A Christian Employee's Covenant

As I was studying this passage for this morning and I've been working on it or it's been kind of milling around in my head and in my studies for a couple of weeks anyway.

So, by the real need for something to change in that area, in the area of work and work ethic among Christians, Christians really ought to be the very best employees that an employer would hire.

The very best. Regardless of the situation. Regardless of whether or not the Christian, that particular Christian loves the work.

Whether they're just working for that season out of necessity or really regardless of the situation. Whether it's hard work, easy work, hard people to work for, easy people to work for, regardless.

Christians ought to be the model employees. And I really think, really believe that the past, I don't know how many years, that has kind of been changing.

Now, I think we could argue that work, the whole thing, the whole idea of a work ethic in our society has changed. Has really changed for the worse.

And that many of our young people who are, you know, in the teenage years and then on into young adult years have not really learned a work ethic.

I don't just mean the smarts or the abilities or the intellect part of it. You know, we've got a generation of very intelligent young people and young adults.

But what is missing is a work ethic. What I would call a biblical work ethic. Now, I kind of joked a little bit about the word work and that it's one of those offensive four-letter words.

And I really was joking about that. But, well, half joking about that. Work is not one of those warm, fuzzy kind of words, is it?

Not really. Even though I think as I look out here, there are a number of you, I'm sure, that love what you do. I mean, you really do.

It doesn't mean it's always easy. It doesn't mean there aren't days when you'd rather stay home. But your profession, and I'm looking at a number of people who are, you know, quote, professional people.

And you just love what you're doing. And that's good. But I think you would agree with me. At least I think you would. That we are witnessing. That we are witnessing.

In the church. Now, I'm not talking about the world. I think in our society we're witnessing the same thing. But I mean within the church. Within that body of professing believers.

The work ethic is not what it should be. Biblically. So I want us to consider just a little bit more about work itself tonight.

And focusing on a different passage. And I introduced it this morning. And I said it was a parallel passage. And I did say that we may revisit this tonight. Of course, that didn't give Jonathan time to totally rearrange his worship service.

And I still feel bad about that. I do. But I guess maybe in a twist. Maybe a stretch. We could say that work has a lot to do with tribulation and perseverance in the Lord.

And the work that God is doing in our lives as a result of that. Well, forget it. I'm not going to try to force it into it.

But let's think about it. Ephesians chapter 6. And I'll get to the passage just in a minute. But I want to give you just a bit of an introduction. Not to the passage, but to the subject of work.

And maybe add or interject just a little bit of humor here. And sometimes we need that. I think I need a little bit more humor this morning. Because it looked pretty grave out there.

But think for a moment about work. It has, number one. And this is kind of a sermon within a sermon, all right. It has a necessary purpose in life, right?

Work does. I mean, we couldn't get by without that. Now, some have been able to manage that in our society, of course. And that's a subject of a lot of debate.

But you know that work is a necessary. It serves, has a necessary purpose in life. At the very minimum, it helps pay the bills, doesn't it?

And too many in our culture have this as their favorite theme song, I owe, I owe. It's off to work I go. And so it's a necessary thing, isn't it?

So we must, must work. Now, I see Chris Lloyd back there snickering. And he's thinking, you don't have to owe. You really don't. You could be out of debt. Isn't that what you're thinking? You really could.

And we should be. It also, I think you would agree with me, even though you may love your job, it has kind of a negative part of life.

It is a negative part of life. Sometimes, all right? Maybe for some of you, it's all the time. Because, you know, a lot of us, we don't really, we want to get by with as little of it as possible.

Right? Thank you. I can always count on Wes here tonight. Like the man who applied for a job, and the interviewer was going over his application, and he was looking at that and talking with him and thinking about his business, and he said, you know, I'm really sorry, sir, but right now there's just not enough work to keep you busy.

To which he responded, you'd be surprised how little it takes to keep me busy. But, you know, we want to just kind of get by with as little of it as possible, and, I mean, sometimes we think that way.

So, it's a necessary, serves a necessary purpose. It has kind of a negative, it's a kind of a negative part of life, to some degree, varying degrees. And third, it is a normal pattern of life.

Work is. It's normal to work. It should be. In fact, if you live the average lifespan, they say, you will work 97,760 hours.

That's one-third of your life. Now, some of you will work more than that, some less, and some, of course, in our country will work much less than that. But if you live the average span of life, that's about what it will be.

And so, it's a normal pattern of life. Four, it is a neglected principle in life. And this is kind of the way I introduced the message tonight and said a little bit about it this morning.

There is this loss of a work ethic in our country, in our culture. Now, it needs to be taught.

It needs to be regained. And it can be taught in a number of contexts. Certainly, at school, they ought to teach that. But more importantly, it ought to be taught at home. And it ought to be taught early.

And, you know, with the kids and giving them things to do and chores to do. And if you want to pay them a little bit for it, we don't pay Jonathan anything. But, no, we do actually give him a little bit of an allowance.

By the way, did you do the dishes today? Okay, I'll get back with you about that. But it needs to be taught. Taught early. It needs to be taught in the home.

I heard about a certain farmer who was the father of four boys. And I can relate to this farmer. Four boys. And he worked his boys extremely hard.

I mean, he really did. Worked them very hard. And one day, one of the farmer's neighbors just approached him. He said, you know, you really don't have to work those boys so hard just to raise a crop.

To which the farmer responded, I'm not just raising a crop. I'm raising four boys. Now, that's the right idea.

And the right approach. And so, if I look out here and see some parents out here, younger parents, parents who have boys and girls, and they're still maybe in this area here, it's time right here to teach them a work ethic.

And so, it's a neglected principle in life. It really is. And we need to recapture that. In the church, for sure. It also, finally, and I said this this morning and used it as kind of the segue into the passage in 1 Peter.

But it is a noble practice of life. It's a noble practice. Whether you are an employee or an employer. And even employers have bosses.

Even if it's just the customer who's the boss. Or whoever buys your product. Whichever you are. Your work ethic. And I want to drive this home.

And we're going to, I think, understand this from the text in Ephesians 6. As we did, I hope, understand it from the passage in 1 Peter. But your work ethic reveals what you believe about God.

That is so important to understand. We talk about theology. And it's good to have sound theology. But your theology is seen at the workplace. Your theology.

That is what you believe about God. And anything you might speak. In the context of the workplace. Whether it's to someone you work with side by side.

Or maybe at the coffee maker in the break room. And anything you speak in behalf of the Lord. Will, to a degree, be evaluated based upon your work ethic.

That is, the validity of what you speak. About God. And about His Word. And about the Gospel.

Any aspect of the Gospel. Will be, to a degree, validated by those who hear you. And those who observe you. Will be validated or invalidated in their minds.

Based upon your work ethic. And not just how you work when the boss is looking. But how you are and how you work and perform your job.

Even if no one is looking. Because it's usually then when someone is looking. And they know. And they evaluate the truth of what you claim.

You claim about God. They evaluate it based upon your work ethic. All right. And I believe that is primarily the subject of Ephesians 6. And verse 5.

So let me go ahead and start reading. Verse 5. And though the text eventually, unlike Peter. Paul does eventually get to saying something to employers.

Or bosses. Or masters. But I'm not going to speak about that tonight. So verse 9. We're just going to leave that off. And I want to just focus on the worker. Work.

Verses 5 through 8. Bond servants. Be obedient. To those who are your masters according to the flesh.

Now let me stop there just a minute. And remind you again. Just to make sure that we make this connection. That yeah. Paul. Just like Peter. Was speaking in the context.

And teaching. Giving his teachings within the context of slavery. The institution of slavery. The institution of slavery. And I would say to you again. That it's interesting. That though slavery is wrong.

And morally wrong. And it is never ever. Given credence and permission by the Bible. It's interesting. The Bible never speaks against it.

Rather. It speaks to those who are caught up in that system. And teaches. Instructs. Those Christians. Who are caught up in that system. That they can do nothing about.

Speaks to them about how they are to behave. In that kind of system. In a way that would bring the most honor and glory to God. And that is not God.

Ordaining slavery. Not at all. But slavery was the dominant feature of the world. In Paul's day.

In Peter's day. Estimated. I think I heard a figure. Sixty million slaves. In Palestine. In this area. In which Peter and Paul.

And some of them lived. Sixty million slaves. Slavery was common. In fact. It's more likely. That you're a slave.

Than a free man. And if you're a Christian. It is vastly more likely. That you're a slave. Now Peter. Spoke. This morning. As we looked at that text.

He. He addressed. Servants. He used the word servants. Oiketes. Household slave. But Paul.

Says bond servants. Doulos. Slave. Whatever kind. And.

So he's addressing slaves. It is the context of slavery. And. But. The connection. We must. Understand. The connection for us here. The principles that are taught here.

Are applied. To. We need to apply them. And rightly apply them. To the. Employ. Employ. Employee. Employee. Employee. Relationship. The work. Relationship.

Okay. Now he says. Be obedient. Be obedient. To those who are your masters. According to the flesh. With fear. And.

Trembling. In sincerity. Of heart. As. To Christ. Not with eye service. As. Men.

Pleasers. But as. Bondservants. Of Christ. Doing the will of God. From the heart. With good will. Doing service. As to the Lord.

And not to men. Knowing. That whatever good. Anyone does. He will receive the same. From the Lord. Whether he is a slave. Or free. Now.

Time is it? I have. 25 minutes. To give you. 11 points. Are you ready. To write these down?

Jot these down? 11. They'll come very quickly. I'm just going to take. About every. Phrase. In some cases.

Maybe. At least one case. A word. And. And. Make a point. 11 of them. And. All. 11 of them.

Comprise. What I want to call. A Christian. Employees. Covenant. This is a covenant. That you ought to. Ought to keep. A covenant.

That you ought to. Enter into. That's. That ought to be. Binding. And. Since it all comes from God's word. It is binding. A Christian. Employees.

Covenant. Number one. And these are so simple. Work. Obediently. I didn't even have to search for a word.

It's right there in the text. Bondservants. Be. Obedient. And so. First. We need to work. Obediently. Now let me say just.

Something very. Quick. About. The form of the word. That appears here. In the grammatical sense. It's a verb. Love. And.

It is a present active indicative. So what? Well the idea is. That. We are. This is to be. Uninterrupted obedience.

In fact. I could translate it this way. And it would be true. True to the. To how Paul wrote it. Be. Always. Always. Or be.

Being. Always. Obedient. Now if we were to expand. The. The full meaning of the word. As it appears grammatically. That's how we would translate. Now of course. We wouldn't do that in English.

But that is the idea. Here. Be. Being. Always. Obedient. Obedient. So work. Obedient.

Does anyone here. Not understand. The word obedience. Just raise your hand. And. No. You're not going to raise your hand. We know what obedience is.

Hopefully. We're teaching it to our children. You still have children in the home. Some of you. Older. More seasoned. A. Parents. You. Your kids are already out of the home.

We have three. Already out. Well. Two. One. Almost. Out. Again. And. I guarantee you. We have. Strived from.

I mean. Really. From the cradle. On. Tried to instill. Into our children. The concept. The principle. Of obedience. Let me give you a definition.

That was given to me. A long time ago. And I think it's probably the best one. I've ever. Ever heard. Obedience. Is doing. Exactly. What you're told.

When. You're told. And with. The right heart attitude. You ever heard that. That definition before. Not anybody.

Got one. All the way back. The back. Thank you. Thank you. Brittany. Credit to your parents. There. Obedience. Is doing.

Exactly. Oh yeah. I've got one over here. Jonathan. And. Of course. Matthew. He didn't raise his hand. But he's. A soldier. And. He doesn't volunteer. Command me.

You know. No. Obedience. Is doing. Exactly. What you're told. To do. When you're told. To do it. And. With. The right heart attitude. That is.

Obedience. Now that ought to apply. Must apply also in the work content. Because we have those who are over us. And God is commanding us to obey them.

That was the whole subject of this morning's sermon. Submission. Obedience. Number two. See it won't take that long to get through eleven of them.

Hopefully. Work. Morally. Now this is. Interesting. In verse five.

Paul says. Bond servants. Be obedient. To those who are your masters. According to the flesh. That means.

That. God has set it up this way. There are those who are over. And those who are under. Those who call the shots. And those who follow the orders. There are masters and servants.

Bosses and employees. And God has set it up that way. And the masters. The leaders. The supervisors. The bosses. The department heads.

The whatever you call them. Have the right. To tell you what to do. At the workplace. They have that right. They are your masters in the flesh.

To tell you what to do. Physically. Materially. But they have no authority over you morally.

And spiritually. And so. The point here. That I want to draw from. From. Paul really going out of this way. We're talking about masters according to the flesh.

The point I want you to understand. Is that. You do not have to obey. If your master. Commands you to do something immoral. Or if your master.

Commands you. To be unspiritual. Now. It's not the work. Con. Context. But. I can take. My son.

Matthew. For an example. I don't think he mind. Me telling you. That when he was a basic training. His. Drill sergeant.

Told him to do something. That was morally wrong. For Matthew. Because he's a Christian. He told him to say a certain word.

And he would not do it. Not a blasphemous word. But a. An immoral word.

He wouldn't do it. Now his sergeant. Is his master. And. Has the right under God. To tell him to do everything.

Pertaining to. Soldiering. But he has no right. To tell him to do anything. Pertaining. Spiritual things. His authority doesn't carry.

That far. And so. The same. In the context. Of the workplace. We are to obey. Because our master. Has the authority.

According to the flesh. But that authority. Does not extend. To things that would violate. God's word. Hence be immoral. Does not extend.

To denying. To denying. The faith. Or to doing anything. That would deny. The Lord. Or discredit. The Lord. Anything of a spiritual.

Matter. Do you understand what I'm saying? So. We're to work. Obediently. Work. Morally. And you do not have to obey. When your boss tells you. To do something illegal. Immoral. Unspiritual.

Anything that would defile. You spiritually. Third. Work. Respectfully. And this was the subject.

This morning. As well. Peter. Said. Something similar. In verse five. Again. Bond servants. Be obedient. To those who are your masters. According to the flesh. With fear.

And trembling. With fear. And trembling. And of course. You know. Even though. The language there. In at least my.

English copy. Of the Bible. The language. Suggests. Something more than just respect. But the idea is that. Or reverence. Or respect. Not quaking.

And. Cowering. And. Trembling. And being. Fearful. In the sense. Of. Of. Terror. Not the idea here. Of course. You know that.

We're not to. To fear. And I really. Believe Peter. For sure. And maybe Paul too. Because. We're going to. Kind of. He's going to. Kind of. Bring all this together. Under. Under the.

Under the Lord. And directing it all. Toward him. I think the fear and trembling. Is to be understood. As primarily. Attached. To God. He being the object. So the idea here.

Is not. Quaking. And. Being terrified. But. It is. Respect. It's in the context.

Of authority. And so we're to. To. Obey. And follow. The. Leadership. Of those. God has placed over us. And we're to do so.

In. Respectfully. All right. Number four. We spend a lot of time on that. So we don't need to. Belabor that. Number four. Work. Sincerely. And.

Took this one right out of the English text. As well. At least my version of it. Where. He says. In.

Sincerity. Of heart. In sincerity. Of heart. The idea being. Not. Hypocritical. Hypocritically.

Not. Superficially. There's to be. Some. Depth. To our work ethic. There's to be.

Some. Thoroughness. To our. Work ethic. It's to be. It. Our work. Whatever it may be. Is to be. A genuine effort. Of our.

Of ourselves. Our mind. And our abilities. Is to be a genuine. Not. Not half measures. Not. Just to get by. But. Sincerely. To work.

Sincerely. Number five. Work. Worshipfully. And.

We touched on this. This morning. As well. Look. There. At. The last phrase. Of verse five. As. To.

Christ. That's why. I said a moment ago. That this. This. This. Idea. Of. Of. Of. Obeying. Your masters. And having a work ethic. With fear.

And trembling. It all points. To that last phrase. As to the. As to Christ. And. Even the idea. Of the. Sincerity. Of heart. A genuine.

Effort. A. A complete. And thorough. Job. Is to be done. As. As to Christ. As to Christ. As to Christ. As to Christ. And I believe. That's our worship.

That's the extension. Of our worship. I mentioned this. On Wednesday night. This past Wednesday night. And so. Some of you. Who were here. You remember this. But. I read years ago.

About. Ruth Bell Graham. And. She. Said. That. Over. Her. Kitchen sink. She had a plaque. Up there.

And the plaque read. Worship services. Held here. Three times daily. See.

Our worship. Is not. Just a. Compartmentalized. Type of activity. A scheduled. Thing. That we do.

That for many of us. In our thinking. And we think wrongly. We can't help ourselves. But we think of worship. In the context. Of the church. The. The assembly.

The. Corporate worship. Of the church. But our worship. Extends to everything. We do. And so. When the Bible. Says. That we. Are to. Perform. A certain kind. Of activity.

And to conduct. Ourselves. In a certain way. As to Christ. Then we know. That all of what we're doing. All that activity. Is directed to him. It's our worship.

And we. Do these things. And work. And obey. Even when it's hard. Difficult. Even when our bosses. Are tyrants. We do all of those things.

Because. God is worth it. The Lord is worth that. And we do it for him. Number six.

Work honorably. Work honorably. Verse six. Begins. Not with. I service. That's an interesting.

Kind of phrase. Isn't it? Or that word. I service. It doesn't take. A lot of. Imagination. Even without. A Bible dictionary.

And some of the other. Word study tools. And concordance. It doesn't take. A lot of imagination. To understand. What is meant by that. I service. That you would perform.

Your service. Before the eye. The eye of whom. Your boss. And so your quality work.

Or. The show of busyness. Is done. When the boss is looking. And not just the boss. But when others are looking too. Sometimes.

A Christian. A Christian. Will have. A. Kind of job. Where. Where no one is looking. Most of the time. In fact.

More and more. There are. People. Working out of the home. Working. By way of their computers. At home. You know. And they're sitting there. In their pajamas.

In doing their work. And nobody's looking. Now there are ways that. Companies have to. To evaluate. Your output. Your performance. And certainly. But. Really. When it comes down to it.

You're doing. Your job. While no one's looking. And so. When no one is looking.

What kind of job. Are you doing? Are you giving it. Your very best. Are you doing it. Now if you are. Working. As unto the Lord. And.

And. As to Christ. And. Your. You work. You view. Your. Your work ethic. As. A. A. Part of your. Worship of God. And you know. He's looking. All the time.

Then. You won't have a problem. With this. You know. So. So there is. Honor in your. Work ethic. You're not doing it. Just when somebody's. Looking. You know.

Or. Evaluating. Or when the boss. Walks. By your office. Or your little cubicle. Or wherever. Whatever the space is. Where you work. Honorably.

Number seven. Humbly. He says. Not only. Not with eye service. But he adds to that.

This phrase. As men. Pleasers. As men. Pleasers. That's kind of interesting phrase as well. Isn't it? Men. Pleasers. I guess.

In our culture. We should add. Men. Or women. Pleasers. That we work. Just to.

To. Win. Kudos. With. Those. Who are. Our. Supervisors. I didn't. Anything wrong. As far as it goes. To do a good job.

So that you get a. Pat on the back. And special thanks. From the boss. And it's a wonderful thing. To experience. And if you are a boss. Then you ought to do that. A lot. Give a pat on the back.

Give a verbal recognition. A verbal thanks. A kudos. As you might. Want to call it. But if your work ethic. Is such that. You only.

You only work. So that. You'll get the praise. Of man. Then. That's the wrong work ethic. And it might work.

You know. And you might feel good about it. As long as. That master. That boss. That supervisor. Respond in the way. You want. Him or her to. But they won't always.

And then. Where. Will you be. Because your work ethic. Then your work ethic. Needs to be. To please God. Not please man. So we.

Work humbly. Number eight. Work. Purposefully. Purposefully. Doing. The will of God.

I mentioned this. This morning. Because Peter mentions it. For this. For this reason. You've been called. For this reason.

God has saved you. And placed you here. And left you here. A good work ethic. Is God's will. And it's really more. Than just simply. His will. That you do that.

It is his will. That you doing that. Serves his purpose. His purpose. To exemplify.

The heart. And life. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the workplace. And though. That supervisor. May be so. Dull.

And. Dumb. To not see that. Those who are working. Around you. Do see that. And so. When you are ill treated. Mistreated.

Treated unfairly. Maybe. Passed over. For a raise you deserved. Or a promotion. Everybody. Knows you. Clearly deserved. Passed over. And you.

Reacted. To it. In. In the way. Christ would react to it. And others see that. And it bears testimony. Of the life.

Heart and life. Of Christ. So. Purposely. It's the will of God. Number nine. Work diligently. Verse six.

Not with eye service. As men pleasers. But as bond servants. Of Christ. Doing the will of God. From. The heart. From the heart.

And. It's not just simply. Again. The idea of being sincere. About it. Being genuine. About it. The idea here. Is diligence. Diligence. We do it.

With the heart. From the heart. It really comes down to. What is behind. Your work. The attitude. The motivation. That you want to do. A good job.

And you do it. To. The fullest. And you're diligent. At it. And. Your. Your. Your. Master. Will see that. And. Typically.

We'll honor that. But even if he doesn't. We have the. Clear. Instructions. From God's word. That we're to work.

Diligently. Diligently. From the heart. Number ten. We're almost there. This is amazing. You didn't think I could do it.

Eleven points. In twenty five minutes. You say. Why don't you do that more often. Number ten. Work. Wholeheartedly.

Now this is very similar. To diligently. But. But. The idea comes from. Verse seven there. With good will. Doing service. With good will. I think.

I think. There is a translation. Out there. That does. Does render. The word. Wholeheartedly. You might have it. Maybe NIV. And.

And I think that's correct. So I thought I'd use it. Wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly. With. Good will. Now the idea here. Is.

The kind of work ethic. That. Exhibits. A. A person. Exemplifies. A. A.

Self. Motivated. Kind of work ethic. Self. Starter. That you don't have to be told. To do it.

I'm not going to comment on that. Look. Because it wasn't received. He didn't. Okay. No. I'm not going to do it. No. I'm not going to do it. You don't have.

You don't even know what's going on. Do you? Sometimes I watch my wife. And the looks on her face. And. Tonight. The direction her eyes went. To. Well. It wasn't about me.

Anyway. We're talking about self starter. Being zealous to do a good job. You know. I'll tell you. How we need. That kind of work ethic.

Recaptured. In America. It ought to be. Just. A. The standard thing. For Christians. That we work. Because we want to do a good job.

Want to do a good job. And who are we doing it for? For the Lord. But we're also doing it for ourselves. Do you. Do you have that kind of work ethic? Where at the end of the day.

At least your desire is. At the end of the day. You can sit back and say. Man. I accomplished something. The day. Maybe nobody noticed. Maybe. You know.

No one cares. But you know. You know in your heart. I did this because I wanted to do. A good job. I have tried to tell.

My son. That. In mowing the yard. Just get out there. And mow that yard. And do it. Because when you're done. You'll look at it and say. Man. That looks great.

That's the idea. With good will. To be zealous.

To do a good job. Colossians. Yeah. Yeah. I put a mark in it. Colossians 3.23. Whatever you do. Do it heartily.

I love that. And that ought to apply. No matter what your job is. Maybe it's at a desk. And it's at a computer. And you know.

And maybe. It may be something very mundane. And there's nothing. You know. Romantic about it.

Or exciting about it. Nothing grand about it. But you can look at it and say. I did that heartily. And of course. Paul says in Colossians.

As to the Lord. And not to men. Now we do it for men. He's not discounting. Or eliminating. The idea that we will also do it. For those we work for. And we would want to honor them.

In that way. But it's a matter of priority. We do it as unto the Lord. And not to men. That's why we do it. To work heartily. Wholeheartedly.

Alright. Number 11. Work expectantly. Verse 8. Knowing.

Knowing what? Knowing that whatever good anyone does. And what he's just describing. This work ethic.

And following all of these instructions. And applying all of these principles to your work ethic. That's doing a good thing. That. Whatever good anyone does.

He will receive the same from the Lord. There isn't anything wrong with expecting a blessing from God.

For obeying. His word. The Bible teaches. Obedience brings blessing.

And it's okay for us to expect that from the Lord. Now. We don't need to expect it on our own time schedule. It may not be immediate.

It may not be right away. It may not be by way of those you work for. It may never come that way. It may not come in this life. Some of it. In fact. A lot of it. But our reward is with the Lord.

And as God's people. As Christians. Our expectations in life. Should reach way beyond. This life. In fact.

The better part of it. Reaches beyond this life. The grander part of it. In the form of God's rewards and blessings.

Goes way beyond this life. So much so that if we. Were to somehow live our entire lives. Without any blessing for good works.

Any blessing realized here. Even if that were to happen. We would still have that great expectation. That God.

Will reward. So. Knowing that good work is rewarded. If not by the. Lord with a little L. Then certainly by the Lord. With a capital L. He will reward.

Transcription by CastingWords