God has given us the keys to his kingdom. He has revealed to us in his word how we are to reflect his glory on this earth. Every book in the Bible, then, is essential to understand and apply so we have a full understanding of the greatness of God and of the full expansion of His kingdom. God's kingdom brings with it a recognition that there is a King, and His name is Jesus Christ. That we all have fallen short of His glory. We have sinned against the great King of the universe, and that is no small sin. That it is only by His gospel, only by the gospel of His grace, that the King died on Calvary's cross and on the third day rose again. That that is the only hope for anyone to ever be saved from the soon and sure coming judgment of the great king. As we go through the book of Colossians, we see what this great king has done. In Colossians chapter one, verse 12, We see we are to give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We have been translated from the power of darkness and been placed in the kingdom with the Son of His love. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things exist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. that in all things He may have preeminence, that His firstness, His greatness is our primary concern as we gather in His church. That He is before all things, that in Him all things consist, all the systems of this world, everything that He has created, He will either use it to advance His kingdom or destroy it because it stands in the way of His rule, His will being done. And so, Colossians warns us to put Him first, to beware of those who don't put God first in Colossians 2, verse 8. Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. There are those who try to do God's will without doing it God's way. Or there are those who just dismiss God's will altogether and reject the king, reject his kingdom, reject his word. And so, Paul is writing here, beware! Beware! Beware! Watch out! Pay attention really close, because if you don't put God first, if you don't worship the King and the King only, you will be deceived through the philosophy of this world, through the way of thinking. What is worldliness? Worldliness is a way of thinking. It's a way of thinking that is contrary to the revealed will of God. to the written scriptures where God has clarified His moral will for us. And so, Colossians then goes and looks at some examples. A major one being legalism. Beware of legalism. Beware of thinking that you have to atone for your sin. That you have to add something in Colossians 2, verse 13. And you, being dead in your trespasses. That's your role. We recognize we are dead in our trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all your trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Only Christ can take away your sin. Man can't take away his sin. Man can't lift a finger. to do anything good before God. It's all Jesus. It's all of Christ. Man is to simply recognize that and receive that by faith and by faith alone. In Christ alone. Because Christ paid it all. All to Jesus. We are to give them because He paid it all. So therefore, now Jesus is to be your judge. Colossians 2.16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or new moon or Sabbath. Christ is to be your judge. His rule, His will being done. Not men. Only faith in Christ then can make you grow. And this is so important because everybody wants to grow. They all want to grow something. But it's very deceptive when you think in terms of legalism that I can have some human effort to my growth. I can add something to help me grow. And you can get into the basic principles of this world. Don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. If you don't do this, you don't do this, you don't do this, then you'll be more spiritual. It's a snow. If I just had this, if I didn't have this, if I went over here, if I came from there. Here's the thing that you need to grow in your walk. Faith in Jesus. Now, faith in Jesus is going to lead you to not do this and this and this, and to do this and this and this according to His law of word, but it's going to be faith in Christ. So, let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Two different sources, brothers and sisters, two sources. Man is incurably religious. I don't care, man, if you have a religious sentiment. Big deal. Everybody has religious sentiment. Everybody has visions and dreams and thoughts and philosophies that are rooted in some form of God. Everywhere on the globe you go, everybody has some idea about God or gods or something. It doesn't matter. They're fleshly imaginations. And they hold out to you a promise of knowing God and advancing in God and some kind of a blessing. Material blessing or spiritual blessing or some kind of blessing. But the scripture says they are of your fleshly mind. Look at the contrast, verse 19, not holding fast to the head from whom... All the body, nourished in it together by joints and ligaments, grow with the increase that is from God. God brings the increase to those who by faith cling unto their head, just as our body grows as God made it to be connected. So as we cling to our head, Jesus Christ, He grows with the organic, intrinsic growth that comes from the inside out, not the outside in. So beware of legalism. Beware of self-made religion. And seek Christ. Seek Christ. What does this look like then? If you died with Christ, 220, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, Why as a living in the world do you submit to these regulations? Good question for a Christian. Why are you submitting to them? Why? Do you not know you've been bought with a price? Do you not know you've been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son? Then why are you living like you're still in the world? These are all according to the doctrines of men, not of Christ. And yeah, I know they have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Scripture takes the issues and boils them down to the key, fundamental, to the bedrock issues of what you need in your life. And that is faith in Christ and obedience to Scripture. It's that simple. It's faith in the King who loves you and died for your sins and rose again. And obedience to His Word. That's faith obeying what is said. Not for any merit of your own, but because the merit of Christ has been given to all who believe. If you have faith, you'll see it this way. I'm talking to those who have faith. Now, if you don't have faith, if you've never been born again, then the only recourse you can have for the Scriptures is one of two things. Legalism. I have to do this law myself to try to gain favor with God. Or license. I'm going to dismiss the whole thing. I don't care. It's not binding on me. It's not for me. I'm free from this. Or I don't have to do this. Or I don't care about it. Rebellion, rebellion on either side. The narrow way roots in with faith in Christ. It's a narrow path, but it's the glorious path of the gospel. What is that going to look like? It's going to look like chapter 3, verse 1. If then, you were raised with Christ. So if you died with Him, if you were raised with Him, if your soul was sewn together somehow spiritually before God, when Christ died on the cross, if you were there with Him, and you died with Him, and you rose with Him, and now these 2,000 years later, because of the saving event on Calvary's cross, you find yourself having faith. Having the supernatural ability of God to repent of sin and trust in the gospel, the good news that Jesus saved sinners. Then here's the blessing of how your faith is to conform to Scripture, and it's this. Seek those things which are above. And for all those who have faith and say, Amen, I get to! I want to! I've been freed to! This is liberty! Stand fast in the liberty where Christ has set you free, Galatians 5.1. This is the liberty! I get to, by faith, seek my Father's face. Seek the face of God in Christ Jesus. Seek the will of God. Seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. To go into the triune presence of God. Go to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit of the living God. And seek Him. That's why prayer roots everything in here. Prayer is the key to the Christian life. Faith prays. Faith prays like the body needs to breathe. Without breathing, we die. Without praying, we're dead. That's why Paul is praying. Half of Colossians is a prayer. It begins with a prayer, it intermits with a prayer, and it ends with a challenge to prayer. And what does Paul pray? That we may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. So we're praying, we're seeking the things that are above, and we see how we set our mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth. Now we talked about this before, it doesn't mean you don't live on earth, but it means as you live on earth, you view everything on earth from the perspective of heaven. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's what this is all about. And that's glorious for those who have faith. Now, for those who don't have faith, or for those who are distracted, you miss it. For those who don't have faith, you're either in legalism, or licensed, one of the two ditches, the core rebellion. Right? We've all been there. We know what that's like. Or, for those who do have faith, you can be distracted. of the things on the earth. And looking at the things on the earth from an earthly perspective, rather than from God's perspective. So, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ. When Christ as your life appears, then you will appear with Him in glory. That will happen. But currently, you need to do this. Understand, that earthly perspective, death. Death to the earthly perspective, because it sets itself against the knowledge of Christ. That's how Colossians takes us into the gospel. Then, Colossians talks about the sanctification walk. Put off these things, have your mind renewed, and put on the new. Put off the earthly way of thinking. Do not lie, right? Renew your mind in the knowledge according to the image of Him who created you. mind renewal, and put on the new thinking, acting, behavior, which is always faith-based, having been justified by faith, therefore, Christian life, we have action. So it moves from the inductive to the imperative, the instruction to the application. Giving the general, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to God the Father through him. Do all. And then Paul takes the general and gets specific. Okay, now here is a key way to advance the gospel. Advance the kingdom of God. Kingdom of God being what? Simply the rule of Jesus Christ. That's the king. He's the king. His kingdom is where his rule is being done. So here's what his rule looks like in your home. Four commands to establish God's kingdom in your home. And they're very simple, they're very brief, but oh, are they ever so profound. Submit, love, honor, and train. or don't provoke. I have to get trained from Ephesians chapter 6, but I wanted a positive statement there. Negative is negative. Don't provoke your children. Wives, submit your husbands as is fitting to the Lord. Husbands, love your wife. Don't be bitter with them. We talked about every man here, every husband here is either loving his wife or he's bitter with her. No middle ground. Children, Honor your father and your mother, the fifth commandment. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. We talked about how the fifth commandment is the key for a child's life. Blessing. The fifth commandment is so important. And again, the Bible doesn't give a list of all the specifics. Well, what about this and what about that? No. It gives the fundamental relationships. Submit, respect, honor, love. Fathers, do not provoke your children because they'll be discouraged. We talked about that last week. So those are four foundational commands that establish the kingdom of God in the family. Now, this morning, we're going to look at how God's kingdom is established in the area of economics. Now, this issue I think comes up in scripture here because the household, economics is primarily a household issue. Economics comes from the word nama, oikos, which is house, household management. So the key to economics is the management of the household. That's what it is. So you want to put it on a micro level, your household, our households, right? Or a macro level, the economies of the nation, our economy as a nation. It's still the, it's the household management. Now every family has an, has to have an economic element. Because the Dominion Mandate necessitates that. Go into all the world and Be fruitful, multiply, take dominion. I switched it with the Great Commission there. Which you can be sometimes. But be fruitful, multiply, take dominion. Harness the earth's resources. Why? Because you need to eat. It's pretty basic. Alright, people say, well I don't believe in the dominion mandate. Okay, then try not doing it. You know, I don't believe in the dominion mandate. I don't believe in that stuff. Alright, then you try to live without it. You'll live about... I don't know, I guess people can bring you water, but, you know, I think it's ridiculous. You can say, I don't want to submit to God in my dominion, I'd rather think as a Marxist or a socialist and think as a humanist that man is the measure of all things and it's primarily a non... it has nothing to do with God, just me getting what I can get out of this world in a secular environment. Okay, you're a secular humanist then. But don't tell me that... and you're taking dominion as a secularist. Don't tell me you're not taking dominion. Dominion is a given, alright? The point here is this, every family is engaged in this activity. And so, the household code for economics, dealing with servants and masters is key as it relates to this section. So we're going to talk about this from the Colossians perspective. And I know that there's more to economics than this. All right. But I'm going to stick to these. As I did with the family, I'm going to stick to these two principles, these two commands, and I see them as keys for establishing a biblical economics. We're going to look at two keys, two keys for establishing a biblical economics system. And it's very important that I stress that these two keys, these two key commands, can be applied anywhere on the globe. They work anywhere on the globe. And this is how the gospel establishes the kingdom of God in the family and over economics. And I assure you, they will work anywhere they're tried. Anywhere. There's nowhere that these will not be successful if they're tried. Again, most people don't try them. It's a matter of faith, right? Just like, I mean, the family is around the globe, right? Anywhere. You know, the family is the paradigm for ministry in that sense. Because families are everywhere. And it rattles my brain why when we go to other cultures, and I've been to several other countries where we have to try to impose our American program mindset of ministry. Oh, you got to have a Sunday school, you got to have this, you got to have that. It's like, where are you coming from? You know what families need? They need the same thing everywhere. Submit, love, honor. Don't provoke. That's what they need. Foundational elements. It's the same with this economics here. Two keys are this. Slaves obey their masters. Masters give to your slaves what is just. Those are the two keys. And those are the two keys. If you don't have those two keys functioning in your society, in your economy, in your economics, it's gonna go awry. It's gonna get messed up. It's gonna break down. You're not gonna produce squat. So, here's what the scripture says. or bond-servants. And the word bond-servant here is, do thus, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service as man-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not to man, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bond-servants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. So it gives the command and it gives the motivation for the command. Very important. Okay, let's talk about slaves. Who are slaves? Duloths. The Greek word is duloths. And duloths is a slave. It's a slave. It's one who is in a state, exists in a state where he or she is owned by another. Owned by another. A master. And is completely required to do the will of the master as in to obey. The word for obey is hupakulo. It's the same word. Children, hupakulo your parents. Obey your parents. We know what that looks like. We know what that means. Slaves are to hupakulo their kurios, their lord. Master is the word for Lord. When we say Jesus is Lord, it's the same. Well, Jesus is Lord of the elevated. He's the Lord of Lords. But it's the same idea. Master. Translated in English, I think appropriately, Master. So slaves are to do what? They're to obey their masters. How does that feel? See, If you have the persuasion that slavery is fundamentally wrong, that the institution of slavery is fundamentally wrong, you have a problem with the Bible. You ever think about that? The issue of slavery is God's Word true. I didn't think about this until I was reading from a liberal scholar something and she said that now that slavery has been deemed wrong, it finally paves the way to disprove the Bible. I would suggest the institution of slavery is not fundamentally wrong. I would suggest that wicked masters are fundamentally wrong. And I would suggest that slavery based on skin color, prejudice, is wrong. But the institution of itself, that is, for a master to own a slave, and think in terms of Earth history, not in terms of the recent American history, that's the way things have been done. for thousands of years and are still done in many parts of the world. It's not fundamentally wrong. Why? Because if it is, then what do we do with all the passages that talk about slavery? Slaves, obey your master. Question. Okay, I can see that there's a problem with slavery because masters abuse their slaves. And they do. But how does the Bible fix that problem? The Bible fixes the problem. Now listen, the Bible fixes the problem in this way. Not in abolishing the institution of slavery, but in transforming it. It's transforming it. The Bible transforms the institution of slavery. And that's how in America we have even been able to become close to, we have abolished the institution of slavery in this country. Why? It's because of Christianity. It's because of the gospel. You never would have got there without Christianity, okay? We'll talk more about that later on. But the Bible transforms it. Scripture says slaves obey their masters in everything. Why? In doing so, you help your master's family take dominion of the earth. See, slavery is a household matter. Slaves held their master's family. That's within the biblical jurisdiction of the family. Slaves were to obey their earthly masters. in everything that the master commanded them to do. Now, we know that as an all-jurisdictional authority, there's a limit to all men's authority. And we're going to see some of that here. No man has absolute authority over another man. It's always a limited jurisdiction. Always. And what's it limited by? The Word of God. God, who gives the authority. Okay, let's look at how these slaves were to obey. they were to obey before God. So, let's take a moment now from going to slaves to employee. Okay? Because you guys don't consider yourselves slaves. And that's a good thing, and it's also a problem. Because you don't consider yourselves slaves, you don't consider yourself, you don't understand what it means to be a slave of God. One of the main descriptions of a Christian is a doulos. If you read John MacArthur's book, Slave, that's his whole point. We're doulos, I'm a slave. I am a slave of Jesus Christ. And you're either a slave of Christ or a slave of this world. There's slavery. It is still here today. Absolutely. And we are to be a doulos of Christ. That means I have no will of my own. I have no rights of my own. My purpose is to obey my Lord, my Master. Okay, that's the Christian worldview. So if you have a problem with slavery, you're going to have a problem with your autonomy. Again, you know, we're Americans. We're independent. Independence is not that high of a virtue. All right. I got to be my own woman, my own. No, no. You need to be a slave of Jesus Christ. So so slaves obey your master. How are they to obey? Now, look what this says, because every Christian slave is going to be tempted to do this. But I have Christ as my Lord. Therefore, I don't have to obey you. Welcome American Christianity. I have Christ as my Lord, therefore I don't have to obey my earthly master. I have Christ as my Lord, therefore I don't have to blame my earthly parents. I have Christ as my Lord, therefore... So the Bible is very clear here. Very clear. It says, just in case you missed it, Obey in all things your masters. according to the flesh. That means you're earthly masters. The Bible is not Gnostic. Gnosticism teaches that there can be a higher spiritual level whereby I can dismiss things of the earth. The Bible doesn't go there. The Bible is very much tangible how to do God's will on earth. And it takes into account the things of the flesh. There's not this dualism, like the flesh is lower than the spirit. No, because we are spirit, we value the things of this earth. And for a slave, on this earth, you've been given a master, you have a responsibility to obey. Employee, on this earth, you have a responsibility to obey your employer. So the application for us is, if slaves were to do that to their masters, How much easier and better is it for employees to obey their employers? I think you all can get that application pretty clear, can't you? So, they were to obey according to the flesh. Now, how were they to obey? Slaves are to obey. Employees are to obey. For the glory of God. Their motivation. Why should they do that? Why? Because no one necessarily wants to do that. It kind of goes against our human nature to want to obey in that manner, right? And so, it's not about your will, it's about God's will. Not with eye service as man pleasures, but in sincerity of heart fearing God. Sincerity of heart fearing God. So, employees obey your employer in everything. You're not to do it with eye service. Isn't that a neat term? You know what happens. The boss walks by. The talking just stops. And everyone goes away. Right? And then the boss walks away and everyone just kind of, okay, gone. I may have seen that. Yeah. Not like that! That's not a Christian work ethic. A Christian work ethic is God is always watching me. And therefore, I am always working as unto the Lord. I used to hear guys always say, the longer I take, the what? The more I make. The longer I take, the more I make. That's a sucker. That's someone sucking off his master. Sucking off the employer. That is a worldly perspective. That's not setting your mind on things above. We should say, the harder I work, the more I reflect God's glory. The harder I work, the more I reflect the glory of my King. I work for my King. I work for Jesus Christ. Whether my Master is watching me or not. Christians have some of the worst work ethics. I mean, if you're a Christian and you have a lousy work ethic, are you even a Christian? I mean, because work is a big part of your life, right? And in the big part of your life, if you're just being a man pleaser, what does it say? What does it say about your faith? We work for God and not man. We're going to work for God and not man. It's either or. Either you have a Christian view of work, Or we have a secular view of work. Secular is, I get what I can get out of it. Christian view of work is, I work as unto the Lord, not pleasing man. See, it's all about perspective. It's the kind of work that says, OK, I see the job, I'm going to go do it. And there's two people that this would be true of. And I can illustrate it. I have a lot of illustrations from Brooklyn, because that's what I did for still most of my life. You hire a laborer. There's two kinds of laborers. And you can tell in the first day whether the laborer is going to work out. Because some guys come up on the job. I mean, it's not that hard. We need bricks, and we need mortar, and we need them now. That's it. There's a lot of things that go into that. But we need bricks, we need mortar, and we need it set up, and we need it now, and we need it fast. That's what you need as a bricklayer, to keep going. So some guys come up, and okay, we need bricks, we need mortar, we need it now. We don't even talk about it, you don't have to worry about the other stuff, just that. Okay, so some guys come up, and they get the brick tong, and they bring the bricks over, and they put the bricks down, and they say, do you need more? Yeah, I need more, go get some more. They pick the bricks up, they bring them over, and they may need more for five minutes. Okay, do you need more? Yeah, we need some more. And you've got to tell them, and you've got to tell them. Then they get the mortar. Okay, here's some mortar. Hey, I'm running out of bricks. Could you get more bricks? You've got to tell them everything. Could you get more bricks and bring them over? This guy's not going to work. You've got to tell them everything to do. He's a man-pleaser. He has no work ethic. There's nothing beyond himself that motivates this person. You've got to just stay on him, stay on him, stay on him. Okay, don't come back. Thanks. Right? The other kind of, the person with a work ethic, and you can apply, comes in, you need bricks, you need mortar. You need it now. Okay, here's bricks. Bricks, mortar, bricks, mortar, bricks, mortar. Two hours later, do you need anything else? Oh, I got a plane of bricks and mortar. Yeah, maybe you can get some water for my mortar. That's a work ethic. It's not that hard. And you're either going to get it or you don't. It's a work ethic. You can see it. The thing about masonry construction is it's, you know, you don't have interviews and resumes. You just, you just show up on the job and see what you can do. If it works, you're hired. If it doesn't, you're fired. I mean, you're not, it's that easy. Construction makes it really clear. A lot of jobs can, but it's just, you know what I'm talking about, right? That's a work ethic. And it doesn't matter if you're on the job It doesn't matter if you're a slave, from 9 to 5. So from 9 to 5, your boss owns you. You know that. You don't have the freedom just to do whatever you want. You are there for a purpose, and the purpose is to serve your employer. To make him money. When people ask you, I'm here to make my boss money, that's why I'm here. Right? We understand it, that's how it works. And so, You don't have the freedom just to do whatever you want. You may have a lunch break. If it's in half an hour, it's a half an hour, not 45 minutes. You take 45 minutes, you're stealing. You gotta pay him back or work the extra time. Okay? It's a work ethic. And so, from 9 to 5, you are a slave. Now, you get to go home, in that sense, at the end of the day. But whatever the boss tells you to do, you need just to do it. You need to think about how you can be more productive in the employment that you're given. So, if you're, it doesn't matter if you're a slave, if you're that kind of slave from 9 to 5, if you're a mother in your home, You still are not to be a man pleaser. You're not just to sit there and, you know, check out on the social network for hours on end. Or whatever escape mechanisms that, you know, women have their own escape mechanisms just like men do. It's work. You're to work as pleasing the Lord. Not men, not even your husband. You're to work as unto the Lord. Managing the home is hard work. That's huge work. Heavy lifting work. So no matter where you find yourself in, you need to have the perspective of this biblical work ethic that says, I work before Christ and not men. Isn't that beautiful? If you're a mom, you're serving your kids. I mean, what mother here does not feel like a slave? And I would suggest you are. I mean, it's slave labor, right? And you don't get paid for it. But you serve Christ. Do you see the difference? And the difference is simply this. Faith, faith is perspective. It's perspective, it's perspective. We were sitting, having a meal, and my All our family, we all get together at my grandparents' house when I was growing up. This is my grandfather, who's not on the construction side. This is my other grandfather, who was an administrator at Penn State. He was into education. So one side of my family is all construction, the other side is more into education. It's very interesting. But we were all sitting there and he told us this story. It's one of my favorite stories. I've probably told it hundreds of times as a bricklayer. There's two guys building a wall. And as the people walked by, they would ask them, what are you building? The first bricklayer would say, I'm building a wall. Okay. The second bricklayer, when they asked him, what are you building? With a gleam in his eye, he would say, we're building a cathedral. Now, both of them technically were correct, but only one had the right perspective. See, work is about your perspective. What are you doing? Changing diapers. One mom says. The other mom says, raising up the next generation of warriors to advance the kingdom of God on earth. Amen? Huh? What are you doing? Stacking boxes. Moving planks. Making widgets. Adding numbers. Okay. That's the here and now. But the eternal perspective is advancing God's kingdom. I'm serving the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the power of the gospel. That's what happens when men and women see their work as for the glory of God. This is the context of Colossians 3.23, and whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. You do it wholeheartedly as unto the Lord. Whatever God has called you to do. It doesn't need to be ethical. But whatever you're called to do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. In other words, don't let the world push you into its mold and think this is all there is. My goodness, our world is so secular, it's so earthbound, that everything is for motivating of money and stuff. Retirement. How many, you know, gold commercials can you handle in one week? Gold, gold, gold. What happens after you die? So you got a retirement for 5 minutes to 20 years. What about when you die? You need Christ. And you need to work for the glory of Christ. You don't work for retirement. You work for the glory of Jesus Christ. That's the motivation. Set your things, your mind on things above, not on the things out on the earth. So that whatever you do, and the key here is whatever your hand finds you to do, you do it as unto the Lord. That's how you neutralize relativism in your life. If there's any area in your life where you're doing it for men, for yourself, for others, you're living as a relative person, relative ethics, that there is no God, that there's no right and wrong, that I can live life however I want. No, that not, no, no. Now, how can you do that? Here's the main motivation. You've got to have this riveted in your heart, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. You got it? That's why you can't rip that verse away from 1 Peter 2.18. I mean, when the Bible says just do it, we have a... Well, that's too hard. I can't do that. I've had guys, grown men, just quit. I mean, not even finished in the day. You know, you got to bring the mortar over through there. Well, that's too hard. And they just walk off the job. Being a bricklayer, this is one of the harder jobs. pouring down rain and they just walk off the job. That's the attitude we have. I don't need this. Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more. Right? How many times have I heard that song sung and guys love to sing it and then eventually they do it. Throwing their hard hats across the worksite. I have a lot of stories here. 1 Peter 2.18, now look at the contrast. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable. If, because of conscience towards God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully, for what credit is it, if when you are beaten for your faults and take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you to follow him in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. But when he reviled, did not revile, and returned when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously." You see that? committed him who judges righteously. The Bible says, he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done. And there is no partiality. God doesn't look upon your big man boss and say, oh, he's the boss man. There's no partiality. None. And God sees everything that goes on. And we've seen major shifts in our lifetime. When I was a kid, the iron curtain looked like an iron curtain. And then what happens? It just falls apart. It just disintegrates. God topples kingdoms. God topples and removes wicked masters. He does it all the time. God's kingdom remains. And the kingdoms of this world are on sinking sand. So as a slave, as an employee, you need to know this. Because this is going to be the key for establishing a biblical economic system where you live. Now I think slaves, you know, 1 Corinthians 7, if a slave can buy his freedom, do it. You haven't sinned. But if you can't, be content where you are. And there's so much wisdom in that. I mean, we are one discontented group. I want to go here, I want to go here, I want to go there, I want to go there. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. If you can get your freedom, buy it, but seek first His Kingdom. That's what His Kingdom looks like, right where the slave lives. Do you see that? That's faith. in the trenches. And those who humble themselves, God will what? Exalt. But he who exalts himself, God will what? Humble. Our nation is exalting itself, and God is humbling us, and will continue to do so. Those who have faith in Christ will humble themselves, and God will continue to exalt you. Isn't that awesome? I mean, it's so counterintuitive. We see then this faith-based obedience, the just-do-it obedience, is so critical. And that is such a valuable thing for you need it and your children need it. It's so important that your children obey your parents. Same word, hupotaso. Hupokuo. Do what they say. Right? Well, it's too hard. Okay, now here's your consequence. Your son says, and it's reasonable, work, right? It's too hard. Well, now son, you just have what? More work. If you let that little boy, it's too hard. What are you teaching him to be a mammy boy? Can't work, can't do anything. Get your hands dirty by the sweat of your brow. You understand? This is critical. There's so much rebellion in not accepting Christ and not understanding obedience that when what happens is as children grow up through that and they can become adults, they live according to their feelings. They live according to their emotions. I don't feel like doing it, therefore I don't have to. What? That's post-modernism, by the way, folks. There it is. Post-modernism is this. I don't feel like it, therefore I don't have to. Nothing else matters but my feelings. And if you're a Christian, Christians often say this, my feelings determine the will of God. No, they don't. Sorry, God's Word determines His will. We can boil this all down. Obedience, faith-based obedience in the Word of God, revealed scripture. Not my will be done, but your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. So, that's the first key. We'll call it the axe head. That's the axe head to economics. Now, an axe head by itself, you can pick the axe head up and you can kind of chop some wood with it maybe, but you're not really going to do much. So you need an axe head and you need an axe handle, right? So the second truth would be, I refer to it as the axe handle. The second major truth is this. Masters, give your slaves what is just. So the slave is commanded by God, and the master is commanded by God. Why should a master give them masters? Give your bond servants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. And the key component, one of the main ways masters are to give the slaves what is just and fair over and over in the scriptures, the way masters are just to their slaves, or employees, are just to their employer, is just to his employee, is that you pay them. That you pay them. And why should they do that? Because masters, you are accountable to God for how you treat your slaves. Employees, you are... I'm sorry. Employer, you are accountable to God in how you treat your employees. There will always be more employees than there are employers. There will always be more slaves than there are masters. And it's just how it is. Okay. So, what does it mean that an employer would treat his employees, what the scripture says here, just and fair? Well, what is justice? The only way to establish justice is to have a higher standard that you function on. You understand? Everything else is going to be partiality or is, let's say where our culture is, discrimination. Everything, unless your practice is rooted from an absolute perspective, you're going to be discriminating. Do you understand the insanity of trying to have anti-discrimination legislation and thinking when you have no ultimate moral law governing the universe? You can't. It's all discrimination. It's all based on the will and the power of man and special interest groups. Might makes right. Whoever can scream the loudest gets the legislation. That's discrimination. And people who hear this sermon, they think, well, I'm discriminating. I'm discriminating, I'm saying that God's law is how we judge all things. That's what is just. He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. But to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. It is the law word of God that establishes the standard. So what is just is what God has said is just. Therefore, there is to be no partiality in our judgment. That's the only way you can get the Statue of Liberty there, with the blindfold and the balanced scales. As man rejects truth and the fear of God is the only motivation to be just, the blindfold comes off. And special interest groups, manipulation fill those scales, and it gets ugly, and discrimination rules. The only way to have a non-discriminatory practice is to base it on the will of God, so that as you do as a servant of God, you obey the Word of God without partiality. Meaning, you don't look at their face, you don't look at their skin color, you don't look at their stature, you don't look at their bankroll. You just treat them as people. Amen? Because God looks at us as people, made in the image of likeness of God. That's what the Word does. It's all equal at the foot of the cross. So, here's what the Word says about employers or masters. It's pay your wage. Leviticus 19.13 He shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. So if a master hires a slave, pay him that day. That's what the Scripture says. Pay him that day. And I remember when I first started years ago and I read all this stuff, I'm like, man, I really don't want my master to even pay me every day. Just at the end of the week it's fine, thank you. You know what I do with all that? Once a week it's fine, thank you. And you know why that is? You know why that is? It's very important. Do you know why that is? It's because the blessing of God in our economic system is that we've been able to produce because of the blessing of God and get a couple steps ahead of a daily subsistence living. That's why I would think that. Do you understand that? That's because of a blessing. Most cultures in the world will never get there. Most cultures, they... You need to pay me today. Why? Because I got to use that to buy food to feed my family this day. And I need it the next day and the next day. Save up for the Sabbath and do it again on the next day. You understand? That's where most people live. So the very fact that you can say, okay, just get paid once a week and I'm fine with that, shows the prosperity that God has given us. Alright? But in that economic system, where you're in a subsistence living, that master is required to pay his slaves every day for the work that they have done. Again, Deuteronomy 24, 15. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it, lest he cry out against you and the Lord to the Lord, and it be sin to you. So this is a huge I admonition to masters, to employees, if you're sitting on your employer's money, and they pray to God, that's a sin to you. And that places your company, your work, under God's judgment. So if you have any fear of God, masters don't do that. That's how it benefits everybody. Pay him what you owe him. Jeremiah 22, 13. Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor's service without wages and gives him nothing for his work. It's a woe oracle. Woe oracle is judgment. You want to place your company under judgment? If you're an employee, If you're an employer, you don't play your employees timely, you're pasting your company under judgment. Okay? Let alone a master to his slaves. Because God sees all these things. See, when the gospel comes, the gospel... Reverse. Reverse. The gospel changes everything. And let's look at what the law says about some of these things. Let's look at what the gospel says when a master, when an employer, receives the gospel. And this is a great story. Matthew chapter 20, verse 1. Matthew 20, verse 1. For the kingdom of heaven is like the landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now, when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, how much was he going to pay them? One denarius a day. When would they pay him? At the end of the day. Why? Because he was a just and right and fair master. He sent them to his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And he said to them, you also go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will give you. So they went. Again, he went about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did likewise. So some guys work from seven, some guys at ten, some guys at noon. Working the whole day. Or no, some work the whole day, some work half the day. And about the 11th hour he went out and found others standing idle. He said, why have you been idle all day? And he said, because no one hired us. He said to them, so just like the people do here, they gather at Home Depot, right? The same kind of, that's the culture. That's the ancient practice right there. That's not new. Okay, that's ancient practice. And you hire them for the day and you pay them for the day, right? That's because some of those men are living in a subsistence level. They need it every day. They don't have work Okay, that's what's going on there. We know that you also go to the vineyard and whatever is right you will receive So an evening had come the owner of the vineyard said to a steward call the labors and give them their wages Okay, they worked all day. He's a he's a just Employer he's going to pay them now look what he does though beginning with the last of the first and when those came who were hired at the 11th hour they received the denarius and So those who work the least, they receive the full day's wages. But remember, He told them, I'll just pay you what is right. He didn't give them the amount. He told the first guys the amount. Okay? But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more. Fine, He's given them one coin. We're going to get two. Because we worked all day. And they likewise received the denarius. And when they received it, they complained against the land over. Hey, that's not fair. And God is very in tune with that. He's very in tune with justice. He wants equal balance and equal weights here. But look what the gospel does. The gospel transforms the economy. See, he's being gracious. Saying, these last men who have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But he answered and said to them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for Denarius? Yes. Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as you. You want to work the law? You'll have the works of the law. But if you intern by grace, you receive all the benefits of the law because of faith in Christ. I think that's where it goes. It's an example of grace. Verse 15. Now, he says this, is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Answer is what? Yeah, it is. It's just lawful. He's not being unjust. Or is your eye evil because I am good? That's not fair. They get free salvation. Yep. That's where it goes, right? Free salvation in Christ. Is that wrong? No, it's the gospel that transforms economics. Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen. Isn't that an awesome story? That's how the gospel transforms economics. Now, a couple points. Was the master forced to? No. Minimum wage is completely unbiblical. No minimum wage, right? He was responsible for his own goods. He did this of his own volition. We're going to see this time and time again. The own volitional aspect is very important. But you see how the gospel encouraged him to give more and above and beyond what was required. That's how the gospel transforms it from the employee to the employer. What is needed is the gospel. And by the way, when the state steps in and does a third party, you have a master, you have a slave, and now you have the state. The state crushes the master and destroys the slave. That's what communism does, right? Socialism does that. And socialism, if it's gaining a huge amount of momentum, what socialism does, it eats its own, it grinds down America until what? There's nothing left. That's the history of Russia. We heard Hiti tell us that's what happened in his country there, what's in that country. Mongolia. That was an awesome story. They were broke! Why? Because communism destroys everything. It takes everything from the family, takes it all to itself, and squanders it until the people become completely broke. Once the people are broke, then the communists, oftentimes, they will give up. You know, they'll fight to the death. They'll slaughter their people. They'll kill everybody. Until the people are all broke, they have no more money. Well, I guess there's no use. What are we going to do? And it clumbles. That's what happened to Russia. That's what will always happen. Okay, so we need to be vigilant in understanding that so we can be a voice against that tyranny. But it is God's judgment, so we have to seek the Lord in all things. It's very important that you understand this basic economic principle. He shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. The labor is worthy of his wages, both for the slave and for the master. Why would a master do this? If the master fears God. It's a test for him. Does he fear God? Right? James 5.1, come now you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming. upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten, and your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last day. Indeed, why all this indictment against them? Indeed, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Again, see, God judges all things. And see, this is a great encouragement for the employee. Your employer is accountable to God. And this is a great challenge for the employee. You are accountable directly to God. The law of God defines what is lawful for a master and slave relationship. You ever think about that? Again, back to slavery. Is it inherently wrong to have slaves? No. It's inherently wrong to be unethical in your treatment of slaves. And the law has a lot to say about that. I'm not going to go on. I'm just going to give a couple of examples. Exodus 21-26. If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it, he shall let him go for the sake of his eye. The masters are accountable. God's system of economics actually does work. If he knocks out a tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth. That's how God's, it's just, it's fair, it's right. Do people take advantage of it? Yeah. But I can guarantee the answer is not an imperial state. When we talk about slavery, we're just, we're beginning, we're in slavery, a new kind of slavery. And this doesn't have the terms of endearment. See, slavery can be a very good thing. You've got to understand, we are slaves of God. We are part of the family of God. Right? I love my do-loss status. I am a slave. That's what I'm to be. And you're to be a slave of Christ. And that means you do this. Look at Exodus 21. Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them. If you buy a Hebrew servant, He shall serve six years, and in the seventh, he shall go out free and pay nothing. So there's a time limit here. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife of the Jones shall be the master's, and shall go out by himself. Now people are like, ooh, yeah, it's that property thing. I know we're not comfortable with that. It's like, oh, it's horrible. Right? Well, let me ask you this, who owns you when you're at work? The government says, we own your children when they're in school. Hello, that's called slavery. And most evangelicals send their kids to be slaves of the state for the majority of their education hours. Hello, that's slavery. Oh, that's different. Why? Because when they come home, they're not slaves. Okay, at least you're starting to think right about some things here. But look what happens here. See here, this is a household economy, and the household economies need helpers to come in and work. Home slaves, if you will. But you know what? If there's a righteous master there, Then here's a beautiful picture of what God does in a righteous family. It's this. But if the servant plainly says, I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him to the judges. Then he shall bring him to the judges and he shall also bring him to the door, to the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awe and he shall be a slave forever. Isn't that awesome? It's not done in private. It's done out in the public. He wants to stay here and remain. Then we're going to put a symbol on him and he's going to be my slave forever. Because we love each other. That's called putting the axe head with the axe. And you can produce. And families and household economies can grow. Okay? Now, that can happen in a master-slave. How much more should we be able to do this in an employer-employee relationship? Right? This is the Christian view of economics. And if you have this, if Christ is functioning, then... This is the keys that you need to be blessed. When you have workers who fear God, they'll work. When you have masters who fear God, they will be good and just. When you have these two keys, you have the beginnings of establishing the Kingdom of God over your economic system. Again, this can work anywhere on the globe. It's not just in America. It works anywhere on the globe. Now, you realize what happened in America, what brought about the change, in our nation, I believe it was the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution changed the need for the workers. The post-Industrial Revolution world needed a new kind of worker. They needed a factory worker. They needed to get the slaves off the farms and into the cities where they could be put to work. So they enslaved a new industrial system. And to accomplish that was the War of Northern Aggression. Now some of you may not agree with that. So I see it going down. And again, I was growing up in Pennsylvania. I was a hardcore Yankee, right? But what happened there, you had a new economic system. And so you needed to tear apart the household-dominated economic systems so that you had a new kind of, really, a slave force. And that's the factory worker. I still call it slavery. Are there some differences? Yeah. Here, we're going to build this row home. I lived in Philadelphia. Look at all the row homes. That's where the slaves went, whistle blows, go to work, come home. There are some differences, but not that much. The main thing still depends on who you work for, doesn't it? You have a righteous company that does righteousness, it's going to bless you. You have a wicked company, it's going to make your life miserable. Now, yeah, you can leave easier. And I like that. OK. But nonetheless, we have to see this for what it is. And and the bottom line is faith in Christ. OK, so Christians fear God. Be hard workers. Employers be just in your dealings. with others who may be given into your care. When these two come together, masters and slaves, employers and employees working together, you have the power to produce no matter what economic system you may find yourself in. And let me see what's going on. The sermon is I want to close with the book of Philemon. Look, turn with me to the book of Philemon. I mean, in my mind, Philemon puts all these concepts together. Philemon. Paul. Look at this. This is awesome. A prisoner of... Look how Paul deals with it. A prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother. To Philemon, our brother, beloved friend and fellow laborer. To the beloved of Pia and Archippus, our beloved soldier. and to the church in your house. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have towards the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you, in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, Though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains." So the runaway slave Onesimus gets converted. Paul's ministry to him. Okay? Who once was unprofitable to you. He was an unprofitable servant. He wasn't a good worker. He was full of self, pride and envy. He was not a good worker, but now is profitable to you. And to me. The gospel makes an unprofitable worker to be very profitable. You see that? I am sending him back. Sending him back to his master. You therefore receive him. That is my own heart, whom I wish to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent, he recognizes the master's authority. I wanted to do nothing that your good deeds might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntarily. That's how the gospel transforms the institution of slavery. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, as we just looked at in Exodus 21. Maybe he'll be one of those kind of slaves that you'll love him and he'll love you. No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother. See, that's the transforming power. Especially to me. But how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord? If then, you count me as a partner. Receive Him as you would me. But if He has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. So we don't need a third party tyrannical state to come in and rule this. We need the Gospel of Jesus Christ. and brothers and leaders who will sacrificially give on behalf of one another. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay, not to mention to you, that you owe me even your own self. Besides, don't forget about that. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say." He makes his appeal to the gospel. I know brother you believe the gospel and therefore you'll do even more Then I say you get that with the gospel But meanwhile, I also prepare I get but prepare your guest room for me for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you. I'm gonna come see you soon Apophis my fellow servant in Christ Jesus greet you as you mark our stock esteem is Luke my fellow labors the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit and And everybody said, Amen.