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166 was in my law Possess we not our star by night, our sun by day.
Lord, thou hastro.
Now let us cry. I never very far.
I expressed a joy converting.
Thyself, our own, thy soul is by. I've got to play. It's a wild marketing noise and you can't come and flower here.
Oh no, it's late. You're right here. What, are you going to come back out and again?
Oh my dear.
And I changed my heart. I won't be for myself.
I'm changed out of all my gracious all I heard. We have, and I see it like here in the world.
Where you are.
That's great, our loving God and our Father, we ask for help for this time that we anticipate spending over Thy word.
We acknowledge that Thou has spoken to us over the past meetings, and we thank you for the words of.
Reproof and instruction that we've received for our hearts and for our conscience. Now we would just ask for a fresh portion here this afternoon.
'Cause that there would be strength and energy to carry out in our lives what we would hear and just that our, our hearts would be warmed and that there would be that that energy to follow the Lord Jesus. And so we would ask for thy help in this. Commit this time to thee and thy name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
We kind of talked in general terms about Ephesians 5 in the last meeting. Uh, do you have any thought where we should start, Tim?
I was hoping we could start with Ephesians 6. That would be OK with the brethren.
No, there's much more that could be said in chapter 5, but.
We go back there, we may never get to chapter 6, so the 1St 9 verses of chapter 6.
Perhaps that would be good.
Ephesians chapter 6, verse one.
Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment, with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
00:05:23
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ, not with eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.
With goodwill, doing service as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters do the same things unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is their respective persons with him.
And what alluded to in the previous meeting, that there are different ones that are instructed in this passage that we've had in Thursday season chapter 5 and exceeds in season chapter 6, might just point them out because God is very orderly in how He presents the truth in His Word. And so we have in verse 22, and then we have the husband instructed in verse 25.
And then we have the children instructed in chapter 6, verse one. And then we have the umm.
Fathers instructed in verse four. Then we have servants.
In verse five. And then we have the masters in verse 9.
And then we might say in verse 10 that we have the brethren, My brethren, I know it's not a part of those.
Instructions. But it's good to remember that these practical exhortations do eventually have a bearing upon how we go on with our brethren. And our brother Gordon used to remind us that if the family is not in good order, your family is not in good order, and there's an unhappy state in the family.
It's sooner or later filters down into the assembly. And so we could say that that 7th one in verse 10 has to do with the assembly. And so he says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.
We have in this chapter, verse one, a word that we haven't come across yet. That's the word obey. There's two kinds of obedience.
One is horse obedience. There's a word for that. That's a pressure.
We have had before us a different kind of obedience. In the previous chapter, a word that was means voluntary obedience. That submission has been pointed out.
There is submission as a thing of the heart. It's a voluntary obedience.
And so we have voluntary obedience to one another as brethren.
We have.
An expectation to the wife to be involuntary obedience.
Umm, but then come to children. It doesn't say submission. There should be submission, but it simply said obey because that is a command and it's it's not.
I mean, uh, whether it's oppressive or not, they're commanded to obey. And so likewise the service, they're commanded to obey. But the exhortation, especially to our brothers or wives is that do it voluntarily. And I think for children, it would be a good thing if they would do it voluntarily also. And.
I'll just bring that out the difference in.
Voluntary obedience and the.
Forced obedience.
Along that same line, Paul, someone has made the comment and there's truth in it that rules without a relationship produce rebellion.
00:10:09
Now rebellion is wrong. It's always wrong in that sense. And so we should obey. Children are to obey. But as you say, it's nice if it's voluntary. It should be that way. And the reason that it can be voluntary is again contained for us in verse 4, where we get the injunction, especially to fathers.
Not to provoke their children to RAW, that is, not to create an atmosphere of oppression, an atmosphere of rigid rules without any relationship at all. That tends to make rebellion in the child. So it's beautiful to see how perfectly balanced the scripture is. But at the same time, and properly so, it does not take away from the need for us to obey if we find ourselves in the position of children.
Because it says in verse one, this is right or this is just, I think is the Darby puts it very, very important principle which sad to say, we are finding is being severely neglected in the modern world.
And if we may say so, that attitude and and spirit is filtering down into Christianity where the wisdom of the world.
Such as it is, is being allowed to usurp the wisdom of the Word of God. But it's very, very important that children be taught to obey and to be taught to obey without questioning, without reasoning, without objections, and all the rest of it.
Very, very important according to Scripture and to maintain God's order in the home.
In Colossians chapter 3 we also have an excitation to obedience. Here it says.
Uh, obey your parents and the Lord and Colossians 3.
It says, obey your parents in all things. Then it goes on to say, For this is well pleasing, on to the war. So it's not only right, but it is well pleasing unto the Lord.
You might also say that.
We don't want to give license for a child to be disobedient, but we've had an order set before the children, but I believe is absolutely necessary. They should see in the household a wife that is obedient to her husband, and they should also see a husband that loves his wife. If those two things aren't seen in the family and there's this order in that, it's very difficult.
For a child to have been schooled properly and that love scene to obey, to learn to obey. Now again, I'm saying I'm not giving license, but I am saying that scripture puts things in order before it gets to the children that they might have proper objects to have learned from.
It's going to be like, uh, Eli, if you look at uh.
For Samuel, chapter 3.
Uh, we probably know these scriptures, but, uh.
Verse 11 And the Lord said to Sam, You'll behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle, And that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will also make an end. When I told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth. Notice he was responsible here because.
Because his sons.
Make themselves vile and be restrained them not.
Therefore I have sworn unto the House of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever. By contrast, Abraham commanded his house before him. Uh, so there's that authority, uh, uh, residing in the head of the house.
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It's interesting that the order that's given in the instruction here is, uh, to the wife, as we've said, and to the husband. And then the fruit of the marriage now is the children and there's instruction given to the children. And so it's instructive to read. I just want to turn to Malachi chapter 2. It says there in Malachi chapter 2 That just part way through verse 14.
And it says, She is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one, one flesh, yet had he the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one, that he might seek a godly seed. And so a Christian boy, young man, and a Christian young sister.
Mary, and what God's purpose was among the children of Israel is that a godly seed might be the result.
Of that union.
And so he was looking for fruit, and in the epistles of the Ephesians here he brings in this.
Fruit of the marriage, children. And there was to be that spirit that would be consistent with Christianity, a spirit of obedience and submission to the parents. And so this is right, or this is just. And then that's in the home. And then I believe verse two goes beyond it. Doesn't it honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment, with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth?
You will notice, and I'm not a very old man, but I have noticed in my brief time in this scene that those that rebel against their parents and those that dishonor their parents in a public way, generally speaking, have a shorter life than those that submit to their parents and those that honor their parents. Now it says in the Lord. And so I believe that there's a recognition that the children know the Lord Jesus as Savior and submit to Him.
As they acknowledge his lordship over them, but it's there's a reward we might say for obedience to the word of God. It's the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth. That was a promise specifically to the Jews to the children of Israel. But God in a sense applies this in the New Testament as.
Uh, evidence, umm, in his governmental ways, that he allows a longer life as a result of obedience to the Word of God and to the principles of the Word of God.
Yes, that's very, very true.
And even if God does allow them to have a relatively longer life, it doesn't go well with them, does it?
We can't use the converse and say that because someone as a Christian was taken home relatively young that we act or think in reverse and say, well, probably they didn't honor their parents correctly or something like that. No.
But at the same time, it is an important principle that God transfers over from the Old Testament. It's true even among us today that things do not go well with those who float the God-given authority of parents in the home.
In the last chapter we talked about, I think you mentioned it probably Bill, about reading our own mail.
This is very important when it comes to the husband and wife, but in a certain sense what we have here with the children and verse one is the male of the parents as well.
It's uh.
Actually, something that the parents need to pay attention to, you might say this is written to the children. And so when they get old enough and understand what this means and they're to do this, but that's not so. I mean, it is true, but it's not the only thing that's true. Before they're old enough to understand it, the parents need to teach it to them. And it's important as parents, we're responsible to teach that kind of Obi obedience to the children.
From when they're very young.
Look at First Timothy chapter 3 here. It's in this chapter speaking about the overseer and the assembly. And it's often been mentioned that this is what's required of an oversight overseer, but it certainly gives the qualifications that should be just so for a Christian father. And one of the things it says here in verse 4 is.
00:20:30
Says one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.
That's his responsibility, that they should be in that state. And no doubt there's various parts to that, such as having the marriage relationship in order, as already mentioned. But it also has to do with the father and the mother teaching the children from the earliest age that obedience and that authority without apologizing for it or any way shirking that responsibility that God gave them.
Brother John mentioned the verse from Genesis 18.
With Abraham, I know him that he will order his household after him. The Lord said Abraham was responsible to do that, and he did it.
And the Lord knew that he was going to do it, and he requires that. He requires that of us. And it says here in our verse, it says obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. It doesn't say here because it's reasonable.
Or because it makes sense doesn't say any of those things. It says because it's right or just. It's actually what God is looking for and his parents if we don't teach the young children.
This kind of obedience from their earliest stages will be very hard for them to come by the time they're able to read these words and do it. And so it's really, in a very real sense, our responsibility as parents to do this. And we need to take that responsibility before the Lord. There's a lot involved in it. And if we lose our children at the young age when they don't know the reason for obedience.
They're just starting out as.
Uh, really not understanding much at all except that they have a will and they want to do their will and that will have to be broken when they're very young or else they're going to get into a much more difficult state later on. And so I just say that, that we need to take, and this verse, the hardest is young parents, older parents, whoever we are, that we need to help our children from their early age to, to act on this and later on.
They'll come to understand. It's a great example, of course, that I can think of in Scripture is in First Samuel, where when Samuel was just old enough to be lean, that's all he was. When he was weaned, his mother took him there to where Eli was to the Tabernacle, and she left him there. And it says First Samuel chapter 2, I believe it is, that he worshiped the Lord there. Well, how did this child just lean go and worship the Lord? He didn't even really know who the Lord was.
You find that out shortly after. He had to find out who the Lord was, but he had learned obedience and his mother and his father. It doesn't give us the details that they had done what was necessary before the Lord to raise that child in such a way that she could take him and just leave him there at that age. What age was it? I don't know, but he was just finished being nursed according to the Scripture, and they could leave him with confidence. That's a challenge. Can we do that with our children?
Bring them up in such a way that they're that obedient at that age.
Connection with Abraham and his household. It's interesting in the 14th chapter of Genesis and.
And this is before the mention made in the 18th chapter.
We have an instance of Abraham.
Uh, taking or arming his trained servants. So there was evidence of that order early on, wasn't there? The household was in order. His servants were in order. We don't read about those servants rebelling against Abraham here and say no, we will not go down and pursue them. They didn't question it.
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They knew it was right and they called Abram in this, didn't they?
There's uh, just don't want anyone, especially the children.
To take away from some of the comments that have been made that uh.
A bad attitude on your part or rebellion on your part would be your parents fault. You know, we as parents, a lot of times we fault ourselves for uh, what we see in our children's, umm.
But oppressive rule is not.
The sole source of rebellion. I hope nobody thinks that. Turn to Isaiah chapter one.
I just happen to know of some faithful Christian parents who were very serious about their faith and serious about raising their children for the Lord. And their children, uh, without exception, went off and, uh.
I believe this verse has been a comfort to them.
Isaiah, chapter one.
And verse 2.
Arrow heavens and give ear O earth.
For the Lord outspoken, this is the Lord.
I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
Was the Lord an imperfect parent?
Did he make mistakes? Was he oppressive?
As the Lord says, I have nourished and brought up children. They have rebelled against me.
The source of rebellion is not the way you've been treated.
In the world today, they teach that the reason that for crime and reason for so many things is poverty, or it's this or it's that. Remember this. Your circumstances don't make you what you are.
Your circumstances manifest what you are.
And we're all sinners. We're born that way, and our circumstances don't make us that way. They manifest what we are.
In regards to verse four, our regular translation says uh, for both not your children through law. And if you go to Mr. Garbage translation, it says uh, provoke not your children to anger.
Now I have to leave home before I was 21.
Because of my father, he had a lot of anger.
But brought that angle on was because there was no love.
And there's a difference, a mighty big difference. If you're a young teenager, we're getting on a little older and you're not showing love.
That can turn to anger and turn your way.
I look back and say, uh, I tried to love my father. I tried to obey my father, but because he showed no love.
I love you.
And that, I think is the key.
If you want to train your children, show it in love. Love is the key, lady.
I'm sorry that I had to learn the hard way.
Is much more effective, isn't it, When your children are constantly assured of your love for them, then when it does come the need for discipline, they automatically, even if unconsciously, understand that's part of the same love they've been enjoying.
And there's something wrong because my dad would tell me, but if there's no loss there, there's no response.
Might be good to turn to Hebrews chapter 12 and look at verse 6, verse six and seven. Hebrews 12, verses 6 and seven. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, if he endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all our partakers? And are ye ******** and not sons?
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And so he goes on to teach the practical application. Even in the in the home, we had fathers of our flesh which corrected us. And so we didn't. We've all had fathers of our flesh and we've been corrected by them. And some of us are fathers and we haven't conducted ourselves Florida State, but there is one who did and there is one who does.
In loving, chastening, and training of His, of His own, He not only chastens us in connection with punishment, but He trains us, and it's because He loves us. And so this expression, as you'll notice all through this little passage of Scripture, it brings in the love of God and the love of the Lord Jesus and how He loved the church and gave himself for it. Husbands, love your wives.
And so the principle of love is to be used in these relationships. It's not just a relationship that's technically correct, but there is that love, but it's really in connection with the Lordship of Christ. And fathers, provoke not your children to rock, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord if a father does.
Provoke a child to anger.
A child should be at liberty to know that the child is loved and come to the father and seek to have the comfort of a father. A father trains, a father loves. The father does need to discipline. We know that David was a good king but a very poor father. He didn't discipline at Niger and the consequences were serious.
The only qualifier and the verses connected with the person in the subject place is to the Lord and in the Lord. It's not if your husband loves you and treats you kindly. It's not if your parents discipline you rightly and always show you love. If not if you have a good and kind master. There is no such qualifier in these verses.
The qualifier is to the Lord, and in the Lord. He is the safeguard, He is the measure, He is the limit.
The child is asked by their parents to go out and steal their.
There you go. They have a higher authority in that way. It's.
In the Lord, He at once is all of those things. He is the only qualifier.
And and on the other side, we.
We are those who have been shown the highest truth of scripture. We we see ourselves at this very moment seated in the heavenlies with Christ. It's true. It's it's where we are positionally. We've been given to understand that that our standing before God is holy and without blame before him in love and what is what is the responsibility of our walk. I agree with what said.
Umm, there are there are these indications of uh, or I should say that there, there are these things that speak to us, umm, in reflection to as as fathers, it says, and he fathers provoke not your children to rap. Why does it say that? Well, because there's a tendency for fathers to become impatient with children. That's why that's that's the whole reason for it. It's it's because.
Umm, fathers, unlike mothers, quite honestly, have a tendency to become more impatient. They give snap answers because I said so. Don't do as I say, do, Don't do as I do, do as I say. These aren't some of the qualifies. These are some of the things that fathers do. But but then what does it say? It says, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. So he not only tells us what the dangers are, what our tendencies might be.
But the thing tells us to to really give the answers.
That you are trying to teach your children from the Word of God. Nurture them from scripture, not according to your opinion.
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But according to the mind of God and admonish them not according to these these things that have a tendency to provoke your children, but admonish them from the word of God and and the Scriptures are suitable to meet the needs to answer the questions to the children, but perhaps being disobedient.
Well, the the Word of God addresses these things. So he not only addresses the tendencies and the weaknesses, but he he addresses what is necessary and what is right when it comes to your children.
Yes, the last clause of that verse, and it's important, the word nurture really should read discipline, shouldn't it? Bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord? And that goes along with a verse in the Proverbs that says the rod and reproof give wisdom. And both are needed, aren't they, as has been brought out when a child is very young.
It may be impossible to explain exactly the whole situation and why something is wrong, but as soon as they are old enough to understand, both are necessary, aren't they? The world today says all you need is reproof. Just explain it to them, talk to them, explain why it's wrong. Well, that can have a good effect and it's proper in its place.
But the discipline is necessary in God's Word says so, and it tells us what kind of discipline over and over again in the Proverbs. It can be a problem in today's world. Sometimes parents are forbidden by law to do this, and sometimes things are rather stringently defined in order, supposedly to protect a child from abuse. And sad to say, there is a lot of abuse in this world.
But man is a creature of extremes, isn't he? But we need both the rod and reproof. Give wisdom, bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
I well remember reading a story about a father who disciplined his son, I think gave him a good spanking for something, and then went downstairs. But happily, he had a wife. And happily he was willing to, as we had this morning to listen to her. And she said to him, calling him by name, you know, you're not finished yet. Oh, he said, what do you mean? She said, you've left your son upstairs crying.
You need to go up.
You need to take them on your knee, you need to comfort them, you need to explain to him clearly, if you haven't already, why what he did was wrong, and you need to bring the Lord before him and complete the work of restoration. Good word. I remember hearing about a sister who in her mature years said.
When my parents disciplined me and especially my father, and the fathers are named here, she said. My father would never leave me or let me leave after he disciplined me until I had gotten on my knees along with him and confessed to the Lord what I had done that was wrong.
My Oh my I thought what an example.
And in later years, she could look back on that and say that really had an effect on me. He wouldn't leave, nor could she. And I'm not suggesting she did or she wanted to, but nor could she flounce out of the room in a spirit of anger. Well, thank God that's over with or something like that. No, she had to stick around and he stuck around until.
There was a confession to the Lord about what she had done wrong. That was real restoration and enabled the discipline to have a proper effect.
Those are little encouragement from verse one is Paul's writing and epistle. This was going to be read in assembly. Children would be there. It's an encouragement to have your children at the meeting to hear the word of God. He's speaking to the children. It would have been in the meeting. The other thing is this isn't just speaking to young children, It's speaking to grown children, young children in verse one while they're in the home.
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Verse two is grown children that have left the home. There's a continuation there. There it's honor. It's not obey anymore because you're not in that home and under father and mother's authority, but there's still to be an honor that's paid the father and mother even after you've left the home.
Going to comment a little on 1St Kings Chapter 11. Two because we have principles in connection with how the Lord deals with us in discipline. And I'll just read the first Kings 11 and verse 9. The Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which Lord commanded.
So the Lord appeared, and he.
You might say he admonished Solomon privately twice.
He appeared to whom He spoke about this thing, and we don't particularly read of that admonition, but he was admonished twice privately, and then the Lord had to speak to him the third time. And now the whole thing becomes public. And so I think the principle is this, that the Lord deals with us privately first, and He seeks to gain the obedience from our hearts and a devotion to Himself. And if we will act in self will, then perhaps the matter becomes public.
A little later and so it's a good thing if we those of us that are parents and we have young ones in the home is to admonish and to if you, if it's necessary to discipline, do it in private. Do it with the child and yourself. Don't do it in a public venue. There's a, an active discipline that needs to take place and in grace and kindness and love, admonish and discipline in private and by the grace of God, there will be correction and then the thing won't become public.
Perhaps.
Perhaps we could uh, look at some verses that our brother read, uh, in the last reading meeting in first Peter chapter 5.
Umm, in regards to rebellion, umm, in any situation where we're called to submit and things don't go the way we want, and the natural reaction the flesh is to want to uh, to rebel. But let's read here, umm versus 5, uh through 7. Likewise, the younger submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yeah, all of you, be subject 1 to another and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth a proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
So this is never, this is never standing up and saying I want my way. Maybe my parents are doing something that's not right or they're not doing something that they should be doing.
What's the response here? It's still to submit and it's to it's in this place of humility. And then the seventh verse, This is the context of this verse we quote so often. Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. If we're in a situation and we see something wrong, whatever the situation is, can we submit ourselves? Can we humble ourselves and leave the problems with the Lord?
The uh, nurture or discipline and admonition of the Lord has been.
Bringing the Word of God before the children.
In that discipline.
Then centers their obedience on the Lord. So when they leave the home, they've learned to obey the Lord. If they only learn to obey mom and dad, when they leave the home and they're not under mom and dad, they're going to just go their own way.
So it's nurturing ammunition of the Lord, I think takes in the thought that it's really his discipline and His way, and it's so important to couple it with the Scriptures that the obedience be to the Scripture. So it was brought up explaining why, explain why from the Word, so that that's where obedience is centered on the word and to the Lord.
00:45:08
It it also places it on a higher authority, doesn't it? It's on the Lord. So a child is is being taught or one that's being under discipline. And I'm not talking about assembly discipline. I'm talking about at home. But if.
Is is bringing a higher responsibility than just you? It's bringing in the Lord Himself.
It might be good to move on to verse five. He speaks of servants there. Be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, and singleness of your heart.
As unto Christ. And so we might say that we don't have that.
Institution anymore we don't have slavery, we don't have servitude in that way, but we do have and I believe it applies to the work relationship that we have in the workplace. So we agree to work for a company, we agree to a certain wage, we agree to duties and so on and we place ourselves in a place of servitude to that company in exchange for.
The ability to make, earn a living. And so there's to be a consistency with that, uh, arrangement that glorifies Christ. And so the unbeliever, uh, resists authority and it resists authority in every sphere. And so this isn't to be characteristic of a believer. If he works for somebody else, he's to have a spirit of submission in that relationship and to be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh.
With fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto Christ. And so there's fruit. There can be fruit in our lives as we labor in the workplace. And with a spirit that would be consistent with those that call themselves Christians and say that they know the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's interesting here in connection with servants.
They're sorted to be obedient to their masters. Often when a new servant is employed, the first commands are oral commands, aren't they? And so they're tested in that way. But as that relationship grows between servant and master.
The servant almost instinctively knows what his master wants. We see that with those that were with David, that broke through the enemy line when David expressed his desire to drink of the wealth, uh, the water of that well, they knew his mind. And I was just thinking of a verse that we have in Psalm 123.
And this shows a progression in verse two. It says, behold, the eyes of the servants look unto the hand of their masters. They don't even need a command sometimes. They know what their master wants and as a result they do it. They don't need that verbal command as perhaps they need it when they first began.
And then, uh, let's just look at a verse or so and Genesis chapter 24.
It speaks here of the eldest servant in the House of Abraham, and verse two it says, Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had.
Well, here was confidence in that service. Net confidence was built up over the years as a result of consistent faithfulness of consistency and service. And so he has put in a position of responsibility. And as we know what this chapter deals with, he used to go out and seek a bride for Isaac and he is faithful.
In that service. So the ward has entrusted us with a measure of responsibility too, hasn't it?
I think of that verse in Titus chapter 2.
That we know in relation to these verses.
Verse 9. Exhort servants, the obedient unto their own masters.
00:50:06
And to please them well in all things, not answering again, that's not backbiting, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity. They may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. So if a woman comes into a meeting with an adornment, some piece of jewelry, immediately everyone notices it.
It is quite evident.
And, uh, we used to be reminded that, uh, though your employer might be opposed to, to Christ, we cannot deny a faithful testimony in his employer and, uh, if it is carried out in the fear of God.
Uh, the warning, The doctrine of God, our Savior in all things.
Then he can speak when the opportunity arises.
To his employer.
In eternal matters, because he has a testimony that is respected, so it may not be loved, it is respected. So Brother Hale used to say to us when we were younger, if you have a difficult boss to deal with.
Some of us have.
A very cantankerous, oppressive individual. If you are submissive, the fear of God to Him, when sometimes his commands may sound unreasonable, but you submit and you adorn that doctrine of God our Savior in your manner of behavior, you'll get a greater reward in that coming day than if he was a amiable type of person.
You could get along with UMM. So I think there's a principle there of UMM.
Of, uh, adorning of the manifesting that the Spirit of Christ in our workplace.
So taking this as the workplace as.
So he's been doing it. I think that's a good application, right? But it's interesting what it says here. It's a little different from the others.
And verse five, it says, is unto Christ.
Verse six is the servants of Christ, Verse 7 as to the Lord.
Said repeated over and over again.
Honduras. Why? Why is that It didn't repeat it so much and the other things?
And yet I think I can see why in my own case.
Umm, submission is something that I struggle with. And as men we might have some authority. We're often the ones in the workplace. I know a lot of the women are too, but umm.
It's one thing to have authority, but it's quite another to submit to authority and it's a struggle and it's something that we need to really judge in our own lives. But those past just judging it before the Lord.
And get on to what this is actually saying, and that is.
As to Christ.
Servants of Christ says to the Lord, we really need to see him as is mentioned in all these things and, and, uh, do whatever it is for him and let the consequences see what they may. But it does remind you anyway of what Peter says, You know, who will harm you if you do that which is good. And that general thought is found in these verses too, isn't it? In verse seven with goodwill.
Doing services to the Lord, Well, we can do it for the Lord, just directly for his sake. But if we do that, there's likely going to be an effect too, isn't there? There's going to be.
That result from maybe a hard boss who doesn't understand repair and certainly not the relationship of love that we had in the end of the last chapter. It's just a boss who wants to get work from us at all costs, perhaps and in many cases.
Let's submit and do it for the Lord, Do it with the right heart, the right motive, and see if it doesn't have an effect on those around.
00:55:05
Those versus uh, in Colossians, uh, Tim, it might be good to read those, uh, at this juncture, cautions UH-3.
Versus 23 or 22 servants obey and all things your masters according to the flesh.
Not with I services, men, pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men. And notice in verse 24 this is in connection perhaps with our secular calling. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, we serve the Lord Christ.
Wouldn't you say that this is this is not in what we sometimes call full time service?
This is in the day-to-day activities in the home or in the workplace. We have the motive higher than the others we work with to serve the Lord Christ. And there will be a reward for conducting ourselves in that way, the reward of the inheritance.
Mentioned here.
For doing wrong shall receive for the wrong which she has done. There's no respect to persons. So we reap what we sow in the government of God.
So it's not only what we do, but it's the motive of the heart, and the Lord values the motive of the heart. And if we do what we do in the workplace, wherever we are, we do it faithfully as unto the Lord. We not only, you might say he'll, he'll not only reward what was done, but he'll reward the motive. But he delights to see his children walk in such a way that the motive is to please him.
The Lord is no man's better.
Uh, I remember when we first moved here, I was invited to, uh, married men's camp and it was the first time I went.
And, uh, a number of the brethren were gonna get together and go in one car.
And my boss said to me on Friday after well around lunch time, we're supposed to get off and I had a job on the press and my boss says we have to finish his job.
I wasn't happy because I promised his brother that I would go with him.
But I felt, well, he's my boss, I gotta do what I gotta do. But the Lord is no man's after I was mad because I have to pay for my own gas. But you know the Lord, The Lord looks wonderful. He gave me double time. He didn't need to worry about any of the gas. And the Lord worked with us. These things with the Lord, even when it goes against your brain.
Isn't it true that versus 6-7 and eight of our chapter apply not only to our occupation, but everything we do as believers and it certainly I trust can be applied to service that we may do for the assembly, whether it's.
Working in the kitchen or administering publicly and it reminds me of in Matthew 6 when he speaks about.
Those that do their arms before men or they pray publicly and they make a big show and it says they have their reward.
And so the scripture doesn't deny that you may get a reward from men for doing things publicly.
But that reward won't last, and.
Umm, how sad to live a life seeking for reward only now only to discover that you could have had a reward that will ask for eternity.
So the last one in verse nine is the masters. And so those that have responsibility and have others that are working for them are very responsible. And so we have the same responsibility to do the same things unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is their respective persons with him. And so there is the responsibility that those that are masters.
01:00:10
They have the responsibility in connection with the influence of their authority, and so they use the authority in a right way or in a wrong way. It doesn't matter that authority ought to be submitted to, but the Lord gives this instruction for bearing threatenings. And so there should be a spirit of those that find themselves in leadership, the spirit of things that would manifest, the spirit of Christ.
What does it mean when it says neither is uh in their respective persons with him?
Is it not referring to the government of God in connection with how we might conduct ourselves if we conduct ourselves in an ungodly way in connection with the authority that we are given?
The Lord may have to deal with this in a governmental way, and so those that are in leadership, those that are in authority and have others under them, need to recognize that they are responsible to a higher authority.
Yes, that's very, very important, isn't it? All authority, whether it's a husband with his wife or parents with children, or masters of servants and write up all the way to the government of the country, it's all derived authority, isn't it? And it's God who gives that authority. And in that sense every authority is responsible to God and he will take that up.
Maybe not right away, maybe not even in this world, but at one time or another, perhaps in a coming day.
All of us will have to give an account of how we have conducted ourselves, whether in submission or whether in authority. And ultimately we are all eventually in a position of submission, aren't we? And so that's very, very important to remember. We cannot dispose of ourselves and dispose of our authority in any way that we want. We have to recognize, as we've just had brought before us, that.
There is a government of God, and what a serious thing it is if I exercise the authority in a wrong way, or on the other hand, fail to submit to authority, because that may well have and does have not merely present but eternal consequences. And so God would bring that before us by invoking the name of the Lord in all of these things, in order that all may recognize that.
Of course, we can't expect the natural man to recognize that. Thankfully, sometimes they do at least recognize God's supreme power and authority. But how much more? You and I as believers should be able to recognize that and to act accordingly in the fear of God.
In verse eight, it's really referring to the judgments of Christ, isn't it? Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, any person do it, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And so each one of us are going to have a private interview with the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. He'll review our lives. He'll delight to review our lives and to reward us for what he can.
And so we're not going to.
Get anything passed over, so to speak, in our private lives. It's not just Speaking of our assembly lives. We're responsible to the Lord and to the authority that He's placed this under in all spheres of life. And that we have should do it in view of pleasing the Lord and with the conscious sense that if the judgment seat of Christ, He will be glorified.
In how we conducted ourselves or he is not glorified in the way that we.
Walked and he will reward accordingly.
Short book of Philemon brings before us not only a servant, in this case at first an unprofitable servant, but brings before us a master. Now we know that the apostle Paul, he may on behalf of the unprofitable servant here, but that relationship was not abolished, was it when, uh, the servant became a convert?
01:05:04
That did not change his status as a service, did it?
So if we are working for a Christian, uh, boss or master, that should not change our responsibility, should it? And we should, as masters or bosses too, act in accordance with, uh, what God has said before us. So there are some that, uh, perhaps have taken advantage of this situation because they've worked for a Christian boss, but we still have that responsibility.
Uh, to him as such, don't we?
There is a scripture that says if you're someone probably will turn to it, but if it's especially important for you to serve well, if your master is yeah.
Verse one and two. Go ahead, Ted. Well, I thought you were going to read it. Well, all right. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit these things teach and exhort. This often imposes a bit of a strain, doesn't it? Because.
As Bruce has pointed out, and Ted has called our attention to sometimes the servant who is working for a Christian boss.
Especially if he happens to be gathered to the Lord's name. Can take advantage of the boss. And it works the other way too. The boss may take advantage of the servant. And we have to remember that there are different spheres, aren't there? It's quite possible that a man might be will save for purposes of discussion, a boss in a company or in his own business and have a believer working for him.
And the believer would be responsible, as has been pointed out, to honor that individual as his boss, to follow orders, and to do his work as under the Lord. But suppose we come to the local assembly.
It might well be that the servant would have a better knowledge of the Word of God, and perhaps in that sense have more responsibility in the local assembly than the one to whom he was responsible in the business world.
And sometimes that becomes difficult, doesn't it? I have seen it and it has caused difficulty. But the servant would have to recognize his place in working for his boss in the secular world. The boss would have to recognize his place in perhaps listening to the servant and perhaps the servant taking more responsibility in the assembly. So God gives wisdom for every circumstance in which we are placed, doesn't He?
And gives the grace for it too. Illustration Bill has been, uh, propounded different, uh, different times that, uh, in actual life, there was, uh, coachman going back, uh, to the history of England, the days of, uh, cultures and masters and servants And, uh, this coachman was a believer.
But I don't think his master was a believer.
So, uh, when he, he was, uh, engaged to uh.
Umm, no, I think the master was a believer. I'm sorry. So he was engaged to drive his master to the assembly meeting?
And when they arrived there?
This, uh coachman, having a much better knowledge of the word than his master, took the preeminence in the meeting and the master was was happy to listen to him.
And to profit from his ministry and understanding of the work. When the meeting was over, they resumed their former roles. The coachman in all respect to his master, drove the horses and, uh, brought back his master home. So there were things in the balance that you have mentioned there.
01:10:04
Our brother Ed brought out the beginning of this portion that is based on those three circles of unity in Ephesians 4, and we're taking up the utmost outward one created relationships.
Not properly the assembly sphere at all. And yet these things affect the assembly and affect assembly life. And so the centurion that wanted his servant healed said to the Lord, I'm a man in authority and under authority.
There's nothing that fit to lead like being under authority yourself. And so one who was taking up oversight in the assembly had to have his children in godly order in his home. That responsibility helped fit him for a place of oversight. And so in all these things, learning to be under authority and in authority fits one in the assembly.
For assembly matters. The other thing is these things affect us so intimately in our lives, these relationships, and we bring the effect of those things into the assembly. And some tremendous difficulties can arise in assembly life because of disorder in these relationships. And it may come down to where there's a need to address them because they affect the assembly.
We just would encourage us with this. We are never wiser than the Word of God when those things come up. He's given us principles in the Word of God to come back to, to understand how we should act and how we should evaluate these things. We're never wiser than the Word of God. When Hagar LED from the face of Serie AI, her mystery, what did the Lord face for her? Return and submit to her hand.
We're never wiser.
Than the word of God and the relationships and the order of those relationships He has established in creation.
6.
OK, great.
All right.
We are.
All.
Umm.
Reading meetings that we have had, we just thank you for the Lord Jesus and for His perfect example in all these things. We just pray that we would follow His examples day by day in each saphir that we've been talking about. We just looked to be for help. And that's the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen. Amen.