Godly Obedience in Seminary
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· 9 viewsAs seminary students, all of our labor is to Christ and for Christ, our master.
Notes
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For this morning i will be focusing on verse 5 and 6.
Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Introduction
Some of you may be wondering.. wow that was a bold choice to go with a passage about slaves and their masters…. of all the wonderful passages in ephesians you chose that?
Well, about a week after Dr. Newheiser reminded us to go and pick our passage.. i remembered to do it and when i pulled up the form… there were only two passages left… this one and Pauls closing remarks that Brother Dan will be sharing with us in a little bit!
so no i didnt choose this passage, the passage chose me…
But i will say that i am thankful. As i hope you will see… this passage has had far more impact on me than i expected…
SO…
We read in Ephesians 5:21 that we are to be “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Paul then goes into the three examples of this with wives and husbands, children and parents, and for our passage this morning, slaves and masters.
None of us in here (at least i hope) Have ever been in an earthly Slave and Master scenario
However, all of us have been in scenarios of someone having authority over us..
Our Parents or guardians
a Boss as employers
and our Seminary professors as students here at rts. And this is the relationship i want us all to focus on this morning..
Does this passage have implications for us as seminary students?
Lets read verse 5 and the beginning of verse 6 again…
1. Honor and Obey your professors. v. 5-6a
Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
A. Obey…
- With Fear and trembling
I want to reference back to Ephesians 5:21 “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
This word translated as “reverence” is the exact same greek word and form that is translated as “fear” here in verse 5…
So obey with a fearful reverence and with trembling…
- With a sincere heart (wholeheartedly)
This phrase can simply mean obey Wholeheartedly…
So why would paul be Commanding Slaves to obey their earthly master with fear and trembling with a sincere heart?
Well he tells us in the next phrase…
- as you would christ!!!
-Paul is not comparing a relationship between the slave and the master to Christ and his followers…
He is not saying that Christian slaves should obey their masters in the same way they obey Christ…
He is saying that all of their earthly obedience is to christ and for Christ.
This is made even more clear in verses 6-8…
2. We as students are bondservants to Christ. v. 6-8
not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.
- not eye service or as a people pleaser
So a slave shouldnt be looking to do good deeds or work hard to please their earthly master..
they should do good deeds and work hard because they desire to Bring God glory…
They are no longer slaves to their masters but slaves to Christ!
- Christ has purchased them with his blood, they are his possession…
They are now BONDSERVANTS TO CHRIST Doing the will of God from the heart..
3. When you are in positions of Authority, be fair! v. 9
Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Conclusion
so how does this relate to us as seminary students?
all of our labor in seminary is to Christ and for Christ, our master.
yes we have professors who have authority over us to assign us with ridiculous amounts of reading and papers…
Yet, we shouldn’t submit these papers as a people pleaser, trying to impress our classmates or professors and get it submitted on pen and parchment…
NO we can read and write and learn for the Glory of God… we submit to our professors out of reverence for christ, we obey him with fear and trembling with a sincere heart as a bondservant!
How much more joy can we find in seminary if we do it all for his glory and not our own..
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
LETS PRAY
