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Good morning, everybody. How are you? Good. Would Scott, would you come up and join me? And would y'all all stand with me?
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He's already started our song service for us. How about when we all get to heaven? Hymn number seven seventy two.
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I'll be a roving.
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How's everything going back there, Renzy? There we are.
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Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. Sing his mercy and his grace in the mansion's bright and blessed. He'll prepare for us a place when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout the victory let us then be true and faithful trusting serving everyday just one glimpse of him in glory will the doors of life repay when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus will sing and shout the victory onward to the prize before us soon his beauty will behold soon the pearly gates will open we shall tread the streets of gold when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout the victory shout the victory Love that part.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. How about at the cross? Hymn number three twenty three.
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At
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the cross. Don't take that last one lightly either.
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You know, we're singing shout the victory.
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Let's let's unite our hearts
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with some joy this week. Amen.
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Faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day what a fit for crimes that I beyond degree at the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled Thus, my I hide my blushing face while Calvary's cross appears. Peace all my heart in thankfulness the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day. Drops of grief and there repay the dead of love I owe here lord I give myself away is that I can do. At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away.
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It was there by faith I receive my sight and now I am happy all the day
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Amen. Y'all have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning. Connect hour, y'all know that happens between services at 10:00 down the hall in the fellowship hall. There's all kinds of goodies down there with coffee and getting together with people.
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This morning, in the same room I think of this because in the same room we had folks that were from Mexico, Ecuador, Germany, Vietnam, this service, and America. And I think it's a great great time to come together and just get to know one another. When I'm standing up here talking, y'all aren't talking to each other. You're not getting to know anybody. Right?
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I'm getting to know a lot of you. Y'all wouldn't believe the looks on your face. But down down the hall is a good place to connect with people. It's really good. Thank you, Berkeley.
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Berkeley was doing this and I said, you wouldn't believe the looks on your face. A mirror. Somebody told me how to put a GoPro up here. It would it would make people look more attentive during the sermon. So, Monday nights at first B happens, meal music, and a message down the hall.
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Carl's been preaching through Luke and it is just fantastic. What's tomorrow night? The four soils. Fantastic. Good.
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Meal, music, and a message, 06:00. It's at the same time as Awana in this room. So Awana is happening for the kids, pouring scripture into the hearts and minds. And I mentioned Awana and I think immediately of Ms. Elvira Kato.
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How many of you all know Elvira Kato? So, she has been diagnosed recently with a pancreatic cancer and she was so, so, so into and helpful with Awana. Would y'all pray with me right now and continually, let's be praying for her. She is very optimistic but she is has been diagnosed with pancreatic, very aggressive cancer. So, God, would you be with miss Elvira and her husband in this time where it can be, or very very difficult.
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Now, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. She's looking forward to that incorruptible hope and I know that but God, I pray that you would minister to her doctors and to her everyone that is around her in healing her. God, use whatever means necessary, but we pray that you would do that, Lord. In Jesus' name, we ask you to be there and comfort both Ms. Silvira and her husband as they face this difficult situation.
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Amen. There's a new men's Bible study. It's called 33, the series. I don't know why it's called 33, the series. It's about fatherhood primarily this time around.
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It starts at 06:15 on Wednesday mornings. I didn't come this past week, but I was able to watch the video afterwards. And I'm going to be a part of it this week. 06:15 Wednesday mornings. It's really, really good.
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It's kind of an updated version. We've been through men's fraternity now about three times, and this is the same people but a much more a fresher look at fatherhood in particular. Four two four two two thousand seventeen, April 2, that's two weeks from today, there will be a combined service here at First Bee. So it's the middle Sunday in the middle of spring break. And Florine will be preaching and we're going to do it once.
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10AM right here. So if you're going to be here during spring break, it'll be one service combined. We'll gather together here first be at 10AM. That's also Earth Day. We'll conserve some electricity.
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Just have one service. Alright. And I think greet one another if you would. Would you stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song. What can wash away
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my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jesus precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fountain no nothing but the blood of Jesus
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You got me second guessing myself now.
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We're just following you flurrying. My pardon, this I see nothing but the blood of Jesus for my cleansing this my plea nothing but the blood of Jesus precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fountain no nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing can force sin atone nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus thank you oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow fountain know nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my hope and peace nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my righteousness nothing but the blood of sing it out oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. Fountain know nothing but the blood of Jesus.
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Alright. Are you thinking about the snow that's not real white right now out there? I I'm glad Jesus can wash that away. Amen? Amen.
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The the streets are paved in gold in heaven. Yeah. They don't need to be salted nor sanded. That's right.
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Amen. Like we do, Right. Salting and sanding. I don't know how he does it. Grace, amen?
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Grace.
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Jesus keep me near the cross there a precious fountain free to all healing stream flows from Calvary's Mountain the cross in the cross be my glory till my restless soul shall find peace beyond the cross a trembling soul love and mercy found me there the bright and morning star sheds its beams around me find rest beyond the cross oh lamb of God bring it scenes before me walk from day to day with it shall me in the cross and the cross be my glory Near the cross, I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever till I reach that golden strand just beyond the river the cross in the cross be my glory ever till my restless soul shall find just beyond the
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Thank you. May I have a seat? I'm going to invite the frontline team to come forward. How many of y'all know that that's supposed to say raptured soul? How many of you sung raptured soul?
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Okay. Renzy, would you change that from restless to raptured soul? Thank you. That's my offering right now. We come to the time of offering.
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I'm going offer that. No. Good good lord. You are great and you are mighty and you have given us such a great, great place to live and I I think of the visitors that come here from all over and we get to live here all the time. God, may we be to all of those visitors who come in a witness.
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May we send forth your good gospel and your word from this place outward, lord and I think of the way that we begin doing that is through our own humble submission and obedience and giving to you. Lord, would you use this to do your kingdom's work, your will here in this valley and beyond to the ends of the earth? God, I pray that you would multiply these offerings. In Jesus name, amen.
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I'm so happy to be here again. Amen? Amen. There's a beautiful song. This song actually was supposed to be the closing song for today.
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But practicing and practicing and practicing, I really find myself in this song and it's so good. It's very simple, but so beautiful. I've been practicing for three hours and Violetta came to me and she said, Florin, it's been three hours. It's quite a lot. Can you can you turn off the piano a little bit?
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Because it's it's an electric one.
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And I
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said, no. It's been two hours. She said, no. No. No.
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No. Three. I promise you. It's been three. I'm in love with music, and I thank God for the gift of music.
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Yes.
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In his time in his time he makes all things just what you say Lord, my life to you I bring, made song I have to sing, be to you
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Thank you. When I was making the list of nations, I left out Romania. We've got a couple of families here too. So y'all, if you're with us, and you're with us every week and you know what our our kind of scheme, what we've been doing here, when I've been here for almost five years and so over the last five years, what we've been doing is going through. We we looked at the life of Jesus in the book of John very early on and we looked at the life of the early church in the book of Acts and since then, we've been going forward in scripture in the order that the epistles and the books were written.
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So, we've gone through closing in on two thirds of the New Testament in the last five years and it's a slow pace but we're we're getting through it. You know, we've we've covered a lot of scripture. Last week, I said that if you had to boil down all of the epistles and the instructions, Christian instructions for living, you could find it encapsulated in Colossians three one through 17. Well, we're up to 18 today and we're going to go. I think that the chapter break in between the end of three and the beginning of four is a bad place to split the chapter.
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So, we're going to bridge that and go into verse one of chapter four but three eighteen through four one. It's on your bulletin if you want to look at it. How many y'all bring your Bibles? Just wonder. I know that some of you have your Bibles on your phone and there's a light blue glow from that.
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In the first service this morning, I I saw Nancy and Clay Irwin and they used to go to David Platt's church. David Platt is a guy who wrote Radical and he he's pastor of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. And he says, and if you brought your Bibles, and I hope you did, and he says that before he starts every sermon, I usually put everything we're going to study up there on the screen and you can read it off the screen, but you can't make notes up there. So if you bring it, you can make notes. Hopefully, it's helpful to do that.
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I have something I want to do today. Three eighteen through four one are practical injunctions. They're commands. It's imperatives. They're commands.
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But I'm going to lead into these practical injunctions for wives, husbands, children, fathers, bond servants, and masters by reading what we covered last week. Actually, we covered it for the past three weeks. We were three one through four and then we did three one through eleven and then we did three one through seventeen. So, I'm covering this pretty thoroughly. I think four Sundays in a row is something we I feel like I need to pay attention to it and so I feel like we're going to keep it ever before us.
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Putting on the new self in chapter three one through 17 and we'll get to those practical injunctions. Would you would you read with me? Or you can just close your eyes and center yourself on this and I'm going ask for you. I always ask for an honest self evaluation. I have to monkey around with the words myself.
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I have to think about them. I have to go through the process before I get up here to present. So, I've had time to get through the anguish of it sometimes of going through it and seeing what picking out what is in there for me specifically but would you, right now, while I'm reading, just think about, lord, would you impress upon my heart and convict me of my own sin? Convince me, lord, of your goodness and righteousness of the of your way and would you illuminate the scripture as I'm going to read it out loud the first 17 verses. Y'all can either read along or just close your eyes if you'd like.
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If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you, Christian, you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
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On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed. Notice that progressive action.
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It's being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here, there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you. So you must also forgive.
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And above all these, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you are called in one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him. God, I thank you for your word and I thank you that it does split bone and marrow. It cuts both ways, Lord, and it is sharper than any two edged sword.
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I thank you that it is able, Lord, to do what you've intended it, and your intent is to transform us More and more day by day into the image of your son. So, lord, would you have your way with us right now? In Jesus name, amen. So, that's the grounding for this. All of those things about putting off the old self and putting on the new self and then immediately follows up by these practical injunctions.
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I could call them commands. They are grammatically imperative, so they're commands. But I like the term practical because they work. If you work them, they work. And then injunctions to me just seems to have a more progressive nature.
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A command just sounds like a one time and then it's done. But an injunction is an ongoing thing. And since all of these are going to be present tense commands that are progressive action oriented, here we go. The practical injunctions, he begins with wives. Oh, I would really rather he began with husbands.
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For me, it just feels like it would be better if I could start the sermon by saying, husbands, but it doesn't start that way. I made a commitment to go in order and here we are. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Now, that is a present tense command. Just like I said, it's an ongoing habitual and continual command.
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Wives, be submitting yourselves. It's also middle voice. So it is voluntary. Wives, by your own voluntary will, be submitting yourselves to your husbands as it is fitting in the Lord. Now that it right there is about the submission as submission to husbands is fitting in the Lord.
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Now does this say that every husband is perfect? No. It doesn't even address husbands at this point. It's addressing them in the next verse. They have a high calling but where it says, wives, be continually and habitually submitting yourselves to your husbands as it is fitting in the Lord.
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There are cross references here and if you were to go to the cross references, I didn't go to it in the first service but I'm going go to it now. Genesis three, This is after the fall and the consequences of sin. Genesis three sixteen. I'm a have to put those glasses back on. Genesis three sixteen says, and to the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing.
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And in pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. The four there, it's funny that it says this in a marginal note. It says, your desire shall be for your husband. And if you look at the margin note at the bottom, says, your your desire shall be against your husband.
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That's a hard one to take. It's either for or against, isn't it? Most translations say for. It actually can be either for or against. I think that the context makes it a little clearer that it's against.
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Your desire shall be in opposition to your husband. Now, since I haven't gotten the husbands yet, I can I can go on a bit? Men's fraternity, when they come in, the the main problem that they say men are tempted with is to be passive, to not take the active role that God has given and just be passive. First Peter three:one talks about wives submitting to husbands. Well, we get to three seven, and it talks about how a husband should treat his wife.
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Esther one twenty is the government actually had decreed that women would be submissive to their husbands, this government in the time of Esther. Ephesians five twenty two says, wives, submit to your husbands. I I don't think you're gonna find any biblical cover for wives not submitting. The the ideal and the injunction and the command is to be submitting. And as unpopular as that can be in our society, in our time, it's still biblical.
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And so as I said, the putting off and the putting on, if you are taking this to heart yourself and you're a wife and you hear this, you have to do something with it. So I'd say exactly what it says. Wives, be submitting yourselves to your husbands as this, it, is fitting in the Lord. Now we get to husbands. No.
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I don't get any cover here either. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. That's a present tense command. So, if you put the action in, it would be husbands. Y'all, be loving your wives.
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Be loving your wives and don't be being harsh with them. Harsh words, he's just talked about removing obscene and filthy language. You have no biblical cover for being ugly to your wife, for being mean to her. You don't have that right. Husbands, y'all, be loving your wives.
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If we look at the love, there is agape love. Most preachers whether they like Greek or go into the grammar at all, they love to talk about love and so love in English is just one word, love but in Greek, it's three different words. There's agape love, there's eros love, and there is phileo love. Agape love is the type of love that God has for us. Y'all be loving.
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Y'all be wishing well. It's a command. So, I'm going put and it's a second person command. Plural. Y'all, husbands, be loving.
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Y'all, be wishing well to. Y'all, be taking pleasure in. Y'all, be longing for your wife. It is not a selfish love. It is a giving love.
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You made vows to this woman that God has given. It denotes the love that is of reason and esteem. It is valuing her as being someone created in the image of God and given, as Peter says, as the weaker vessel, the other part of you. So it is agape love. It is not selfish, whereas eros love is typically selfish, and it does not matter how she treats you.
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It is giving the way that God gives. It's not lopsided or one-sided. I mean, it's not lopsided. It actually is lopsided. What am I saying?
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It is lopsided. It is God giving regardless of what's returned. It denotes the love of reason and esteem. Cross references here are Ecclesiastes nine nine. Ephesians five twenty five where he goes further.
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Now, Colossians and Ephesians were written really close together in time frame. Colossians was written first and then Ephesians was written. Colossians is to a church that he'd never been to before, never been to the area before, although he knew a bunch of people there. In Ephesians was written people he had spent almost three years but with by this point. So, it might have a little bit more personal tone to it but Ephesians says, husbands, love your wives.
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It's the same exact tense. Be loving your wives continually habitually and then it says, just as Christ continually habitually always is loving the church. That's a high standard. Now, wives submitting to your husbands is a high standard and aggravating as can be and I know that. But to love as Christ loves the church is a higher standard even than that.
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And so when a guy is loving his wife the way that Christ loves the church, he's not a hard guy to submit to. And when he's not, he is. The hard thing is you can only play your role. If you're a wife, you cannot play the husband's role for him. And if you're a husband, you can't play the wife's role for her.
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You are given a command in the putting off and the putting on. I I mentioned the band this morning. So, in the in the first service, Carl is he's kind of like the husband or the father, I guess, to this band. He is the one with authority over the band. He's the band leader and he does so much for us.
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He makes sure that before we get here, he has gone through all the songs. He knows the rhythm, rhyme, and meter to every one of them. He knows the words. He literally has us all on the same page. Although, I don't play as well in some keys as others.
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Ryan plays a mandolin. It's hard to play a mandolin in certain keys. He knows all of that about us, about each one of us in this family. And he goes out of his way to prepare ahead of time so that all of us have the sheet of music so we can play our part. Now I'm playing the bass.
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When I try to tell him how to play the piano, that doesn't go well. If we all play our parts, it's music and it's really good and it's something that's wonderful. And if I decide I'm going to play in a different key or at a different time signature, which I do in this service a lot. If we all are doing different, it sounds like noise. It doesn't sound like music at all.
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It's not harmonious at all. The cross references up there and that's it. That's all. That's it. We get to that and it says, Ephesians five twenty five says, husbands, love your wives just as Christ is loving the church and then first Peter says, honor and esteem your wife.
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It's the love, agape love of reason and esteem. Honor her and esteem her as the weaker vessel. So we go forward to children. So here it is. I started to ask this morning, how many of your wives, how many of your husbands, how many of your children?
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We're all children. Right? The practical injunctions for children are is is this, children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. It is a present tense command. Children, be obeying.
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Oh, be obeying. Be obeying continually and habitually. Your parents in everything for this is pleasing to the Lord. What's expected of children? This is one shepherding a child's heart.
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I don't know if this is original with that book Ted Tripp wrote, Shepherding a Child's Heart but I I like this a lot and this is something we try always to use in practice in our house and as you're approaching, as a preacher, you're approaching a sermon and you've got a wife and you're a husband and you've got a child. As you're approaching a sermon about wives, husbands, and children, that week is impressively obvious. That you have not figured this thing completely out, you know? What's expected of children? To obey all the way, right away, and with a happy heart.
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That is what's expected of a child. Now, children have to be brought up into that. They don't start out obeying. They start out rebellious. Actually, Saint Augustine is famous for having saying that if a suckling babe could or had the strength, it would reach up and strangle its mother for milk.
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That's scary. It speaks to our open rebellion and you have to train a child up in the way that's right and this is the way that's right, to obey all the way right away and with a happy heart. Now, in general, she's not here so I I'll say this. Pascal, in general, is a very compliant, loving, and obedient child in general. Sometimes, she obeys all the way and sometimes she obeys right away And sometimes she obeys with a happy heart.
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But doing all three of those things at the same time, it's a hard thing to do. She she does pretty well. The father's thing is next though. And so when I look at that and I say that about Pascal, I, in general, when I think of her, I think of her as a sweet and obedient child. When I think of my wife, I think of her.
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Generally, I think of her as a a submissive, loving wife. She is awesome, and I love her. When I look at myself as a husband, I'm not continually and habitually loving her the way that Christ loves the church, and how submitting to me would be would be very hard. Fathers. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
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That, again, present tense command. Fathers, do not be provoking your children so that they might not become discouraged. When I look at that, and I have to be straightforward with you and honest, do not be provoking your children so that they not may not become discouraged. When I look at that and go, I'm I'm the daddy. She's the little girl.
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She can get discouraged all she wants to. The point is for me, though, not to provoke her to that discouragement, and discouragement is a little stronger. We we just say, oh, I'm discouraged. Like, it's not it's a light thing. So that they might not become discouraged is light.
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So that they might not lose heart. So that they might not become despondent, be disheartened, have their spirits broken, be dismayed. Because that happens, fathers. If you provoke a child, eventually, you break their spirit. So it says don't be continuing habitually provoking them.
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You do have the authority. They are supposed to obey, but do not be provoking them. So with those four simple verses, and it's just one sentence for each, wives, husbands, children, fathers. Some of us get double duty because we're husbands and fathers. It's just four sentences.
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With that, wives submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. He qualifies that. Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh to them. So, it's both a positive command. Be loving and do not be being harsh.
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Children, obey your parents and everything for this pleases the Lord and fathers. Do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged. Where is where else is a better place to see whether the old man is being put off and the new being put on except for your family? Is there anybody closer to you than your spouse, than your children? No.
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They're gonna see you for who you are, and you're gonna see them for who they are. And if we're honest, we see all of the little ugly bits, the warts, the bruises, everything. But with those four verses, he just leaves the realm of the family unit altogether. And he goes to how individually as people we are to respond to slavery as a social institution. Now in the day that Paul was writing this, he was writing it when slavery was legal.
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A master could, for any reason he wanted to, punish a slave. He could even kill a slave. In fact, before we study this, we talked about bond servants and masters in the last book we studied together, and that was Philemon. So remember the relationship of these two books, Philemon and Colossians. They are two books to the same area.
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Colossians was and Philemon. Colossians is written to the whole assembly of the church, God's people at Colossi. It was written to give general instructions and warnings primarily about the preeminence of Christ. How Christ has to be preeminent for you to live the Christian life. It's gotta be about him and not about you.
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So, he gives general instructions and warnings and he lifts up Christ, the highest Christology that we've encountered yet. And that look into Christ should draw us in. Philemon was written to an individual member of that church at Colossae. Philemon, wealthy guy. It was about one particular guy's situation, Onesimus.
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Now, Onesimus was a runaway slave, probably stole some money from Philemon before he left. He was Philemon's runaway slave. We study the book. It's only like 24, 25 verses long. It's a short little book, one page, written to one guy, and we studied that immediately before this.
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This letter was delivered to Colossae by Epaphras who had founded the church there and Onesimus was with him. We'll see that in the next couple weeks but Colossians and Philemon, they're carrying both of these letters together. They're delivering them at the same time. One guy gets Philemon and then the whole church reads this one aloud. Everybody knows Onesimus ran away.
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How would you like to get that letter? Think about the context here. So, spends four sentences on husbands, wives, wives, husbands, children, and fathers. And then he goes into bond servants right here. Three twenty two says, bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters.
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Now bond servants is a sweeter word than slaves, but they were slaves. Okay? Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. Earthly. Earthly masters.
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He's speaking to property as far as the law was concerned. But this is Paul, the apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit speaking for God that these people are people. And he acknowledges that they do have an earthly master. He's told us in Romans 13 that we are to be subject to the governing authorities and the law of the land. The rule of law is important.
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And so Paul, writing a letter during a time where slavery is not just legal, it's normal. He says to the slaves, bond servants, who were Christians, this letter was written to Christians. So whether your wife, husband, child, or father, it's written to Christians, bond servants, Christians, obeying everything those who are your earthly masters. Not just by the way of eye service making things look good, not as people pleasers. When Peter and John were arrested in Acts and they said, who are we going to please?
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God or man? If you have to choose, you please God. Not as people pleasers, just trying to look good but with sincerity of heart and fearing or revering reverence for the Lord. Bond servants, you are to obey everything that your earthly mace masters ask you to do or tell you to do, not by way of eye service as people pleases but with sincerity of heart, fear in the Lord. Whatever you do, bond servant, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.
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Now, we've just had just above that 17 says, and whatever you do, you know, do it all. Whether word or deed, do it all as in service to the Lord. That's general but how does that work itself out with these practical implications? If you are a slave or a bondservant or in our day, if you're an employee, if you're an employee for someone or some company, whatever it is that you do, then work heartily. Do a good job at what you do because you're working for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
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You are working for a completely different master. If you're a believer, if you are a Christian, you're working for Christ. In fact, he says so flatly, you are serving the Lord Christ by doing your job well. Work was instituted before the fall. It became painful after the fall but work was already instituted.
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You are serving the Lord Christ, bond servants.
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So,
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we've got one more and this is for masters. Now, I know that we don't have slave masters now. We do have taskmasters now. We do have employers now, and this is for you. For the wrongdoer will be paid for the wrong that he has done, and there's no partiality.
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Masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven. You see where that chapter break is right there? The chapter breaks happened a long, long time ago when slavery was still popular, when it was still legal in a lot of places. And so they they broke that right there. I said, this is for you, masters, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done.
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And there's no partiality. Masters, all the rest of them I started with. Look at this in context. So he's speaking to the bond servants, the ones who are the slaves are bond servants. Onesimus was one of those guys.
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He's already told Philemon exactly how he should deal with Onesimus because he's a brother in Christ. And so he elevates him from property to being a brother in Christ. Though you have the right to even kill him if you want to. He is a brother in Christ and you have a master. He'll get to his master in heaven here.
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Look at wrongdoing context. Whatever you do, bond servants, work heartily. Ask for the Lord for you are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong that he has done and there's no partiality. That could go with bond servants and for years, that's the way that it was taken because the chapter broke right there.
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Masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven. It can go grammatically with either bond servants or masters. And we should know that if you're faking Christianity, there's no faking it. Either you are a Christian or you are not a Christian. The wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong that he has done.
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There's no partiality with God. He doesn't care whether you're a slave or a master or a wife or a husband or a child or a father. There's no partiality. He just wants for us to play our role, our part in the band. Masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
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So those are the practical injunctions, the living out of, the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new, the blending from our various places and beliefs and everything else into Christ being all and in all. And I think that's the last slide. It is straight. No chaser. It's just straight down the middle of the plate today.
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Individually, how will you respond to what he said? If you are a wife, there's no doubt about what you are to do. If you're a husband, there's no doubt about what you are to do. If you're a child, there's no doubt doubt about what you're to do. If you're a father or an employee or an employer, it's very direct, and I appreciate that.
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There's nothing to muddy the waters. We serve others because we serve Christ. So for me, when I said monkey with, I looked and looked and looked and looked and looked for cover this week. There's no cover for any of us except for the blood of Jesus. So when we started what can wash away my sin?
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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Somebody after the first service came forward, he said, he said, I like your present and your teaching style. He's from Tennessee. He goes, you ever talk about sin? And I thought, I
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just did. That's what this whole thing was about. If you're not submitting, you're sinning. If you're not loving your wife, you're sinning. If you're not obeying your parents, you're sinning.
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Yeah, I just did.
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What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. There's another thing that I'm thinking too where Jesus used to say, happy are you or blessed are you if you do these things? I think of the line from this song. That's why we changed to this last song.
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Trust and obey. There's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. If you try these practical injunctions, they work. So, and if you try em and your husband doesn't try em, you don't have to answer for your husband. You have to answer for you.
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Now, the past is the past and everything can be under the blood of Jesus. But going forward, let's go forward trying to stay in our lane, trying to do our part in the band. Would you stand with me? We're going to sing Trust and Obey. Scott, would you come up?
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Glory sheds on our way while we do his good will he abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but his smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt nor a fear, not a sign or a tear, and abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust blessed if we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in and joy he bestows are for those who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and no way. In fact, when a low ship's sweet, we will sit at his feet or we'll walk by his side in the way.
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What he says we will do, where he sends we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
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Amen. So, I've got Colossians four two is going to be our benediction but I felt like I didn't hit masters hard enough. I'm gonna hit it again. Here we go. Masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
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We hear master, and it just makes us wanna skip that. But if you're in charge, like, I'm supposed to be the the staff administrator here. I'm the master of this staff. I should do it with justice. I should do it with fairness.
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If you are in charge of people, be just, be fair, be careful, and do it in the reverential fear of an awesome and mighty God who is watching. Now, whether you're a wife or a husband or a child, a father, an employee, or a boss, continue steadfastly in prayer. Being watchful in it and the it there is whatever command you were just given. Continue steadfastly in prayer and being watchful in whatever the command was you were just given with thanksgiving because it's God who's given. In Jesus name, may we all go out just like that.
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Amen.
