I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians. We consider tonight from Colossians chapter 3 verse 22 and down to chapter 4 verse 1. We're going to start our reading for context purposes at verse 9 of chapter 3. so we'll be reading from verse 9 of chapter 3 but again the text that we will be considering specifically tonight is verses 22 down to 4 1 hear now God's very word do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator here there is not greek and jew circumcised and uncircumcised barbarian scythian slave free but christ is all and in all put on then as god's chosen ones holy and beloved compassionate hearts kindness humility meekness and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service, as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward, you are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. Well, this evening we finish up this section of Colossians which deals with household relationships we doubt with husbands and wives children and parents and what we saw in those texts is that Paul takes what he describes or says in the latter half of verse 11 and he applies it to these relationships and we've come to see in this section and throughout this book how the christ-centered life is to affect all areas of the christian life you see true christ-centered christians will not allow themselves to compartmentalize their christianity christians are not only christians on sunday or when we pray or when we read our bibles having christ as savior means that he is the controlling factor in all areas of life and at all times the christ-centered life is the life that makes everything about jesus christ it's the life that makes christ all and in all and so just as with marriage and family making christ all and in all is the goal of every christian well this evening we consider the last part of this section how the christ-centered life shapes everyday relationships particularly the relationship between a master and a slave and in teaching how the gospel shapes this relationship of the first century paul provides us with some principles for our own day and age and our own situations thankfully none of us are slaves or slave masters but we still do implement something related to that situation in the first century. In our own jobs, we offer our time, our energy, our talents, our abilities, our learning to a particular person or company for financial pay. We contract ourselves. Or maybe we have the privilege of owning our own company and we have employees in that company or maybe we're supervisors or bosses in some capacity well wherever we are in regards to the workforce paul has something to say to us in this text he has something to say to every christian and so i want to consider this text with you tonight by thinking about two points from this text christ-centered slaves and christ-centered masters christ-centered slaves and christ-centered masters and i have three sub points for each of those two points first is the responsibility second is the motivation and third is the mindset the responsibility the motivation and the mindset of the christian slave and the christian master well paul begins this text with addressing slaves now from the get-go i think it's important for us to realize that with with paul or when paul addresses slaves and masters here he is not in any way endorsing slavery in fact what paul says here in addressing slaves would have been simply remarkable in first century. You see, nobody would have ever thought of addressing slaves as people who were responsible for themselves. And so Paul, in a very real sense, is elevating the status of slaves by simply addressing them. You see, the prevailing thought of this day, the first century, was that slaves were nothing more than property. It was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who once said a slave is a man's living tool. A living tool is what Aristotle said. Now certainly slavery in the first century was quite different from what was practiced in the American South. Slavery in the first century occurred along economic lines and not primarily racial or ethnic lines. Often people indentured themselves because of debt or poverty and so rather than to die of poverty and starvation people enslaved themselves they indebted themselves indentured themselves now that's not to say that in the first century there weren't terrible things associated with slavery there certainly were that's why slave traders are condemned in the new testament in passages like first timothy 1 10 but what paul does here in the text in addressing slaves is really remarkable he's acknowledging slaves as people not property as people not living tools but even more than simply people these are people who would have had a genuine part in the life of the congregation at Colossae these were people who could have served in leadership within the church and so for Paul to address these slaves on their own terms would have been really unthinkable in that day so let's not misunderstand Paul in addressing this subject he is not here endorsing slavery you see we do have to realize that scholars estimate that something of one third of the population in the ancient world were slaves one third it's a lot of people it's a lot of people and with the spreading of the gospel some of these people slaves and masters were converting to christianity and they were coming to faith in christ and they were coming into the church and so questions were being raised how are we supposed to be christians in light of the fact that we're slaves or how are we supposed to treat those slaves that we have as slave masters so what paul says here would have been very very applicable and practical to the church at Colossae. And through what Paul says here again, he gives to us in our day and age practical wisdom on our own callings in life, on our own vocations and attitudes about work. Because let's face it, although we don't practice slavery, and thankfully so, the vast majority of us have jobs. And in those jobs, we spend some, what, A third of our day. A third of our day. How are we to be Christians in those situations? How are we to be Christians eight hours a day, five to six days a week? So how Christ affects us in these positions are tremendously important, significant, practical. Because you see, as I've already said, the Christ-centered life doesn't stop, doesn't end on Sunday. we continue as christians we bring christ with us and the effect of christ in our lives we bring that into our work we bring that into our week now that doesn't mean that our christianity should interfere with the tasks that we have at our jobs i had a friend once who struggled to keep a job down because he wanted to evangelize throughout his work time. And he was of the opinion that he had to obey God and evangelize instead of doing his work at times. That's a gross misunderstanding of what God calls us to do as Christians. But Christians should be some of the hardest workers. We should be known as being hard workers. And so that's why what Paul says here is so practical for us. And Paul begins here by addressing slaves, by giving them a responsibility. When we boil down what Paul says here to slaves, it's really one thing. Obey. Obey. Slaves, obey. Verse 22, slaves obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. Now, obedience is a term and an idea that is familiar to all of us, right? We've been called to obey since the earliest of ages. Children, you guys know what it means to have to obey, right? In fact, it's the same word that Paul uses when addressing children in verse 20. Children, obey your parents in everything. Now, that doesn't mean that slaves are like children to their masters or workers employees or like children to their employers but in regards to the the work that is before them the slave has the responsibility to obey now this responsibility comes with an important qualification that paul lays out here paul uses the word earthly when addressing masters he says slaves obey your earthly masters what this means is that these masters of these slaves were just their earthly masters and therefore these slaves who were christians still were under the obligation to ultimately obey their heavenly master and one thing that this text communicates throughout is really that there is indeed only one master and that's christ the master of both slave and free the master of both slave and masters is jesus christ the lord and that's what paul says explicitly in verse 24 he says you are serving the lord christ you're serving christ but you see this qualification would have protected these slaves. Masters were only earthly masters, and they will ultimately be held accountable for the way that they treated their slaves. Again, this is probably a principle that really helped undermine slavery in the ancient world when you think about it. Now, the truth of one ultimate heavenly master not only would have armed and equipped and protected these slaves but it also would have provided them with the motivation to do their work what's that motivation it's christ it's jesus christ see the obedience that is required here is not separate from that which we offer to christ it's part of it the obedience in the workplace is part of our expression of gratitude that we have for all that the lord has done for us look down at the text with me again verse 22 slaves obey in everything those who are your earthly masters and then paul goes on to say not by way of eye service as people pleasers but with sincerity of heart fearing the lord he goes on whatever you do work heartedly as for the lord and not for men knowing that from the lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward you are serving the lord christ you see indeed it is easy for us to separate what we do in here on Sunday from what we do out there Monday through Friday. It's easy to make this kind of false distinction between what is sacred and what is secular. And when we deem something secular, we think of it as it's not all that important. It's not of much consequence. What we do in here, this is what is significant. This is what is important. That's not true. What we do out there reflects upon the effect of Christ in us. It's part of our gratitude. What starts in here, when we're called and reminded to live for Christ, to make Christ all in all, that continues Monday through Saturday. And it continues in our work and the work that we put out and how the attitudes and the mentalities that we have in our jobs. And why? Why should we apply Christ to what we do at work? Because of what Christ has done for us. What He's done for us. Remember, Jesus was a slave. Jesus was a servant. He was the servant who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many. He was a suffering servant, the servant who was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, the chastisement that brought us peace laid upon him. Jesus was our suffering servant. He died so that we, who he died for, would no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us brothers and sisters don't be tempted to disconnect any aspect of your life from your savior christ should be made all and in all well not only does paul give here the motivation but he also gives a mindset for the slaves a mentality and it's the mindset of what i call integrity paul says in verse 5 slaves obey your earthly masters not by way of eye service as people pleasers but with sincerity of heart fearing the lord paul mentions two mentalities here when you think about it one is what he said sincerity of heart and fearing the lord i call that the mindset of integrity the other mentality is a deceitful mentality. It's a mentality of wanting to be known as a hard worker but not really being a hard worker. We're all familiar and know this mentality, don't we? It's a mentality of someone who works hard only when they're in eye shot, only when they're in view, only when the boss is around or the supervisor is around. That's the mentality of eye service and being people-pleasing. Now, people both outside and inside the church can take on this mentality. But it's not a mentality that's in line with Christ. It's not in line with the Christ-centered life. As I said, it's a mentality of deceit. It's a disingenuine mentality. It's kind of in lines of what we heard this morning, right? The hypocritical religious person. Furthermore, the motivation is different. when you think about it. It's contrary to Christ. The motivation for the Christian, for the Christ-centered worker, the Christ-centered slave, is the praise of Christ. Now what's the motivation here? To be praised by men and women. To be acknowledged. To seek attention. To seek approval. To seek applause. Sadly, this is in line with what Jesus says about those who pray long prayers and eloquent prayers so that people may hear them do so. It's the same mentality. And Jesus says for those people, they have their reward. When people see you doing that because you want them to see you do that, your reward is there. But notice the reward that Paul speaks of in verse 24. Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. The inheritance. What is that inheritance? That's Christ. It's being with Christ. Eternity with Christ. And so the mentality of the Christian is one of integrity. Now what's integrity? It's doing what is right when no one is looking. Doing what is right when no one is looking. that's difficult isn't it that's that's challenging doing what's right when no one is looking where can you find such workers workers who work hard even when no one is looking i had a friend who was involved for a number of years in the interviewing process at costco and he would tell me all kinds of stories about the the kind of characters and the mentality that people seeking a job at costco would come in with but the general sense that he impressed upon me was that these people were just generally not sincere they weren't sincerely hard workers they put up a front they'd act like hard workers and then he'd see them out on the floor and they only did it they only worked hard when someone was looking where can we find men and women who work with hearts of integrity i hope we should be able to say in the church right those who are in christ those are that's where you can find men and women of integrity i think that's why paul brings up the fear of the lord here integrity is a character trait of someone who fears God. There's a little saying that summarizes the fear of the Lord and the integrity that is born from it. It's the phrase quorum deo. Maybe you're familiar with that term. Before the face of God. The Christ-centered worker always works hard because they're always working Coram Deo, before the face of God. They do their work with integrity because they do their work before the face of God. The Bible gives us a great example of someone who worked like that. I think of the man Joseph, son of Jacob. Think about Joseph, a man who was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was a slave of the Midianite traders, a slave of Potiphar, a slave of pharaoh but in each of those situations the text presents us with a man who honored his masters out of honor for his lord he honored god joseph understood who he worked for he understood who he was ultimately accountable to god himself we hear of the integrity that joseph has when he responds to the seduction of potiphar's wife when he says how could i do such a thing and sin against god joseph lived coram deo for the face of god now joseph lived that way even though his earthly masters may not have been honorable men i'm sure as i could imagine some of us here have difficulties at work we too work with people who are not honorable people who are not men and women of integrity maybe you have a condescending boss an unjust boss someone who blames you for the mistakes that they make maybe you have co-workers who stir up trouble whatever the trial whatever the difficulty you face at work, brothers and sisters, your Lord knows all about it. He knows all about it. Your good and gracious God is aware of all the situations that you may face at work. And that's why Paul says in verse 25, the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done. There's no partiality. we know that when it comes to fairness justice partiality there can be very little of that in the workforce can't there the workplace can be a challenging place for christians who are striving to make christ all and in all workplace might be a place where people pleasers thrive they succeed A place where supervisors and bosses can be unchecked with their injustice and unfairness. But again, whatever the situation is, brother and sister, the Lord knows it and He's with you. Continue to hold on to Him. Continue to trust in Him. The wrong that has been done to you will indeed one day be repaid. So continue to make Christ all in all. That's the responsibility that we are called to as servants, servants of Christ. Well, Paul not only addresses slaves in this text, but he also addresses masters. He only devotes one verse to masters while devoting four in this text to slaves. And that may be the case because maybe there were more slaves in the church or slaves were perceived to be in a more difficult position and situation. But whatever the case, the responsibility that Paul lays at the feet of masters here is just as significant. Notice what Paul says in verse 1 of chapter 4. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly. Imagine for a moment that you were in the congregation at Colossae as this text, as this letter was being read. And I'm sure there were some masters in the congregation hearing the things that Paul said and addressed to slaves and they were probably agreeing and saying, yes, Paul, you tell them. Slaves need to obey in everything and they need to do it with integrity and unto the Lord. And then interestingly, the text turns and redirects itself to masters. Paul gives now a responsibility to these masters. The responsibility is to treat slaves justly and fairly. I love that Paul says this. I love that he doesn't shy away from laying responsibility out here. You see, at times, preachers have to address people in power people in authority and that's not easy people being addressed here by paul were probably the financial backers of the church it could have been the rich the wealthy those who were influential in the church but paul tells them exactly what they need to hear treat your slaves justly and fairly now reading a statement like that no one should ever claim that the bible condones slavery or people being treated like property Paul's in no way condoning the mistreatment of of people who were slaves in the first century here in fact Paul is completely redefining a the worldly perspective that many would have had about the relationship between slaves and masters and what this means for masters is that again they have the responsibility to be fair to be just and to treat their slaves as such just in fairness that's the responsibility of christian masters sure it should be the responsibility of all masters all supervisors all bosses but paul here is addressing those who are in christ now for us here this evening maybe you are a supervisor Maybe you are a boss. Maybe you own your own company. Well, let me ask you. Do you treat your employees fairly? Justly? Do you show partiality and favoritism? Are you condescending to your employees? Do you speak down to them? Do you speak down about them? Those are practices that the world is familiar with, right? Remember what Jesus said about the Gentiles and the way that they lord themselves over each other. But then he said to his disciples, that shouldn't be the way it is with you. Not the way it is with you. Now let's be honest. If you've spent any time in the workplace, then you know, you know that one of the most noteworthy things is a boss or supervisor who respects his or her employees who treats them just and fairly that person is a joy to work for in my 20s i had a number of different jobs i was still in school and so it was difficult to keep one job with a changing schedule of school but i had a number of jobs and i had a number of bosses and one boss who was a christian man was a fantastic boss he made working in that job such a joy it was pleasant to work under him to work for him he was a man who respected his employees he was a man who was known by his employees both christian and non-christian alike to be a man who was just and fair man had a kind of graciousness about him and it really spoke and it gave testimony to the work of god in his life he was a supervisor who was making in my opinion christ all and in all it was such a testimony to a young christian man such as myself at the time now at another point i had another boss who too was a christian man but this christian this boss was harsh he was harsh he was condescending he was impatient and he would at times blame his employees for mistakes that he made let me ask you who do you think brought more glory to God in the way that they supervised? Who do you think was known by their works? Who do you think made Christ all and in all through everything that he did? It's obvious, isn't it? The responsibility that Paul lays at the feet of masters is that of justice and fairness. Well, just as Paul lays out a motivation for slaves, he lays out a motivation for masters as well. And that motivation comes in the words of knowing that you also have a master in heaven. A Christian master is called to respect their slave because they know who their ultimate master is, the Lord Jesus Christ. So although earthly masters may be in the position of authority over their slaves, the Christian master knows that he too is under authority. And in Christ, there is no slave or free. In Christ, there is no slave and master. We are all one in Christ. We stand on equal ground when it comes to being in Christ. There's no special place for masters, for supervisors, for bosses. In Christ, we're one. In fact, Christianity teaches that slaves and masters who are in Christ ought to no longer think of themselves as slaves and masters, but as brothers, brothers and sisters. Think about that, how revolutionary that must have been in the first century. That's the way Philemon speaks of the relationship between Onesimus, the runaway slave, and Philemon, his master. Now this doesn't mean that the authority structures that exist between slaves and masters or employers and employees don't exist. They certainly do. But it means that those relationships for those who are in Christ are redefined. They're shaped. They're affected by what Christ has done for the Christian. See, Paul here is being very practical. very practical. See, this doesn't mean that employees or employers don't hold their employees accountable either. It simply means that when you do hold your employees accountable, you do so in a way that is seasoned with grace. You see, the call to respect those you are over is a call to respect the dignity that an individual has in light of the fact that they're made in the image of god made in the image of god see people have an inherent quality and value to them because they're made in the image of god and as supervisors and bosses you aren't to undermine that by treating them as anything less than what they are a person created in the image of god now they may not know that they may not realize that they may even deny that but that's besides the point the responsibility the point for you as a christ-centered supervisor and boss is to be just and fair and what better way to communicate the dignity that these people have than to treat them with such dignity. And you see, when we do that as Christians, we will be giving testimony to much more than simply the dignity that they have because they're created in the image of God. We'll be giving testimony to the grace of God in our lives. See, God didn't give to us justice and what was fair, did he? He gave to us grace and mercy. And so that should affect the mentality and the way that we treat those who are under our authority. Out of fear and reverence, or to treat people as people created in his image. And so the same mentality that Paul lays at the feet of slaves, he lays at the feet of masters as well. the term masters in heaven or master in heaven referring to god in verse one of chapter four parallels with what paul says to the slave in regards to fear of the lord see the master is to treat their slaves coram deo before the face of god it's the fear of the lord it's the fear of the heavenly master that produces this mentality of integrity treating people with integrity you know it's interesting the wisdom of the bible and addressing an issue like this between slaves and masters but just like the bible gives us the real life example of joseph it gives us the book of Philemon. Think about that. A whole book that addresses the relationship between a master and a slave. And listen to what Paul says there. Listen to how the Bible addresses that issue. It says, accordingly, this is Paul speaking, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you, this is to Philemon, the master, to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you. I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he's indeed useful to you and to me. I'm sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel but i preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord for this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while that you might have him back forever no longer as a bond servant no longer as a slave but more than a bondservant a beloved brother especially to me but how much more to you both in flesh and in the lord what a beautiful beautiful testimony to the way that christian masters christian supervisors bosses ought to treat those under their authority again and this all goes back to the gratitude that we have for what jesus christ has done for us christ has done marvelous marvelous things he has saved us we're his he's purchased us and he calls us now to make him everything in our lives to make him the primary focus and purpose in everything that we do and say. And so what Paul says here is the way that we, as workers, supervisors, bosses, continue to make Christ all and in all. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for such a practical passage like this. Thank you for the wisdom that your word grants to us, Lord. father these words are simple they're straightforward and yet how often it is difficult for us to implement what you call us to father make us to be people who make everything about christ make us to be people who deny our selfish desires and our self-centeredness and the desire to make everything about ourselves, Lord, whether that's in the workforce or anywhere else. Graciously work in our hearts for your honor, for your glory, and to the fame of the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We pray this in his name. Amen.