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[0:00] Bible is going to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 is where we will be at this morning. Verses 1 through 9 in Ephesians chapter 6.

[0:10] I'm so thankful for the Women on Mission, so thankful for the work that they do in the church. And thank you guys so much for the work that you did in preparation for the sweet sell today. And thank you for giving to that.

[0:21] I know that the Women on Mission, which has been a long-standing organization here at the church, has done, over the years, done a phenomenal amount of work, and I'm just excited about what they're doing. But also excited because it gives us the opportunity just to be intentional about missions.

[0:34] I'm excited that we've been able to see that as a church family this last few years. The last 12 months has really just been amazing. We've seen, you know, our own members hit the mission field internationally, nationally, and we've seen them continuing on.

[0:49] At the end of this month, we're just welcoming Hunter back from his mission trip. At the end of this month, we will be sending out two others of our members to go on a mission trip. And there's another one. I'm not going to share their story yet that is looking at the possibility of also going on to the mission field this summer.

[1:03] And just so excited about that because God is doing some amazing work. And the reason I'm excited about it is not because there's a great work being done over there, wherever there is.

[1:14] It's because that is a wonderful testimony to a great work that the Lord is doing in each of our hearts. Because when he begins to put the burden of the gospel message on our hearts, that's a thing of the Lord.

[1:26] That's not the desire of man, right? That's the thing of the Lord. And we're excited about that. And the way he does it is just through the word of God. I'm just excited that he's doing it and he's drawing men and women and boys and girls to himself and just the wonderful testimony that it is.

[1:40] We've been looking through the book of Ephesians. We've been looking at this great doctrine that Paul teaches us in the first half. And then we've been looking at the application in the last half. We're rapidly nearing the end of the book of Ephesians.

[1:51] But we are actually, there is a kind of a sub-series in the midst of the series inside of the book. We picked it up in the fifth chapter and that is how we can have a transformed society.

[2:02] Because we want society to be better. We would like for so many things and we could sit here and we could talk so much about what's wrong in the world, what's going on in the community. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us though there's nothing new under the sun.

[2:15] I can tell you that everything I find wrong today, I can also look throughout history and find wrong back then. Once man was put out towards the east from the garden, everything went south, right?

[2:25] So they went east but things started going south. And we can see that. But yet God has shown us very clearly in his word how you change society. It is not through elections. It's not through offices.

[2:36] It's not through political affairs. It's not even really through doing great work. It's not through humanitarian aid. You change society by dealing with the individual. So when Paul began to speak of what it looks like to have a transformed society, he first of all dealt with the individual.

[2:50] The individual needs to be redeemed. Once that individual is redeemed and he is submitting, we are submitting to one another in Christ. Because let's be honest, the only way we'll ever submit to someone in Christ is if we realize that we're not all that.

[3:04] Right? We have to be humbled just a little bit. And so we come to Christ. We understand who we are according to the gospel message. We know what the Bible says about us.

[3:15] And if we're looking at scripture, it's not that we want to be doom and gloom. But the Bible doesn't say that much good about us on our own. All the good things that are about us are found in Christ.

[3:25] We are enriched according to his riches. We are called by his love. We are forgiven by his sacrifice. Right? That is everything according to Christ. So when we understand that, we have no qualms whatsoever of submitting one to another in Christ.

[3:41] And then once he deals with the individual, then he's going to deal with the marital relationship. He starts getting into the home. He starts talking about husbands and wives. And last week we looked at that.

[3:51] I'm not going to re-preach that message. If you want to hear it, it's there. The guys upstairs do a fantastic job. They put it online and it's there. But it's a great opportunity. I preached that Sunday morning.

[4:01] And then that week I was also in the second session of a pre-marriage counseling with a couple. And for those of you who have been through it, you know in the second session we get in Ephesians 5. And it was just wonderful timing.

[4:12] So I got to, they're not members, so I got to preach the message again the very next day. It was great. But so we see the implication that it has in the marriage relationship. We saw that the redeemed individuals really lead to a redeemed marriage.

[4:26] And now we go a little bit further because he's really looking at this redeemed home in general. More than just the husband and wife because the home includes so much more than that. So he's going to look at the home further and he's going to look at the workplace.

[4:40] Because then we start getting into a transformed society. When the individual is better because of Christ and the relationship with his wife or her husband is better because of Christ.

[4:52] And their home is in a proper order because of Christ. And work all of a sudden begins to fall in line because of Christ. Friend, listen to me, society's changed. It all comes back to the individual. It all comes back to that individual's relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

[5:07] So if you're physically able and desire to do so, would you join with me as we stand together and we read the word of God found in Ephesians chapter 6. Starting in verse 1. And then we're going to go down to verse 9.

[5:18] Now this is in context to what it tells us in verse 21. And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. That's where we deal with the individual. Now we pick it up here. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

[5:32] Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise. So that it may be well with you that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction.

[5:45] Some translations say admonition of the Lord. Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ.

[5:56] Not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. With good will, render service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

[6:13] And masters, do the same things to them. And give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with him.

[6:24] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for all that we have been able to see, all that we have been able to do, and the worship we have been able to lift up.

[6:35] Lord, we praise you that we have the opportunity to read your word as we have read it together, heard it with one another. Lord, we pray that by the power and presence of your spirit you would speak to our hearts and our minds.

[6:49] Lord, that you would enable us to not only understand it, but have a desire to live it out for your glory. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. We continue looking at the reality of a transformed society, and we are looking at the redeemed home and workplace.

[7:09] How Christ, a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, redeems not only the individual, but it redeems the home and the workplace. Now, we read this.

[7:20] Let's just be honest with one another. We say that that commandment has a promise that you may live long. That's because if you make mom and daddy too mad, you may not make it through the night, right? But we're not looking at it that way. We just want to look at the reality of what Scripture is telling us about how the home is redeemed and how the workplace is redeemed when the individual is changed.

[7:40] Because, as we have said before, a changed individual should change society rather than letting society change them. That is, if Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, then it ought to make a difference.

[7:53] It changes our behavior. It changes how we talk. It changes how we walk. It changes every aspect of our life. When God has redeemed you and called you to himself through Jesus Christ, he has purchased you off the auction block of sin.

[8:07] We like to say that's what redemption is. Redemption means to be bought with a price. When you have been bought off the auction block of sin. Just a side note. When I used to teach this to teenagers, I would always put a chair in the middle of the room.

[8:21] And I would stand on the chair and say, you know, Satan had me on an auction block. And he had the highest bidder. We have that in the Old Testament, that picture in the highest, that picture in the Old Testament, right? With Haggai.

[8:32] And here I am, I'm on the auction block. And everybody's bidding. I said, you know, I had one that walked into the room and he bid more than anybody else could bid. He bid his own blood. He said, I'll die for that man. And nobody else was willing to do that.

[8:43] And Jesus bought me off the auction block of sin. And the side note is, is it's real hard when I see those chairs out of the corner of my eye, not to stand in them and give it to you that way. But I digress. We don't do that because those chairs are older than the chairs I ever used to stand in.

[8:56] But anyway, that's exactly what happened. When you have been bought with a price, the price of Jesus' blood, you are redeemed. You are not only forgiven, but you are restored and renewed.

[9:07] And when you are made right and you are put under the lordship of another master, that's what he is because he is both Lord and Savior. He doesn't just save you. He also rules over you.

[9:18] Well, don't nobody rule over me. Well, then, friend, you cannot know him as Savior until you know him as Lord. Right? You have to give up control of your life to a greater master. You have to have him both as Lord and Savior.

[9:30] But when he is your Lord, he dictates how you live. And when he dictates how you live, you live differently because he would not save you and rule you and leave you where you used to be.

[9:41] It's just an impossibility. That's not how things happen. You have been bought off of the auction block and you have been employed into the service of the king. And you have been brought into the kingdom and therefore things look differently.

[9:55] And when your life becomes different, every area of your life now is influenced. And it begins to make its way into your relationship with those closest to you, husbands and wives.

[10:06] And then when it begins to transform that relationship, then it begins to creep its way on into the home. I tell couples, you know, if the Lord blesses you with children, then the way you parent those children will look differently because you are a believer.

[10:20] I know it because I was there. I was a dad before I was a believer. I was a dad after I was a believer. That is one of the things that God used to call me to himself. He changed the way I parent.

[10:32] That doesn't mean I'm a perfect parent. That just means I am now a redeemed parent. The things look different in the home. And the reason things look different, we'll notice, and I'll tell you this one, only be three things.

[10:44] Okay, only be three points. Number one, there is order. There is order. When we looked at the relationship of husband and wife, we looked at the reality that it is not that the husband is better than the wife or the wife is better than the husband.

[11:01] Then when it tells wives to be subject to their husbands in all things, that it also tells husbands to love their wives in the same way Christ loved the church. That it wasn't that it was because the husband was authoritatively over.

[11:14] It was because that was the divine order of the home. That was the one that God was going to go to first. And we went all the way back to the Garden of Eden and said, when Adam and Eve were there and Eve took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam was standing beside her and Adam let it happen.

[11:30] Eve took from the tree, ate of it, and gave it to Adam who was with her. But then when God showed up, he didn't ask Eve what she did. He asked Adam what he did. Because the divine order was that Adam would lead the home.

[11:43] Now, just because society dictates things differently doesn't mean the divine decree has changed. Right? We can let society say what it wants to, but we also need to let the word of God proclaim what it clearly does.

[11:55] And so we saw that there was order. Now, when we move beyond the husband and wife, we also know there's order in the home. And it says, children, obey your parents in the Lord.

[12:07] Now, again, we notice that every conditional subjecting or submitting is always within this clause, in the Lord. That is, children, if your parents ask you to do anything that goes contrary to the things of Christ, then you have grounds of disobedience.

[12:26] Right? Wives, if your husband ever asks you to do anything that goes contrary to the things of Christ, you have grounds of disobedience. But it says the same thing for children.

[12:37] And the word children here means those that are dependent upon the care of another. Young children. Those that are still in the home. So, if dad says, well, you can't go to church.

[12:49] Well, I don't want you following Christ. And you shouldn't do those things. Those things go contrary to scripture. That doesn't mean you stand up and say, well, dad, I don't care what you say. I'm not going to do that. It just means that you pray for your father and you move forward.

[12:59] Right? You conditionally but lovingly allow them to leave. But you are letting the supreme leader of your home and the supreme leader of your heart be that of Jesus Christ. So, we see the conditional clauses here because as parents, we would love to say, well, it says you have to obey me.

[13:16] But it says in the Lord too. Don't forget that phrase. Right? Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Don't forget that. So, it says, obey your parents for this is right.

[13:27] We'll say, well, yeah, that's right. Why is it right? Because it is right. And the reason it is right is because it reflects the revealed character of the almighty God. Look at what it says.

[13:39] Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise. So, he now points back to one of the ten commandments. Right? Number six on the list. He gets to this reality. He goes back all the way back to the book of Exodus.

[13:51] He goes all the way back to the Decalogue there, the ten great saints. And he highlights one of the ten commandments. It says the reason it's right is because God has revealed it as part of the character of God.

[14:04] I mean, when God was putting in there about have no other God before me, you should not fornicate. You should not adulterate. You should not covet. You should not do all these things. These things which seem right. It also says honor your father and mother.

[14:16] Because the commandment reflects the reality of God's will and God's desire. And the reason he does it is because it maintains a proper order.

[14:27] And it says, and this is the first commandment with a conditional promise that that obedience would ensure, if you read it in the Old Testament, that they would live long in the land. But it also, not only it was tied to the land, the promised land, but it also was conditioned upon this promise that God honors that.

[14:44] He said, well, what about those children who die young? Or what about those things? Did they dishonor? No, that's not saying that. There are always sinful consequences, not that the individual sin, but the fall of man has resulted to the reality that things aren't what they should be.

[14:58] Okay? So we understand that. We acknowledge that. But we see this reality because it says, children, obey your parents and Lord for this is right. And then he goes, and fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

[15:15] Now, you need to understand that fathers implies father and mother. It first speaks to the father because he's the head of the home, but it implies both of them because it says to obey your parents, plural.

[15:30] So we understand this. Mothers, you are not exempt here. And you say, well, I can just kind of stay back. Now, this doesn't have anything to do with me. It just, it entails both. But again, God is consistent.

[15:41] And we thank God that he's consistent because we don't serve a God who's changing. We don't serve a God who's going back and forth between things. We serve a consistent God. So we can trust in his character.

[15:52] We can trust in his understanding. And so he gives us this consistent order in the home that this is the way it should be. That this is how it ought to happen. That there ought to be obedience from the children in the Lord.

[16:04] There ought to be love of the parents and especially of the fathers. The fathers ought to lovingly lead the home. And they ought to follow them along and do these things. Now, friend, listen to me. I don't mean to say this in any disrespect.

[16:15] I don't mean this to cause any harm. Children do not rule the home. They don't. They do not rule the home with their behavior.

[16:26] You say, oh, well, pastors, your home always orderly and tidy. No, it's not. Because it's full of messed up people of which I am chief. Okay? Children do not rule the home.

[16:37] Now, stay with me. I know this. In our society, I understand it. Hey, I'm right in the midst of it. Right? We have three adult kids and we have one elementary age kid. All about it. I know all about it. Their wants and their desires do not rule the home.

[16:53] You say, well, they want to do this. They like to do this. And they enjoy doing this. Well, there's a lot of things that are enjoyable, but it ain't right. That's not the command of scripture.

[17:05] They do not rule it by their misbehavior. They do not rule it because, hey, listen, parenting is hard. It is hard work. And it is much easier to say, well, I'm just going to let them get away with it.

[17:16] And I have found this reality. This is temptation. Well, I'm just going to let them do it because this whole parenting thing is hard. To be the one who has the responsibility. Well, that's why you're the adult. Okay?

[17:27] We say, well, they don't want to do that or they want to do this. So why are we letting those who are, I believe, that we are all born into sin, right? That we have inherited a sin nature. So why are we allowing those who have the sin nature but do not always have the wisdom to control that sin nature to dictate the schedule of the home?

[17:45] I mean, I know it's going to get quiet. I also know it's going to get uncomfortable. Say, well, it's only for a season. Yes, but those are very, very important seasons. Because what you allow to dictate the home today will determine their life for eternity.

[18:01] It will. What you allow to be prevalent and to be present and to be prominent, you can say what you want to, but one thing that is reality. Your schedule always reflects your priorities.

[18:16] It does. And when we allow those things to go back and forth and say, well, it's something they enjoy, something they want to do, or they don't feel like doing it.

[18:28] There's a lot of things I don't feel like doing that scripture commands me I ought to do. I don't feel like loving my enemies. I don't feel like giving to whoever asks. I don't feel like those things. But a relationship with Christ isn't based upon feelings.

[18:40] Now, the reason I say this, friend, and I'm not going to ask you to turn there, but there's a great picture of this in the Old Testament. In Nehemiah chapter 13, near the end of the book of Nehemiah, you remember Nehemiah, right?

[18:53] Nehemiah has come in and rebuilt the walls in 54 days, and he was the cupbearer to the king. What a great guy Nehemiah was. Nehemiah not only did those things. Nehemiah wasn't a religious leader. Nehemiah was a political figure.

[19:04] Ezra was the religious leader. Nehemiah was the political leader. So he is there working on these things. Nehemiah has to go back to the king. He comes back in Nehemiah 13. And it says this.

[19:14] This is astounding to me because it says in Nehemiah 13 that Nehemiah found some of the traitors from Tyre, the city of Tyre, living amongst the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And these traitors that were traitors, not like, oh, he's a traitor, not that, like trader by trade.

[19:29] Like they, you know, they dealt in trading goods. So I know my dialect sometimes makes it seem like I'm saying one thing. But those who dealt in trading goods. So anyway, these men from Tyre were living there.

[19:40] And it says, and then he noticed that these men from Tyre were bringing in their goods on the Sabbath, and they were doing business. Now, who was bringing in the goods? The men from Tyre, right? They were doing business on the Sabbath.

[19:51] But what's telling is what happens in the next verse. Because Nehemiah didn't go to the men of Tyre and say, you quit doing this. Nehemiah, it says, went to the leaders of Judah and said, why are you allowing this? See, Nehemiah didn't go to the men of Tyre because they were doing something contrary to the schedule.

[20:08] He went to the men of Judah because they knew better and said, why are you allowing this? And he told the men of Judah, shut the gates, shut the doors. The men of Tyre kept coming. The men of Tyre kept coming. And the gates kept being shut.

[20:19] And Nehemiah finally looked at him and said, y'all can come while you want to, but we're shutting the doors. And it wasn't until he dealt with those who were responsible, that is, the leaders in Judah, that the men of Tyre got their act together.

[20:30] Friend, I say that because this world will offer to the home numerous things to take priority. And we cannot get mad because the world is offering it. We cannot get mad because the world won't stop it.

[20:41] We cannot ask the world to change its behavior. We cannot ask the world to give it up. But we can go to the home and say, why are you allowing it? Because until the home stops it, the world won't change it.

[20:53] I can promise you the men of Tyre wanted to make money. And the world wants to make money too. But the responsibility stops in the home. You say, well, I can't change it.

[21:04] No, but you can change what happens in the home. And when you allow the world to dictate your schedule through your children, then you are allowing the world to rule the aspect and the bringing up of your children.

[21:19] It's hard work. I know. It is difficult. I know. Your kids may have to miss out on something, but I can promise you what they gain will be far greater than what they miss. I can promise you.

[21:31] I've walked in that reality. I've looked at people and said, I won't do it. I've been in a position where I've been called to do these things. Well, Billy Joe, there's no way we can help this.

[21:42] We got to do it. And I've looked at those in the world and said, you may have to, but I don't have to. And I'm not going to. And you know what I found out? They didn't have to. They had to change their schedule a little bit. And it was inconvenient for people, but they didn't have to.

[21:55] It's difficult. It's hard. I know. But friend, listen to me. There's order in the home. And the onus is on us.

[22:05] Number two. The reason we need to remember there's order in the home is because there's also an obligation. Fathers, do not provoke your children in anger.

[22:20] Now, that's hard. Sometimes your kids make you mad. It's okay. You can admit that. Your kids make you mad. Sometimes you want to discipline in anger. I mean, that's okay.

[22:30] I've been there. I've failed. I've had to go back and apologize to every one of my kids because I got upset and got angry. I told you I was the chief mess up in my home. It was me. I've had to go back and apologize and say, I'm sorry.

[22:41] That was me. I should not have done that. And I've had to go back and repent of those things. Not perfect. But the reason there is because there's an obligation to not just provoke your children, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

[22:55] Now, fathers and mothers, there's the obligation to bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord.

[23:06] Parents, we are obliged to instruct our children and to lead our home. If God's gifted us with children, that's great. If he hasn't, we do it within the home with all those we come into contact with.

[23:18] You've got a table. You've got an opportunity. You are obliged to shepherd the home in such a manner that all that are influenced by your home come to a greater understanding of Christ.

[23:30] Come to a greater understanding of these things. It doesn't have to be profound. It doesn't have to be deep. It doesn't even have to be theological. It just has to be simple. We used to keep signs, and we still have them all around our house.

[23:41] We had one house one time. We had so many walls. We didn't know what to hang on. We had signs. Everywhere you looked, you were almost reading a Bible verse. And we had kids living with us all the time. It seemed like every time I turned around, I'd have to ask, well, who are you? We'd always have kids in the house, right?

[23:53] We'd have people there, and they'd say, and I would just catch them reading those verses, and then they'd want to talk to us about it, and they'd want to ask us things about it. And it gave us an opportunity, right? Not that we were just, well, sit down, let me preach a sermon to you.

[24:05] But if they were in the home, they ought to be under the instruction because that's our obligation. That is our obligation. It is not the church's responsibility solely to teach the children.

[24:18] We ought to partner with the parents as they teach the children, and it is definitely not society's responsibility to teach the children. It is the parent's responsibility to teach the children in the Lord.

[24:33] That is your obligation. God has commanded you to do it. You know, when you open up the book of Deuteronomy, it tells the fathers that they ought to be talking to their children when they're walking, when they're sitting, when they're sleeping, when they're standing down all the time.

[24:46] They ought to be teaching them the things of God. They ought to be teaching them these things. It doesn't have to be, let me give you a lecture. You ought to just be doing these things in daily practice and in daily activity, right? You ought to just be living these things as a natural overflow of your life.

[24:58] Why? Because this is what God has gifted you to do. If God counts you worthy of having an influence over anybody, it doesn't just have to be your children or your children or your grandchildren or maybe it's your neighbor's children or maybe it's just people around you or maybe it's just somebody coming into your home.

[25:12] You have the wonderful opportunity to be used of the Lord to bring them up in some instruction. And it is what God has called us to do. But now we move from the home to the workplace because then we make this transition because the obligation is there as well.

[25:26] Now, slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh. Now, we need to agree with this, that when Paul was writing to the city of Ephesus, that he was dealing with slaves in particular.

[25:37] Slaves that were, the word there is doulos. Doulos literally means not just a servant that is hired out, but a slave that is under the master, okay? So Paul refers to himself as the slave of Christ.

[25:49] I'm the doulos. I'm the slave of Christ. But here he is writing to slaves. Now, again, let's just go ahead and admit this. Slavery is a great dishonor to any human being. But the aim of the gospel was not to transform society.

[26:03] The aim of the gospel was to redeem the individual because when the individual was redeemed, society was transformed. The reason the abolishment of slavery took place in Europe and even in America was because of the redemption of the individual.

[26:15] So change the individual. That's what the gospel does. Change the individual. But we see the application, too, not only just to slaves, but also to the employees. Because we can put our souls here, too, because the spirit of the command remains the same.

[26:29] Look at what it says. It says, slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and shriveling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ. So let's take it from the slave realm into the workplace realm.

[26:40] And here's your obligation. To be obedient, not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. That is, do a good job, not just when the boss is looking.

[26:53] To be working constantly. To be laboring with a sincere heart. You say, well, you don't know my boss. I've had bosses like that, too. I haven't always been full-time in the ministry. Well, you don't know my workplace.

[27:05] I've lived in workplaces and worked in workplaces like that, too. I know exactly what you're talking about. But it tells you that in your workplace, the work that you do, you are to do as unto the Lord, not unto man.

[27:17] You are to be laboring, whatever. If he is Lord of your life, and he is. Lordship implies guidance. Lordship implies that he has, now I believe this with all of my heart, right?

[27:31] That Jesus Christ is in control of every circumstance and situation of my life. That is, wherever I'm at, he knew I was going to be there, and he wants me there. I believe that he controls the world to that extent.

[27:43] Because if he's putting his feet upon it as a footstool, surely he can control what happens on it in time and space. That's what I believe in all my heart. So therefore, if I am an employee of a job, then that's where he wants me for that season or that time and that period.

[27:57] And since I may be employed by an individual, the one who really has ruled that I should be there would be the Lord of my life, not the boss who hired me. You say, oh, well, somebody came and they gave me a job.

[28:08] Well, I'm glad they did. But you have a greater Lord than he. And since he controls where you're at, he is not taken by surprise. He is not, you know, he's not caught off guard. He controls every circumstance and every situation.

[28:20] Then he desires that you would be there. And since he desires that you would be there, you ought to work as unto him and not unto man. It changes the employee that you are. It changes how we behave.

[28:34] Because we're going to obey not with eye service or be men pleasers. And we're not doing it to make the boss happy. We're not doing it to get a promotion. We're not doing it to be recognized. We're not doing it to be noticed.

[28:45] We're doing it because we are a believer in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And sometimes it offends people. I've worked in workplaces.

[28:56] They gave me a nickname one time, called me Captain Ambitious. It made everybody mad. It was a union environment. They didn't like the fact. I said, why are you doing that? You're making the rest of us look bad. I said, well, I have nothing to do with how you work, but I am accountable to how I work.

[29:09] There was a big difference that happened right before I got that job is I became a believer in Jesus Christ. And so it changed the way I worked. I said, if you're getting offended, I'm sorry, but I have nothing to do with that.

[29:21] If I have a Lord who has put me here, then I'm going to do it to the best of his glory, not to the best of mine. And did I get noticed and recognized? No, but it doesn't matter. That's okay. So you understand this, friend.

[29:32] It makes the workplace better because it changes the worker. It says that you're doing this, not by way of ass service, with good will, render service as to the Lord, not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this one he will receive back, whether slave or free.

[29:51] See, you say, well, they're writing my check. Well, yeah, but I know he, my father's got the cattle on a thousand hills, and if I ever get short, he can sell a few cows and provide for my needs. We understand this, right?

[30:03] There's an obligation. You are obliged to live differently. Number three, this is finally, there's an observation. Look at this observation. Observation is pretty clear when we see this.

[30:17] First of all, the first observation we have is, and you say, well, you ain't touched the masters yet. Stay with me. That's the bosses. First observation that we notice is that while we are not legally bound to the law, we are morally obliged to live according to it.

[30:32] That's why he repeats the commandment here to children. We're not living legally bound by it, but we are morally obliged to live according to the spirit of the law because God does not change.

[30:44] The second observation we see is that it changes the individual. It doesn't try to reform society. It is restoring the individual, and it makes us be better individuals, and then being better individuals, it begins to change society.

[30:57] And then he says, and masters do the same things to them. So not only does it change the employee, it changes the employer. Some of you are blessed and have the opportunity to be in places of management.

[31:10] How we manage individuals is changed because of who we are. And masters do the same things to them and give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.

[31:26] Someone once said, we are not fit to lead until we have submitted to the leadership of another. None is fit to lead until he has submitted to the leadership of another.

[31:39] One of my favorite pastors, I don't quote him often because I can't do it, is H.B. Charles. H.B. Charles, great pastor. He's a young pastor.

[31:49] I say young, he's probably about my age. I like to refer to myself as young. That's good. Down in Jacksonville, Florida. And H.B. is one of those who can get with the glories and the hallelujahs, right? And I remember listening to H.B. one time, and I've got this quote written in my Bible at that time.

[32:04] He started out real calm. He had his glasses on, and he said, reaching over to help the world, the church fell in. And when he said that, I went, oh, there he goes. And he took his glasses off, and he took off, right?

[32:15] And it was a great sermon. I remember when he preached that sermon. But he said something in particular in that sermon. He said, before you ever stand before man, you must bow before God. Because we are not fit to lead until we have submitted to the leadership of another.

[32:27] And we understand that, friend, because it tells us that both their master and yours is in heaven. There's a greater ruler.

[32:38] There's a greater master. There's a greater owner of it all. And we notice this. The oldest book you have in the Bible is the book of Job. Chronologically speaking, Genesis tells us things that happens before the events of the book of Job.

[32:53] But the oldest book that you have written is the book of Job. I noticed reading in the book of Job this week that Job said, I can't look down upon my servants because the same one who created me created them.

[33:05] Now, I'm paraphrasing. He said, you know, Lord has blessed me. He said, I can't treat my servants wrong because both my creator and their creator is in heaven. And if he's created them just like he's created me, that means we all on equal ground.

[33:21] See how the redeemed individual changes society. Because all of a sudden we begin to notice that there is but one master. There is but one Lord. There is but one sovereign God over all of creation.

[33:36] And he is Savior. We notice this. The transformed societies begin with redeemed individuals.

[33:46] But that individual changes the home. And that home begins to change the workplace. And then all of a sudden that workplace begins to be viewed and change society.

[34:00] We want to get the world right. We need to begin looking in the mirror and say, but Lord, where am I? Where am I in this spectrum? Have I given my life to Christ?

[34:12] Great. What about my relationship with those I love the most? What about my relationship within my home? If the Lord has blessed us with children, what about how I interact with my children? What do I look to dictate?

[34:22] Even if I don't have children, what am I allowing to dictate my home life? Lord, have we gotten things out of order? Lord, what about my, once my home is right, Lord, what about my workplace? Am I leaving my faith at the door of the house and then going to work or am I taking it with me?

[34:39] And then once we take it to work with us and we live differently, I promise you people will start asking you. And that's why Paul said always be, or Peter always said, always be ready to give a defense. Because people are going to start asking.

[34:52] People are going to start asking. Because this world is looking for something authentic. This world is looking for something real. Something that will not only change the individual, but change every aspect of their lives.

[35:04] And we find it in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you that we've had the opportunity to look at it.

[35:15] But Lord, help us not to leave it where we find it. But Lord, help us to take it with us in our hearts and minds. And Lord, help our lives to look differently because of it. And we ask it all in Jesus' name.

[35:27] Amen. Amen.

[35:38] Thank you.