 Our sermon title is the character of Christian work character of Christian work And we are continue to work through this passage as we come to 1st Timothy chapter 6 And we're working through verses 1 and 2 where the Bible says let as many bond servants as are under the yoke Count their own masters worthy of all honor so that the name of God and his doctrine may not be blasphemed And those who have believing masters let them not despise them because they are brethren But rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved teach and exhort these things And as is our regular custom we go verse by verse by verse through scripture We want to know what God's word says we want to understand what God's word says and we want to obey what God's word says We want to apply God's words to our lives and the Lord in his grace and mercy to us by his spirit Takes those truths plants them in our hearts and by his spirit causes us to walk in understanding of his word Walk in obedience to his word and as we started this text We've come to understand we're coming to understand the relationship between an employee and employer and Scripture is very practical and this passage is just another example of that very Practical instruction that should have an impact on your life the word of God the priest word of God in the Hand so to speak of the spirit of God and the life of a Christian will transform your life will transform your thinking We'll stay transform your understanding is going to transform your conduct. We need to let these truths from this passage Transform our conduct on the job There's many many truths that could be spoken about here The Bible is full of instruction on this very subject as much that needs to be said But we're gonna take a look at some very specific Practical issues from verse one and two here our primary subject that we began introducing last week is the character of the Christian worker character of the Christian work and As it is was much that the Bible teaches the Bible is full of instruction on this issue a Couple of points to make again to sort of set the table to give us my way of reminder that I want to keep Want you to keep in mind as we walk through the text and the first of those is there is no question from Scripture that the Christian Is to work the Christian is to work. So unless you think that somehow we're gonna wait on heaven. I'm gonna buy my white robe I'm gonna go stand up on a hillside somewhere and just wait for Jesus to come back. It's not biblical thinking That's thinking thinking the Christian is to go to work Christian is to work first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 10 says this but we urge you brethren that you increase more and more that you also aspire to lead a quiet life to mind your own business and To work with your own hands as we commanded you that there's a purpose statement here that you may walk Properly towards those who are outside and that you may lack nothing. That's interesting there that purpose phrase in one sense Working provides for you and provides for your household Bible says that if you don't provide for your own household that you're worse than an unbeliever So you're to work to provide for yourself and you're to work to provide for your own household But there's another connection here and this connection is very important And that is the connection between your work and your testimony and those who are on the outside Your testimony as a Christian worker before those in the world who are lost is very important It is a testimony where to walk properly toward those who are outside now that point Directs us to our next point point two is our work Identifies us as Christians and it should identify us as Christians Not so much what we do as long as that doesn't put us or someone else in sin It's not as much what we do as much as it is how we do it or the character with which we work All right, and this is very important to understand How we do it the character that we display reflects on the name of God reflects on Christ reflects on the kingdom So that we were working such a way so that the name of God and his doctrine as it says in verse one May not be blasphemed All of that in that understanding we come to a couple of very important conclusions One is one conclusion is that because of that Our work the work that you do is a sacred trust The work that you do is a divine calling You don't have to go into full-time ministry to have a divine calling if you're working you're working as into the Lord You are working in a divine calling. You're working as a steward in a sacred trust The reason for that is is because your work is One sphere in which you live out your Christian faith and you live out your Christian faith In front of lost people who need the Lord you live out your Christian faith in a way that gives Testimony to Christ and the power of the gospel to change a life. So because you're working Your work in that sphere is a sphere in which you live out the Christian faith It is a sacred trust. It is a divine calling a second conclusion very important conclusion to draw from all this is that we then Must always as Christians claiming the name of Christ must always work under the reality of our Governing consideration as Christians, which is that we're to do all to glorify God Everything you do is to glorify God whether you eat whether you drink whatever you do do all to the glory of God And we need to understand in light of that that our work then in reality It's not necessarily or ultimately serving just that boss serving just that employer But ultimately in your work you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ and our work serves the purpose of being a Testimony of Christ to the lost world around us Colossians chapter 3 beginning in verse 22 says this bond servants obey in all Things your masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart Fearing God you're not there to serve that man You're not there to just simply serve your boss and or being man pleasers in in some way of only seeking favor of men You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 23 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 verse 25 will be repaid for what he has done And there is no partiality in that sense our work you need to see your labor your job what you do at work as Being governed if you will by the gospel your work life what you do should be governed by the gospel So whether you're a teacher You're an engineer. You're a fireman. You're a salesman you're a BB manufacturer, you're a widget maker You're a teacher. You're a homemaker regardless of what your work is you are doing the Lord's work And it is a sacred trust now the the character of the Christian work And that's what we're talking about here in these two verses the character of Christians work should obviously Contrast with the world's work ethic you should see an obvious difference if your work identifies you as a Christian Then it should identify you as a Christian There should be an obvious contrast between your work ethic and the work ethic that you see in the world What does it mean in this case to work? Hardly as unto the Lord it means that you're to do your work with zeal with Fervency with integrity that again you should be the best example on your job the most Hard-working the most joyful the most honest the most patient the most Self-controlled the most self-disciplined the most committed the most loyal the most Contented the most grateful the most faithful Doing your work with the greatest excellence and the greatest diligence because the Christian is going to be thinking about their work In terms of the kingdom in terms of the testimony that they are of Christ on the job This is the character of Christian work now the so-called Christian and you know this to be true So-called Christian can do more damage to the name of Christ can do more damage to the cause of Christ at home And at the workplace and that's true isn't it you can destroy your testimony at home and at the workplace Likewise a genuine Christian and dwelt by the spirit can often have no more impact for Christ No more impact for the kingdom than at home or at work So you need to understand your work for the Lord largely done at home or at work Your work for the Lord your testimony for Christ is going to take place at home before your wife at home before your children Right and at work and your example will cause others to either rejoice and Praise the name of our God or it's going to cause others to blaspheme Cause Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God because of you now. Let me give you a footnote here And concluding point if you will to putting those things together those points together We need to understand this this all means that there is no Distinction there is no distinction in the Christian life between that what you would consider secular and that what you would consider Sacred there is no distinction between secular and sacred when you come to Christ. It is all Sacred every bit of it is sacred when you go home and you spend time with your wife your husband your kids That is a sacred stewardship that you've been given when you go to work And you work on the job under a boss regardless of your circumstances That is a sacred stewardship what you've been given it is a sacred trust a sacred duty All right, well regardless of what you do when you're in traffic That's not a secular thing to do so the Christian how you act in traffic is a sacred thing You're not to respond the way the world responds often in traffic just to give you a multiple different Examples there everything about the Christian life is sacred were to view it that way Charles Spurgeon said this He says assuredly these first believers and he's speaking here of the believers in Ephesus at this time that we're studying here He says assuredly these first believers did not spirit away the present blessing of the covenant or Regarded as an airy mystical matter to believe in God listen It's not simply a mystical or an airy or an sort of an Ungraspable thing to believe in God believing in God is a very practical down-to-earth thing It has very practical implications for your life. You are to serve the Lord in a very practical way He goes on to say this one is struck with the want of any line of demarcation between Secular and sacred in the Christians life these Christians journeyed as pilgrims They fought like crusaders. They ate and drank like saints. They lived as priests. They spake as prophets Their life was their religion and their religion was their life They trusted God not merely about certain things of higher import But about everything and hence even a servant from one of their houses when he was sent on an errand prayed Oh Lord God of my master prosper the way which I go This was genuine faith and it is ours to imitate it Now what about you? Do you pray that way on the job? Do you find in your job in your home in traffic at school? Do you find the opportunity to pray without ceasing because you're dependent on God in all those areas of your life? When you're at work, do you pray God help me to do my work with excellence God help me on this particular project I'm gonna need wisdom here. I'm not sure which direction to go or Lord make this direction clear to me that I can Honor you with a fruit of my work and Lord you can even pray give me favor in the eyes of my boss so that he may Praise you Lord for the quality of my work. Praise you God for my faithfulness on the job, or are you perpetually late? perpetually lazy perpetually apathetic Do you not care at all about your testimony at work or you're more concerned about what you are going to get from it We are not yet physically in the kingdom But we are yet citizens of the kingdom and you are to work as a citizen of the kingdom as a Representative as an ambassador of the kingdom of God your work should reflect that Does that describe you? Can you say? That Christ has as much is as much Lord of your life at work as he is here at church on a Sunday morning Does he has have as much? Influence at your job as he does at your home at church. Does he have any influence in your job at all? Can you say that he is Lord of your work life? Now go beyond that. Can you say that he is Lord of your home life? Can you say that he is a Lord of your thought life? Can you say that he is a Lord of your leisure? Lord of your free time You cannot say that he is Lord at your work Lord at home Lord over your thought life Lord over your leisure time if You have more influence more control so to speak over that time than he does The Lord Jesus Christ should be strongly influencing strongly Directing your work life directing your thought life directing your home life directing your life Directing your leisure time Every aspect of your life belongs to him Because there is no distinction between sacred and secular all of it is the Lord's Every bit of your life should be submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ the Bible says four of him and through him and To him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen Everything is to be to Christ With that in mind that is what Paul is communicating here in these first two verses of 1st Timothy chapter 6 Your work is of great significance to your testimony as a representative or an ambassador of the kingdom verse 1 first begins with bond servants and Masters in these two verses concerning the character of the Christians work you have three basic points. We see in these verses a Relationship there's a relationship. We've talked about that that relationship Between employee and employer here out of that relationship flows a responsibility there is responsibility that flows from that relationship and as a result of the relationship and Faithful responsible Christians living out that Christian life on the job. There is a result There's a relationship a responsibility and a result first from verse 1 here The primary relationship in view here is the relationship of a bond servant to a master bond servant to master bond servant means do loss It's a slave that is someone who is in subjection to in Subjugation to someone else who does the will of another person, okay? Master is the word despotace. It means Lord or owner. That is the person who is Over in authority over the one who is in subjection the one who has been subjugated to that authority That's what we briefly discussed last week Don't let the slave master relationship here throw you Based on our history, right American history. We have a disgusting and deplorable example to look at we look back at our history and Justifiably, so we look back with shame and disgrace over that wicked system that was in place in our own country But don't let that system and all its abuses Allow you to misunderstand or miss the point in the scripture here of this slave master relationship expressed in scripture Exodus 21 and Deuteronomy 24 Condemn the abuses that we saw in our own past They would to be were to be put to death for those abuses the scripture then you can say despite when anyone Anyone else might want to say does not condone or does not allow for slavery Scripture condemns the slavery that we saw in our own history So that's not what we're talking about here, and you can't allow that to color your understanding of the the text The Bible does not a condone what we've seen in our own history. It actually condemns it now In this economic system in the first century there were abuses similar abuses However, the system that was in place at the time was in many cases very helpful It was the wicked man who abused the system that was the problem And so that's why Jesus Christ comes changing hearts not changing the social or economic system that was in place at the time Okay, the system itself was in times Many cases very helpful. Yeah, those that were impoverished that needed help And sometimes they would be taken in as a bond servant into a household It was very loving very compassionate who gave them rights who provided for them in that case very Helpful, but that's why today we would draw parallels between this passage in chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 between master and bond servant we would draw parallel between that and employer and employee in many cases this was described and used as a Contracted employee kind of relationship between employee and employer in many cases like entering into a contract for work Okay, and there's much to be gleaned here for how we're to conduct ourselves in this relationship the relationship now understanding these words between slave and master Should inform and rightly so biblically so should inform your understanding of how these relationships are to work The way that an employee is to work on the job the way that a Christian submits to Christ all described by this relationship of bond servant and Master this term often throughout scripture is used as a metaphor for the Christian life That's how weird of you it. There is a a joyful contented submissive Communication in this word Describing that disciple or apprentice of Christ and in that there's much Honor and dignity. It's it's the Christian like Paul many times throughout scripture Joyfully willingly acknowledges that he is a slave of Christ and it's a dignified thing Isn't it to call yourself a slave of Christ with the joy a Christian says I'm a slave of Christ with boasting in the Lord We can say that we are slaves of Christ and that's a good thing So that characterizes this relationship and we need to understand that now This relationship then in verses one and two is further narrowed or further clarified by verse one Where it says that this relationship is really of the slave To an unbelieving master the Christian employee to a lost or unsaved boss in verse two You have the relationship of the slave To a believing master or that Christian employee to a saved boss We are in this this is communicated. We are to Exemplify Christ obey the scripture honor our Lord in how we serve on the job Regardless of Circumstances whether you have a saved boss or lost boss Whether your boss is kind and gentle and patient and forgiving or your boss is Harsh and mean-spirited and a jerk Regardless of circumstances you are to serve your boss on the job in the way that scripture describes now think about it for a moment We see this principle regardless of circumstances, especially on the job Demonstrated throughout scripture think about the work circumstances if you know this these stories from scripture of Joseph in Potiphar's house Lot of pitfalls there right not the best circumstances to work in But Joseph is to be faithful to the Lord regardless of his circumstances think about Jacob working for Laban and Then getting tricked and working for Laban again Not the best circumstances think about Daniel read the book of Daniel some time and look at Daniel and Daniel's faithfulness under Nebuchadnezzar and Then under Belshazzar and then under Darius Not the best work circumstances, but dairy but Daniel serves the Lord and serves the Lord faithfully regardless of his Circumstances this principle right carries over under many aspects of our lives Think about this principle in terms of 1 Peter chapter 3 With the believing wife who is to submit to her unbelieving husband Regardless of her circumstances she is to obey the Lord in submitting even to her unbelieving husband think about the command in Romans 13 to obey the governing authorities Now that command was given at a time when the worst and probably one of the most abusive Governments in all history was in place Under Nero and yet the scripture says obey the governing authorities. We're to obey we're to honor the Lord in this regardless of our Circumstances circumstances your circumstances you need to understand are never an excuse for sin Your circumstances are never an excuse for sin. You cannot use Circumstances on the job as an excuse for being a poor steward at work Circumstances are no excuse to complain Circumstances are no excuse to be discontented Circumstances are no excuse to be discouraged Circumstances are no excuse to whine or to slander your boss or to dishonor your boss or to slander your coworker Circumstances are no excuse to be ungrateful No excuse to be discouraged No excuse to be disgruntled And that is because, aside from this relationship of slave to master, you as a Christian on the job have a governing consideration, an overriding principle that you are operating under. And that principle is you are a do-loss. You are a slave. You are a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're to conduct yourself in that way. You're on the job regardless of circumstances. You are a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. That relationship of slave to Christ then governs how you are to conduct yourself in relationships on the job. That is very often, isn't it? Easier said than done, right? That is sometimes a very difficult thing to do, but that in that we are sanctified, we are grown, we are matured, we are brought to more and more holiness of life. You understand that next to your home life, your workplace will do more than just about any other circumstance to expose sin in you. When you're at home, your ongoing and constant relationship with your spouse is going to expose sin in you, isn't it? Far more than your relationship with others that you don't know as well, or that don't know you as well, or that you don't hang out with as often. But when you're at home with your spouse, at home with the kids, and you're reaching your wit's end, your home life and those relationships at home will do a great work in exposing sin in your life. The next place to home is going to be work. When you have to interact with that boss that maybe doesn't treat you as fairly as you think you should be treated, or maybe doesn't pay you as well as you think you ought to be paid, or maybe isn't giving you the kind of work that you really want to do, or maybe you have to deal with that co-worker who lied about you to get ahead of you, or maybe that cheated you on some deal or is just difficult and belligerent to work with, those relationships, those circumstances at work will do more than just about any other circumstance to reveal and expose sin in your life. In that sense, home and work will do just about more than any other circumstance to expose your hypocrisy, to expose hypocrisy in your life, or it will reveal in your life a means of God's sanctification, and you'll see progress, and you'll see growth, and you'll see maturity, and you'll see more and more over time a Christian response to difficult circumstances or adversity, and so let me ask you, which one is it for you? Think about your work circumstance, think about your home circumstance for that matter. What does it reveal about you? Does it reveal hypocrisy in you? Does it reveal you to be a hypocrite? You may say to yourself, well in some cases yes, maybe in some cases no, but is it revealing hypocrisy in you, and what are you going to do about that? The Christian will repent of that hypocrisy and honor his Lord on the job. Is it revealing in you a work of grace in your heart such that you know the Lord is working in you, both to do and to will according to his good pleasure, and you see progress in the Christian life, you see progress toward holiness? What about you, who are a student? What is your life at school reveal about you? Is it revealing hypocrisy in your life, or is it revealing an intent in your heart to serve the Lord in how you study, serve the Lord in how you learn and take every opportunity in the education that the God has provided for you, or is it revealing hypocrisy? It's revealing hypocrisy, that is where you must repent, and there are reasons that the Lord gives for here, we're going to give for that, we're going to look at that in a moment, you must repent. This relationship set up as bondservant to master, slave to master, further clarified on the job as someone who may work for a lost boss or someone who may work for a believing boss, now further described in verse one as being under the yoke. It says in verse one, let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor. Again, you can't think of under the yoke here as being abusive or oppressive, like our typical understanding of slavery. This wasn't an abusive or an oppressive relationship. Remember, the Christian is said to be under the yoke of Christ, and his yoke is what? Easy, it's light, right? He says in Matthew 11 verse 28, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, but that's laboring and being heavy laden under the weight of your sin. And let me stop here for a moment to add this footnote. In order to be a Christian, you would have at one time or another come under the weight or burden of your sin. If you sort of waltz through the open door on a flowery bed of ease into what you call the Christian life, without ever having come under the weight of your sin, without ever having come to an understanding of your bankrupt heart before Christ, and you're not a Christian, pardon parcel with a salvation that God provides in his grace, you are going to come to realize yourself as a heavy laden, burdened person under the weight of your own sin, and you're going to come to see your desperate need of a savior who will release you from the yoke of that sin, release you from the burden of that sin, who will forgive you and pardon you and cleanse you. You're going to feel the weight of your sin. He says in Matthew 11, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. And he says, I will give you rest. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am what? Gentle. I am gentle and I'm lowly in heart and you'll find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. First John chapter five says that his commandments are not burdensome. They're a joy. They're a blessing. They're a privilege. It is a joy to serve the Lord. Under the yoke here in verse one, simply as an expression for being under the authority of someone, being in submission to someone, submitting yourself to someone else. And it further illustrates, it further clarifies this relationship between slave and master. Okay. And notice it goes on to say that you're under the yoke of their own masters. They're to count their own masters worthy of all honor. This points to their own masters, points to a great responsibility. It's not in the sense that you're to be sort of generally or non specifically honoring of all masters. No, you're to count your own master, that one under whom you are submitting that one under whose authority you work, you're to count that master, your own master worthy of all honor. And that points to a great responsibility. So flowing out of this relationship, have the relationship of slave to master, bond servant to master. That relationship applied in our context as employee to employer. That further, that relationship further clarified specifically here for our instruction as one to a believing employer or as our relationship to an unbelieving employer. And regardless of circumstances, we're to count them worthy of honor. Okay. This relationship then out of this relationship flows great responsibility. They are your own master, the one to whom you are submitted. They have authority over you. So by virtue of the relationship, you have great responsibility. It's the same for a Christian. You say, I am submitting myself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then you have great responsibility to Christ. It's not that you can just live your life in sin as you've always lived it and called yourself a Christian. If you are coming to Christ and you are submitting yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then in every aspect of your life, there is great responsibility. Same is true with this relationship. You're saying, I'm an employee. I work for an employer. By virtue of your relationship, bond servant to master, you have great responsibility. So we saw the relationship. Let's take a look at this responsibility. The responsibility is first shown in the commandment that we see in verse one. Paul commands bond servants under the yoke to count their own masters worthy of all honor. Now here specifically, this is speaking of the bond servant of an unbelieving boss, but certainly that would apply to all bosses, right? All bosses are to be counted worthy of all honor. Count there, that word is hege'omai, hege'omai, and it means to consider, to regard. There's an important point to draw from this. That word carries the sense of your intellect, your mind. You are to, in your mind, intellectually, so to speak, reckon or count or consider your employer as worthy of all honor. And what that means is, because that is intellectual, that is a product of your reason, is that that is done despite how you feel about it. You may not feel that they are worthy of all honor. You are not to operate according to your emotions. You're not to operate according to your feelings. It doesn't matter how you feel about it. The Bible commands you here to count them, to consider them, to reckon them worthy of all honor. So again, it goes back to this issue of circumstances, doesn't it? Regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what a jerk you think that guy is, you're to reckon him worthy of all honor. You're to consider him worthy of all honor, regardless of how you feel about it, regardless of your circumstances. Now, unlike what we saw with widows and elders previously, this word for honor doesn't include financial support. What it includes here is a reverence, a respect, certainly. But what it does include here is a faithful work, a faithful, obedient service. Honor here would be doing your job with excellent work and an excellent attitude, with diligence, with fervency. You're counting them worthy of displaying for them Christian work, displaying for them the character of Christian work on the job. You're counting them worthy of faithful service, faithful work. Again, that is regardless of circumstances, regardless of how you feel about it, regardless of how much you're paid, regardless of what they ask you to do, unless it's sin, you're not to follow them into sin. But regardless of when they ask you to work, regardless of the job, whether you like it or don't like it, regardless of your circumstances, regardless if they are unbelievers, regardless if they're unkind or if they're not gentle or if they're not good. First Peter chapter 2, beginning in verse 18 says this, servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. Do you see that? Regardless of circumstances. Turn there with me. Let's turn to that passage and take a look at it. This is first Peter chapter 2, first Peter chapter 2, Hebrews, James, Peter, and Luke beginning in verse 18, first Peter chapter 2, verse 18, servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, God says here, if because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongly. For what credit is it, if when you were beaten for your faults, you take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin or was deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not revile and returned. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges rightly. Now there are, or judges righteously, there's a lot said here, is power pack passage. In verse 18, you see the responsibility, the responsibility here is to be submissive. That means to line up under your boss, not with resentment, not with bitterness, not grudgingly, but with great respect. And it says here with all fear, which means with a healthy fear of disobeying, with respect, certainly with reverence, certainly with a fear of disobeying. This is to be done regardless of circumstances. It goes on in verse 18 to say, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh, also to the uncaring jerk. Regardless of circumstances, whether they're good and gentle or uncaring, you are to submit. Now that again brings up a point. You're not only to submit to those that are easy to submit to. How many of you in the past have had a boss? It's very easy to submit to. Just easy to submit to, easy to work with, no problems, just easy, right? Then you have a boss that is not easy to submit to. All kinds of problems, all kinds of adversity, all kinds of difficulty, regardless of your circumstances, whether they're good and gentle or whether they are harsh and uncaring jerks, you're to submit. And you're to submit regardless of your circumstances. But it goes on now to say in verse 19, you have a motivation for doing this. And listen, on your job, keep this motivation in mind. When you feel the difficulty, when you feel the pressure, when you feel the temptation to react in sin, react in your flesh, remember your motivation. We are to work for the glory of God. We're to work pleasing our Lord and master. And God says that this is commendable. It is commendable for you if because of conscience toward God, wanting to serve the Lord, wanting to do a good job, excellent work with an excellent attitude, wanting to please the Lord on your job, if you endure grief and suffering wrongly, that's commendable for God. That's pleasing to your Lord. It's pleasing to him. That should be a great motivation for you to do your job with excellence, regardless of your circumstance. Do your job with excellence. It's commendable. It says ultimately here, you're working for the Lord. This submissiveness on the job is ultimately submissiveness to the Lord. And regardless of circumstances, it's submissiveness with which God is well pleased. It's something that pleases the Lord, especially commendable when because of conscience, a godly believer endures grief, suffering wrongly. I'm reminded of several examples that are in Scripture, but one in particular where disciples are arrested. They're arrested, dragged into jail, they're beaten, and then released. And it says there that they went away rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. That's commendable in the sight of God. Who counted them worthy? Who was it? It was God. God counted them worthy to suffer shame for his name. You're counted worthy by your... Here, this is commendable to God. This is God looking at you, commending your service, commending your work for the Lord because you're suffering wrong, because of conscience, suffering wrong or suffering grief wrongly. This is regardless of circumstances. The Bible says, listen, brothers, count it all joy. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that, Lord works all things together for good, knowing that it is the testing of your faith that produces perseverance. We're to count it all joy. In verse 20, it goes on to say, don't let it be because of sin that you suffer. If you suffer because of your own faults, because of your own sin, well, you're suffering rightly, and you need to take it patiently. You should take it patiently. It's right that you should suffer for your own sin, all right? But you are to face difficulty here with an adversity, with faith and patience. And watch this in verse 21. For to this you were called. It's amazing thought. For to this you were called. You are called as Christ was to suffer wrongly, even though you're going to do the work of the Lord, even though your circumstances may be awful, you're going to work in that way. You're going to suffer rightly for the Lord. You are called to submit yourself, in this case, to the sovereignty of God in every circumstance, regardless of circumstances. The Lord is sovereign over all of that. So you're to submit yourself to the sovereignty of God over your circumstances. You will be the subject of hatred if you open your mouth for Christ. Does that mean that you're not to open your mouth for Christ? No. You do what is right, and if you suffer wrongly, it is commendable in the sight of God. You are to face persecution if you live godly in this present age. Jesus says they're going to hate you because they first hated me. And so if you suffer wrongly, and yet you take a stand for Christ, which is a Christian is supposed to do, then that is commendable in the eyes of God. You will suffer. It is our governing consideration, our overriding responsibility, our overriding principle to remain faithful to the Lord during trial, to maintain a faithful Christian testimony of the power of God, the power of the gospel to transform a life. If you didn't bear testimony to that through great difficulty and great adversity, what testimony would it be? What testimony would it be? You know, in that passage, 1 Peter chapter two, what credit is it? If you're beaten for your faults, you take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer and you take it patiently, this it says is commendable before God. And we are to be commendable. We are to be commending with our lives the gospel. We're to be commending with our lives the power of the gospel to transform the human heart. We have to do that with our testimony. Back in 1 Timothy chapter six, here are our next responsibility we see in verse two. And this really is between the slave and the believing master. It says in verse two, in those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren but rather serve them. Just because the master is a believer does not entitle the employee to special treatment. Doesn't entitle them to special treatment. They are to serve them. You'd be surprised at how often this happens. But many will pick up a responsibility they have to a Christian. A Christian employer, maybe. Maybe they pick up a responsibility to the church and they say, you know what, I'm going to do that. And yet, because it is to a Christian or because it is for the church, they do it half heartedly. Or they don't do it all the way. Or they don't do it with excellence. Or they think they can get away with doing less work because it's a Christian that they're working for. It's amazing how often that happens and that definitely happens. The believer, now think of this as an argument from the lesser to the greater. If a believer is to work for an unbelieving employer showing Christian diligence on the job, working and obeying them in all things, how much more then should that Christian work hard for the believing employer? Do good to all men. But especially those of the household of faith, right? It's no excuse to do poor work because that is a Christian employer. Also, just a quick point, Galatians chapter 3 verse 28, many will take this passage to argue against doing this work. Slave to master, employer to employee, remove the distinction. Galatians 3 28 says, there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither slave nor free, there's neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. This passage does not remove the distinction between Jew and Greek. This does not remove the distinction between male and female. This passage does not remove the distinction between slave and free. We are all spiritually equal in Christ, but we remain in our distinctive roles and in our distinctive ethnicities, in our distinctive work. It's not an excuse for there to be female pastors, because there's no female, there's neither male nor female. No, the Scripture clearly says, we are not to teach authority over men. So it's not an excuse to eradicate other commands in Scripture. This is not an excuse here to eradicate the command of God to work hardily as unto the Lord, to your master, your employer, where to continue working hard as unto the Lord. And how much more should we work hard for a beloved brother whom will be benefited by this? So whether bad or good, whether lost boss or saved one, you're working to the Lord. So we saw the relationship. See the responsibilities quickly here. Let's examine the results. The first result of working faithfully serving the Lord on your job comes from verse one, and that is, so that the name of God and his doctrine may not be blasphemed. You as a Christian, representing Christ and the gospel, will have an impact on your job. You're either going to cause others to rejoice, others to see Christ in you, or you're going to cause Gentiles to blaspheme God's name because of the work that you do while you're calling yourself a Christian. We've talked about work in many senses, but who are homemakers? Consider your job at home. Homemakers is a job, right? That's employment, that's work. Consider your testimony on your job with household duties, with raising your children, with teaching them the scriptures, with spending time with the family, with preparing meals, with cleaning the house, with being a faithful helpmate to your husband. You have a work and a very valuable, precious work to do. How are you doing on the job? Is your example one that honors the Lord, or one that brings reproach on his name? Are you a help or a hindrance to the gospel? A Paul commands Titus in chapter two, verse nine, exhort bond servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things, not cause Gentiles to blaspheme God and his doctrine, but to cause your life, your testimony, to adorn the doctrine of God. So here's two very important quick connections that you must make from this. First, there is a connection then between life and doctrine. Sound doctrine leads to, inexorably, inevitably, to holy living, if you're a Christian. Sound doctrine will change your life. It'll make progress in holiness as you read and study his word. The second connection is the connection here between life, your testimony, and evangelism. You're to live your life in such a way that commends the gospel. You're to live your life in such a way that will be a testimony of the gospel that you are to preach with your mouth, with your words. Are you giving them reason to believe? One commentator said this, whenever believers encounter trials on the job, they ought to view them as opportunities for spiritual growth and evangelism. Listen, the chief reason God allows believers to remain in this world is so that he might use them to win the lost and thereby bring glory to his name. The chief reason you are on the job, on your job, you're on the job for the Lord. And there are, sadly, in Scripture, many examples of people who claim to be Christians, who are bringing reproach on his holy name. And we see it frequently today, pastors that fall into sin. That gives Satan a great opportunity to rejoice, right? The name of God is blaspheme because of your hypocrisy. Romans 2, 23 says this, you who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. So if you live your life counter to your profession, if you claim the name of Christ and yet work and live no differently than the world, if you are just as lazy, just as late, just as complaining, just as unproductive, then you are a hypocrite. And your hypocrisy will cause many to blaspheme the name of God and his doctrine. If you're a hypocrite at home, your kids may grow up to blaspheme God's name. If you're a hypocrite at work, your boss, your coworkers may have opportunity to blaspheme God's name. Or remember, in college, I was not a Christian, lost as the day is long, but claimed to be a Christian. And I was living in college in my sin, calling myself a Christian. And I remember a buddy coming to me and he wasn't asking an honest question, he was calling me out on my hypocrisy. And he asked, he said, so let me get this thing right. Let me get this Christianity thing right. He didn't know anything about Christianity, profess to be an atheist. And he said, so if you, you can live how you want to live, do whatever you want to do, and then just simply go and ask forgiveness and everything's okay. And I had no defense for that. I like, yeah, that sounds right to me. Here I am living in my sin. I caused that man to blaspheme God in his heart by my hypocrisy greased me to this day, by my own hypocrisy. We had a man here that was disfellowshipped several years back for drug use. And a godly sister in our church was out witnessing. She knocks on a door and she mentions our church. I'm here from Cornerstone Baptist Church. And this person said, does so-and-so go to your church? And she said, yes, do you know him? And she said, if he goes to your church, I'll never go there. Because she knew the sin that he was involved in. She knew the type of person that he was living to be. And because of his hypocrisy, he caused someone else to blaspheme God's name. Can't be hypocrisy. Hypocrisy in your life betrays the gospel, betrays the cross of Christ. Betrays Christ. It gives testimony of a powerless gospel, a toothless gospel, an ineffective gospel, gives testimony of a gospel that leaves you in your sin, that is powerless to transform your life. It is an effective grace. It is the gospel that teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and to live righteously. That's the gospel of grace. That's the gospel that God uses to bring about salvation. It is the power of God unto salvation. Do you see that kind of grace at work in your life? Are you a possessor of that kind of grace? Do you see it spurting you on to more and more holiness, more and more progress in your Christian life? Or is all of this revealing you as a hypocrite? If you're a hypocrite, the Lord is gracious and merciful and extends the gospel to you now to turn from your sin, to give up living life for yourself, to give up doing things your way and to drop that sin and to turn in faith, in trust, in reliance, in commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and to be saved, to be cleansed, to be forgiven, to be given a new heart, to be given a new nature such that the things that you once hated now you desire. You want to live for the Lord. You want to please the Lord. You want to be a good testimony of Him for all that He's done for you, you wicked sinner, right? We are all wicked sinners, undeserving of God's grace. Doesn't His grace in Christ to you compel you to be an excellent employee, an excellent husband, an excellent father, an excellent friend, an excellent student, an excellent family member. Paul ends this exhortation to Timothy by saying, teach and exhort these things. All of that is present tense. It means it's just going to be a way of life. We have to do it consistently, ongoing, over and over again. We need to constantly remind ourselves of these things. So important because they impact our lives, they impact our testimony, they impact our evangelism. We must remember that we are the glorified God in the workplace and we glorify Him by being living, breathing trophies of His grace. Trophies of the power of the gospel to transform a life. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for this instruction and your word. God, please, Lord, may we be doers of your word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. May we, by your spirit, God, strengthen us by your spirit to apply these truths to our heart, to live by them. We want your name to be famous among the Gentiles. We want to see people saved because of the glorious grace of your gospel that is effective, God, powerful in transforming heart, transforming heart-hearted, impenitent centers into transformed heart-obeying Christians faithful to our Lord and may we be excellent testimonies of your grace on the job as we serve in that sacred trust to represent you, our Lord. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.