Sermon: "Slaves, Part 2: Spiritual Application" by Rick Shabi, Feb 29 2020

last time last time I was here we spoke about a subject that and a word specifically that that some people would find uncomfortable and if you recall that word was slave and you know the in the Bible it talks about slavery really from the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible and we talked about how many times the word slave is found in the New Testament it of course is the Greek word Doulos and many times in fact most of the time when you read the Serb the word servant in the New Testament it really is the Greek word Doulos that means slave and literally translated slave we talked about last time some of the translators of the Bible why they had an issue with the word slave because slavery in our minds is just not a pleasant thought right I mean in America we think back to the 19th century 18th century slavery in this country you can't condone it it was cruel it was not right God doesn't condone slavery but as the translators as they were becoming aware in the 15th and 16th century of the evils of slavery they just had a hard time taking that Greek word Doulos even though in every other piece of literature where Doulos appears except the Bible it's translated slave they just had a hard time putting that in there because of the connotation of it and even today as we hear the word slave it has probably conjures up some thoughts in our minds about what slaves are and how can that word be in the Bible but it's there it's there and last time we talked about we talked about Old Testament slavery we talked about how they were really in an age much different than we live in today there were three classes of people there were free people there were semi free people and they were slaves there it was basically it you know you were free semi free or slaves and we talked about how even in the family of God the family of Abraham the ones through whom God would have build his nations that Abraham and Isaac were free men eisah they were they were wealthy man they lived in the face of other nations and God protected them and they remained free throughout their entire lives Jacob if you recall then sinned he you know tricked his brother out of birthright tricked his father out of giving into giving him the blessing and Jacob ended up being a semi free person he had to leave home the first of the family to have to leave home because no one was sure whether Esau his brother would kill him or not and he went he pretty much indentured himself to Laban and said you know I'll stay here for seven years you know work for Rachel he got tricked and he had to work another seven years for her but he was a semi free he had committed himself to it he was free to leave and at the end of those years that he spent with Laban he went God led him back to be a free man but then in the next generation you had Joseph and Joseph was literally a slave in every sense of the word that you and I think of the word slave he was literally sold against his will into slavery to the Midianite trailers that through their Midianite traders and he found himself in Egypt he wasn't free to leave he wasn't free to do his own thing he had to do what his master said he had to do there was no freedom at all for Joseph his only freedom is doing what his master wanted him to do and Joseph figure if you recall was a good slave he did it with his might he did everything part of our set and so as you see Joseph he rose in that household to the point where it says that there was nothing withheld from Joseph at all Potiphar he didn't even know what he had he had trusted everything to Joseph Tata far though was a very good master he was a good master if you're gonna be a slave Joseph Joseph handled the situation perfectly but potta far was a good master and he provided everything that Joseph needed and he allowed Joseph to become everything he could be he saw the potential he saw the capabilities he saw the wisdom in Joseph and he let him grow into who Joseph could be the kind of master you would want to be in be under ownership or had as your owner on the other hand then we find that Israel Israel was slaves they moved into Egypt as Joseph was there and rose to be second-in-command of the entire country and Israel moved in and as another King came along they found themselves slaves in Egypt but Israel's lot is slave was far different than Joseph as opposed to Potiphar who saw an aloud Joseph to develop into who he was going to be Pharaoh at that time saw the capability of Israel he saw what kind of industrious people they were he saw that they could cause him a problem they were they were they were hardworking they had many talents among them he could see the blessings and the the fruitfulness that they had what did he do he just wanted to hold him down he did not want them to develop into who they could be they were not allowed to use their talents and their capabilities he was afraid that even if they elide with the people outside the borders they would conquer Egypt and so what he did was hold them down never going to allow them to know and experience who what they could be that's the kind of cruel master he was and their only lot in life they had no future they had no hope the only thing they could look forward to was death and they lived a hard hard life not at all like the experience that Joseph had as a slave and there you see the difference slaves in the ancient world wasn't always a bad word if you had a good master and if you were someone who was hardworking and who would embrace the situation you would have a very good life but if you had a cruel master like Pharaoh was then your life was absolutely miserable and so we said last time Pharaoh was a type of Satan Satan is has exactly the same thing in mind for us he knows what the potential of mankind is he know how why he knows why God created us and he knows what mankind is supposed to be but his entire intention is keep them down never let them see the potential they have never allow God to ever develop them into who they want who he wants them to be never let them see that future and indeed as we are slaves to Satan we find that there is no future there's no hope and the only thing in the future is death no difference for the ancient no different from the ancient Israelites last time so you learned so many lessons from slavery back in the Old Testament we learn even more lessons from slavery in the New Testament if you recall last time we looked at the Greek word Doulos and looked at how it's been mistranslated in the New King James and King James as servant instead of slave and we talked a little bit about the difference between servants and slaves if you're a servant you're free to go to somewhere else if you don't like this employer you can go to someone else if you don't like what you're making here you can look for another job someplace else as a slave you can't do that at all as a slave you are there and you have no choice the only way out of that the situation you're in is if you're sold or you die or if you have a good master who will allow you to work toward your freedom that he will love you and he will help you to become everything that you could become a servant had to always provide for himself he had to always look out where am I gonna live where am I gonna eat what am I gonna wear but a slave didn't have to worry about any of that it was all provided for him and if you were in first century Rome and you worked for a master who had a nice home and lots of money you had a pretty good life not every master was bad and many many people in the Roman society that had slaves love them and accepted him as their family they lived with him day and night and they appreciated what they had to offer and not all slaves had to work vigorously in rigor you know with rigor as he Israelites did if you had talent if you are an educator if you were wise if you were an accountant if you were an artisan you were put to work in your skill and you many of the Roman society or Roman Roman households relied on those people to do those things but if you were a criminal if you were a criminal you might find yourself as a slave that was just worked to death if you recall we read through some scriptures where all the apostles you know all the writers of the New Testament Paul Peter James Jude even John what do they call themselves if we read the Bible they called themselves the servants of God but the real word has translated servant is slave they all call themselves the slaves of God let's turn back to Philippians 1 Libyans 1 and this is just one of the many that I mentioned you can see here in Philippians 1 verse 1 Paul and Timothy is there writing to the church at Philippi Paul and Timothy your New King James Version says bond servants of Jesus Christ the word bond servants there is the Greek word Doulos they're saying paul and timothy slaves of jesus christ slaves of jesus christ now if we think of ourselves as servants of God that's good certainly service is part of being a slave but when we think of ourselves and see what Paul says and we think of ourselves as slaves of God things begin to open up we begin to see what our calling is more clearly we begin to see what our responsibility is more clearly and I hope as we go through the sermon today you see that because today we're gonna look at New Testament so we're gonna look at the spiritual application the things we learn from slavery and how it applies directly to us and as we here are you know headed toward the Passover in the days of unleavened bread or in the process of examining ourselves a good question for us to ask is are we good slaves of God are we good slaves of Jesus Christ do we understand that we have a really good master just as you heard in the sermonette we have everything you know in the Roman first century well let me let me stay here in Philippians you know let's go to chapter 2 though phillipians in verse 5 Philippians 2 and verse 5 we read this last time let's read it again though because even Jesus Christ refers to himself as a slave when he was on or let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God didn't consider it robbery to e be equal with God he was willing to relinquish that to fulfill the mission that he had but he made himself of no reputation taking the form of a there's the Greek word Doulos taking the form of a slave and coming in the likeness of men coming in the likeness of men he took the form of a slave should cause us pause to think about what is God trying to teach us as we look at the words that he uses that his servants or his slaves used not in any negative context but in a very positive context because understanding who they were motivated them to become the people that God wanted them to become and to serve him in the way that he wants to be served now in the Roman world basically the history books will tell you there were two kinds of people you were either free or slave no in between you were either free or slave that was just society back then now we have a hard time even imagining that that everyone is either free or slave because none of us are slaves we don't know anyone who owns and it's not even imagine ourselves being owned by someone else but in that world in the first century when Jesus Christ was on the earth when the apostles were on the earth that was life and it wasn't all bad they weren't all in misery they weren't all like the stories we read about in a labor in America in slavery in Africa in some places it wasn't all bad and there are lessons there are lessons we can learn from it let me repeat again God doesn't condone slavery and this is not a purpose to condone it at all it's simply there in a part of life that we would learn the lessons from it that we need to learn we go back a couple of couple books to Galatians Galatians three some very very familiar verses here inflation is three and verse 26 kind of gives you an insight here Paul is talking about when God calls us and we we respond that we become part of his family that we all become one and look what he says here he kind of does the black and white thing you know it's this or this and whatever equations 3 verse 26 you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ if you're baptized if you've received God's call accepted Christ's sacrifice repented then been baptized had the hands laid on you receive the Holy Spirit you are now his you are now his for as many are verse 28 there is neither Jew nor Greek and you remember life back then the Jews saw things in black and white you were either Jew or Gentile and he goes when you become part of the God's family there's neither Jew nor Greek and notice the next one there's neither slave nor free because everyone was either slave or free there is neither slave nor free there is neither male for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise all one all one not by the divisions of society the physical divisions but by the way God looks at us go back to Matthew 8 for a minute here just to show you the closeness that some slaves and their masters had find a few verses here that we read a couple weeks ago or a few maybe a month ago when we were talking about Jesus Christ's you know the one about full of grace and full of truth that that part of His grace to mankind was his healing but let's look at chapter aid in math universe 5 and use the words that the Bible says when it talks about this Centurion who comes to Christ for his servant of people verse 5 when Jesus entered Capernaum a Centurion came to him pleading with him not just approaching him and saying hey pleading with him he made a concerted effort to be there and he was begging Christ saying Lord my servant but it's not servant it's Doulos Lord my slave is lying at home paralyzed dreadfully tormented now in the modern day slavery sewing we might think I was a slave you know his life isn't worth much that is not at all with this man he's there he sought out Christ and he's begging my slave I love him I trust him he's part of our family he's lying at home paralyzed dreadfully tormented and Christ said to him I'll come and heal him but the Centurion answered and said Lord I'm not worthy that you should come under a roof just speak a word and my slave will be healed how Christ could have taken that opportunity to say you know what you need to do with your slave you need to free him but he didn't say that did he because it was just part of life that was just life at that time but you can see the feeling between master and slave that had developed in this relationship just say it and my slave will be healed for I am a man under Authority having soldiers under me and I say to this one go he goes to another one come then he comes and to my slave do this and he does it and when Christ heard it he marvelled and said to those who followed I say to you I haven't found such great faith not even in Israel look what this man has done look what he has done and he told them you know your slave will be healed but you can see the kinship you can see the friendship you can see the respect that's there so when we talk about slaves we learn the spiritual applications of slavery in the New Testament keep that in mind and as we keep it in mind let's go back to Deuteronomy 15 look at the words that Moses said as he was about to die but he's refreshing Israel's mind about who they are where they're going on what he wanted them to remember you know the same words will be you'll be reading and will be reading as we head toward Passover and no doubt talk about some of these things but here in Deuteronomy 15 15 you know verse for us to look at today and keep in mind verse 15 of Deuteronomy 15 it says you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the eternal your God redeemed you therefore I command you this thing today remember that you were a slave Israel was slaves and they had a bad master they had a bad master and they had no way out they had no hope no future it was only God who redeemed them who brought them out and they should have understood but they didn't they were no longer slaves to Pharaoh and a bad master who only wanted to hold them back and keep them from realizing what they could be now they had a good master who wanted them to be everything and the example to the world that he had called them out to be but they never got it they never got that this new master they needed to serve him in exactly the way they served the old master because this master would have brought them everything they could have ever hoped for and more than they could have ever imagined and they owed him the same determination the same loyalty and the same sense of service and commitment that they had to that old master but they never did you know we could say the same worse to us today remember you were a slave every single one of us were slaves to Satan every single one of us we had no choice the rest of the world has no choice they don't know yet that there is another slave another owner that they could be a slave to and they have no hope all they have to look forward to is death as long as they're under the control of that master you and I you and I have opportunities that God has given us if we understand our responsibilities and understand that we are slaves to a very good master and that's a good thing well let's go to the New Testament the last time we last time we talked about some things at the end that we learned from slavery as we looked at it in the Old Testament and compared some of the things to 1st century Rome I've got five things today I want to talk about and I could add many more to them and you can certainly add more to them as you study this and contemplate it but the first one we have is you know as a wage I've already mentioned is you know your life and your quality of life depends on the master that you have if you're a slave you need a good master in order to have a good life and we can see that pretty much played out for us here in a spiritual sense back in the book of Romans let's go back there and here in the book of Romans at least in chapter 6 the translators were true to the Greek word you know the Greek word Doulos they used it they used it in chapter 6 appropriately everywhere and I think they understood the spiritual application of what Doulos means that we'll be talking about today in Romans 6 we're just going to read through chapter or verses 16 through 23 and contemplated a little bit and the guise of everyone has everyone is a slave to some one area their slave to Satan or a slave to God verse 16 Romans 6 do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey you are that one slaves whom you obey whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness what he's saying is he writes to the church in Rome and as he writes to all of us is you have a choice you have a choice you can be slaves to sin and that leads to death or you could be slaves to God slaves to obedience and that will lead to righteousness in life the choice is yours he's saying you and I have that choice who will we obey who will be be slaves to who will we give our lives to verse 17 he says god be thanked that though you were notice that word were because they had come out of the world they'd been called they'd repented they'd been baptized they'd received the Holy Spirit they were members of the church just like you and I but God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin as we all were which should not be now but God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine in which you were delivered you saw the light you saw the doctrine you saw the truth and you came out of that slavery that would only lead to death under the hands of a cruel and bad master having been that form of doctrine in which you were delivered and having been set free or having been delivered as the ancient Israelites were and having been delivered from that master from sin you became slaves of righteousness you no longer were slaves to sin you gave that up you gave that up you chose to be slaves of righteousness and we'll see more about that here in a little bit I speak in human terms Paul says because they got it they understood those that they are they in Asia if you were slaves you could be sold someone else could buy you and then you lived under the laws of that household and you lived under what that mass wanted you to do you just did what the master wanted you to do understanding your position in life I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh for just as you presented past tense your members as slaves of uncleanness that's what you did under the prior owner that you had the prior master that you had and of lawlessness that just led to more lawlessness so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness you had a bad master that was leading and you did what he wanted you to do you were subservient to him and you sinned and you were lawless and that led the more now you've been delivered from that feudal existence to an existence that has future and a hope now embrace your new role as slaves of God recognize who your master is for when you were verse 20 past tense when you were slaves of sin you were free in regard to righteousness you didn't obey righteousness you weren't righteous that wasn't part of your life you were obeying your master sin lawlessness that was how you lived you were free in regard to righteousness what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed so when we think back on our lives and think you know wow how cool we might have been and how with it we might have been and how you know how wonderful our friends might have thought we were when we did these things now we look back and think you know how silly I was how stupid I was to think that was ever ever the thing to be there and Paul saying look look back on it look at look under that master what you did what fruit do you have in it what good came of that for the end of those things he clearly says the end of those things is death no option it's death black and white Jew or Greek slave or free male or female life or death verse 22 but now having been set free or having been delivered from no longer under that master now having freedom from that futile way of life that leads to death but now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God you have your fruit in holy to holiness and in the end everlasting life look what God has delivered you from he's taking you out of a life that leads to death to a life that leads to life from a condition and a status that only can lead to death if you obey that master to the status of one that can lead to life if we obey this master for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus two masters two masters we all obeyed the other we all follow the other we are all owned by the other as it says in the Bible well you're all sold under sin and now we've been redeemed now there's something else that God has offered to us and we no longer if we've accepted getting a little bit about how to myself you'll see here in a minute but if we've accepted Jesus Christ's sacrifice we are no longer slaves to sin but we become slaves to God let's go to the next point okay it makes all the difference in the world if you have a bad master or a good master whether you have life or death in your future you and I everyone in this room has life in our future because we have a good master if we choose to be under his control second point as a slave they understood that they were literally owned by their master literally owned by their master you'd always see that in the example of Joseph he was literally owned I mean he was just a he was just a product he was just merchandise people bought him and that's what they did back in that day and age and even in the first century this slave and you buy that slave you don't like this slave you trade him in for another one sell them to someone else they were just people were just merchandise but they were literally owned literally owned by their masters and so we are literally owned by our master but out of the physical sense that we might think of us certainly in the spiritual sense let's go back to Matthew 20 and look at Christ's own words concerning this Matthew 20:28 beginning in verse 25 this is the occasion these are the words of Christ after the mother of James and John came to hid and said you know grant me this wish that you know my one son will sit on your right hand and the other one will sit on your left hand it kind of irritates the other disciples that are there in Christ tells them you know he teaches them a lesson here about what is going and is he what it's about and as he goes into verse 25 he sets the difference between what rulers in the Gentile world see their role is versus rulers in the in you know the kingdom Matthew 20 verse 25 but Jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them it shall not be so among you whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant now in the New King James it says servants the old King James if you have that it probably says Minister it's one of the rare occasions where when you read that word servant it literally means servant so we talked about last time it's the Greek word diagnose it is where we get the word Deacon from people deacons serve Deacon serve and that's what he's talking about there so he's saying if every wants to be great among you they must become your servant they must be willing to serve in how whatever capacity that is to serve most of the time remember though when you read the New Testament and you see the word servant it is Doulos most of the time it's slave not in that case and verse 27 and whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave properly translated in new Kings James I think in the old King James it says servant there whoever wants to be great or first among you let him be your slave well that's right there should tell us there's something God wants us to learn and those disciples as they heard that what does it mean to be a slave why would God say that but that was four that was four last time we talked about that let's go on to verse 28 says the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom a ransom for many now there's that word ransom you know we know what a ransom is it's a price you pay to free someone and indeed in the Greek it means the same thing it's from Greek Strong's 30:38 it's real it erally means a loosening a redemption price a price pay that was paid for slaves or captives Jesus Christ says the Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many he was going to pay the price for slaves or captives he was going to redeem them the same word that we read back in Deuteronomy 1515 when God brought Israel out of Egypt he redeemed them and brought them out of Egypt and as he looks at us he paid the ransom for us we were sold under sin we were clearly slaves of Satan but he paid the price that we could be free from that he paid the price for that just like someone in the first century in 1st century Rome could do and say you know what I kind of want that slave you've got I'll pay whatever price you want I want him now will they struck a deal he left that old master and he came over and he had a new master left the old owner now had a new owner in Christ said I'll pay the price all you all you have is death that's the only future that you have I'll pay the price that you have a future and a hope well let's go to first Peter because first or Peter talks about the same thing here fees first Peter 1 then we'll begin in verse 17 first Peter 1:17 says if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work without partiality he doesn't have favors and say you know what I kind of like you okay so I'm gonna let you slide on this one you didn't do everything the way I said but I like you and therefore you're gonna get bita no no everyone is in the same boat God says clearly what he expects for us to do just like an owner would say clearly what he expects his slaves to do I expect you to do it he says there's no partiality you're mine I bought you for you I bought you I paid for you you do what it is if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear be aware of what's at stake he's saying understand what you're doing understand that you are serving and that you are a slave in the same sense as the physical slave mites in fear say you know what I'm going to obey everything that that master says because that was his job and if he was a good slave he embraced it it became his heart it became what he wanted to do when he woke up in the morning his thought was how do I please my master how do I please him if he was a good slave you know he's a look at Joseph I think when he woke up in the morning you thought how can I please Potiphar what can I do and he probably also prayed to God how do I please you and continue to live the way you have called me to so for 17 conduct conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here and fear knowing that you were not redeemed and there's that word that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's saying you know what look all around you anywhere you go in Roman society you see these people being bought with gold and silver he's saying that's not what you were bought with you weren't you weren't redeemed with corruptible things like the rest of these people they knew exactly who's talking about the price that was paid for you was Christ's own blood a lamb without blemish and without spot that's what you were bought and paid for much more precious than any gold or silver that a slave would be traded from one owner to another he indeed speaking of Christ verse 20 was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you to redeem you from a hopeless futile going nowhere existence he was manifest in these last times for you who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God under the old master he had no hope you had no future there was nothing now your faith and your hope are in God a tremendously good master who has all of mankind's best interest at heart let's go back and see what Paul says can also mark down in your notes if you want to fusions 1:7 where Paul uses the same analogy and using the word redeemed but let's go back to 1st Corinthians 6 and see his epistle to the Corinthian church a portion of it you remember the Corinthian church Corinth was a lascivious society it was steeped in in paganism of course and sexual immorality ran rampant through that society and as people were called out of that society they did Hetal they had a lot that they had to overcome and a lot of the renewing of the minds of what was right and wrong that they had to they had to to learn and to say we're gonna follow God but here in 1st Corinthians 6 a chapter that kind of spells out for us the type of sins that if we commit we won't be in God's kingdom down to the bottom here let's let's just look at verse 20 first first 1st Corinthians 6 verse 20 Paul says you were bought at a price that's you and me you were bought at a price you were purchased you were purchased out of slavery from one owner and you became the slaves of another owner you were bought at a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods we belong to him that's what he's saying he bought you you're his let's go back and look at verse 15 the verses leading up to verse 20 there and understanding slaves of God and understanding our status and what God sees us as the same thing that Peter Paul James John Jude and even Jesus Christ saw themselves as let's look at these words leading up to verse 20 where it tells us clearly we were bought with a price verse 15 don't you know that your bodies are members of Christ shall I take then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot certainly not by saying you were bought with a price you belong to God he owns you your master says don't do that are you going to use your body to do this unseemly thing Paul says of course not that was the master you used to serve when you were a slave to him but now you are a slave to God and so you would never do that when you're a slave to God certainly not he says and we can understand that when we understand used to be slaves to Satan used to be the people in Corinth slaves to that society and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness but today not that way at all no longer serve that master anymore so he says don't you know these things or don't you know verse 16 that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her for the two he says shall become one flesh were you called to do this sin were you called to be a mind with that sin of course not that's not what your master would have you do that's not at all what the rules of the household are that's not at all what the master desires is and the job as a good slave is you please the master you live by his rules because if you don't if you don't play by his rules if you don't embrace it with all your heart you're never going to rise in position you're always going to be seen as a rebel a good master was looking for a good slave who would embrace him and live his way and follow him implicitly and he could see his heart just like pot afire saw Joseph's heart just like God sees our heart are we good slaves to him and Paul is taking it right down to the physical here in this example for the Corinthians in verse 18 he says flee sexual immorality well that was this that was one of the major things in Corinth we could just say flee sin sin was the thing of the old master that's what we used to be slaves to when you come into a new household and under a new owner you don't live by the old rules anymore you live and you're and you're very aware and you consistently apply the rules of the new master you live by his way in his house fleece in every sin that a man does is outside the body but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body or don't you know Paul says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you which you have from God and you are not your own you are not your own aren't those telling words we are not our own we were bought and paid for and we committed to Jesus when we committed to God in Jesus Christ through baptism we became their slaves no longer our ideas no longer our way but his way learning and living by the laws of the master the very very very good Mass that we have or as Jesus Christ would say when you accept him deny self live by his way if you understand what it means to be a slave of God and if you understand the very good impartial master that we serve well we can talk about slaves Doulos and you know 140 or 170 times that's mentioned there in the New Testament but you can't talk about slaves without masters every slave has a master there's no such thing as a slave without a master that's just part of the definition if you have a slave you have an owner and Christ talks about that let's go back to Matthew 10 and talk about masters for a while we've talked about good masters and bad masters we know that God is a good master we'll see that even more here in a few minutes but this concept of master you know where do low shows up 170 times I think of the New Testament the word for master the Greek word for master shows up seven hundred times seven hundred times in the New Testament it's all over the Bible Matthew 10 Matthew 10 let's look at verse 24 these again are Christ's own words and he says here in verse 24 disciple you know student a disciple it's not above his teacher probably know that at least the world used to knew that right I mean when I was a student I never thought that I was above my teachers today maybe some students think that but Christ says the disciple is not above his teacher first and going on in verse 24 nor a slave because servant there is do loose nor a slave above his master well the Greek word translated master there is the Greek word kurios KYR iOS sometimes K you are iOS but it's kurios and it shows up as I said several hundred times of the New Testament sometimes it's translated master we kind of know what masters are sometimes it's translated as Lord little ELLs lowercase L when you read lowercase lor D that's the same word kurios that's translated elsewhere master and sometimes even capital L Ord is kurios referring to Jesus Christ master so when you read the Lord word Lord in the New Testament you might replace it with pastor and get a new flavor for who it is we're serving that he is our master and we are his slaves that's the relationship that we are in and it's not a bad relationship it's a relationship that leads to everything good things that we can't even imagine so he goes on in verse 25 and he says it's enough for a student that he be like his teacher and a slave like his kurios and then he says if they have called the master of the house bills above how much more will they call those of his household because slave and masters live together in one place if the master was ill you know held an ill repute the whole household was so what he's saying you know they're calling me these things if you see yourselves and I'm your master they're going to have the same attitude toward you so we see you know this master which is a word we fully understand if we have a master let's go to Colossians 4 and among the many many many places that we could turn and see the word master in Colossians 4 Paul uses the word and he gives some instructions to physical masters in this day and age we're not there that day and age of course of this day and age as well chapter 4 of Colossians and verse 1 masters it's the Greek word kurios masters give your you see the word bondservants it's doulos masters give your slaves what is just and fair knowing that you also have a kurios in heaven so he's saying to physical masters who owned slaves because there were people in the church who owned slaves back then Christ never said it's wrong get rid of them it was just a part of life back then everyday part of life and he's saying to the masters of them you treat them well you treat them well you be a good master knowing that you have a master in heaven someone that you are serving who owns you and who directs you and who you have a responsibility toward masters give your slaves what is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven helps us to understand a little bit more and as you work with these words and understand the great meanings and as you read you'll see more and more what it is that we need to do now there's one thing about slaves right today we live in a society that's free we don't know any slaves it's pretty much I'm gonna guess for the most part at least legally slavery is abandoned we know that under you know there are other things that go on in this earth but it's gone we live in a time of freedom none of us are owned by anyone else physically we know that we're owned by God we've seen that clearly I hope we're not owned by anyone but if we were part of slavery is you are loyal to that one owner it's not like today where we might have a job and we have a full-time job and we have an employer and we're loyal to that employer we put our eight or ten hours in and every day to that employer and then at night you know we have a different employer and we gonna go over there and work part-time and you know the thing for him now we might have two masters physically but when you were slaves that didn't happen you had one you had one owner and your entire life was revolving around that one owner there was no split there was no split loyalties there was one owner in fact if you were a slave who didn't understand that you had one owner and you were loyal to him you might find yourself in a lot of trouble and that could lead to imprisonment or even death but she had one master Christ addresses that specifically here back in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 Matthew 6 and at verse 24 he says this something that we the people back then would have understood exactly what is saying he says no one can serve two masters no one can serve two kurios it's not even it's it's unheard of no one's can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other one master completely loyal to him no split loyalties no double mindedness one master and he goes to right to the point he says you can't serve God and Mammon you can't serve God you can't be a slave to God and also have your eye on man then how you're gonna serve that God you can't have an eye on I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do this and whatever you have you are bought and paid for by God you have one master and your complete loyalty is to him spiritually speaking slaves couldn't be double-minded they were there for their master to please him to be there at his beck and call it was the only way out if you had a good master of slavery that would lead to death let's move on to another point here 0.3 your job was to obey and be loyal and learn to please your master I've said that several times the job of the servant the job of the slave I'm sorry was to keep his master happy and he was to embrace that life even while he served God in it just as we saw the example of Joseph let's let's go back to Jeremiah 29 Jeremiah 29 and Judah you know God brought Israel out of Egypt he brought out of Egypt he gave them freedom told them he wanted them to be the examples of the earth he wanted them to have them ride on the high hills of the earth and how people say they didn't they never did get it they became slaves of the nations around them and they wanted to do the things that they wanted to do rather than the things that God wanted to do so they lost their freedom and God sold them into slavery again it was his will that they would be sold into slavery and Judah found themselves captive to Babylon in jeremiah 29 verse 4 this is what he says to those captives who were slaves going back into slavery to the Babel to the Babylonian Empire first for thus says the eternal of hosts the God of Israel to all who were carried away captive whom I have cause to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon build houses and dwell in them plant gardens and eat their fruit take wives and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands so that they may bear sons and daughters that you may be increased there and not biz minish live your life that's where I want you to be that's where you're going to be don't go there and be rebellious don't go value there and say I'm gonna break my way out I'm gonna mastermind some way to get back to where I want to be that's where God said to be and seek verse 7 the Peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the Lord for it for in its peace you will have peace embrace the situation that you're in pray for the peace of that city be good slaves that's the status that you're in now let's drop down to verse 11 you can read later verses 8 to 10 for I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the eternal thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope our master under him we have future and a hope no matter what situation we find ourselves in no matter what situation or place or from Stan's our master places us in at that time no matter where now we can think of Joseph he fulfilled those verses and he never even read those verses when he went to Egypt he embraced his life there and he did very well he did very well and he had a good master he ended up who would think it that a slave would end up second-in-command of all of Egypt the greatest power on earth at that time but he embraced this situation and he did it the way God said to do it let's go to 1st Corinthians 7 1st Corinthians 7 and see what Paul has to say about our master and doing his will and following him and understanding he has the rights because he owns us to put us where he wants us to be and to do with us what he wants 1st Corinthians 7 1st Corinthians 7 you'll remember as a chapter on marriage but right in the middle of it Paul has some scriptures here from obtaining two slaves 1st corinthians 7 verse 20 he says let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called verse 21 were you called while a slave this is the Greek word Doulos where you called while a slave don't be concerned about it but if you can may be made free use it so he's saying you know what if you're called as a slave remain a slave continue in that if you have the opportunity it's not wrong to be free but don't spend your life and your time then thinking I can no longer do this God will lead you to where he wants you to be at that point he called you in the status of a slave stay there and do it well where you called to be a slave don't be concerned about it but if you can be made free rather use it for he who has called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freed man well he was a physical slave and he was a slave before to Satan but you know what Christ God set him free from being the slave of sin the slave that leads to death so even in that light he may still be a physical slave but now he's a free man in Christ he's no longer under the bondage of a cruel an awful master likewise he was called while free is Christ's slave you may think he's free either free or slave in the Roman society but he is slave to Christ he's been pot with a price his responsibility is to be loyal faithful and embrace his role to his owner verse 23 you were bought at a price same thing he said a chapter ago in Birch Apter 6 you were bought at a price don't become slaves of men remember who you are slaves to but don't seek to become slaves of men brethren let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called let God direct your life let him be the one to lead you because he knows where he's taking you he knows what your potential is he knows what he has in mind for you a future and a hope let him lead don't take mass don't take matters into your own hands let him lead you Colossians we're in Colossians 4 few minutes ago we read about masters let's see what Paul under the inspiration of God has to say about slaves Colossians 3 Colossians 3 verse 22 bondservants the first word in verse 22 it's doulos slaves slaves obey in all things your masters your kurios according to the flesh not with eyeservice as men pleasers but in sincerity of heart fury god don't don't serve them and then night go back and say what uh what a jerk that master is I know so much more than him embrace it and serve them with sincerity apart just like you serve as a slave our master God and whatever you do whether it's slave physically or freeze physically now whatever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men whatever you do whatever state God has you in do it well embrace it do it with sincerity do it to the best of your ability become profitable servants you might say as we look a little down the road knowing that from the Lord you will receive the word of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ remember he's saying whatever we do remember who is your master remember who is your master and do it his way now remember he will direct your life he will lead you to where he wants you to go let him just as a physical slave didn't make his own decisions they trusted it that they relied they were faithful the good slaves to their masters they disappoint number four slaves are totally dependent on their masters slaves prove our masters owners provided everything they provided home they provided food they provided clothing they provided it all the slaves job was simply to please the master the Masters job was to make sure he had everything else that he needed when Joseph lived with Potiphar Joseph was there to please Potiphar and please God he wasn't worrying about what he was gonna wear in the morning he wasn't gonna worry wasn't worrying about where am I going to get this food where am I gonna sleep at night he knew he was sleeping in his master's house his master would provide his clothing and his master would provide his food his job was simply to please the master Matthew 6 we're in Matthew 6 a few minutes ago when we read about you can't serve two masters but just one but following that verse and verse 25 Christ talks about this verse 25 very familiar verses he says therefore I say to you don't worry after he says you can't serve God and Mammon and as his impetus is you know his incentive this work please God serve Him therefore I say to you don't worry about your life what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing see what he's saying you know what slaves they don't have to worry about that stuff they just have to do what God what their master tells them to do look at the birds of the year they don't sow or reap or gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feeds them aren't you of more value than they don't you realize what your potential is don't you understand what he's working with you to become verse 28 so why do you worry about clothing consider the lilies of the field how they grow they need their toil nor spent and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these serve God he's your master do what he wants you to do he'll take care of the rest 31 therefore don't worry saying what will we eat what will we drink what will we wear slaves in the first century they weren't asking those questions if they had a good master for after all these things the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things but you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you what he's saying is you be good slaves you do what he says you follow his principles you follow his way of life you embrace it and if you're a good slave you're very very very very good master we'll provide but you're very very very good master wants us to become very good slaves who trust and rely on him just as the slaves the physical slaves in the first century learned to rely on their masters but they gave them their all and in Roman society in Roman society many many slaves you know were well thought of and well provided for by their masters who did give them a future and a hope as they would serve them for you know most of the history says 14 or so years well let me love you Matthew 10 verses 5 to 10 that you can look at later now Jesus Christ gives an example of this and in real life you remember in Matthew in Matthew 10 Christ sends out disciples two by two and he tells him you know I'm sending you out to preach the gospel heal the sick cast demons out cleanse the lepers so I'm gonna give you all those powers you everybody says after that he says don't take you know don't take any any don't take two tunics don't take a knapsack don't worry about money don't take all more sandals just go you do what you have I'm clipping you with what you need to do go do it and don't take any of the other things that is an interesting thing for him to say it's like telling us go away for two or three weeks don't pack a thing just go I would have a hard time doing that right I mean we'll be like wait a minute but the disciples did it and then in Luke 22 35 as he's at the Passover he asked them a question he says do you remember when I sent you out and I told you don't take any tunics and don't take your knapsacks and don't take any money with you and they of course say yes and he goes did you lack anything they said nothing they didn't lack anything they just didn't did they we just went and did what God said he saw to it and provided everything let's go on to number 5 the ultimate for a slave was to win his freedom and become a Roman citizen you know in Rome I think you probably heard this before but in Rome the slaves became just a very part of the family if they were good slaves and good masters they were just part of the family they lived there every day children looked at them as just just part of the family they looked up to him and slay and masters if they were good would even give the opportunities to earn freedom and to set them free and some would even adopt their slaves in as part of their make them part of their family so they were part of the inheritance that their family would have because they were that close they were that much of a family and if you were with a good family a good master and if you were a good slave the eras future and I hope that you work on a diet slave but you were going to have a very good life and you had some light at the end of the Titan tunnel and so it is with us we're slaves of God but God sees us in different lights and as we work with him and as we yield to him we see him progressing us along and what he thinks of us let's look at John John 15 John 15 and verse 15 these are words that Christ spoke before he was arrested and crucified to his disciples after that last Passover that he was on earth John 15 and verse 15 well begin in verse 14 he says you are my friends speaking to his disciples he would say these same words to us today you are my friends if you do whatever I command you you're my friends if I do whatever I command you well I think his slaves when it's one household and their master said you know do this and do that and that slave worked hard to do whatever that master said after a while they developed a relationship with other like Joseph and Potiphar and Potter fire would've said Joseph my friend he's a slave but he's still my friend and Christ says to us you are my friends if you do whatever I command you no longer do I call you ah verse 15 no longer do I call you do lohse no longer do I call you slaves for slave doesn't know what his curious is doing but I have called you friends for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you you're part of the family now you can know more than just a slave I've seen you I've seen how you've embraced your role I trust you I see your heart I see how you work you're no longer a slave even though they were still slaves but in the mind of the master they were friends Romans Romans 8 so slave to friend and in Romans 8 this is chapter about the Holy Spirit you remember well verse 7 where talks about how the carnal mind the natural mind a man is enmity against God it's not subject to his law can't be can be when we accept the fact that our master our new master bought and paid for us and gives us His Holy Spirit so we can please him if we truly and with all our heart want to let's drop down to verse 12 of chapter 8 therefore brethren we are debtors debtors okay we owe a lot we owe everything to God we owe everything to Jesus Christ he bought and paid for us he redeemed us was his own blood we can understand what Paul says in Romans 12:1 and 2 when he says that your reasonable service it's just your reasonable service to offer yourselves as living sacrifices to God that's what a slave did therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh that's the old master that's the old slave we were for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live all depends on which master you serve and every one of us in this room have an opportunity to serve a good master or a cruel master for as many verse 14 as are led by the Spirit of God these are sons of God they become family members legitimate legal family members these are sons of God for you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear but you received the spirit of adoption or some would say sonship by whom by which we cry Abba Father just like the Roman slave who became a part of the family he was naturalized but you know what God puts his spirit in us that Roman owner couldn't put his DNA he couldn't put his DNA in that slave but God puts his spirit in us the spirit itself verse 16 bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God joint heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him that we be be glorified together if we follow him and remain loyal to him every step of the way right to the very end slaves to friends to sons revelation revelation 1 revelation 1 and verse 1 the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his there's that word Doulos again the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his Doulos his slaves things which must shortly take place and he sent and signified it by his angel to his slave John who dutifully and responsibly reported it and recorded it for us drop down to verse 5 now drop down to verse 4 where the sentence begins John to the seven churches which are in Asia grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth to him who loved us indeed paid the price for us and washed us and the Greek word there wash is a complete washing complete total body washing just as in baptism clearing us from our sins for giving us all our sins as we choose to put to death the former self to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father to him be glory and Dominion for ever and ever and has made us kings and priests that's the future that's the hope if slaves to friends to sons to kings and priests watch the patter that Joseph followed right Joseph was a slave became a friend Potiphar pretty much led Joseph's control everything Joseph ended up as second-in-command of Egypt and God says to those who are his slaves follow me be a good slave and I'll make you kings and priests something that's unheard of for a slave especially a slave who had no future and no hope in his prior life a little over time but let me conclude here in Matthew 25 Matthew 25 I'll give you an assignment but you you know the parable of the talents that is recorded here in the middle part of chapter 25 I'm going to I'm gonna read just a couple verses here but you remember the parable as the master now let's read let's read verse 14 here and again use the Greek words in their proper translation verse 14 for the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own slaves and delivered his goods to them the one he gave five talents another to another one to each according to his own mobility and immediately he went on a journey and then you know what happens and what happens the person who had five that multiplied it by a hundred percent so he had ten the two turned into four but the one just stayed at one didn't grow at all stayed exactly the same and down at verse let's just read as I'm here in verse some 26 as you recall when his Lord little lort right kurios as his master came home he's a little upset that that one talent is still one Talent and verse 26 says his Lord we can replace that with master because it's the word kurios but his master answered and said to him you wicked and lazy slave you knew that I reap where I haven't sown you gather and gather where I haven't scattered seed you want to have deposited my money with the bankers and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest take the one talent from him and give it to those who have more verse 30 and cast that unprofitable slave into the outer darkness there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when that day of accountability comes and when the master returns and he says look what I gave you what did you do with it none of us want that script written about us to be called a wicked and a lazy slave I wasn't profitable to our master at all now there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth but on the other hand for those good slaves who dedicate their life and who embraced the role that they've been given the opportunity to embrace who do it with all their heart mind and soul look what he says in verse 19 to the one with five and then also to the one with two after a long time the lord the kurios the master of those slaves that's doulos after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them so he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents saying Lord that's the Greek word kurios master you delivered to me five talents look I've gained five more talents besides them his master said to him well done good and faithful slave well done good and faithful slave you were faithful over a few things I will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your master so the question for us as we examine ourselves and as we move closer to Passover is our we good slaves our we good slaves the way that God would have us be good slaves do we appreciate what a good and a great master we have and what he offers us and do our actions every day reflect the recognition of who we are and who we serve

Channel: United Church of God Orlando

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Length: 76min 55sec (4615 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 29 2020