 But today we're looking at Colossians 3 verses 22 into chapter 4 verse 1. So allow me to read those verses, then I'm going to give to you an introduction to try and help us to contextualize what Paul is writing about. And then we'll look into the study, we'll look at what he's saying, and then we're going to look at application for us in the 21st century. And so beginning at verse 22 in Colossians chapter 3, Paul writes, Bonn servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. Not with eye services, men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there's no partiality. Masters, give your Bonn servants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. And so as we've been looking through the book of Colossians, Paul has been writing in chapter 3 concerning life in the church. In the first 17 verses, he was given a lot of insight concerning that. Then he went on in verse 18 through 21 to give instructions to those who were married and he spoke concerning family life. Now as he's given all of these commandments, he's basing his commands on the reality of a new life. The reality of a new life that they have in Jesus Christ. Remember as we've gone through chapter 3, remember he was speaking concerning the fact that believers are raised with Jesus Christ. He reminded them in other words of Jesus' death, his burial, and his resurrection. And he reminded the believer that we too, because of Christ, have what is called resurrection life. And so the things are central, the things that he's saying are central to our Christian faith. We have as those things that are the rudiments, the basics, foundations, the fact that Jesus is crucified, that he died, he was buried. And so not only was he crucified, died and buried, but he was resurrected from the dead. And so we need to remember as believers, and this is so important for us today, we need to remember that the one who raised Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, we need to remember as believers that that same spirit lives in us. In Romans 8 verse 11 Paul said it like this, he said, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. See we talk about Jesus Christ being raised from the dead, we who are believers believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, that he died, that he was buried, but then on the third day he rose again from the dead. We believe that he ascended into heaven. These are doctrines that are foundational for every Christian belief. But we need to remember that the same spirit who raised Christ from the dead resides in us. That is central to our faith. The Holy Spirit who gave life to the dead body of Christ lives in us. And because the spirit dwells in them, they are able to live a different kind of life. And this life is earmarked by them seeking the Lord and looking forward to being with him. See, Paul said Jesus is our life and that he's going to return and we're going to be with him, appear with him in glory. So if you really believe that Jesus Christ is returning, then that ought to motivate us to live a godly life. When he was writing to Titus in chapter 2 verse 13, he said, we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so that anticipation provokes us to live in a certain way. So Paul said that the old life has been put off because we're looking forward to being with Jesus. Our lives are lived differently. We put off what he called the old man. We put on what he refers to as the new man and he said this old life, this old man was characterized by various things, various obvious sins. We looked at him in chapter 3. He began to speak of those sins like fornication and uncleanness and passion, evil desire. He spoke of covetousness and anger, wrath and malice. He spoke of blasphemy, filthy language and he spoke of lying to one another. This is the old life characterized by various sins. So we take those things off. But when we take those things off, Paul was saying we put other things on in their place. He said you put on tender mercy. You put on kindness and humility. You put on meekness and long suffering. He says you begin to bear with one another, put up with one another. And then in verse 14 of chapter 3, he said the new life is known for love, which he refers to as the bond of perfection. Now this kind of love that Paul is speaking about is the emblem of a believer in Jesus Christ. When Jesus was speaking on one occasion as recorded in John chapter 13, he said a new command give I unto you. He said that you love one another as I have loved you. And he went on to say in John 1335, by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have loved one for another. So the earmark of a believer in Christ is loving God and loving others. And the earmark of a Christian is having loved one for another. And this love that believers have for one another transcends all man-made obstacles and barriers. The body of Christ is made up of all manner of people from every walk of life. Remember Jesus had commanded in what is called the Great Commission, he commanded his disciples and that includes us today to take this message to a whole world and to make disciples. And that means that when they left from Jerusalem and went into Judea and Samaria, they also went into the uttermost parts of the earth. And by the Holy Spirit empowering them, the message of the gospel was taken out and it had arrived to this place called Colossae. And so this letter went to the Colossians. And so the gospel had come to these Greeks and they had come to faith in God. And so when we looked in chapter 3 in verse 11, he said there is neither Greek nor Jew, nor circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, sithian, slave, nor free. But Christ is all and in all. Notice how he points that out. There is neither slave nor free. That means that every believer in Jesus belongs to God and one another. And because we put on the garment of love, we can live at peace with each other. That includes every believer in Christ regardless of who they are. And so Paul is continuing his teaching. He's been sharing concerning general body life. He's spoken concerning husbands and wives and children. And now he begins to speak on a very difficult subject to us. He begins to speak to bond servants. He begins to speak to slaves. And so in verse 22, he says, bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service. In other words, not when they're just looking at you. You know how it is. You could be on a job site and you see a foreman watching you or whatever, a supervisor watching you. And suddenly you're the hardest worker out there. But when they're not watching you, you're doing whatever. Well, he says, not with eye services, men pleases, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. So Paul is speaking now concerning how we live out the Christian life. And he's speaking specifically to those who are referred to as bond servants. Now I want to develop this a little bit further. You need to know that the book of Colossians was written around the same time as another book in the Bible called Philemon. And when you look at the book of Philemon, you'll see that Philemon was a wealthy man who had come to faith in Christ under the ministry of Paul. This man Philemon lived in the city of Colossae. As a matter of fact, the church of Colossae met in his home. He was a wealthy man. He had a large enough home for people to meet there as a church. And this man had slaves. And one of the slaves that he had was named Onesimus. And Onesimus had run away, and you read this in the book of Philemon, and had somehow, when he came to Rome, encountered the apostle Paul and came to faith in Christ. So Paul writes the book of Philemon, a letter to Philemon. And in Philemon, verse 10, he's writing, and Paul's writing to Philemon, and this is what he says to him in Philemon 10, Paul says to him, I appeal to you for my son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains. I'm appealing to you for my son. And what he's doing is he's saying, I'm asking you to forgive and welcome Onesimus, because now he's a believer. He was sending Onesimus back. He was a runaway slave. He could be put to death if he returns to his master. And so Paul's writing a letter, and he's saying, Philemon, welcome Onesimus back. My son, Onesimus, is what he refers to him. So when he calls Onesimus my son, that's something you need to understand is very powerful, because there's only two others in the New Testament. Paul ever speaks of as my son. One is Timothy and the other is Titus. So that shows to us that he has a relationship that's very deep and personal with this man. And he says to him, he was once unprofitable, but now in Christ he has become profitable. So I'm sending him back, but I'm asking you to receive him, because this one has become my heart. And he says something I think that's very insightful as it relates to slaves and owners, because he made it clear that though this man was a slave, he was foremost a Christian brother. In Philemon verses 15 and 16, this is what Paul writes. He says, for perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me. But how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord? You see as a result of coming to faith in Christ, Onesimus is a blessing to Paul, but it can also be a blessing to Philemon. In verse 11 of the book of Philemon Paul said, Onesimus once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. Christianity, Christianity worked to destroy slavery in the Roman Empire. The Bible speaks of slavery in the Old Testament. There was a form of slavery that actually allowed Jews to have slaves from foreign lands. You see that in Leviticus 25 verses 44 through 46, and it speaks of slaves as property. There was another form that would be called indentured servitude. You see that in Exodus 21 verses 2 through 6, a Hebrew would become impoverished. They would sell themselves to an owner. He became what was a hired worker. He would serve until the debt was paid off or he was freed. Some became slaves through being captured in war according to Deuteronomy chapter 20. So obviously slavery continued into the time of the New Testament and Paul mentions it. Now as an empire, Rome was largely built on the backs of slave labor. It's estimated that approximately 60 million slaves lived in the Roman Empire. They were obtained as war prisoners. They were sold in marketplaces or sold into slavery by poor parents or would voluntarily sell themselves as indentured servants. And at that time slaves were normally considered work instruments and they had no human value. One Roman writer divided agricultural instruments into three classes. The articulate who were slaves, the inarticulate which were animals and the mute which were tools. There was a guy who wrote at that time his name was Cato the Sensor and Cato said old slaves should be thrown on a dump and when a slave is ill do not feed him anything it is not worth your money take six slaves and throw them away because they are nothing but inefficient tools. The permeating effect of Christianity brought a sense of dignity to those who were slaves. They came to know that they were not simply animals. They came to know they were created in God's image. They came to know they were no longer living tools but they were people. They were worthy of love and free to love others and with this in mind Paul is now writing to bond servants. So he says in verse 22 again he says bond servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. He's speaking to the doulos, the bond servant and he says as a servant be obedient. I want you to see this I'll develop this as we go through this but note Paul doesn't write in opposition to the system and said he makes an appeal to something higher than what was acceptable in society. He called servants to a higher standard based on the relationship to God through Jesus Christ and he actually tells them to obey in all things their masters according to the flesh. They were to obey their masters for a higher reason than would first come to mind. They obeyed not to simply stay alive or to get a better position but they would obey as an act of worship. They needed to understand that then in their service they were actually serving the Lord. They weren't simply serving the owner. They were to serve he says with sincerity they need to do the will of God from the heart because your work is actually service to God. In Ephesians 6 verses 6 and 7 he speaks of this to the Ephesian church again and he says not with eye service as men pleasers but as bond-servants of Christ. He said doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men. So they're not simply serving a man they're serving the Lord in their service. So that gives them insight and gives them the ability to serve even the harshest of masters. When Peter wrote on this in 1 Peter 2 18 he said servants be submissive to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the harsh. So this understanding enabled them to endure whatever they were going through. They were looking for a reward. In Hebrews 6 verse 10 it says God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward his name in that you've ministered to the saints and to minister. Jesus in Revelation 22 12 said I'm coming quickly my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. Paul is saying learn to serve but serve the Lord first serve the Lord first. Now today how do we apply something like that to our conditions? So we're not under the harsh conditions of slavery but there are principles that I can apply to the workplace where I'm working and how am I supposed to act? So how are employees to act in the workplace by way of application? Well one Christian should respectfully follow the orders given to them by the employers. When a boss gives an order we obey the order that's what we do. Well someone says now wait a minute I'm working for a Christian and my boss isn't it better than me? We're the same. Shouldn't I treat him or her as a fellow believer and not someone superior to me? People get upset over that the thought that somebody may be placed in position that they think makes them think they're superior but we need to remember in church an employer and an employee sit in equal positions a boss can be in here and the employee can be in here and you are seated in equal positions but on the job you need to understand that your work that you're doing isn't simply for the employer though he benefits from that I'll show you this in just a moment but the first and foremost attitude of the heart should be working for the Lord but somebody says well wait a minute what what if they what if the boss I'm working for isn't a believer and they tell me to do something that's simply wrong to do what if they give me an order to do something that is wrong we can disobey orders when they're in clear violation to scripture as well as our conscience I I got a new job my wife Marie had given birth to our daughter Corinne and Corinne was an infant and I got a job and as I was working at this place my supervisor we sat in the same office my supervisor turned to me as I was getting into the work mode there and all and he says to me if so-and-so calls tell him I'm not here and he's sitting right across from me he says tell him I'm not here and I looked at this guy he's my boss and I said no I'm not gonna lie for you you know but for me you know for me you know I was making three and a quarter an hour that's just not enough to get me lying for you you know I mean come on but I told him I said no I'm not gonna lie for you I said I won't lie I said listen this is when I first started working there I said listen I'm a Christian and I don't lie and so if you don't want to receive a phone call don't expect me to lie for you I'm not gonna do that and I did at the beginning he didn't like it no they don't like it but he can't give me a command to violate my conscience he doesn't have the right to do that they don't pay me enough to do that and I'm not going to do that so if you want someone to lie get somebody you'll do it I'm not gonna do that so I had that and I would do that whenever I was working I had a job I had another job just prior to this one and somebody came in and I used to I used to load trucks and all and somebody came in and they had what is called a will call and so there was a box and I I was loading trucks with this particular box and I I walked up to my supervisor and I said to him what's the weight on this box I had forgotten the weight but he said to me I'll give the true weight I said the true weight and it goes yeah and then it hit me he had been giving to me a different weight so that when I was writing out the bills and all of that I was actually short changing the carriers and by reducing weight and so he was making me lie and once I realized that he was doing that because I lived only 10 minutes away or last I went home at lunchtime now again my daughter Corinne was maybe two or three months old at the time maybe she was just a little thing and and I went in and Marie was there and I said honey I said the boss has been having me lie writing incorrect weight I said I'm I can't do that I said I'm gonna quit we needed to pay you know our rent was still there we had car payments we still needed to eat you know but I she said do whatever the spirit of the Lord is telling you and so I I did I went back and I spoke to the supervisor and I said to him listen you know I'm a Christian you've been having me lie and I said my integrity matters more to me than the salary you give me I said I'm giving my two weeks notice right now and he began to argue with me and he said no we said look it I'll give you a different job you can do something else you're a good worker I said I want to be a good worker but I don't want to work in a company where people violate other people's ethics morality and conscience and so I wouldn't do that so I quit we didn't have we didn't have any money to pay our bills you know but I I said we're God guides God will provide because if I do the right thing God will honor that and we were young I'm telling you my daughter Corinne's 41 years old now 42 you know it was 42 years ago and I said you know God you're you and Marie and I just said God you you said you would take care of me and I'm and I need a job and I need to pay my bills and I'm not gonna be the one who doesn't I submit Lord I will not violate my conscience for three bucks an hour and you know what we got a job and the next job I got was with his other guy who's telling me to lie and he's the one I said right from the beginning I don't lie for you I'm not gonna lie listen honor the Lord because when you do God will do something on your behalf he always makes sure you're taking care of you need to understand that's just a fact that's being a Christian see I'm not going to steal and we're not to lie for the boss and we're not to cheat customers we're not to cover up for our bosses according to Acts 529 we ought to obey God rather than men when we're honest and we work hard that's a good witness on the job and that can open a door of opportunity to share with our boss as well as others in 1st Timothy 6 verse 1 Paul said let as many bond-servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of honor so that the name of God in his doctrine may not be blasphemed you see if our boss is a believer by working hard we won't take advantage of him because he's a fellow Christian because Paul went on in 1st Timothy 6 to say at verse 2 and those having believing masters let them not despise them because they're brethren but rather serve them because those who are benefited our believers and beloved teach and exhort these things so when I'm working for a non-believer I work hard as unto the Lord when I'm working for a believer I work hard as unto the Lord but I also know it benefits him it's a blessing to him there are people who sometimes unfortunately haven't realized that and so they they will say to the boss who's a Christian they'll say bro you know how it is was having a little tough time my family I've been coming in late taking long breaks and all but you you know give me some grace bro give me some grace well Paul is saying here you don't take advantage of him that way you work harder for him because they are brethren you want to be a blessing to them there's so many times that we we take that and we do the opposite we actually say excuse me excuse me you know I'm having a tough time I've asked you to pray for me and we actually use our problems as a way for us to get over on the boss and Paul would say no don't do that work harder for him because they're brothers and they're being blessed by God you see when you work as unto the Lord this isn't your source of income it becomes a ministry and you serve this way because your job becomes really a mission field as an employee avoid doing the bare minimum strive to excel in your duties avoid having to be constantly checked up on do not do personal business on company time come in on time leave on time be the best employee you can be you're giving honor into the Lord you're doing work as into those that are paying you and you may be opening up an opportunity to share you know there are people say yeah my job site is my mission field so they don't do their job they're busy evangelizing walking from place to place sharing Jesus well your boss didn't pay you to be the evangelist he didn't you know hire Billy Graham he wants you you know to change those tires or to drive that forklift or do whatever it is he didn't hire an evangelist now I've been in I've been I've worked on you know a number of jobs prior to and I discovered prior to being pastor here and I discovered that I have ten minute breaks I used to have one in the morning one in the afternoon and then I had a 30 minute lunch and I could use that time on breaks and lunch to do whatever it is that I wanted to do and there were times that I would prepare Bible studies because I was teaching Bible studies I needed to work so I would take the 10 minutes and I do a little working for 10 minutes then I do the 30 minute lunch I wouldn't eat I would just do my Bible studies I prepare or I had opportunities to share with people and that's what I did but I didn't use company time to do that I was hired to do a job so I did the job and sometimes Christians don't understand that and I would do the best I learned I began to learn to do the best that I can in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 10 the writer said whatever your hand finds to do do it with all your might and so be a good employee work hard they see you if you're an employee they'll see you and they'll say this person here ought to be a supervisor you ought to give him up something else to do she's so good at what she does she can train others so you do that now why would I do this how how can this apply to me well notice when he said in verse 23 whatever you do do it hardly as to the Lord not to men went on and said in verse 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ knowing that from the Lord you receive the reward of the inheritance they knew they worked for God and as such they knew that he would reward their service now work that is done unto the Lord can result in people getting saved in Titus chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 Paul said teach slaves to be subject to the masters and everything to try to please them not to talk back to them and not to steal from them but to show that they can be fully trusted so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive so their faith-filled work resulted in heavenly reward more than more real than any earthly mansion as slaves they have all people knew that the world was not their home there was something beyond where they were living and they set their hearts on that and in spite of all the difficulties that they went through they had an unshakable hope of heaven I think that today a lot of people see this isn't in my notes so I'll take a moment there was such a belief that everybody goes to heaven all you need to do is die and you go to heaven you know you'll see this in the news you know after telling you that the guy was a drug dealer and after telling you that he got in a shootout with the cops and died they'll have you know cut to one of the relatives and they'll say yeah yeah he's looking down from heaven right now on us as we're talking and you know if he's looking in any direction it's not looking down he's not in heaven he's not in heaven but that's true there's a lot of people say every everybody goes to heaven all good dogs go to heaven I mean every everybody goes to heaven right all you got to do is die and because they have cheapened the reality of salvation and they have cheapened the reality of Christ death on a cross and what it really meant for Jesus to take him on himself our sin and the suffering that he went through and the pain that he suffered and all that he went through and then the death of Christ and then the burial and and all of that they they they failed to understand how incredible that is that he actually opened heaven up for us by laying his life down for us and sometimes we don't realize that and so heaven we think it's just yeah yeah we'll get there but I'm enjoying earth so much I don't want to go too soon there are people I'm sure even here right now would say you know I am I'm not married yet I'd like to get married before Christ comes and then I have to say to you oh who has deceived you oh I'm married but I haven't got any children oh you want to go to hell first and then you want to go to heaven I get it I see or purgatory if you'd like do you do you long for heaven I had my son little David was probably about six or seven no he was older than that he was nine or ten and we had a guy who lived across the street from us who worked for the CIA he lived right across the street and he came and knocked on our door one day and he said to to Marie I'm worried about your son and Marie said join join us no he said I'm worried about your son why is that he says well because because he was telling me yesterday that he's looking forward to going to heaven he thought my son was suicidal because in his mind he was saying I want to die but David at the age of nine was trying to do was to share with them and heaven's a place for believers David used to be as a little boy he was he was very evangelistic as a little boy I remember there was a little boy named Tommy who lived across the street from us and Tommy had a crush on my daughter Corinne and Tommy was about 12 and Corinne was 11 and little David said to Tommy Corinne can't be with you because you're not a Christian and Tommy says and Tommy says how do I become a Christian so David David yeah so David took him to to the pool and baptized him he used to do that you know he did I'll give you one more story I mean he did it all the time a salesman knocked on the door and David this was years before Davey was probably five years old and Dave I opened the door and Davey was standing next to it and he's looking up at this salesman at the door and the man's wanting to sell me something but David says to him are you a Christian and the guy says yeah he looks at me and he winks he goes yes I'm a Christian and my David looks at him and says to him oh yeah what church did you go to you know see you know if you say you're a Christian where do you fellowship Jack you know you're not one that was my David and so our kids you know from from youth you know we've known that God can bless us here and I'm grateful for the the the years he gives to me I'm thankful for every day and every minute and every second I really am I'm grateful but there's something waiting that is better than anything I've ever had here and it's called heaven and there's not that's not a cop out that's not a cop out I mean people say yeah yeah yeah you know heaven you know buy and buy you know and this and that you know yeah whatever you know that's just to keep the slave in order no Paul was saying listen you are living in hell on earth but guess what the conditions in heaven you won't remember a single painful moment you had on the face of the earth when you're with Jesus so serve the Lord that's what he's saying here he's not negating the evil of slavery it's an evil thing it's an evil thing but he says work for Jesus Christ serve the Lord even the harsh master has a soul and remember that and get beyond the things you feel are so important and get your eyes on Jesus Christ because it's unto the Lord that you're serving again verse 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance you serve the Lord Christ remember that remember that now this doesn't mean that they needed to stay stay as slaves I mean if they had opportunity to be freed they should take that opportunity Paul when he wrote first Corinthians said in chapter 7 verse 21 were you a slave when you were called don't let it trouble you although if you can gain your freedom do so but he goes on and he says in verse 25 he who does wrong will be repaid for what he's done there's no partiality now this is clearly a warning to the master but it's a general warning to all with that said masters had the power of life and death if they killed a slave that master could do so without fear the law he would not be punished but he needs to remember that he's got a master too because in verse 4 verse 1 chapter 4 he said masters give your bond servants what is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven now when he says give your bond servants what is just and fair that would be speaking of food and work that is suitable for their abilities and even wages now you have to understand that a command to compensate was revolutionary masters didn't have to these were slaves I don't have to give them anything I don't have to but what he's saying is in a very practical sense what you're doing is you're practicing love for others you're actually practicing what we call today the golden rule in Luke 6 31 Jesus said just as you want men to do to you you also do to them likewise masters you have a master master don't be harsh don't bully don't be unkind because you ought to do to them as you would have them do to you that's the golden rule in Ephesians 6 verse 9 Paul said masters are to give up threatening because they have a master in heaven so bosses don't bully employees especially fellow believers if you have the opportunity to and can use your influence to adorn the gospel of Jesus make it attractive for people if you're a boss create an atmosphere where faith is lived out don't become pushy and force people to do things but treat your employees fairly treat them fairly because God treats you fairly you see whether they're slave or free whether they're a master or a servant each one ends up before Christ and that one will receive the right and just payment for what they've done and the judgment for disobedience is just as sure as a reward for faithfulness and there is no partiality with God you cannot charm your way out of trouble I used to do that as a as a high schooler I had a counselor her name is Mrs. Wollett Mrs. Wollett I got in trouble the first time when I was a freshman and I remember going into her office for the first time and she looked at me Mrs. Rachel Wollett I learned how to forge her signature I did it quite often over the years for hall passes and excuses I can still do it if you need a hall pass but I remember I got in trouble and I went in and I saw her and she looked at me and I still remember our first conversation because she said to me I don't know you I haven't heard your name yet that's a good thing she got to know me she got to know me over the four years but I used to I was the charmer I was the charmer kid I still remember I'd see her I'd go into her office and I had to go and see her they would send me sometimes and I would go and sit in her office and she'd be sitting there behind the desk and this is the truth I'm doing what I used to do I looked at her and say excuse me Mrs. Wollett before we begin to speak and I tell you what happened she'd go yes David I say may I simply say that that dress you're wearing is really out of sight you look I'm sorry but you look so nice today she go really I go oh yeah I said the earrings the earrings and the necklace unbelievable I would do that and she go oh and then she'd say oh what are you here for I said I don't know you know and we'd have a conversation I never got in trouble as a matter of fact I'll give you one true story I had a math professor who hated my guts for good reason I was a punk he didn't like me and he swore at me in class he swore at me which is normal today it wasn't back then and he says I'm taking you do to the counselor myself and he left someone in charge of the room and he marches me to Mrs. Wollett and I'm sitting there and in class and in her office and and he's he's all he's just he's this and he's disruptive in class and he's yelling at me in front of her he says he's all angry and I'm looking at him and finally I look at Mrs. Wollett and I say may I ask you a question she goes yes I said is it proper for a teacher to swear at students in this school and she goes no he swore at me and she went off on him she unloaded both barrels boom boom and he's like oh wily coyote with all that smoke at the end of the conversation and he looks at me and I just did that little see so you can't try you can't charm your way out of judgment but some of us have gotten so used to just kind of finding a way to get out of it you can't with God and that's what he's saying you have a master in heaven and God judges impartially you cannot charm your way out of justice and so it's a warning to the masters you will stand before your own master one day and with God there's no partiality and that reminded them so in 2nd Corinthians 5 10 Paul said it like this we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad you will stand before him so he's saying masters give your bond servants what is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven now finally Paul did not mount a frontal attack against slavery it was so ingrained in the culture that people would have thought he was misguided so what did he do he didn't organize marches he didn't organize protests he didn't organize anything like that but what did he do he preached a gospel that made men into brothers there is not a law on the books that can ever regulate how I view people it only regulates my behavior no law that has been passed can make me love anybody but the grace of God can and so when Jesus Christ saved me he transformed me from the inside his grace was given to me and because his grace was given to me I can love someone else and so no law will make me love you but the grace of God did and that's how it worked and that's how slavery was overcome it made the master and the slave into brothers and that's why philemon was commanded to remember that onesimus is more than just a slave he is your brother so show him love and respect welcome him back you have refreshed the hearts of others this man is my heart I ask you refresh my heart and that's why philemon would welcome onesimus back onesimus is later mentioned in in chapter four he's mentioned because onesimus was there in church serving Jesus Christ because this master gave him grace the way our master gave us grace and that's how it works in the kingdom of God the laws don't change you but God's grace always will his grace transforms us for it's by his grace that we have been saved and in that we can rejoice and that's what the church rejoices in he preached a gospel that made people family and he took the heart out of slavery