Our Labor Is Spiritual
Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted
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Ephesians 6:5–9 (KJV 1900)
5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
Spirit filled wife
Spirit filled husband
The power in Spirit filled obedience and training
The instability in the labor force
“We can’t find help” - The government has failed us in that area. How can we send money to people that could be working and being productive
The world is lacking in
The church could be using this opportunity to be the best laborer / employee that anyone has ever met.
Servant = in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant.
If you work for someone you are their servant.
You are being paid to serve
Mechanics
Doctors
Nurses
Show up - on time - ready to work
God wants us to be used to touch the world through our service - through our work
Wives, Husbands, children, servants
Colossians 3:22–25 (KJV 1900)
22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Do it heartily - as to the Lord - with spirit, with vitality
If you don’t do what your boss says
There is a culture of laziness that has crept into the church
We are created to work = work six days
In our study we have already talked about obedience
Wives obedience unto her husband
Children are to obey their parents
Servants are to obey
None of us are outside the realm of obedience!
If you find yourself without any
God has ordained a
Men are supposed to treat their boss like they are Jesus
Submission is ordained by God
In the person of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit
We need God’s power to obey
Humility is the path to submission, submission is the path to blessing.
Pride teaches to only obey if there is a personal benefit.
in charge
haughty
A spirit of rebellion
afront
We are to “obey in all things your masters your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men pleasers;
…but in singleness of heart
Your labor is spiritual
Mechanics
Doctors
Teachers
We are spiritual human beings that don’t clock out of spiritual things
Everything is spiritual
Submission is to be practiced because Christ Submitted
Submission is to be practiced because Christ commanded us to operate in submission
1 Peter 5:5–6 (KJV 1900)
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
The younger men may include the deacons, but the all, 1Pe 5:5, refers to the entire membership. They were to gird on humility, as a slave his towel, that they might serve one another, Joh 13:4
John 13:4 (KJV 1900)
4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Those who humble themselves in the profoundest loyalty toward God stand as rocks before their fellows. Remember Luther’s-“Here I stand, I can do no other.” You cannot say, “Nobody cares what becomes of me.” God cares, and with an infinite tenderness. He cared before you cast your care on Him! God is linked to your little life by His tender regard and care for you.
Submission to spiritual authority is the path to blessing
As a pastor, I have a heart for people to live a life of peace and joy. Unfortunately, I see people who will not submit to the Lord’s leadership in their life, and it’s only a matter of time when tragedy
As I said Thursday, I can’t make anyone Christlike
Have the right priorities
Lord willing, I will be there for them when they find themselves reaping the fruit of disobedience and rebellion - to help them put the pieces back together.
In the failures there are a lot of lessons
Positions of influence in the Church in those days involved grave risks, but the Apostle believed that love to Christ would induce men to take the place of under-shepherds to the flock of God, and that they would use their power with gentleness, humility and holy consistency.
Hebrews 13:17 (KJV 1900)
17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Your boss is your God-given authority in your life
Positions of influence in the home:
Husbands submitting to Christ and loving like Christ loves
Ladies your husband is your God-given leadership and it is important that you teach submission in your home that your children can see your life and will follow the Leadership that God puts in their life.
Children, God gives them the parents that He wants them to follow and obey
At the workplace, the boss / supervisor is to be submitted to as unto the Lord
Ephesians 6:5–6 (KJV 1900)
5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
As unto Christ
As the servants of Christ
Doing the will of God from the heart
Colossians 3:22–25 (KJV 1900)
22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Fearing God
As to the Lord
of the Lord ye shall receive the reward
Ye serve the Lord Christ
Singleness of heart = Serving generously, as to the Lord - bountifully generous
Obediently - as we are offering to the Lord
It’s like a sacrifice we give to the Lord when we obey our athority
The people you work with and for should know you are a believer
the world will require more of you
This is a tool God uses
Your boss and coworkers will begin to respect you and want other Christians to work with
Do we go to work with a bad attitude or do we serve our boss out of obedience to God
This impacts those we work with and for
Your boss is being used by God to mold you and influence you
Unless something violates Scripture you listen to your boss
Obey unless it violates your higher authority - the Lord
How Did Joseph go from a servant to being second in command over the most powerful country in the world
1 John 4:20 (KJV 1900)
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
If one says I obey God but disobey
If a child says I will obey God but wont obey my Mom and Dad that I can say
If a wife says I will Listen to God but I wont listen to my husband
If an employee
How did Daniel go from being a slave to second in command
The rewards those who follow their God-given authority
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Christ rewards those who understand everything we do is unto the Lord
If you do it unto men = you have your reward
The pharisees did everything to be seen of men
25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
the context is our labor - work - employment
9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
Bosses, supervisors, formans
do unto others as you would have them do to you
We are on the same level but we give honor to those who God has put in authority
Ephesians 6:9 (KJV 1900)
9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
Those in authority have more to answer for
Husbands have more requirements than the wife
Parents have more requirements
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
The higher your authority the more you are answerable for to the Lord
The employer is to treat those serving with respect
The husband is to treat those serving with respect
If God has given you authority, He has given you a position of servant leadership.
When the employer is girded with the towel, he has the highest position.
What we require as leaders we are not above doing ourselves.
Matthew 23:11 (KJV 1900)
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Those at the top are those that are lifting others up.
The proclamation of the Gospel is heard through the voice of obedience.
The Gospel is witnessed every time a wife submits to her husband.
The Gospel is witnessed every time a husband loves his wife like Christ loves the Church. kindness, patience, gentleness
The Gospel is witnessed every time a child is obedient to their Mother and Father as they are obeying the Lord.
All our relationships can and should preach and the Gospel to those around us
The Gospel is witnessed each time an employee generously serves his employer.
The Gospel is witnessed every time an employer serves and respects his employees as he would serve and respect the Lord.
We are a team - we worked together - God helped us
If we don’t love the Gospel - there will not be a supernatural power of God to obey
Yesterday the children were helping cleaning up - my wife
Did the Gospel save you from Hell, Shouldn’t you love that Gospel enough to follow God’s plan of obedience and submission
When you love the Gospel
You will serve, you will obey
The world is ready for your obedience to teach the Gospel to them