All right, thank you, Wes. Please take out your copy of God's Word. Turn to Paul's letter to the Colossians. Chapter 3.
Our text for today is Colossians 3, verse 22 through chapter 4, verse 1.
Before we read it together, I'm going to say to you that my comments this morning concerning this text will be brief, at least brief-ish.
If you're a guest with us, this is not the norm. The Word of God is incredibly rich.
Even if we break down each sermon as we move verse by verse, even down to just a single sermon, there's so much to be said.
There's so much layer in God's Word. And so, it's normally not the way that we handle things.
I go 45 to an hour. Hopefully 45.
The Word of God requires great care, both in its exegesis and in its application.
And this morning's text is not an exception to that rule. I'm not suggesting that we're saying,
eh, it doesn't really matter. But I'm going to be brief this morning for two reasons.
The reason of less importance is that we have a number of matters to handle at the end of our service.
And at some point, we have to wrap this up together.
And so, for the sake of time in that regard, I'm going to try to keep my comments brief.
And the second, which is of greater importance, I think of primary importance,
is that Paul's exhortations in these verses are simple.
And simple commands should be understood and obeyed simply.
This week, I just found that I didn't really need to make it too terribly complex.
That there was no real need to parse verbs for you and help you get some other depth of knowledge
that really isn't in the text.
There's a couple of simple exhortations for us.
Last week, we looked at four exhortations for the household of the new self.
To remind you where we've been in chapter 3 and to catch some of you up
who haven't been here with us this summer,
chapter 3, verse 1 reads,
If then you have been raised with Christ,
so if you are in Christ, if you are a Christian,
your heart's been made new because of the regenerating work of the power of the Spirit in your life,
then we are to seek the things that are above,
where Christ is seated.
Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
We're to set our minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
So, we now have this reorientation because our old self is dead,
and we have a new self.
And Paul expounds upon this, verse 5,
that we should put to death, therefore, what is earthly in us.
And then picking up in verse 10,
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed.
Verse 12,
Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved.
And he begins to list these proper activities of the Christian life,
as well as telling us the things that we ought not be doing.
And I've stressed to you that he's not giving us exhaustive lists,
but he's primarily talking about sins of misplaced love or misplaced hate.
And then he's giving us the positive, how it is we should live together in community.
He's specifically speaking to the church.
But last week, we saw a bit of a shift, a little bit of a narrowing of his scope.
While he's talking about the Christian church at large,
the church here in Function Together at Colossae,
he goes a little narrower to talk about the Christian household.
So, we saw these exhortations to wives, to husbands, to children, and to parents last week.
And this week really is a continuation of these exhortations,
of exhortation for the Christian household.
The application of which is really rather simple for us.
And we'll get into that.
But let's read the text together.
Colossians 3, 22 through 4, 1.
Paul writes,
And beloved, this is God's word to us.
It's written for His glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it this morning in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
Now, as we look at the text this morning, I've broken it down into four points for us.
The first one is,
the aim of Paul's exhortation here is not social or political commentary.
This is not the point of what he's trying to accomplish as he's speaking to the church at Colossae.
It's not social or political commentary.
He's not in this text seeking to destroy the institution of slavery.
Now, he's already commented on new spiritual realities for those who are in Christ.
Look back up in chapter 3 to verse 11, where he writes,
So he says,
All these dividing barriers, which were strong barriers in this day,
probably much stronger than anything we experience today in our particular social context,
that all of these things are torn down for those who Christ is all.
He is the great equalizer in the Christian church.
So he's already, in some sense, in the spiritual sense,
he's put away the idea of slave and free.
That a free man and a slave could come together and have unity in Christ
has already been stated in Colossians 3.11.
The gospel certainly has social and political implications.
It has come into this world and it is making the world new,
bringing about redemption for a broken place.
But it does not change those realities in a moment.
Isn't that where we find ourselves living between kind of these two worlds
where Christ has ushered in the kingdom of God,
but yet it's yet to fully arrive.
He's returned to heaven.
He's seated at the right hand of the Father.
And we're eagerly awaiting His return to establish forever His reign here on earth.
It's coming to pass.
But, all the same, we ought to be, as Christians, working to change our society.
We ought to want to see things improve.
And the gospel certainly has the power to do so and has had throughout history.
I should give you a couple examples.
Some names that may be familiar to you, some that may not.
And the way in which these people were not only preachers of the gospel, missionaries,
but worked in social context to bring about change.
John Wesley and Elizabeth Fry worked very hard in their lives for prison reform,
saw some success in that.
I hope most of you are familiar with William Wilberforce,
who labored in his life and finally saw the abolition of British slavery.
Theodore Fleidner built German hospitals.
George Mueller cared for thousands of orphans.
William Carey worked to abolish and found success in abolishing widow burning and child sacrifice in India.
David Livingston and many others in Africa discouraged polygamy,
fought the slave trade, built schools, and built hospitals.
Christianity is good for the world.
Because God's ways are far more excellent than man's ways.
Man is completely corrupt by sin apart from Christ.
And at his greatest effort, fouls everything up.
Christianity comes into those social and political contexts
and brings about good and right and proper change.
But that's not what Paul's trying to do here.
Understand that the slavery of Paul's day, for the most part,
was much different than the historical slavery that we are all aware of.
The slavery that happened here in our own country.
You need to understand that in this day, in the Greco-Roman world,
more than 50% of the population was a slave population.
It was not typically ethnically driven,
although there were times that people would go and conquer another people and make them slaves.
But more often than not, it was economically driven.
Many of the people that were slaves in this day
volunteered themselves as slaves because they could not afford to live.
They did not have the means necessary,
and so they hired themselves out, essentially,
put themselves on the market,
and they were bought in this way.
Not always the case.
But generally speaking, it was a bit of a different environment.
But also, he is not endorsing slavery in this text.
The Bible certainly does not endorse slavery,
particularly in the way that we think about and understand slavery.
Just to give you a couple of examples,
Exodus 21.16 says,
Whoever steals a man and sells him,
and anyone found in possession of him,
shall be put to death.
And in 1 Timothy 1.10,
And enslavers are mentioned in a list of men
counted as lawless and disobedient.
But this is not ultimately what Paul is trying to do.
The second point, Paul's aim,
is to instruct the Christian
in whatever situation he or she may find themselves in
to live in a way that honors the Lord.
Verse 22,
Bond servants or servants, slaves,
obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,
not by way of eye service as people-pleasers,
but with sincerity of heart,
fearing the Lord.
Obey in everything.
Just as we saw was the case with wives and children
in the preceding verses,
the will of the one placed over you
should be obeyed,
provided that your obedience does not break
the command of God.
Note the phrase,
those who are your earthly masters.
Husbands,
husbands,
parents,
and masters in this context,
bosses in ours,
are instruments of God
and He ultimately rules over them.
Chapter 4, verse 1.
Masters,
treat your bond servants justly and fairly,
knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
And so if your earthly master,
if your parents,
if your husband,
if you're a wife,
asks you,
commands you to do something outside the law of God,
you have God's permission to circumnavigate in that case.
Otherwise,
you are to obey in everything.
Not simply to please on the outward appearance.
It says,
not just by way of eye service as a people-pleaser.
Not just going through the motions,
right?
Making it look good,
but with the sincerity of your heart
because you fear the Lord.
With a proper and right understanding and perspective on God,
your ultimate master,
the one whom you ultimately serve,
doing things from the heart with sincerity.
And Paul gives two proper motivations for this.
One in the positive and one in the negative.
The positive is found in verse 24.
Knowing that from the Lord,
you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
Again,
as I just said,
because ultimately you are serving Christ.
And if you are serving Christ,
if you have this proper and right understanding,
if you are a servant
and in everything obey your earthly master,
you're doing it because you're a Christian.
Because you're found in Him.
Don't divorce this from the rest of the chapter.
Remember what we started talking about
at the beginning of chapter 3.
He's still talking about these things
as Christian people that we should put off
and those things that we should be putting on.
So as a Christian person,
you will live in this way.
This is the positive
because there's a promise.
You'll receive the inheritance
as your reward.
And it's tempting at this point
as we look at verse 25
and then the negative motivation in,
excuse me,
in verse 24
and the negative motivation in verse 25
to kind of spin off,
maybe try to sort out
kind of what heaven's going to look like
and how we'll be rewarded
or how we may be punished
if we're found in Christ.
I don't think Paul means
it to be nearly that complex.
He simply says,
the inheritance.
And in the Greek,
the article is there.
The is actually in the original text.
And so what I think he's talking about
is that our proper and right orientation
as servants or employees in our case
should be because we are Christians
as a response to what God has done
on our behalf,
we should serve the Lord
knowing full well
that we don't live for this world,
but we live for eternity.
The inheritance of eternal life with Him.
He is our master.
He is our King.
We'll serve Him now and forevermore.
Let me give you a cross reference for this.
Romans 2, verses 6-8.
Paul writes there,
He will render to each one
according to His works.
To those who by patience in well-doing
seek for glory and honor and immortality,
He will give eternal life.
But for those who are self-seeking
and do not obey the truth
but obey unrighteousness,
there will be wrath.
And fury.
Because of who we are,
the right and proper good response
as Christian people,
we will obey.
Take your bulletin.
There's a quote which I didn't plan to use,
but it's just fitting.
If I spurge it on the front of it,
which says,
those whom free grace chooses,
free grace cleanses,
we are not chosen because we are holy,
but chosen to be holy.
And being chosen,
the purpose is no dead letter,
but we are made to seek after holiness.
So by the same grace that saves us,
this grace perfects us.
And therefore,
we work as we are serving the Lord Christ.
The second motivation found in verse 25
stated in the negative,
for the wrongdoer will be paid back
for the wrong he has done
and there is no partiality.
Here I believe that Paul is referring to
immediate punishment,
immediate wrongdoing.
If you choose this other path,
if you're going to not serve your master
as you should,
there will be consequences for this.
Galatians 6-7 says,
Do not be deceived.
God is not mocked.
For whatever one sows,
that will he also reap.
It will go well with you
if you walk in the ways of God.
And it will not if you do not.
So that was the second point.
Thirdly,
Paul does not neglect
God's desire for justice.
Chapter 4, verse 1.
Masters, treat your bondservants
justly and fairly,
knowing that you also have a master
in heaven.
Now I'm sure you've already noted,
seen the interesting chapter break here.
Isn't it strange
when a sermon is preached
that crosses over a chapter break?
It doesn't happen very often.
Typically,
chapters and verses
are divided up very neatly
and appropriately.
This is an interesting one.
But let me remind you,
if you don't already know,
that chapters and verses
are not inspired.
The original Greek text
did not have chapter and verse.
In fact,
had no punctuation either.
They're not inspired.
The ones we have before us today
are largely taken
from the Geneva Bible.
And there's a history
behind that as well.
Other sourcing
and historical roots
for how the Geneva
arrived at the way that it did.
This one is a bit of a mystery.
And I didn't take a ton of time
this week.
I just didn't think it was
of great value
for my week
and the effort of it
to figure out
why exactly,
possibly,
this had happened.
But I did find
an interesting quote.
Another Spurgeon quote,
of course,
and he wrote
of this text,
I sometimes think
that the good men
who chop the Bible
up into chapters
must have hoped
that we should not
read this message
to the masters
as he had put it
in another chapter.
But I never like to read
about the servants
without also reading
about the masters.
There are six for one
and half a dozen
for the other
and as is usual
in the scriptures
there are balanced duties.
If there is
an exhortation
to the children
there is generally
one to the parents
close by.
And if there is
a word to wives
there is one
for husbands too.
And so he postulates
that it's possible
that the people
who chopped this up
just didn't want us
to see it together.
We don't know.
But certainly
we need to take it
together.
Both the implications
for both sides
of this relationship.
So addressed here
Paul says
in this social system
that exists
masters
treat your slaves
or your bond servants
justly and fairly.
Deal with them
appropriately
as the God of heaven
because we also
have a master
in heaven
has treated you.
There's a great deal
of theme
in the scriptures
concerning justice.
Let me give you
two Old Testament
examples.
Micah 6.8
says
Proverbs 21.3
To do righteousness
and justice
is more acceptable
to the Lord
than sacrifice.
And so this is
required
in this relationship
that Paul is writing
to that masters
would treat their slaves
justly
and fairly.
And this is the way
in which the new self
affects the Christian
household.
Likely cared for
in this way.
Wives and children
with servants
in the home
doing a work there.
The servants
should obey
in everything
with a sincerity
of heart
looking to please
God ultimately
and the masters
should treat them
justly and fairly
recognizing
that they have
a master
in heaven.
I don't think
any of us
in this room
have servants
in our home.
Maybe some of you
can pay somebody
to come over
and cut your grass
or clean up
after you
but more than likely
we don't.
And so we need
to ask the question
what is the
application
for our context?
In verse 23
I think
to bring us back
to and pull that
I didn't skip it
it's here
in our preaching.
Whatever you do
children you should
know this one
we've been memorizing it
work heartily
as for the Lord
and not for men.
That's found within
this exhortation
to the slave.
I'm not ignoring that
but he says
whatever you do
whatever you're asked
to do
work heartily
as for the Lord
and not for men.
And I think rightly
we can take the principles
found here
and we can draw them
into our modern day
to speak of
any situation
that we find ourselves in
where there is an authority
figure placed
over us.
Namely
for our church
your job
and schooling
your classroom
as well
that you recognize
while we do so
voluntarily
you don't have to
work at your job
you don't have to
be a student
at the University of
North Georgia
or at one of the other
schools in our area
you can sign up
for a class
and you can drop
the class
you can say
I really don't like
the professor
already in this first week
I can tell
I'm not going to
enjoy this class
and you can get
out of the class
we voluntarily
submit ourselves
to the authority
but once we are
submitted to that authority
while we are
under their
guidance
we should do this
in the same way
heartily
we should throw
our very being
into the work
that we're doing
because we're not
ultimately working
for them
ultimately we're
working for God
God has put us
in this world
to work and to keep
to produce
and we ought to
do that well
beloved Christians
should be the very
very best
of students
and the very
very best
of employees
not that we're
necessarily the
smartest
or the most
talented
but we ought to
be the hardest
workers
we should be
the ones that
are showing up
early and leaving
late
we should be
the ones that
work through
the lunch break
we should be
the ones that
leverage all
that we have
for the sake
of our
employer
or for the sake
of your
professor
people should
be impressed
by the way
in which
we work
a great deal
of devotion
on our part
because we're
not doing it
for them
we're doing it
for God
God has placed
tasks ahead
of us
and we ought
to do them
heartily
throw your energy
into the things
that you have
going on
and if you can't
rightly work
for a boss
or for
being a class
and being
underneath
a professor
then stop
but until
you do
be obedient
to the thing
that God
has asked
of you
a note
in our
employment
especially for
you young
people who
are looking
toward that
so many
of us
enslave
ourselves
to our
employers
by the
lifestyle
that we
choose
to live
we get
ourselves
in a
living
situation
where we
couldn't
possibly
lose
the job
or quit
the job
because we're
so financially
strapped
we're so
tight
we're living
right up
to our
limit
paycheck
to paycheck
is often
the phrase
being used
that if you
were to
come out
from underneath
the authority
of that
individual
you couldn't
possibly
survive
Proverbs 22
7 says
the rich
rules over
the poor
and the
borrower
is the
slave
of the
lender
so this
is an
aside
to that
be careful
how you
spend
your
money
and who
you get
involved
with
because
once you
are
God
says
be obedient
in everything
provided that
you don't
break the
commandment
of God
now in
closing
I want you
guys to
turn to
Romans chapter
6 with
me
if you're
a regular
with us
you are
shocked
that I
just said
in closing
we've got
a little
ways to
go
I want
to pause
it to
you
I want
you to
stop
and think
about
this
phrase
that I'm
about
saying
that I'm
going to
give you
some
biblical
proof
of it
but that
is
that we
are all
every
one of
us
right
in
Christ
not in
Christ
all of
humanity
all of
us
are
slaves
to
something
we
are
all
slaves
to
something
you
are
a
slave
to
whatever
it
is
that
you
worship
and I
want to
show you
that
in
Romans
chapter
6
beginning
in
verse
15
we're
picking
up
in
the
middle
of
his
argument
so
you
see
that
you
may
be
a
little
confused
but
we're
picking
up
at
verse
15
what
then
are
we
to
sin
because
we
are
not
under
law
but
under
grace
by
no
means
do
you
not
know
that
if
you
present
yourselves
!
to
anyone
as
obedient
slaves
you
are
slaves
to
the
one
whom
you
obey
so
you
get
the
logic
there
right
if
you
are
a
slave
if
you
present
yourself
to
a
slave
someone
you're
a
slave
of
them
that's
exactly
what
he's
saying
you
are
obligated
to
obey
that
authority
then
he
goes
on
to
say
in
the
last
part
of
16
either
of
sin
which
leads
to
death
or
of
obedience
which
leads
to
righteousness
but
thanks
be
to
God
that
you
who
were
once
slaves
of
sin
have
become
obedient
from
the
heart
to
the
standard
of
teaching
to
which
you
were
committed
and
having
been
set
free
from
sin
have
become
slaves
of
righteousness
so
having
been
set
free
from
being
a
slave
of
sin
you've
just
transitioned
now
old
self
you've
transitioned
new
self
to
being
a
slave
of
righteousness
verse
19
Paul
says
I
am
speaking
in
human
terms
because
of
your
natural
limitations
he's
saying
I'm
using
an
analogy
that
you
will
understand
for
just
as
you
once
presented
your
members
as
slaves
to
impurity
and
to
lawlessness
leading
to
more
lawlessness
so
now
present
your
members
as
slaves
to
righteousness
leading
to
sanctification
for
when
you
were
slaves
of
sin
you
were
free
in
regard
to
righteousness
you
didn't
have
to
be
righteous
is
what
he's
saying
when
you
were
a
slave
to
sin
but
what
fruit
were
you
getting
at
that
time
from
the
things
of
which
you
were
now
ashamed
for
the
end
of
those
things
is
death
but
now
that
you
have
been
set
free
from
sin
and
have
become
slaves
of
God
the
fruit
you
get
leads
to
sanctification
and
its
end
eternal
life
for
the
wages
of
sin
is
death
but
the
free
gift
of
God
is
eternal
life
in
Christ
Jesus
our
Lord
now
he
comes
at
it
in
Romans
6
from
the
opposite
side
he's
saying
here is
the
just
and
due
consequence
for
the
way
in
which
you
live
your
life
this
is
the
way
he's
tracking
our
logic
through
you
can
flip
the
entire
thing
over
to
say
that
if
we
are
slaves
of
sin
our
end
is
destruction
right
a certain
way
we're
not
going
to
be
able
to
put
off
the
old
self
because
we
still
are
the
old
self
but
if
you
are
in
Christ
you've
changed
positionally
no longer
a slave
of
sin
but
now
a slave
of
something
else
he
actually
gives
us
three
things
kind
of
in
progression
here
in
verse
16
slaves
of
obedience
verses
18
and 19
of
righteousness
and
verse
22
of
God
that
we
will
in
fact
live
underneath
our
master
this
is
the
great
proof
of
who
we
are
we
are
all
slaves
to
something
and
you
have
to
ask
yourself
that
question
this
morning
this
is
a
good
and
right
thing
to
ask
yourself
on
a
continual
basis
what
am
I
a
slave
of
what
do
I
ultimately
worship
how
does
my
life
reflect
who
I
am
I
hope
with
a
great
deal
of
longing
that
everyone
who
can
hear
me
this
morning
can
say
with
confidence
I
am
a
slave
of
Christ
I'm
a
slave
of
God
I'm
a
slave
of
righteousness
I'm
a
slave
of
obedience
I
find
at
work
within
me
the
spirit
of
God
moving
me
in
that
way
not
perfect
not
made
perfect
!
I'm
certainly
not
but
I'm
being
moved
in
that
direction
I
recognize
that
I
no
longer
have
to
sin
I
don't
love
sin
the way
I
used
to
love
sin
I
love
righteousness
I
find
that
things
go
well
with
me
I
find
that
my
eyes
are
listed
towards
heaven
as
I
live
in
the
ways
of
God
it's
the
great
desire
of
my
life
to
honor
him
with
all
that
I
do
!
There
should
be
the
!
your
heart
if
you
are
you
have
gone
through
some
kind
of
rote
process
that
somebody
has
presented
to
you
have
raised
a
hand
you
have
walked
an
aisle
you
have
repeated
a
prayer
and
there
has
never
been
a
change
in
your
life
God
has
never
entered
into
you
and
regenerated
you
made
you
new
you
are
still
old
self
you
haven't
been
changed
positionally
this
is
a
possibility
!
for
you
the
other
is
that
you
are
just
so
cold
and
callous
to
the
gospel
that
God
has
changed
your
heart
but
you
have
just
walked
away
from
the
glorious
truth
of
it
maybe
for
some
of
you
your
sin
wasn't
so
great
in
your
mind
you
were
generally
a
good
person
I
can't
tell
you
how
many
testimonies
I've
heard
that
opened
up
I
wasn't
really
a
bad
person
you
know
partying
and
smoking
and
drinking
and
we'll
list
off
a
couple
of
other
kind
of
nominal
sins
or
not
at
all
sins
even
in
some
cases
you
were
a
wretched
horrible
enemy
of
God
everything
you
did
no
matter
how
minor
in
your
mind
screamed
at
him
I
hate
you
but
he
loved
you
and
he
sent
Christ
to
bear
the
wrath
of
all
that
sin
that
you've
committed
up
to
this
day
!
all
commit
you
were
his
enemy
and
he
made
you
his
friend
you
have
to
have
your
heart
warmed
back
up
by
the
truth
of
the
gospel
many
of
you
may
not
ever
spend
any
time
in
the
scripture
and
this
is
the
tool
that
the
spirit
uses
to
bring
about
change
in
us
this
is
the
great
thing
that
reminds
us
again
and
again
and
again
of
God's
great
love
for
us
in
Christ
keeps
me
warm
because
I
grow
cold
I
drift
away
from
this
I
get
away
from
reading
the
scripture
and
being
engaged
in it
and
meditating
on it
and
suddenly
I
forget
the
gospel
I
know
what up
here
but
my
heart
fails
to
believe
it
and
my
life
begins
to
look
more
like
my
old
self
and
less
like
my
new
self
I
forget
who
I
am
in
Christ
I
long
for
everyone
here
to
be
able
to
say
with
Paul
as
he
said
in
Galatians
2
20
I
have
been
crucified
with
Christ
it
is
no
longer
I
who
live
but
Christ
who
lives
in
me
and
the
life
I
now
live
in
the
flesh
I
live
by
faith
in
the
Son
of
God
who
loved
me
and
gave
himself
for
me
my
old
self
has
died
and
now
this
life
that
I
still
live
I
live
in
Christ
and
this
is
why
Paul
repeatedly
calls
himself
a
slave
of
Christ
in
salutations
Romans
1
Philippians
1
Titus
1
to
name
a
few
says
that
he
is
a
bond
servant
of
Jesus
Christ
you
were
bought
with
the
price
grace
is
not
cheap
you
don't
respond
to
some
invitation
and
then
live
however
you
want
to
live
you
must
live
in
response
to
the
gospel
if
you
are
in
Christ
your
life
will
look
different
and
it is a
great fear
as I
say these
things
to you
to
cast
doubt
where
doubt
doesn't
need
to be
but
it is
a
greater
fear
that
you
would
come
here
especially
you
young
people
across
your
college
career
and
get
false
assurance
after
false
assurance
after
false
assurance
because
the
end
is
too
great
it's
too
costly
a
thing
your
end
is
destruction
death
and
eternal
separation
from
God
if
you
don't
wrestle
with
this
idea
in
your
time
here
if
you
don't
actually
wrap
your
mind
around
Jesus
cannot
just
be
your
savior
he
has
to
be
your
savior
and
your
Lord
if
he
changes
who
you
are
you
of
Christ
and
your
life
must
reflect
this
let's
pray
together