Colossians 3:22-25

Colossians chapter 3, reading verses 22 to 25 for our text and study this morning. Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. Not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not on demand. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. May God bless to us His sacred and holy word this morning. Here we are at the beginning of a new week, and for many tomorrow starts another cycle, perhaps a monotonous one, of work. Maybe it’s another mountain of washing and ironing. Maybe it’s this. same dull routine on the assembly line. Maybe it’s traveling around the country with regard to sales work. Maybe it’s some tedious task sitting in front of a computer somewhere. Maybe it’s the endless job of repairing machines or serving people in some capacity. Now, you may think that pastoring a church or serving as a missionary are the only sacred occupations. You may think that what you do doesn’t really mean much for the kingdom of God. However, I would direct your attention to our text because it teaches you otherwise. Every single Christian does sacred work. Yes, ironing clothes doing laundry, changing diapers, landscaping, building houses, selling goods, repairing machines, operating computer, are all spiritual jobs for the Christian. Paul, in this passage of scripture as we related last week, is speaking specifically about slaves. Those are owned lock, stock, and barrel by a master. However, the principles that are taught in this particular text of Scripture certainly apply to all workers, the hired servant, if you would, as well. What you find here, especially for our day and the application of it, is the idea here of biblical labor relations. And we see the workers’ duty in chapter 3, verses 22 to 25, and we see the employer’s duty in chapter 4 and verse 1. Now, in our day, there is often a tremendous amount of friction between employers and employees. Sometimes there’s constant strife. There’s selfishness. There is unreasonableness. The solution to labor relations problems is found right here in our text. If the workers would follow the principles here in verses 22 to 25, and if the employeeers would follow the principle of chapter 4, verse 1, there would be much better relations on the work site. Today, I wish to focus your attention on the Christian worker from this passage. And next week, Lord willing, I will consider the Christian businessman in chapter 4 in verse 1. let me begin by saying this. Let’s talk about how you should conduct yourself as a Christian worker from verse 22. Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. you are to have the right behavior. Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. Interestingly enough, the first command here is sort of similar to the command that’s given the children obeying their parents in all things here. You have somebody over you and you are to obey them. And that is what the message here is about. obey in all things your masters, your bosses. You’re under the authority of the business owner. And so you are to be submissive to him as your boss. In all things that you are instructed to do, there should be a willingness and a readiness to do what you are commanded to do at work. Now, your masters here, it says, according to the flesh. That is, in all things related, the bodily service, not with regard to your conscience or with the religious worship, but in the things we’re relating to this world that he’s talking about. You have another master, of course, which is Christ, and he is the one is the given priority. But here we see, according to the flesh, these masters rule over us. And the only exception to this all things, would be if you were instructed to do something that would be unbiblical, would be illegal or immoral or some sort. You’re not entitled even to preferential treatment if you work for a Christian businessman. You ought to work for him diligently, knowing he’s a brother in Christ. You may sit in the church service with a Christian boss and you are equal in Christ. But when you get on the job site, you’re going to submit to his authority because he’s the boss. When we think about Philemon and Onesimus, that was the case when they worship together at the church at Colossi. So obedience is not an option here. It’s a divine command. Now, as a hard worker, not as a slave, but if you were a hard worker, but if you were a hard, hard worker here, you have the freedom to resign your position and search for another. But while you’re working for a specific company, you’re obligated to obey your boss with regard to earthly tasks. You ought to be an example of one who can take orders and carry them out. Many years ago, I worked for a diesel engine company as a partsman, and we had an employee in the parts department, he often simply ignored whatever the parts manager told him to do and did whatever he wanted to do. If he was assigned to pull a parts order, while he’d be finding an excuse to do something else. He would be doing a delivery route. The boss would say, well, didn’t you get that order? Pulled, well, I had to do a delivery route. Or he would unload engines from a truck, or he’d hunt for a part for someone else. Eventually, the parts manager just gave him these little menial tasks because he couldn’t trust him to do anything. He gave him a job he wouldn’t get done. The company actually tried to fire him, but the union was able to protect him and spare his job. Even he went to a court, even went to court against him, and he still managed to hang on. You’re not to be like that when you go to work. You should be dependable. You should faithfully carry out the task assigned to you. So they have the right attitude and the right behavior, excuse me. is behavior. Be obedient in all things, he says. The second thing, he says, is you were to have the right commitment. You are not to work hypocritically, not with eye service as men pleasers. Now, this is very pertinent today. The boss shouldn’t have to stand over your shoulder to get you to work. Some workers do the workers do the, absolute minimum when the boss isn’t around, just enough to make sure they keep themselves out of trouble. As long as the boss is around and watching, well, they’re busy. They’re active. Just soon as the boss leaves its party time and they begin to goof off. You ought to be that type of worker who is always keep an eye out on the boss. Where’s the boss? To determine how you will work. You’ll be a busy, busy, if the boss is in hand, and when the boss isn’t there, well, you’ll do whatever you want to do and goof off. The idea here is that we’re supposed to be faithful, regardless of when the bosses they are watching over us or not. But some people will say, when they want to give the impression that they’re a diligent worker, because when the boss is around, they’re diligent. As soon as he’s he’s gone, they’re not diligent. That’s being someone who’s trying to please the eye of the boss, you see. Your entire focus is on pleasing men. Make sure you look good before your boss. Rather, you ought to be the type of worker that doesn’t need to be checked up on, that once you’re given a task, you do it faithfully. And it shouldn’t matter whether the boss is watching over you or not. You’re still going to do the same amount of work. In other words, your work ethic shouldn’t depend. on whether the boss is watching. It’s interesting, if you read the account of Joseph, he’s working as a slave for the Egyptian Potiphar. The Bible says that Joseph did his work so carefully, so diligently, that even eventually Potiphar didn’t bother to oversee him or check up on him any longer. In fact, the scripture says that Potiphar left all that he had in Joseph’s hands and he knew not ought he had save the bread which he did eat. Genesis 39, 6. In other words, he just counted on Joseph to take care of everything. He didn’t have to worry about Joseph. Joseph Joseph. We’re going to make sure everything get done. All he knew about was the food to put on his table. Imagine that, having that kind of worker for you. So you’re not to work hypocritically. and the second part of verse 22 is this, you are to concentrate on the task assigned to you and do it well. But in singleness of heart, he says. This phrase is similar to the expression that Christ used in the sermon of the Mount when he talked about a single eye. It’s the opposite of being double-visioned or double-minded. But I think the idea is the focus, the concentrate on the task in hand. You’re to do your work with undivided. attention here. Whatever the boss assigned you to do, we should do it wholeheartedly. We shouldn’t allow other things to distract from our duty here so that your time at work is really productive because you’re being paid to do a certain task. You know, when I, I used to work at a corrugated box company in Texas, and there was a man there that built the, rebuilt the entire engine of his car. wow, he was on the clock. He worked in this remote location in the factory. And at that time, they didn’t have a night boss. They didn’t have any one for the night shift. And so he’d be back there and he’d get the machine started or whatever it was. And the next thing, when we went back to see him, he’s under the car. He’s under his truck or his car of doing, rebuilding the engine. And he had it in the back of the, of the, of the factory there that I was working at. And so the whole time he’s supposed to be on the clock, he’s rebuilding his engine. I don’t know how he, you know how he did that. I once worked with a man named, nicknamed Stush, we call him Stush, who used to be an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He would go to every single home game and he even would drive to Buffalo, Cincinnati, in Cleveland for the away games and root for his team. He was such a fanatic. He would take draft day off so that he could stay home and you’d diligently watch the draft that would take place. Now, when he came to work on Monday mornings, forget about the first hours up to noon. He wasn’t going to get anything done whatsoever. All he was going to talk about is the Pittsburgh Steelers in yesterday’s game. That was his morning. It took him about noon until he finally settled down and would do any serious work. The entire morning was lost. This was every single Monday when the football season was on. Now, God would have you as a Christian to concentrate on your work and not be like that. Don’t cheat the company or your boss. Be faithful in doing your work. So you would have to have a Christian. the right commitment, he tells you here. The third thing here is that you would have the right attitude. And the right attitude is, according to the last phrase of verse 22, fearing God. Now you might expect Paul to say, fearing your boss, fearing your manager, or something of this nature. But he takes this to a higher level, doesn’t he? Fearing God. God sees, and he knows all things what serves? servants do when their boss is absent, he knows. And ultimately, you are accountable to God. Christ is your true master. Is he not? So for everything you do, you’re accountable to him. If you carry out your work assignment, ultimately you’re responsible to God. If you fear God, then you will conscientiously discharge your service. in a faithful manner. You will not misspend the boss’s time or embezzle the company’s goods or waste his substance. In other words, here you are at work, and you’re to conduct yourself in such a way that you bring honor and glory to the Lord. By the way you work. You’re to conduct yourself toward your employer in such a way that he’s going to see what the Christian faith does. in an individual, what it accomplishes. Once this objective is understood, this idea that you were fear God in what we do, you will recognize your inadequacy to portray Christ as you should in the workplace. You will fear the possibility of maybe misrepresenting Christ by failing to do your job well. You’re to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And there is a sense in which that includes your attitude that you have at work and what you do, and we want to do it in the right way. And fear the Lord. I was reading, I was always been interested in World War II, and maybe because my father was in the war, and I always did a lot of reading about World War II. And during the time of Nazi Germany’s invasion, Russia in World War II. Stalin, the communist Russian leader, issued a strange order. Before that time, Christians were treated harshly under a communist regime. However, the laws and the regulations concerning Christianity in Russia were all of a sudden relaxed by Stalin of all people. The explanation of that was, Stalin observed that the the most reliable work people in the whole country were the Christians. And he could count on them to do their job. He therefore treated them less harshly under a German invasion, thinking, well, we need them, so I’ve got to let them work. And so he never became a Christian, far from it. But he made an observation that Christianity in practice makes an impression. These guys work diligently. So this is how you should conduct yourself as a Christian worker. The second thing he says here is why. He talks about why you should conduct yourself as a Christian worker in this manner. And he takes that up in verses 23 to 25. The first is this. You are ultimately working for the Lord. Verse 23. Whatever whatsoever you do, do it hardly as to the Lord, not unto men. And notice the Lord. last part of verse 24, for you serve the Lord Christ. When you become a believer, everything becomes new to you. Even work becomes new to you. How you, you’re no longer just working for the boss. You’re working for the Lord. So it changes the whole perspective of your work situation. You don’t look at your job in the same light anymore. Yes, you have masters according to the flesh, but you also have a master in heaven. Your main desire is to do the will of Christ, who is your ultimate master. Whatever you do, regarding your whole life, but specifically in this text, your work, do it as to the Lord and not on the men. This is why you’re to do your work heartily without being forced, not graced. Not not murmuring. We should delight in serving Christ. To please Christ should be your first consideration as a worker. That’s the key idea. Now, you don’t go to work thinking this. Well, this pagan business owner doesn’t deserve my best effort. You don’t say to yourself, well, the owner doesn’t pay well enough or provide adequate working conditions for me, so I don’t have to be diligent in my work. You don’t say this is a lousy job and the boss can’t therefore expect me to do too much. You say, I’m the servant of Christ. My work is unto him, and it has to be done unto him. Christ is your real boss, and you have to give an account to him. This is why we look at everything that we do is the Lord’s work. You’re washing clothes? You’re washing them under the Lord. Are you irony? you’re ironing under the Lord. You’re changing diapers? You’re changing diapers under the Lord. Are you digging ditches? You’re digging on the Lord. You’re doing computer work, laying bricks, stocking shells. It doesn’t matter. It’s supposed to be done under the Lord. There really isn’t then a secular job for the Christian. Everything takes on importance because it’s done under the Lord. Many years ago, I worked at a diesel engine company, as I said, as a partsman. and there was always this tension, a great deal of tension between the company and the workers. Some people would come in, some of the truck drivers that came in, they said they could actually feel the tension when they walked in that door. The hostility abounded. It seemed like the company was always trying to take advantage of the workers, and then the workers, in response, they were not going to give an honest day’s work, and there just was this animosity. Needless to say, it wasn’t an easy environment to work in as a Christian. And I would have to remind myself every single morning I went to work. This is what I said to myself, you are working for Christ. Do not let the management embitter you and do less work because of it. I had to actually tell myself that every morning, remind myself, don’t allow this to change your attitude about work. Several bosses. even the owner commended me on my work ethic. But the secret was, I was doing it unto Christ. It wasn’t, I was working just for my boss. If I was working for my boss, who, if I really got down to it, it was a liar and a deceiver and a cheater and everything else, he wasn’t a very nice person. But the bottom line is you’re not really working for him. You’re working for the Lord, ultimately. And therefore, you’re most of the most of the bottom line. mindset has to be right or you will never honor Christ in your work. So you’re ultimately working for the Lord. Secondly, you can expect the Lord to reward you. You notice, verse 24, knowing that the Lord of the Lord, ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance. We serve the Lord Christ. Now this is to encourage you as a Christian work. Let’s face it, you may not be appreciated by earthly masters. There are people. people, you know, bosses that will treat you as just a cog in the wheel, and when you wear out, they throw you off, and you’re done, and they’ll get somebody else. But Christ never slights those who serve him. No good work done in his name, and for his glory, will go unnoticed. Or fail to receive his blessing. The reward of the inheritance he refers specifically to heavenly glory. glory. The eternal reward. Remember that Moses in the book of Hebrews 11 had respect under the recompense of the reward. That’s why he was willing to desert the riches of Egypt and the position that he had there to follow the things of Christ and thrown his lot among the people of God. There is a gracious reward that’s given to God’s people. It’s not earned really or merited by our work. it comes in the form of an inheritance. An inheritance is something that’s given to you. You don’t earn it. It’s freely bestowed. But the idea here is that God will repay you. Ten thousand times over. For all the disappointments, all the discouragements, all the mistreatments you receive, if you are trying to serve Christ, even on the workplace, and you’re mistreated, and you’re not paid what you should, he’ll take care of it. it. Ultimately, he will balance that all up. Christ will grant you a wonderful inheritance which will make you make all the unjust treatment you receive seem like a light thing. Maybe seem like a big thing now, but ultimately it’s light in comparison to the blessing of eternity. So you can expect the Lord to reward you. The third thing is this. You expect the Lord to punish those who mistreat you. Verse 25. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done done, and there is no respect of persons. It’s true that this verse could apply to both servants servants as well as masters with equal force. But given the context here, I believe it’s to encourage the Christian worker, and therefore it is specific. specifically referencing the masters. Now, if you look at Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 9, the parallel passage says this, and you masters do the same things under them for bearing threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven. Neither is their respect to persons with him. So it’s connected in Ephesians with the masters, and therefore I’m connecting it here in the book of Colossians with the masters specifically. If your boss mistreats you, if he cheat you out of your pay, if he doesn’t fulfill his promises, if you’re treated cruelly, you as a Christian may be harmed in some fashion. However, you are told here that Christ as the righteous judge will avenge you. He will stand up for you. Sooner or later, Christ avenges his faithful servants who cry out to him in their distress. Ultimately, the full repayment of the evil done to you will take place at the day of judgment. But the important point is this is that Christ will do it. And this phrase at the end indicates to us why he will do so. There is no respect to persons with regard to the Lord. By the word person here, it means something about the person which would influence or color your judgment. The Lord doesn’t take in account your beauty, your rank in society, your wealth, your educational advantages, or your friendships, and so forth. Paul informs masters that they are mistaken if they think, or they suppose, that their servants are of little or no account with the Lord. The point is, God is no respect or persons so that the cause of the lowest of men will not be a wit less regarded by him than the loftiest monarchs. Do not imagine that the Lord will ignore your plight because you’re just a little man on the totem pole at the job. You’re of no consequence. The Lord says he will not ignore your plight. In 17th century, France, a crime was committed, the court would want to know, first of all, what your social status was. He would know, the judge would want to know what your social status was as the guilty party. A man of lower rank, if you were a commoner, you would be punished more severely than one of high rank, let’s say if you were rich or noble, nobility of nobility. Someone of the highest rank, such as royalty, maybe a famous family, a political leader, they would have the charges dropped completely. So this is the problem that still exists in our day. Depends on who you are sometimes when you go to court. Who gets off and who doesn’t get off. Doesn’t work that way with God. He is not one who gives preferential treatment. He meets out perfect justice. when he deals with people. So hopefully, now you understand, as we look at this text, that the Christian is always engaged in sacred work. Regardless of his occupation, how you should conduct yourself as a Christian worker, have the right behavior, the right commitment, the right attitude. Verse 22. Why you should conduct yourself in this manner as a Christian worker, ultimately. you’re working for the Lord, verse 23. Expect the Lord to reward you. Verse 24. And last of all, expect the Lord to punish those who mistreat you. Verse 25. This is the background here for this work that we are to do. And I pray that as Christians, we would do our work in such a manner that others would recognize Christ is our Lord and Savior, that it makes it dreams and how we conduct ourselves. Let us close.