this is what makes you a valuable employee it's what separates you from everybody else around you you know somebody came to me on the way out today and from the first service and and they said to me you know Stephen III was obedient in my job and do you know what was the result of that is all the other employees hated me because I I wouldn't cut corners like they were cutting them and it just it brought all kinds of trouble my way because you're making us look bad that was their statement you're making us look bad because of what you're doing pretty sad they have that kind of a statement made to you and yet this is what makes you valuable to your employer there's only one exception to this heating of authority and that is when your employer asks you to do something that's illegal or morally wrong no matter what it is it's if it's wrong you shouldn't do it you remember the example of Joseph remember Potiphar's wife as he was a slave in their house she sent longing eyes upon him and tried to get her to sleep with him and he said I'm not doing it and it brought tremendous repercussions down upon him into prison he went because of her lies and so he there are consequences to this obedience as well so it's very important to see that that issue now secondly you need a right attitude the kind of attitude that you have is essential what kind of attitude do you have for those of you that are employees do you have a good attitude when you go to work or do you say you know I'm I'm not really into this I'm just here to make a paycheck and that's it and do as little work as I can possibly do if that's your attitude it's the wrong attitude it's an attitude that is condemned here in this passage first he says there are several issues he says be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling what is fear and trembling mean well fear is it's a Greek word that means to reverence or respect and trembling is this human it's an idea of humility wherever you see this in the New Testament it refers to a respect and a humility of heart let me give you a couple of passages where that is the case in first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 3 there Paul speaking of his attitude toward God in his in his service rendered before God he says I was with you in weakness in fear and in much trembling so with reverence and respect he knew his own weaknesses and his own failings his own struggle and so this is clearly the attitude that we have to have in whatever we do Paul also refers to Titus in 2nd Corinthians 7:15 and he says and his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all how with fear and trembling you received him in other words they received him with that reverential and respect toward him and so they they received him with that attitude so it's a critical attitude do you reverence do you respect your boss do you respect the person who has hired you do you have humility are you thankful that you even have a job I think that that is an essential attitude and then also he says here secondly sincerity of heart with fear and trembling in sincerity of heart as to Christ now I love this the sincerity of heart you see the heart of man is that's what he's after the heart and the attitude that you have are you sincerely serving your boss as if you were serving Christ himself that's a powerful question to answer essential do you see how would you serve your boss if that was Jesus Christ how would you serve him would you just serve as he says further down here in verse six not with eyeservice as men pleasers but as bond servants of Christ would you just serve when they're looking you know the boss comes in hope let's get to work man let's get to work he had the bosses here he's looking you know or do you serve that way sincerely when the boss is not there you know when the boss is not there I'm gonna check my email here and see what's up and what's let's see what's on Facebook now and see who's who said you know saying some nice thing or let's check out our Twitter feed who's tweeting today you know I tell you that is not serving as Christ would have you to serve ah I think I'll just you know take a little on my way from that job to this job I'll take a little snooze in the park on my way to the next job and just say oh it just took me longer at the last place that is not serving as unto Christ and that's the key notice he says at the end of verse five has to Christ and then he says it again in verse seven with good will doing service as to the Lord so how do you serve the Lord how would you serve your employer if he was Christ that's the question you have to answer and are you serving with that kind of sincerity with that kind of humility and thankfulness that you even have a job essential and then notice he says again here in with goodwill toward your boss verse seven it says with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men good will the word good there or good will is actually kindness that's what the the Greek word means it's translated that way many places in the New Testament and so he's saying here with kindness in your heart o kindness well I don't even like my boss I mean he's a grump he's I tells me what to do all the time well that's what a boss does he tells you what he wants you to do that's what you're being paid to do is to do the will of that individual who has hired you and so do you have that kindness in your heart toward them or are you just a person that is doing your service when they're watching when they're looking do you think your employer owes you a job you know many times that is an attitude that people have you owe this to me no they don't owe you this they are choosing to hire you because you are a good employee they keep you because you are a good employee and you work hard and they see that you work hard and if you say well I don't even like this job well if you do it as unto the Lord you can do it with the right attitude and if you say I don't like it that much then go look for another one go look and find something that you can do with that kind of attitude very important and then the right motivation what's the motivation that you have to serve in this particular manner this is the will of God notice he says verse 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does he will receive the same from the Lord whether he is a slave or free now what does he mean here he will receive the same well the scripture gives us a little more insight into that in Colossians three twenty four it says there this is referring to bondservants again if you read the context and there Paul says whatever you do do it heartily as to the Lord not to men he says knowing this what knowing what that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ so in other words what Paul is saying here is if you serve with this sincerity of heart you're serving is unto the Lord you're doing this as unto Christ that you are going to be eternally rewarded for doing so Wow now that is powerful motivation an eternal reward for just doing my job yeah you're gonna get an eternal reward for doing your job as unto the Lord and you're gonna also lose that reward if you don't do it as unto the Lord so that's a critical motivation for why you should serve you say well why would the Lord reward me for doing my job why would he do that because you're being a witness if you're doing it as unto the Lord you're gonna be a witness on that job you're gonna be a witness of what kind of labor is is really worthy of their hire you know I had an employer call me one time and you know he said to me you know I said hey how's it going he goes he goes you know he said Steve I just can't find anybody that wants to work he said it's just I can't find him they just start out there where are they I mean they just they call in sick you know cuz they've you know they got a eyelash in their eye and and I hate this they don't want to work and I said well have you ever had in Howard Christians and he goes Christians he goes they're the worst he says Steve I I can't find a Christian that'll that'll really work and labor as unto the Lord and I went man that is sad testimony and then I had another employer one time call me and he said he said so-and-so says he goes to your church I said yeah he does he goes do you have any more like him and I said what do you say what do you mean he says he's the best worker I have ever had and he he goes he just tells me that he's serving the Lord and and he wants to serve me and he wants to give his best and he goes were some other guys like that and I thought to myself what a testimony that guy was to an unbelieving boss powerful that's why the Lord will reward you for doing what you're doing as unto Him and God knows he knows whether or not you're doing it as unto the Lord he knows and if not I guarantee you that that reward is gone poof it's gonna be burnt up it's you're never gonna receive it so this is the issue you want to do if you're a grumbler and a complainer and lazy and you don't want to work and you find every way to get out of doing work I guarantee you will not be rewarded for it if you're the opposite of that and you're serving with everything you got and whatever you want me to do I'll do I guarantee you you will receive a reward what a motivation for service is that now last year what is your responsibility as an employer well do the same things to your employee that you're hoping that he will do for you it's that simple that's the exhortation masters do the same things to them now the word do there is in the present tense continually do the same things to them giving up and that word that verb they're giving up is also in the present tense continually giving up threatening so here he's just saying you need to have the same attitude that I'm encouraging the employee to have that I want you as the employer to have toward that person that's laboring for you I want you to have a sincere heart I want you to be respectful I want you to have goodwill I want you to be kind toward that person that's laboring for you that's the responsibility someone who is overseeing someone else that is serving them in their business not threatening you know what threatening produces I service that's it threatening produces just somebody who get to work when you're looking not and they will not be serving for the right motivation in Colossians 4 1 says masters give your bondservants what is just and right and fair knowing that you have a master in heaven now that is your motivation for service for serving and treating that employee correctly it's because you have a master in heaven who is going to hold you accountable just like he holds the employee accountable so why is that because there's no partiality with God notice that is the last little phrase there in verse 9 and there is and that's in the present tense as well there is continually no partiality with him why because he's expecting the same thing from you and your heart as he is from your employee if you both have that attitude you're gonna have a really great time if you don't have that attitude then it's not gonna go well now if Jesus were your employee how would you treat them would you scream and yell at him which is shortchange them on their wages would you be harsh with them and sensitive or would you treat them a different way very important you see your employee is Jesus why do I mean by that well in Matthew 25:40 it says this jesus said assuredly I say to you as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me so your employee is Jesus and so the way you treat that person you are going to be held accountable before God one day so very important attitude that you must have now the best example of this mutual respect between the employer and the employee is found in the Book of Ruth in Ruth chapter 2 verse 4 there you remember the story of Ruth and Boaz Ruth was the Moabite us who came back with her mother-in-law and Naomi and you know what an example of that serving your mother-in-law okay very important loving her serving her taking care of her and she meets up with Boaz in his field one day and something happens and they end up marrying each other but Boaz was a man of God and it says in Ruth chapter 2 verse 4 now Boaz came to Bethlehem and said to the Reapers the Lord be with you and they answered him the Lord bless you what a mutual respect was there obviously and so this man had a godly attitude towards his employees those that were working and laboring for him probably many of them were indentured servants and others free individuals but these individuals knew that he he loved them the Lord be with you I want God to be with you and they respond I want the Lord to bless you wow what an attitude and so what produces this relationship it's it's a work of the Holy Spirit inside of a person's heart and when that takes place between an employer and employee it's it's gonna be good it's gonna be a good experience now I know some of you have Christian employees that you are very happy with in this room because you tell me about it and you have that kind of harmony in your relationship and others of you have told me that is not the case so you have to take the first step if you're the employer you take the first step if you're the employee you take the first step and you begin to serve as unto the Lord you begin to treat your employee as unto the Lord just as if that employee was Jesus himself and if you do that I guarantee you you will have the harmony that you desire in your your place of work mutual respect kindness always remembering that the Lord is watching both of you and he will reward you accordingly amen let's go to him in prayer father thank you so much that Lord you take these truths that you want to work into each of our hearts and you bring them into the practical into the real-world situation that each one of us has to deal with every day and so father I pray that you would give us that that heart that heart that only you can give us Florida the heart of kindness a heart of love a heart of sincerity a heart of humility or to be thankful that we we even have a business we even have employees or if I'm an employee to be thankful that I even have a job and Lord help help each one of us Lord whichever state whichever position we are in Lord may we have that heart to to do what we do is unto you or that is what is going to please you and will ultimately bring us an eternal reward and God we we thank you for that promise well we look forward to the to that future blessing because of what we have done today or doubt your spirit here upon us change our hearts we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Pastor Steve Carr

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Id: fUHWSUOEAhk

Length: 39min 48sec (2388 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 22 2019