 is to work. I'm gonna go over an intro about the overview about how the Bible talks about work for a few minutes and then I'll get into our text in Colossians and look specifically at what the Bible has to say about work in Colossians. So let's go ahead and pray that's the Lord to help us in this time of worship. Lord, we want to, because of your Gospel, we want to work at worshiping you now in this hour. We need help Lord after a long day and you've been very gracious and good to us in this day. We want to focus our minds and our attentions on you, on your cross, and how that affects how we work. So out of gratefulness of the salvation that you bring, we worship you and ask for your help now to be able to worship you with a pure heart, humble motives. Please help us to think rightly and live rightly. Thank you Lord. Amen. So when you begin to think about work and how the Christian is to work, I found this online. I thought it was interesting. It's from an uncommon forum dot com. So this is an online forum where people are talking about work and one person writes, I'm 28 years old and I think I have over, I've had over 50 jobs in my life. I cannot remember them all to make a list. Most of them don't last but a few days or weeks. My longest job working consecutively was about a year. I have in the past suffered from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, no confidence, self-loathing, delusions. I just landed the best paying job I ever had. It had amazing benefits and great pay. I was so excited and actually proud of myself for once. I felt like a respectable member of society but after one day of working there, I decided it was too hard for me to learn. I was scared of screwing up and being humiliated and that I didn't really like the work itself. So I wonder why I had even applied for it in the first place. The obvious answer being money so I can support myself but I guess because I still live with my parents and I have very few financial responsibilities that I didn't really want to work. I know that everyone has to work. I just can't make myself do it. I feel like I don't even care about money. I know if my parents kept me on the street I would feel differently. I just want a job that has low stress and low responsibility but I've had jobs of that kind and I quit them also. I'm so confused. Is my problem stemming from a mental disorder or am I just plain lazy? So people begin to respond in this forum. Here's the first of what I will call as the get the job you like response. Somebody responds, hi it sounds to me like you haven't found a job you enjoy. Have you taken any aptitude tests? Somebody else with a similar response says I think you'd be surprised how many people feel the same way. This happens when the job is not suited to the person. The right job is one that you wouldn't consider as work. Only you know only you know what that is. Is that the right response to work? Is that going to answer the solution to this problem this person has? Just get the job they enjoy 50 jobs. You think they find out of 50 jobs they find one they liked. Is that really the the issue about work? Would you be happy and satisfied at your workplace if you just got the perfect job? What is it that you what's your hobby? And if you could just do your hobby then work would be a piece of cake wouldn't it? You believe that? That's happened to many people and they're not satisfied at work. That's not the biblical solution. Listen to this solution. I call this one the psychological disorder solution. You might not be mentally ill or lazy but being in the wrong job can do harm for your mental health and motivation. I'm 41 but had loads of jobs. I was retired on medical ground in the end due to psychological stress. Turns out I'm unable to I'm unable to work with people not of my choosing due to over absorption of negativities from them and a workplace bullying me as a victim. I have rediscovered work I'm interested in abstract art which I'm currently doing but unpaid but as I'm on benefits. I have difficulty with with tolerating other people. I'm friendly. I'm just overwhelmed by them so I want to work alone. I also have difficulty with the thought of money even though I manage my money my budget well. Psychological issues lie at the root of these and once I have progressed enough to the area where I'm confident in myself I will come off benefits and work for myself. So I'll have more income that way. Is it a psychological order or a psychological disorder? Is that the problem of why people are not happy at work? No? That's not the issue. Let's hear one more response. I know what you're going through. I feel the same way about work. If it wasn't for the fact that I need money I would never set foot in the workforce again. I hate it with a passion. I hate how I feel when I walk through the door utter fear and loathing. I know with me it's not laziness it's just anxiety does not allow me to have any confidence in my abilities. I am constantly afraid of messing up and being humiliated. I'm a slow learner which is a huge issue for employers. Nobody wants to explain things over and over again. My self-esteem is shot to pieces and the more I have to work the worse it gets. I have no problem working hard and getting my hands dirty. If I was able to run my own business I would probably thrive at it because I have a lot of motivation and pride in my work. It's just working with other people I have problems with. I just get too nervous and can't perform. Another stressor is the constant pressure and deadlines at work. I'm a housekeeper in a hotel. I have strict times to keep up with. So what this other person responds with is I know how you feel. That's basically her response. I know how you feel and I hate work. So if that's a sampling of how the world thinks about work. How do you think about work? Have any of those thoughts crept into your mind? Do you walk into work and think if only I could be sleeping in at this time. I hate this. I despise this. There's something to be said for switching jobs in some certain jobs and when you have the freedom and the ability to do that in a society like we do. There's some wisdom in that. But that's not going to be the ultimate source of your satisfaction. That's not going to be the ultimate source of the answer to the problem that lies within. Why is it that you could have someone shoveling manure, whistling, whistle while you work and he's happy. But then you can have somebody else who's paid six figures who listens to the song on the way to work. I don't want to work. I just want to bang on the drum all day and then he hates his job. The answer is in the gospel. The gospel changes how you view work and the gospel is the source for your motivation at work, particularly what Christ has done. That will change everything, including how you work. So let's think through an overview of how the Bible talks about work. Let's go back to the beginning. Who is the first example of someone in the Bible where you see someone working? That's right. God. God is the one. Somebody had the right answer. God is the one working. He's at work making the world and then he rests on one day to set us an example. Now he does a great work and he sets up Adam doing work in the garden. Prefall. Work is not the curse. Work is not the curse. It is a blessing from God and it is a prefall or it's a prefall command of God. So then what happened in the fall? The curse made work difficult, hard. Sin makes everything hard and sin made work hard. But work from Genesis to Revelation, work is redeemed by Christ and what he's done. Work today is cursed, making it hard, but then it's perverted. Many people make work an idolatrous thing where they're devoted to it more than God. People pervert work by instead of it being idolatrous thing they're devoted to more than anything else. They make it their job to get out of work and they consider the weekends to be what are to be worshipped instead of the weekdays. So how does it come in your heart that you want to pervert work? Because this struggle will come inside of you. Do you watch for the weekends? And you're like, oh, it's Tuesday. And then you're like Wednesday. Oh, it's hump day. Wednesday's the middle of the road. And then Thursday and then Friday. Oh, Friday. And you congratulate everyone. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. The weekend's here. And then you come back and everyone's Monday. Get the big cup of coffee. It's Monday. Is that your attitude? Or you're running away from work? Or do you have an idolatrous attitude at work where it is about, your work is about making your name great. And you walk away from work thinking, yes, I am. I am John Doe, the engineer. I am John Doe, the pilot. I am John Doe, the pastor. And your job is where you find your identity. And if you were to lose your job, you would lose all the stability in your life, your false God would fall over. Is that what's the temptation to you? Do you find your identity in your job? That is work perverted. What I'm speaking to you tonight about work applies not just to a 40-hour work week or a 60-hour work week. It applies to the mother working at home with the children. It applies to the child working in school. It applies to the college student. It applies to the pastor. It applies to someone in the ministry. Work in general does not care if you're a slave, you're a master, you're a CEO, you're a president, or you're a floor washer. When God speaks about work, it covers them all. He's very wise in how he does it. There's a great perversion about work. Another big principle to understand about work is that there has been a great division between the secular and what is called the sacred. This is a perversion popularized by the Catholic Church where somehow the priest, because he does a work for God, he's in the ministry, his work is much more valuable than this farmer over here. And that his work is just so that the priest can eat. His work is just to get along. And while you do the mundane, I will do the glorious thing. Do not have a disdain for the mundane because in the mundane, the glory of God and the gospel is revealed. The Bible has an idea called calling or vocation where the plowing the field is what if that's your farmer, the plowing the field is what God wants you to do. So you can do it with all your might and with all your soul, working as to the Lord just as much as if you were an evangelist and how was your job preaching the gospel. If you're a mother and you're changing diapers, folding socks, cleaning house, that job in God's eyes is just as pleasing as the pastor preaching a sermon. Think about how exciting that is, that you can go to work tomorrow with as much vigor and worship to Christ as you came in to worship the Lord on Sunday morning. This is an exciting thing and all these things are for the glory of God. Do not have a disdain for the mundane, but have gospel driven work, gospel driven work. Let's begin to look at a passage now to get a picture of this. Colossians chapter three, we're going to pick up right after where Jimmy finished off this morning to give you a brief overview and review to remember the book of Colossians. We got two chapters that are focusing on theology and two fact chapters that focus on practice, chapters one and two on the work of Christ, on the person of Christ, on how legalism is no more to be ruling over us, but instead we look to Christ and that changes everything and that's shown in chapters three and four. I'll read over the text, bond-servants chapter three verse 22, bond-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 is no partiality. Masters give your bond-servants what is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven. So this text cannot be taken, like Jimmy Preacher's warning, you can't just take this as some moral exhortation of how to live and think that you're understanding it rightly. You have to understand it in the context and in the flow of the book and particularly in the foundation of the person of Christ because Christ is the center of this passage. Look at how he's in verse 22 fearing God. He's in verse 23 as to the Lord. He's in verse 24 from the Lord and you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. He's in verse one of chapter four. You have a master in heaven. So one, two, three, four, five verses and five references to Christ. The apostle Paul can't stop talking about Christ in the book of Colossians. Every section, he's pointing to Christ. So remember some of those passages about the Lord in chapter one. Verses 15 to 18, the person of Christ that he is the image he is the exact representation. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of overall creation. He is not the first one created. No, no, he is the air. He is the air overall creation. All the world is his. What else do we learn about the Lord Jesus Christ? Verse 16, for by him all things were created. He owns the world. He made the world and look, it's sustained by him that are in heaven and that are earth visible, invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things. And in him, all things consist. He's the creator and sustainer. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. He's the first one to be the trailblazer, to be rising from the dead so that he would bring all his children with him. That in all things, back again in verse 18, that in all things he might have preeminence. For it pleases the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell. What is all the fullness? But all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace to the blood of his cross. And you who are once alienated enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled. If you remember what Christ has done, who he is and what he's done is going to change how you think and how you work in the workplace. If this is the Lord that you serve, the one who is God of God's, the one who has made the world, the one who sustains the world, the one who has saved your wretched soul, then you won't go to work complaining about your work. You'll go to work thankful, giving praise to Christ that I don't deserve a job. I was at work on a Saturday and I asked the guy, hey, how are you doing? And he said, well, it would be a lot better if it wasn't going to work on a Saturday. I said, well, work is a gift from God. And he said, no, work is a necessary evil to pay the bills. You see, what is his problem? A psychological disorder? Maybe he needs a job that's just right for him. Well, what if he has to wear that job on a Saturday? No, what he needs is the gospel. What he needs is to understand the work of Christ. What he needs is to understand his depravity and his wickedness against God. Do you understand that? If you don't understand that, then you will not understand what I have to say for the last half an hour. This is the key to have the gospel at work. This is the key for you to be a Christ-centered, God-honoring worker, whether you're a mother, whether you're a student, whether you're a pastor, whether you are a man who is working for a company or a lady working for a company. Does the gospel, is it true in your life? Well, in Colossians, back in Colossians 3, Paul is beginning to address where you spend most of your time, like this morning covering verses 18 to 21, you spend most of your time with your family at work or your family at home or in the workplace. So, is the gospel true there? Is the gospel true in your life there? That's where the rubber meets the road. Do you have a genuine work of God? It's very revealing if you ask someone's children. It's very revealing when you ask someone's family member who they may have grown up with and the family member who comes to church and you ask them, what was so and so like before they was a Christian? I didn't know them. It's very revealing whether they answer, oh, they haven't changed at all for the same. Or they say, wow, what a difference. They've changed. It's very revealing if you go to your workplace and if you were to interview your coworkers. If we were now to have a video of your coworkers, a surprise guest that by my research for the sermon, I interviewed your coworkers and here's what they had to say about you. Would they say that this person is a genuine Christian and I see it in how they work and the attitude they have? It's very revealing. Some people are hypocrites at home and they're a devil at work. Maybe the greedy type. Where they can get along okay with their family, but when it gets to their employees, they put the pressure on them and they're yelling at them. Some are fine at work, but then they're a devil at home. Test yourself. Is this a picture of you? Is the gospel at work in your life and in your workplace? In this text, verses 22 to chapter 4 verse 1, we got slaves, aka bond servants, in verses 22 to 25 and we have masters. In our context, it's going to be employees and employers. Two categories, directly addressing them in your outline that you shouldn't have received in the bulletin. There's three points. Versus 22 to 23, how you're to work. You're to obey your earthly boss with all your heart as unto the Lord. Versus 24 to 25, why you're to obey your employer? Because you are to be a slave of Christ, a slave of for Christ. And in verse 1 of chapter 4, if your employer, you are to give what is just and fair. He explains how and why you're to do your work as a supervisor, as an employer. Okay, let's begin to look at the text. Beginning into verse 22, bond servants or slaves. Now we're going to have to stop there at that one word and digress for a moment. Most people, when they read this, this gives them a very uneasy feeling. Because in the text, the apostle Paul does not speak against slavery. And then you think, well, there must be another place in the scripture. And you look in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Now he doesn't condemn slavery there. He talks about it. Then you go to Ephesians 6. He talks about slavery. He doesn't condemn it there either. Then you go to 1 Peter chapter 2. And he talks about slavery again. And he doesn't condemn it there. And you become to be this uneasy feeling. And then you have once in a while you have an atheist or someone who despises Christianity, say, oh, look at that. You believe in that book? That book upholds slavery. How are you to think through slavery? And why am I connecting slave to employee here? It's worth a minute to think about. Slavery needs to be understood in the first century context. So why does the Bible not condemn slavery? Well, first off, there's differences between our modern day slavery and what the slavery that's happening in the first century. In the first century, it's not race-based. It's not lifelong. It's not based in kidnapping. Those are some major differences. God does hate the slavery of 19th century America. Race-based, lifelong kidnapping. Make no mistake about that. God does despise and hate that. And we praise God it's abolished. So in the first century, there are differences. You could enter slavery voluntarily or involuntarily. You could be a slave who's a doctor. You could be a slave who's a professor. You could be a slave administrator, civil servant. Many slaves own slaves themselves. Some reports give as much as over half the population in the Roman Empire are slaves. And most certainly, more than half of the congregation in Colossi are slaves. Most of the time when Paul is writing a letter most of the people who are going to read it are slaves. So there are some differences and those differences are better than the slavery that we've known in our history. But let's be honest, it was still very brutal. You couldn't quit. You couldn't change employers. You couldn't be like, you don't have to pay me enough. I think I'll go to somebody else who's paying me more. You don't have that option. Aristotle would say slaves are just living tools. Some philosophers would say, when your slave gets old, throw him away. So in the first century, rightly understood, we have a slavery that is brutal, that people die, that is absolute authority. But we also have slavery that is good, that is right, that people wanted to be in. In Deuteronomy 15, it talks about the slave who wants to continue with their master and a ritual to perform, to pierce their ear, to show their dedication to you. God gives outlines of how to rightly treat a slave in the Word of God. And the gospel has slavery in the message, that Christ calls you not to be a slave of sin anymore, but to be a slave of Christ. And that that message of absolute authority with a perfect master was one that was one of rejoicing for the church of our Savior. So the way John McArthur talks about it is, God is not concerned about the system, because if you change the system, you don't change the heart. If you change the system, consider, for example, 1800s England, where they abolished the slave trade. But then in that Victorian era, they have a capitalistic employment, and many children go to work. No more slave trade, but what do they do? Has their hearts changed? No, they put many children to work, and many, many children die. They're beginning to run new machinery, and the children are the ones who are small enough to get in and work around the machinery, but the machinery is still going. And many children die in Victoria England around the machinery, or lose fingers, limbs. The coal mines were notorious for this, because the children could be able to get into small places, but many of them died by explosions, or collapsing, or they're crushed under tubs or horses in the mines. What I want you to see in that historical example is that the society changed the system, but the heart didn't change. So instead of some particular race being oppressed, a particular age is oppressed, or a particular gender is oppressed, what Christ is concerned about is the heart and the gospel. The system itself could be beautiful, because it is not race-based, not lifelong, the average time 10 years, not based on kidnapping. But instead, look at some of how the Bible talks about it. In Colossians chapter 3 in verse 11, verse 10 he says, and I have put on the new man, he's talking about how to put off sin and put on the new man, be sanctified, put on the new man who is renewing the knowledge according to the image of him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free. But Christ is all and in all. So he's making very clear that the gospel makes it so that there is no one particular people that has a value more than the other. But in Christ we are all equal. In Philemon, if you look up verses 15 to 16, you see the interrelation in the church between a master and a slave and how that is to be, and how the slave who ran away, Onesimus, ran away from Philemon and how Philemon, because of the gospel, they're reunited and it's a beautiful thing and they are brothers in the Lord. So the first century rightly understood slavery could be a beautiful thing if the gospel is at work. If not, then it would not be. Okay, so with that historical background, that biblical background, understand now how you work in that society is with slavery or being a master. So because of that's how you work, how do we work in our society? Whether you employ people or your employee or both. So making the jump across the interpretation bridge from that society to this one, apply now this passage to your life. Bonservants, verse 22, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart fearing God. So there's a series of commands. Here's the first one, obey in all things your masters. So when you go to work, are you ready to obey? Are you ready to obey not just indeed, but what about when your supervisor walks away? You know this happens at work? As soon as he walks away, what does everyone begin to do? Complain, talk about him, talk about what a stupid plan this is. I could have come up with a much better plan. They obey out of in body, but in attitude their heart is far from it. How do you obey? Do you obey like that? When you're given an assignment, they may not be the wisest plan. When your supervisor is not the kindest person, when your supervisor yells in your face, can you respond with a gospel driven kindness and work hard? What a beautiful picture of the gospel. But when, where you respond to an evil boss with great hard work, obediently, not just in the body, but in the heart, in the attitude, in the mind, could you do it and be a slave? That's what Paul's doing. You have it much better. You're not a slave. Where is there a slave among us? You're freed men. And Paul calls in command slaves to do it. Why can't you do it? When you have a time when you're off the clock, you can't even do it for some eight hours, 10 hours a day? No, but you must obey as if Christ was your supervisor. If Christ was your supervisor, would you have that same attitude? Well listen, he is, he is your master. He's your master at work just as much as he's your master in this building. So how are you going to obey him? Because he wants you at work most likely tomorrow and he wants you to obey out of the heart. In 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 17 to 25, he speaks about when you have an evil master. How are you to serve him? But you're to obey him even when you have an evil master. If you had time to talk amongst yourselves about all the evil bosses that you've had, you would tell story after story after story after story after story. Everyone's got a story about an oppressive boss. And let me tell you, the Bible tells you regardless of how oppressive your boss is, you are to serve Christ at your job. But look, the Lord is merciful. He says obey your masters according to the flesh in verse 22. So you do not have to obey them when they tell you to disobey the Lord, but your concern is when they command you about doing your job, how to obey them. And how are you to do it? In sincerity of heart, you're to not do it with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. I often use the illustration of while I'm evangelizing. Have you ever stolen something that's not yours? And I say no, no, no, I've never stolen anything. And then I explain to them, well, have you ever been paid by the hour? And most of the time they say, yes, I have. And I said, have you ever been working paid by the hour? And then your boss walks in and suddenly you get back to work and you have this guilty feeling. Do they see me? Have you ever had one of those flinching moments at your job? You know why you flinch and you have that guilty feeling? Did they see me? That thought goes through your mind? No, they didn't see me. I did a good flinch. I'm back to work. It's because you're stealing. And why would you steal? Because you don't fear God. You're doing work as eye service, as a man pleaser, but not in sincerity of heart, fearing God. If you were to fear God, then you would do it from the heart. They could have cameras on you all the time and you would not care. You could have a clean conscience and great joy. If you fear God, there is great joy and trembling at the same time. That's how the disciples responded to the resurrection with fear and joy at the same time. The two are not incompatible, but the fear of God is a continuing, clear theme throughout the scripture and it is to influence you on how you work. So work that way. I remember being in the break room one time and I was with one of my co-workers and he was looking around. I think he saw a sign in the break room about how there's random drug testing because I work in aviation. It's a good thing to do when people who work on your plane to randomly drug test them. You will appreciate it next time you fly. And he looked at it and he said, do you know that there's a random drug test? He relatively knew to the job. And I said, I'm not worried about it. I don't do drugs. Well, I'm taking random drug tests whenever they want. And do you see what happened? He exposed himself. Why would he be afraid? If he was a man-pleaser, then he's afraid. He's afraid of being caught by men. But if he feared God, then he would not do his dirty deeds in the dark, but he could work with joy. So Christ commands, God commands us when we work, we're to obey from the heart. How else are we to do it in verse 23? And whatever you do, do it heartily as the Lord and not to men. I love this. I love this. Whatever you do, and here's another command where he says, and do it heartily. So whatever you do is poyel. It's the first do. It's something that you're doing, literally. But the word here for do it heartily is actually the word for work and the imperative form. So he's commanding you to work and to work with all your heart. When the Gospel came to Geneva, Switzerland, and there was no more division of the sacred and the secular, then people began to work with all their hearts because they knew this job that I'm doing, whether it's changing diapers or changing tires or changing horses. It is for the glory of God. And so when I make this carriage, it's going to be the best carriage. I'm going to work with all my heart. And I heard one preacher say, and you wonder why the best watches are made in Switzerland, because the Gospel comes in and you work with all your might. You should be a valued employee at work because of your attitude for Christ that you do it with all your heart. And this command here, it destroys laziness. And the Proverbs say many things about laziness. Proverbs 10, 4, he who is a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Proverbs 13, 4, the soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. This is not prosperity Gospel. This is if you are wise, you'll work hard, and this is generally how life goes. So work and work with all your heart. The word here for heartily is soul. You are to work soulfully. You are to work until you sweat. You're to work with all your mind. It is not honoring to God. In your workplace, when your mind needs to be fully engaged and your employer wants your mind fully engaged, it is not pleasing to God to be thinking about verses, memorizing verses, if your mind needs to be fully engaged. I understand there's some jobs where you can do that and praise God. But if your mind needs to be fully engaged and it's not, you're not working heartily, you're disobeying the commandment here of the Lord. He wants you fully engaged, all heart, all soul, all mind, and it is a time of worship. And when you do that, the Gospel becomes clear because you do it for Christ as to the Lord. The as to the Lord in verse 23 destroys idolatry. It destroys the worship of yourself through your job and how you make your fame, you make your name great through your job, that you're a somebody. No, you're to do your work, not for yourself, but as to the Lord. Work in the Scripture is upheld in 1 Timothy 5, 8. It talks about someone who does not provide for his own. He's worse, worse, worse than an unbeliever. If you don't work hard and provide for your family, you're worse than an unbeliever. Even the unbelievers do that. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, it talks about how if you don't work, you don't eat and you must be disfellowship from the church if you don't work. Work is very important and God takes it very seriously. Now in verses 24 to 25, why we're to work continuing with employees, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You serve the Lord Christ. This may be my favorite verse in the passage. He is saying, why to work? Because you have an inheritance that's coming. Think about what encouragement this is for a slave. You could not receive an inheritance. And then he says to them, oh, you have a great inheritance coming. Your inheritance, you don't see it now, but it's waiting for you in heaven. All the work that you put in and they look around and they see other slaves, maybe some who buy their freedom and they begin to be masters and they work up the ladder and they see that they may never be able to get to that point. And what about my job? If you're in a job where you're like, why am I here? And it's burdensome to you. Think about how what joy and encouragement this should give you when do not disdain the mundane because you're building for yourself a treasure in heaven. You have an inheritance that doesn't come in these trinkets of this life. Your inheritance is not in your 401k. Your inheritance is not what's in your bank account. That's going to pass away. Your inheritance will come from Christ in Colossians 1.12. He speaks about the inheritance that comes from Christ. And why else are you to do this? For you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. This is another imperative because you're to be slaving for Christ. That's literally what the verb is. The same word for slave. You are a slave of Christ. That's why you work. That's your motivation. That when you go into work tomorrow morning, work with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind as worship unto the Lord because of what Christ has done in the gospel. This is where you find your identity. This is where you find your value. That you are a slave of Christ. So if Christ was your supervisor, would you work with all your heart and soul and mind? He is. He is your supervisor. He is your master. So work and it will be pleasing unto the Lord. Don't you want to please the Lord? In verse 25, he says also why to work, but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he's done and there is no partiality. It doesn't matter if you're an employer or employee. Payment will come. What you reap, you will sow. It doesn't matter if you're a master or a slave. What you reap, you will sow. God does not care about who you are. There's no partiality with him. If you're stealing, he knows it. He will not bless you. If you're disobeying with your attitude, God has no partiality. If you're a grumbler and complainer, look at the Israelites who grumbled and complained. Should you not fear God? He has no partiality. He punished them. Should he not punish you? If you have greed in your work and that's what motivates you, your greed will find you out. If you have idolatry and you worship your work and your position and your pay, then God will not be mocked. He sees why you work and how you work. So work with all your might. Now to close, verse 1, how are you to employ? You are to employ masters. Again, direct address. Give your bond servants what is just and fair. Here's the command. Give your bond servants what is just and fair is the command, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. You see the gospel motivation again, that you are a slave. You are under authority. If you're employing people, consider how you can give what is just and fair. If you don't pay them well, you're like James 5-4, where the people who end up being deprived because you don't pay for them and pay them fairly. That's how the rich will weep and howl when the judgment comes in James because you're not giving what is just and fair. Do you care for your employees as those who are under you, those who are under your supervision? Do you care for them as whole people? Are you concerned about how their family is? Are you concerned about the hours that they work? Are you concerned about them emotionally? Or do you just care about their work and whether they complete it? If you're an employer, do you consider about are you self-sacrificing for them? Do you consider your leadership over them, the leadership like Christ had, where even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many, as in Mark 10, verses 35-45? Do you see yourself as a servant leader like that? Do you help your employees to grow, to become better at what they do? Or do you just hold them accountable for their output? Are you thinking about their future and helping them? Do you give appropriate reward and appropriate punishment as an employer? Do you give what is just and fair? What I'm not saying you don't fire people as a Christian boss. Sometimes it is just and fair to fire people and necessary, but it is just and fair to pay people what is appropriate. Are you concerned about whether they're working too much? Are you concerned about the pressure that you put on them? Are your expectations unrealistic when you're a supervisor? Would you not be able to meet the expectations that you have about your employees? Many employers will push and push and push until they hear the screen, until someone stops them. But if you have in mind that you have a master in heaven as well, then you will be an employer that is kind like the Lord Jesus Christ. So think with me now, back to our original illustration about the lady in the forum who hates her work. Think about the people who think to him, am I just lazy? And they switch from job to job to job to job and can't find any satisfaction. What's the answer? What's the answer? The Gospel at work. The Gospel at work is the answer that you are to obey and do your work with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, as unto the Lord. Because you are a slave of Christ and your inheritance doesn't come here, but it comes in glory. So work to that end. Work to please Christ. And I tell you, you can have joy shoveling manure. You can have joy changing diapers. You can have joy digging ditches. You can have joy at the most horrendous work and then you'll see somebody drive by in their brand new Lexus grumbling and complaining as they go off to their six-figure job. If the Gospel is true and allows you to work and it makes your work the best work, the best work. So let's give honor to the Lord. Lord God, we thank you that you give us instruction of work. We need it so much, Lord. I know that tomorrow morning, many of us will be at work watching children, doing schoolwork, talking to our employers, talking to the people under us at our jobs. And we need help, Lord, to be able to obey these commands. We need to help us to remember the Gospel and what you've done. So that would be a great motivation for us tomorrow. And we need it when someone, a customer comes yelling. We need it when a supervisor comes demanding. We need that Lord in the hard times. Please help us, Lord, to serve you day in, hour after hour, with consistency, pleasing you, fearing you, not men. Lord, we know that this is impossible for us to do unless you are with us, unless you've saved us. Please be with us. Thank you, Lord. Amen.