The Relationship of Masters & Slaves

Transcript

GR 160
12/07/1975
The Relationship of Slaves & Masters
Ephesians 6:5-9
Gil Rugh

I like to begin reading with the first verse as you follow along in your bibles. Ephesians Chapter 6 and verse 1; children obey your parents -- Ephesians Chapter 6, we began our consideration of this chapter last week and looked at the first four verses which dealt with the matter of parents and children and their relationships with one another addressing the subjection or obedience of the children to their parents, two responsibilities really entail for the children. Verse 1 to obey their parents and secondly to honor their father and mother. Obedience; note that refers to hearing and responding, so you are given instructions and you do it. The first requirement that he deals with and the second is to honor father and mother, that has to do with the heart attitude that the obedience comes form, that you hold your parents in respect and honor not because of what they do but because of who they are, they are your parents thus they are worthy of respect and honor.

So it is not just external obedience but it is obedience not with any resentment or rebellion on the inside but a willing obedience to what your parents do. As a child or a young person that is an indication that you are allowing God to control your life. Responsibility of the parents particularly of the father as given in verse 4 not to provoke their children to anger but to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Father singled out here because they would be the ones ultimately responsible usually for the discipline and ultimately responsible and that they are responsible for the home as it is arranged under them and is to see that their children are not just provoked and irritated and exasperated but there is that discipline and instruction of the Lord, they are being nurtured in the things of the Lord.

We come to the fourth area but first these relationships, the wife and the husband and the children, now the slaves, third area is they are grouped together. Slaves and masters and this is an area while at first reading may not seem to be particularly pertinent because slavery as such does not exist any longer in this country but nonetheless I believe it has very far reaching ramifications and implications for our conduct and relationships as believers. We back up and just overview the first three chapters again, we have got a couple of areas. Back to Chapter 1 we have done this preceding -- earlier in our study as well, some of you have been for the whole study and know that the first three chapters establish our position in Jesus Christ, the position that we occupy before God and our conduct is to come out of our position.

In Chapter 1 verse 3; blessed should be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love He predestined us to adopt his son through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will. As stressed here that we have been blessed in the heavenlies and it is part of the eternal purpose of God that before the foundation of the world, He ordained that we should be holy without blame, that we should be placed as His sons, established in that position with all the blessings and all the inheritance that comes to those who rejoice Son-ship.

Look over in Chapter 2, skipping over to, we have got a couple of areas, Chapter 2 verse 8 we are told; by grace you have been saved through faith that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And can actually give him with our position, this position was established as the work of God, we were saved by Grace, has nothing to do with what you do, it is not a result of our works in verse 9 but works out to follow our salvation.

The order is crucial, we are not saved because of what you do, we are saved because of the grace of God by believing in Jesus Christ but following faith believing in Christ then good works are to follow with God’s intended and ordained purpose that those who have been made new creations in Christ would now have wise lived in conformity with the position they now enjoy in Jesus Christ. Look in verse 19 of Chapter 2 still; so then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, now again there has been a change of position.

And Chapter 2 opens up with this; formerly I was dead in trespasses and sins, I was in darkness, I was conformed to the world in subjection to the God of this world who was my Father the Devil. Now I have been placed into a new position and a new relationship. I’m no longer a stranger and an alien as far as God is concerned and his promises but I’m a fellow citizen, with the saints, with the holy ones, those who have been set apart by God for himself and thus I’m of God’s household.

Chapter 3 verse 6 speaks to the same issue, the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. What we understand this new position that we have, now a part of God’s household, as Paul wrote to the Philippians; our citizenship now is in heaven and once we await the coming of Jesus Christ. Now God has particular instructions to give to those who are members of his household, the members of his family in order that we might know how to conduct ourselves in conformity with his desires.

So Chapter 4 opens up; I therefore the prisoner of the Lord entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling therefore in light of your calling walk in a manner worthy, but fitting your calling to Son-ship, to be established in the heavenlies with his son, conduct yourself in conformity with this position. Now it is important that we understand this and this is the people to whom 4, 5 and 6, Chapters 4, 5 and 6 of Ephesians are addressed to. Our conduct as members of the household of God, but when we view with the matter of slaves and masters, and half a dozen times or so in the New Testament the issue of slavery comes up, but not once is it ever condemned in the New Testament as unjust, unfair something to be done away with, and this causes questions to come up.

How can something as unjust or unfair as slavery be left uncondemned and slaves are simply told to function in their position as slaves and masters in their position as masters. There are no instructions given that the slaves are to be free and masters are not to hold slaves any longer.

This is in conformity with the Bible’s emphasis throughout and foundational to the matter of slavery and going beyond it, that is the Bible is concerned with two areas, we have already touched on it. The first area is the man’s relationship to God, this is foundational. The bible addresses man’s relationship to God and it is a personal individual matter. We do not talk about mankind generically. We have to talk about man specifically and as an individual. God is concerned about the relationship between the individual person and Himself and the bible addresses this matter very specifically.

The second area that the bible concerns itself with is the conduct of those who have a personal relationship with God. So the matter of a personal relationship and then the conduct of those of who do have a personal relationship and the bible limits itself to this goal. This is why social and political issues are not addressed in the word of God. Now the church has fallen into the pattern today and I use the Church broadly, of speaking to social issues or political issues and seeing it as one of the foundational purposes but when we come to the word of God, we find out that God does not address himself to social and political condition such as slavery.

It addresses itself to those who are God’s children, members of God’s household how they are to conduct themselves as slaves, how they are to conduct themselves as masters but it says nothing about the issue of the justness or the unjustness of slavery. This is true for the Old Testament as well. Some of you who are familiar with the Old Testament might raise the question, well the prophets are constantly speaking about social issues. They condemn poverty and the treatment of the poor, they condemn unjust political conditions and situations but keep in mind whom the prophets are addressing. They are addressing the nation Israel and the nation Israel with the people of God and God was addressing his people on their conduct in the world.

We do not find addresses to the Babylonians or the Assyrians or the Egyptians on conforming their social conditions or political structure to what God says. Now we find condemnation to some of these nations but it is always in the context of how they have treated Israel, that is the key issue, their relationship to the people of God, so the issue is the same in the Old or the New Testament, the Bible does not address itself to social and political conditions. We have to be very careful in trying to wed the message of the word of God through a certain social or political condition. That increases in popularity that they find it when we have a quote in the newspapers or something that indicates we are not involved in social things.

Well political things right away there is a great response why, what is wrong aren’t you doing anything. If you are not involved in social issues you are not involved in political issues, is there anything left. Yeah one thing, the one thing the church ought to be doing, the spiritual issues and when I say that the Church -- the Bible does not address itself to these issues and thus the church ought not to. Because when the church begins to address itself to issues the bible does not speak to then the church is just becoming a sounding board for the opinions of men, thus it has become a perversion of its intended purpose that God established it.

However in what the bible does say in speaking to the basic need of a man that every individual is a sinner, they need a personal salvation by faith in Christ. It lays the foundation and groundwork for the abolition of social injustice and political corruption and that individuals become what they are to before God, that will change naturally their conduct in practice and these injustices and so on will be corrected.

Slavery, the foundation for the abolition of slavery was laid in the word because it is the word of God that lays the foundation of the value of a man, as created in the image of God and of eternal significance before God, so the foundation is laid although the bible does not speak to that issue because God’s household, his children are viewed as strangers and pilgrims in this life. We are just passing through and my responsibility as I pass through is to conduct myself in a manner honorable and befitting the God who is my Lord and savior, not to change the situation, not to adjust the political condition but to conduct myself within the political situation or the social situation in which he seems to fit the placing.

I take it my responsibility as the Pastor would not change one bit if I was a pastor in the Soviet Union or if I’m a Pastor in the United States of America, because the message of the word of God is not anymore capitalistic than it is socialistic and the responsibility would be the same, to preach personal salvation by faith in Christ and then the proper conduct of those who have to come know him in a personal way by faith in him. We need to be careful that we have our perspective in balance, thus when we come to the issue of slavery we find no condemnation, we will find no put down, we will simply find that slaves are to be conducting themselves in a manner befitting their savior. Masters are to be conducting themselves in a manner befitting their savior and that is true of every other condition as well and that should become clear. Look in First Corinthians Chapter 7 before we move through the passage in Ephesians.

First Corinthians and the Seventh Chapter page 261, Chapter we usually think of in the context of merit because that is the basic subject considered through the entire chapter but Paul lays down a principle that has application to slavery and other issues as well. Verse 17 of First Corinthian 7; only as the Lord has assigned to each one as God has called each in this manner let him walk and thus I direct in all the churches. Verse 20 let each man remain in that condition in which he was called were you called while a slave don’t worry about it but if you are able also to become free use it where he who was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freemen.

Likewise he who was called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men that is not a putdown of slavery. It means see yourself in the ultimate connotation which God has placed you, He has purchased you, you must see yourself in light of your relationship with Him and thus a human slave or a human master becomes irrelevant. I see myself in light of my ultimate relationship, verse 24; brethren let each man remain with God in that condition in which he was called. You note here no promotion now; you are the slave of God, you are not to be the slave of man, therefore we ought to have an anti-slavery moment in Corinth, nothing of that at all, just an encouragement to be satisfied in the function and the position that God has placed you.

One more passage and that is First Peter Chapter 2, back of your Bible page 356. Page 356, First Peter Chapter 2 verse 11; he ordered -- encourages them as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lust, in other words now they are believers, he just talked about in verse 9; you are a chosen race, a royal priest, a holy nation, people for God’s own possession that you might proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

These are the position, people that he addresses. Verse 12; keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, the unbelievers. Verse 13; submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution whether to a king as the one in authority or the Governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of those who do right. For this is the will of God that by doing right you might silence the ignorance of foolish men. Verse 17; honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king, you know the principle that is established is consistent and it goes beyond slavery.

We move into slavery in verse 18, we will look at that a little bit later. But to submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution that is will parallel Romans Chapter 13 as well and in Paul’s day and Peter’s day slavery was one of the institutions and believers were not involved in causing revolution. Believers were involved in proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus Christ within a corrupt and decadent society and political situation. The honor given to the rulers is to all rulers, governors or kings and it has nothing to do with their character, it has to do with their position because Nero is the Roman Caesar of the time and it is hard to find a more decadent ruler than he would be and all Peter has to say is honor him and submit to him and the regulations that he would establish.

However that is the foundation, we can move to Ephesians Chapter 6. Begins very directly, he addresses the slaves first as been the pattern and then the masters. Those who are to be subject and then those to whom they are subject, the wives being subject to their husband is addressed first, the children being subject to their parents were addressed first, the slaves being subject to their master are addressed first.

Slaves and that is the word not servants as you have it in some version, it is the word for slaves and not servants as we think if we have servants who wait on us. These were slaves, they had no rights, no prerogatives of their own, they were the property of someone else and at this point it has been estimated that the Roman Empire was 60% slaves, so it seems to indicate that probably a large portion of the early church came from this class of people. That may account for why a half dozen or so times in the New Testament the issue was mentioned since a large portion of the church would be found in this relationship.

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh responsibility of the slave was the same as it is to the children. Hark in and obey, listen and do it, be obedient to your masters according to the flesh. He adds here according to the flesh to put it in the proper context that he is going to develop, there are human masters and there is the ultimate divine master, now he is talking about believers, slaves who are Christians who have come to trust Jesus Christ as savior, the same way he will talk about masters who have come to trust Christ as savior. I take it what he has to say here has nothing to do with slaves who would not be Christians, they are to be obedient to their masters according to the flesh, so there is no cope out; now I have become a believer I have one more Jesus Christ I can no longer serve you, no, that doesn’t fit.

Now one parallel we have to make clear, there are no slaves today but I take it the pattern is the same. We have people who are employed by other people, we are responsible to do work for someone else and that would be the same type of issue. If those who are slaves with no rights, no prerogatives are to serve those to whom they are employed then I take it that the principle is very clear for those of us who are employed today and not new to survival conditions but the responsibility is the same. We are in a relationship with commitment and responsibility to someone else.

We are talking about in the worker, employer relationship and the responsibility is to be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh. Paul use a different word, he uses the word #, here which is the word Lord and in the Pastoral epistles he uses the word despot, when he talks about the masters of the slaves, being obedient to your despot and we have an idea what a despot is, we use it in negative sense today. But the word just carry the idea of an absolute and total controlling sovereign and that is the issue.

So we are totally subject to those who are over us. Be obedient to these masters, note; with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as the Christ and Paul is going to begin to belabor the point a little bit and telling us how to be obedient because you are going to be obedient and be disobedient or you can be obedient and be obedient just because a person does what he is told does not mean he is obedient in the biblical sense. You know with fear and trembling and the picture here is not of a slave cowering in a corner trembling what his master is going to say next, it is an attitude that is to characterize us as believers in whatever we do.

Look over in First Corinthians, Chapter 2, page 255, Paul uses this expression of himself in talking about his ministry to the Corinthians and how he came to them. Verse 1 came to you brethren not with superiority of speech or wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God, quite determined to know among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, same words that we have fear and trembling only Paul says it was much trembling.

Obviously it wasn’t that cowering trembling that we sometimes think of with negative aspects but Paul had that awareness of his responsibility that overpowering concern to function as God would have him function and so he says it was with fear and trembling recognizing his own inadequacies but his great responsibilities. Second Corinthians chapter 7 he says the same thing of the Corinthians. In Philippians Chapter 2; he says the same thing characterized the Philippians and so slaves are no different, their responsibility is to be subject to their masters and whatever we do it is to be done in the context of fear and trembling and awareness of the responsibility that is placed upon as believers to function as God would have us and that should cause me a concern to be the person that God wants me to be in this particular setting and situation.

So turn back to Ephesians 6, the fear and trembling then, these are believers and their concern to be the person God want them to be. You note, even with the exalted Apostle Paul fear and trembling and we sometimes connect cockiness with confidence before the Lord and here is a balance where a believer is to function with fear and trembling even though he has confidence in the Lord for what he has been called to do.

These slaves are to be in fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart. What that means to be without fault that is what is originally meant, not to be faulty and it came to mean simple or sincere and these are to be sincere in the heart in their service. You know there is no place here where a master who would listen -- or slave would listen what his master said then do it but on the inside it would be grating on him and he would be irritated and he would be in a state of inner rebellion and unrest that is an indication that it is not being done in the power of the spirit of God. That is obedience which is disobedience because God is not concerned with external conformity in any area.

He is concerned with internal change and conforming to his character which manifest itself in external conduct and change. And so these believing slaves are to function in obedience to their master with sincere hearts as to Christ, same expression we had in Chapter 5 verse 22 where wives were being subject to their husbands as to the Lord in order it doesn’t mean being subject in the same way you are subject to the Lord, but in being subject you are being subject to the Lord. So these masters in rendering service out of sincere hearts are rendering not to human masters but ultimately to Jesus Christ, he is the one who is the recipient of their service and thus of their slavery and serving in that capacity.

Now he develops this down verse 6 as well not by way of eye service as men pleasers. Again almost stressing the point, he has already said with sincere hearts, with trembling as the Christ not by way of eye service as men pleasers and this would just be the picture of a person who functions when the master is there, you know or the man who when the boss is there. You want to work hard because you really want him to see it, you want him to know that you are one of his best employees and he really liked that; congratulations you did a great job, or you are just the most valuable person I have. That just warms our heart and that is fine, however that are not to be the motive in working.

You work in situations and know how it is, I worked in the steel mill after graduating from high school and I remember; one day in particular stuck in my mind, everybody sitting around not me, I was doing my work but everybody was else sitting around and just relaxing, chatting away and all of a sudden one of the crane men come running down and said so and so is coming and he was the superintendent and everybody took off like a bee. I never saw such hard diligent workers, this man comes walking in and really there was just nobody to talk to because everybody was so hard at work. What were you doing, they were manipulated twice, somebody was coming to see them and I have to work hard but that is not the way a believer works because it doesn’t matter whether the one in charge is there to see me or not because I’m not functioning as a man pleaser, I’m functioning in a way to please the Lord and that requires utmost diligence at all times.

I cannot function in a way just to please men because they are looking, doesn’t matter whether they are there or not, that puts you in a conflict maybe with those you work with because they can function this way when nobody is around looking I can slough off a little bit, don’t have to work too hard and they expect you do the same thing but you don’t have that option. By the same token you have to be careful about encouraging them to function as you do, there is no reason for the unbeliever to kill himself for human bosses, why should he, he is working for what he gets out of it, he doesn’t think they pay him enough anyway and so I deserve this slough off a little bit but you need to be careful you don’t, you say that I’m underpaid too.

Of course we all are, you should get twice what you get I know that is what you all feel but that is not what you are working for. The amount of effort extended is not related to the amount of pay you get because who you are serving, Jesus Christ and you cannot be relaxed in your service to him, so not by way of eye service as men pleasers but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, doing the will of God from the heart, very simple. I’m a slave of Jesus Christ; I want to do his will.

Again you note his will, we saw this when we read in First Peter Chapter 2 as well. Now I wonder what is God’s will, it is very simple as regards my job, to do my best at all times, it does not matter what the response I get or whether I’m commended or condemned, I have to do my best. You say look how hard I worked yesterday and he never even said thank you, see when I do that again. For whom are you working for, you know I work for Joe John or whoever he is, Joe John whatever.

You work for his commendation, too bad for you when you lost sight of the ultimate perspective, who are you serving, Jesus Christ and he is pleased in what I do and that is my goal, doesn’t matter that they say we are going to pay you double time because you worked so hard, or you are the best employee we have, doesn’t matter what men say, the only concern I should have is that consuming passion to be consistent with the character of Jesus Christ. Look over in Colossians Chapter 3, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, two books over, Colossians and the third Chapter and verse 23; whatever you do, do your work heartily, whatever you do, do your work heartily, you note in the margin it says from the soul means it is not just a surface disinterested going about your task, as for the Lord rather than for men.

Knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance and we will talk about that in a moment. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve, now how can you serve Jesus Christ your Lord any less than with your whole heart from the soul? How can you do for him half-heartedly and disinterestedly, and this would take care about 99% of the problems we have in our jobs where we just gravitate around it is a disinteresting job, I don’t really like it and I’m restless in it and it doesn’t challenge me, we have lost sight of the fact that my functioning where God wants me because he wants me to. Then my responsibility is to function there with complete allegiance and obedience to him which requires doing the best that I can, I’m not sweeping floors because I like to do it, I’m sweeping floors because I’m a servant of Jesus Christ and it has got to be done right and that is true for every other job as well, it’s got to be done right because it is done for him.

You say look at all my life, I have given and who is getting the benefit from it but who do you see -- think reap the benefit from the slave killing himself. After 40 years of slavery being the best possible slave what does the slave have to show for? Good bank account, some money laid up for retirement, he is going to move over along the Mediterranean and get a boat and relax, the slave never had anything. Remember what Jesus said; when a slave has done every single thing he was commanded to do all he is, is an unprofitable slave because he didn’t do any more than he was commanded. Why? Because that is the responsibility of a slave, not an issue is it what I’m getting out of it because I’m doing it for Jesus Christ and he balance the books as Paul is going to relate here in just a moment.

All right, doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill, back to Ephesians 6 verse 7; with goodwill render service as to the Lord and not to men. You know how many times he has stressed this, in verses 5, 6 and 7. With goodwill; again it refers to our attitude, there ought to be no such thing as a surly Christian or a Christian who is working with an improper attitude that is an indication that a Christian is in rebellion against God and refusing to submit to the spirit and that is a serious area. Your problem is not your job and your relationship with the employer, your problem is your relationship with God, if you got that ironed out and submit to the spirit you find out you don’t have that problem, you say you don’t know my boss.

No, but I know Jesus Christ, I know the work of the spirit in life and that is what we are talking about, with goodwill render service as to the Lord not to men. No I’m serving men on the human side but in my perspective I see it is done for the Lord so it is to that I work with dozen other people and all the job is so mundane, it is so uninteresting and it is drudgery for them to get up every day but for me it has a whole different perspective of life because I’m working for the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings and my service is for him. There is no such thing as a mundane task when I’m serving the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who could say my job is mundane, when I’m serving him, in Luke verse 8 that he is going to reward me, knowing that whatever good thing each one does this he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free. The issue is not slavery or freedom, the issue is service for Jesus Christ, the issue is functioning in relationship with obedience and submission to him. Now that is exciting because what I’m going to get from him does not depend of whether I’m a slave or whether I owned the corporation.

The only thing that matters is whether I’m serving him, was I functioning in a relationship with obedience to him, in a relationship of submission to him, if not it doesn’t matter whether I’m the President of IBM or I’m the janitor of no place. It is irrelevant isn’t it, why because he is going to reward, that is the basis of reward. He obviously doesn’t care whether I’m 2 dollars an hour or 10 dollars an hour. He doesn’t care whether I’m 10,000 a year or 100,000 a year that is all going to be gone when I stand before him anyway. What is going to matter, whether I function in submission to the spirit of God and allow him to mold me into conformity to the character of Jesus Christ and I can do that in any job.

I’m afraid that our excuses often are just that excuses, unwilling to be what God wants us to be where God has placed us. Look over in First Peter again, Chapter 2 because this all sounds good and is great as long as you work for a nice boss. If you all work for me it would be heaven but we can’t all do that so what do we do? So you say you don’t know my boss, he is the worst, I haven’t seen him smile in four years and I worked overtime yesterday and all he said is can’t you get any more done, I mean these kind of things, totally discouraged.

Note verse 18 of First Peter Chapter 2 page 356; 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 or perverse, an adulterer of the worst kind and worst character, be submissive to them as well. No, with this fiends favor if for the sake of conscience towards God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering injustice, no this is fiends favor. This is pleasing to God when a person is suffering unjustly but because of his conscience towards God and an awareness that I have got to be the person that God wants me to be. He bears up under that difficulty, God is pleased with that.

Verse 20, for what credit is there if when you sin and you are harshly treated, you endure with patience, so what when you do the wrong thing and you get corrected for it and say well I was very patient. Why shouldn’t you be, you deserved it, the unbeliever has that much sense he does that, if he does something wrong and he is corrected; all right as I did something wrong. But, then over to verse 20; if when you do what is right and suffer for it, patiently endure it, this finds favor with God, note that when you have done the right thing and you suffer for it that finds favor with God.

That is what is pleasing to God, why that is when I manifest in his character, not when everything is going well and oops I made a mistake and the boss said -- corrected me and didn’t do it very kindly, he didn’t use very good language when he did it, all right I deserved it but the next day I’m doing my best, I’m doing it right and he flies of the handle and nothing to do with what I was doing, he just had a bad day, his wife hollered at him, so he came to work and hollered at me. What I have to do with that, so underneath I begin to resent him. No what does you say, I patiently remark why, to manifest the character of Christ.

To verse 20, in First Peter 2; for you have been called for this purpose, ouch I was called on the glory road, I wasn’t called for this, I wanted to leave all my troubles and burdens behind and I’m on my way to heaven. Yes you are on the way to heaven, on the glory road and you know what you go through on the road to glory, suffering, you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you leaving an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth and while being reviled he did not revile in return while suffering he uttered no threats but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

Jesus Christ never did anything wrong and yet he suffered constant abuse and how did he react, with patience, with graciousness, with kindness and that is what we are called to be, like him and I take it there is no situation where I’m pressured the way he was pressured. I don’t manifest his perfections perfectly as he did and yet he was reviled and mistreated. Didn’t Jesus say isn’t it enough for a slave to be like his master and I say oh yes it is enough for me to be like Jesus.

Be like Jesus, be like Jesus I would be at home, in the farm, wherever you are and that is why I want to be like Jesus, it’s a beautiful song. The problem is you know, then the pressure comes on, and I don’t want to be like him. I mean I don’t want to be like him in suffering, of course not. Well, keep in mind you have been called for this purpose, to manifest his character. So you get difficulties at work, praise the Lord that you are privileged to manifest the character of Christ. Instead of resentments toward your boss, towards those over you, you need to resolve them before the Lord that is where the problem is. I think there is not a boss perverse enough to cause a Christian react unbiblical, that becomes a problem when I’m not functioning in the spirit because he is greater than the one who is in the world. And as long as I’m submissive to him to mold me into the character of Christ.

Now when I’m not submissive to him I can’t do it in the flesh, the flesh rebel, the flesh gets angry, the flesh resents it, the flesh gets bitter and so on. We have to be functioning in the flesh anyway, so that is the # to characterize me. Now verse 24, why he was doing this, still First Peter 2; he gave himself, he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live the righteousness where by his wounds you were healed, where you were continually straying like sheep and now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

The whole purpose of his suffering was to provide salvation for men, and keep in mind we are talking about believers, believing slaves, believing workers; you ought not to try to tell the unbeliever that he ought to arrange his conduct in conformity with the world. That is dishonest because until God makes him a new creature, a new creation, until he responds in faith to what Jesus Christ has done on his behalf by dying on a cross so that he might have life, the spirit of God does not reside in him and all he has is the flesh. I think it is dishonest for us to encourage them to try to act like Christians, I cannot be like them and they can no more be like me. But I love to share with them, the Christ who can change their life and give them joy in whatever the situation by conforming them to the character of God.

All right back to Ephesians. Some of you who are employed by employers would not want us to quit without a word to them and Paul does not quit that way. In Ephesians 6 verse 9; very simply into the point he states, masters do the same things to them, obviously he doesn’t mean be slave to them as well, because that would mean that the whole thing is ridiculous. But it means that master is the function with the same attitude of awareness and submission to God as a slave does, because it doesn’t matter if I’m President of the world’s greatest corporation. As a child of God I’m submissive to him and I must manifest his character in my position just as I would if I was a slave. So masters do the same things.

Give up threatening, it is an abusive way of treating people and again you say; look unbelievers work for me and that is the way I got to do it. To get anything done you really have to lean on him. I take it there is a right way and wrong way to do it, and if you cannot do it in accord with the word of God then you better get a different job. Give up threatening, mistreating, abuse and improper character, that does not mean that you cannot demand obedience, it does not mean you cannot demand that work be done, it does mean that you cannot function in an unbiblical way.

I must manifest God’s character in providing leadership as well as in being submissive. Knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with him. No, it doesn’t matter to God that you are master, you think God is impressed because you are the President of a corporation, think God is impressed more with the President of a corporation than he is with a janitor? Why should God care, you think he needs a billion dollars income from the corporation or something? He sees as persons, each individual person of eternal worth and significance that his Son died for.

As a reminder that in my position as a leader if I have a responsibility of oversight of managing whatever, I’m to do it in light of my relationship to him, when I stand before him it is not going to be well you were boss so you get better treatment, he does without partiality and the only thing that is going to be the measure is has it been done in submission to him?

Have you allowed the spirit of God to produce his character through you while you were doing it? That is what we find in Second Corinthians 5 when the believers stands at Bema seat of Christ, he is rewarded according to his deeds why, because the deeds are pleasing to God, or the deeds that are done by the spirit of God as he controls my life and for that God rewards me. So if I’m a master I’m laying up treasure ware in heaven how, by allowing God to produce his character through me in knowing people.

If I’m a slave, a worker what I’m doing, I’m working for the treasure that he is laying up for me by allowing the spirit of God to control me, that the character of God might be manifest in me and thus I’m laying a treasure where it counts, in heaven before God and nothing to do with what I do and it has to do with what he has done. Now keep in mind we are talking about believers, if you are not a believer it doesn’t matter whether you are a slave or a master, you have nothing before God, you have no hope and future is nothing but bleak but there is one positive statement, Jesus Christ died for you.

He himself bore your sins on the cross in order that you might respond in faith to him and receive cleansing from sin so that you might have the spirit of God residing in your life to make you on the inside with God as you ought to be in order that your external conduct might be manifestation of the internal character that is yours as a result of being born for the God’s work.

Let us pray together. Our Father, again we thank you for your word, word for the fullness and completeness of the revelation you have given. Father for the fact that we can function as believers in any social or political situation, God asked from identifying the word its particular philosophies, I’m afraid that we might see our responsibility as functioning as believers manifesting your character regardless of the social or political situation in which we find ourselves, for especially in our employee worker situations, Lord that we might function as believers ought to. So we pray for those who are workers here that they might manifest your character in whatever they do, or the same with those who have the people working for them, and especially for believers who work for other believers. Lord that this might not be a cause of dissension or tension, but Lord might serve to manifest that both are under your control and thus can bring glory to yourself. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.