Turn with me to Matthew chapter six. We'll be reading verses 19 to 34. Matthew chapter six, verses 19 to 34. And it says, do not store up for yourselves treasures unearthed, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in to steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters, for either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they? And who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin. Yet I say to you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow strolling into the furnace, Will He not much more clothe you, you of little faith? Do not worry then, saying, what will we eat? Or what will we drink? Or what will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. each day has enough trouble of his own. That's great. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness and your kindness to us. Lord, there are so many ways in which you provide for us that we fail to give you thanks. And Lord, even as I stand before you, Lord, I pray that you would forgive us in the ways that we have fall short in being thankful for you. You have always provided for your people, and you continue to provide. And you provide the greatest gift, which is your son. And if you have provided for us a way of escape from the wrath to come, will you not provide for our basic needs? And Lord, even as we come now in this hour with our minds and hearts focused on the topic of work and the gospel. I pray even, Lord, as all of the things that we've heard this day, that it might continue to dwell in us and stir our change. That where we are, where we have air and where we have strength, that you might refocus our sight. because we are indeed prone to wander, prone to history. And we need the reminders, Lord. We need day by day to depend upon your strength, to see you clearly. And I pray now that as we open up the scriptures, that your Holy Spirit might go forth and empower the truth that we might once again work in the hearts and the lives of your people, strengthening and encouraging you. That's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So the title of this evening's message is The Workplace, Challenges that Christians Face. Now, I first want to start off by saying that the challenges that we face today are actually not unlike the challenges that the church has faced throughout the centuries and in different places. In some instances, the challenges that we face in the workplace are far worse than, or not as worse, not as bad as the challenges that Christians have faced through various times. Now, going through this message, I wanna point out a few things. But before we jump into the text, I want to first prepare our minds and our thoughts as to where we will be going. So first, the sermon this evening, even though it's primarily for the working man and the working woman, I want to say that there's practical application for the homemaker and the student as well. The subject of the gospel and the workplace is a subject that, as I've already mentioned and deferred, is something that we need to revisit daily. It's something that we need to revisit time and time again. Even in my own studies in preparing this message, in getting to the end of my studies, I realized how personally I had, how far I had veered and lost sight of the goal at work. And so some of the things that were mentioned this morning, we will revisit those things, we'll revisit those things from a slightly different angle. Pastor Greg mentioned things like boldness. We'll really be taking a look at somewhat of the flip side of that, of fear, and why those things prevent us from doing what we should at the workplace. We'll also be taking a look again indefinitely at ideology, because that ties into what we do or don't do at the workplace. And so my intention, again, is to, as Pastor Greg mentioned this morning, is not necessarily to give all of the, answer all of the specific questions regarding the workplace, and the questions that we might have, but really to give the tools that we need in order to face the challenges that will arise. And so with that, I'd like for us to turn our attention once more to the Gospel of Matthew. The first thing I would like for us to consider is the setting and the purpose of the book. The main theme of the book of Matthew is concerned with presenting Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, to a Jewish audience. As one commentator has noted, an interest in the Old Testament kingdom promises runs throughout this gospel. Matthew shows that Christ is the heir of the kingdom of God. He demonstrates that he is the fulfillment of dozens of Old Testament prophecies regarding the king, who would come. And so in Matthew chapters one to two, we have the genealogy of Christ. We have a little bit about Christ's early life. And then later on in chapters three to four, we have Jesus' baptism and temptation and the selection of the first disciples. And then in chapter five, it begins with what's mainly known famously known as the Sermon on the Mount. Now, the Sermon on the Mount, which some have suspected is the same event recorded in Luke chapter 6, verses 17 to 49. It begins in Matthew chapter 5, and then it ends in Matthew chapter 8. And it is within the context of those chapters that we find the particular passage under consideration this evening. The message of the text is simple and straightforward. It deals primarily with various aspects of wealth. Now, keep in mind that though there are many ways in which one can gain wealth, the primary means by which God has ordained for us to gain wealth is by means of work. So we'll be connecting some dots here. And so work is closely tied to the acquisition of wealth. With this focus in mind, I want to break the sermon down into two major categories concerning the challenges that we face today. Simply, the first challenge is wealth itself. Wealth itself. And then the second challenge that we'll be looking at this evening is the world. Now, we know in the first place Wealth itself is not morally bad. The Bible does not categorically think the rich is wicked and wealth is evil. Actually, Pastor Greg touched on that this morning. The scriptures do not teach a poverty theology just as much as it does not teach a prosperity gospel. On the other hand, the scriptures Like was even said in past weeks in looking at the Eighth Commandment, they do condemn the inordinate desire for wealth. Perhaps the greatest example of this from the scriptures is 1 Timothy 6, 10. It says, for the love of money is in root of all sorts of evil. And some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. And so the love of money, it says, is a root of all sorts of evil. This is part of the spirit of Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six, verse 19 says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. Jesus, in the passage, gives a simple command in verse 19. He says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Why? Because treasure on earth is temporal. Thieves break in and steal. Rust destroys. Vermin destroys. But instead, verse 20, store up for yourselves eternal treasure in heaven, where moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. Now, this facts have me at the privilege of moving. And one of the things that I realized is over the eight years of where we We had acquired a lot of stuff. I remember in the beginning, months prior to packing, I was saying, well, we don't have that many items. We won't need that many boxes. We won't need this particular size of new haul truck. And I was wrong. But that is our tendency as human beings. to store up things. In Luke chapter 12, we are reminded of a certain rich man by Jesus in another character. He says in verse 16, the land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, what shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? Then he said, this is what I want. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, this very time your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself. that is not rich toward God. And he said to his disciples, for this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life as to what you will eat, nor for your body as to what you will put on. For life is more than food and body, more than clothing. Now, if you have a hobby of any kind, you know how easy it is to store up stuff. starts with one, and then pretty soon you have an entire collection. And again, our tendency is, as we earn more, we typically tend to spend more. And this is the case with the rich man. He was successful in business, and instead of being rich toward God, he was rich towards himself. Secondly, if we read the text carefully, we see that this man was self-reliant. Herein lies one of the challenges that we face at work, particularly if you've been at your job for any amount of time, or if you're particularly skilled at what you do. Rather than rely on God for help in doing your work, you can then begin to rely on yourself And once you begin to rely on yourself, then you begin to focus on yourself. A heart is wicked and will seek to take credit for the gifts and abilities that God gives. Soon enough, your pride and reputation begin to compete with your allegiance to Christ. And so many of the challenges that we face at work flow out of and divided allegiance to work. On the one hand, we are creatures. We do not possess life in ourselves. On a most basic level, we are dependent on God to sustain us. And God uses means to sustain our mortal lives. We need food to eat and clothing for our bodies. Providentially, the means by which we primarily acquire these is by means of work. And the problem comes in when we begin to see work as the provider for our basic necessities of life, instead of God. We may even see ourselves, rather than God, as the primary agent that determines our success or failure at work. As one said, you must remind yourself often that God has given you everything that you have to be proud of, and that he has often used others to get you where you are. Thank God, and thank those whom he has used to bless you. And so on one hand, we must resist the temptation to be self-reliant. And on the other hand, we must resist the temptation to have a divided allegiance at work. Going back to Matthew chapter 6, we read, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where the thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither the moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in to steal. And then he goes on to say, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. The focus of the text is not so much based on what the treasure is, but where the treasure is. Jesus says, for where your treasure is, there your heart is will be also. What we value most will be either found on earth or in heaven. If all we see are the physical and immediate needs that we have for our basic sustenance, and don't go beyond that to see a kind and loving God who providentially takes care of us, then our loyalty will be divided. We'll feel conflict and tension arise whenever these two masters clash. What do you do when God says, that you should not hide your life under a bushel. But the workplace says that you cannot speak of Christ nor the commandments of Christ. What about if your job consistently requires you to work on Sunday? Or you work for an employer that emphasizes speed over quality? Or a company that engages in deceptive practices to earn business? What do you do, like in the case of my job, where your pay and your schedule is based on metrics that can be manipulated. Whom will you serve? You see, when wealth is your soul master, or as believers, when you try to serve wealth in addition to serving God at work, then the gospel witness suffers. Some believer will see the inconsistency. They may even point it out. It may even become an opportunity for them to blaspheme and become even harder in their sin. Furthermore, do you suppose that the reason why you hate your job is because you're seeking something from your job that it was never intended to do? Do you see your job as your provider instead of given the place rightfully to God? Jesus says, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and love him. Or perhaps on the flip side, you love your job. Someone else has written, do you enjoy your work, love your work, virtually worship your work so that your devotion Do we put our emphasis on service, usefulness, or being productive in working for God at His expense? Do we strive to prove our own significance, to make a difference in the world, to carve our names in marble on the monuments of time? The call of God blocks the path of all such deeply human tendencies. We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere. We are called to someone. We are not called to special work, but to God. The key to answering the call is to be devoted to no one and to nothing above God himself. This goes back again to what Pastor Graham was mentioning this morning. We have many callings as believers in this life, First and foremost, we are called to God. That is our primary calling. Now, one way in which we can determine where our treasure is and where our allegiance lies is through our giving. Jesus makes a strange statement in Matthew chapter 6. He says, verse 23, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, our brain is the darkness. What does Jesus mean when he speaks of having a bad eye? Well, if we skip over to Matthew chapter 20, Jesus gives us another parable. He gives us a parable about a land And we're familiar with the parable. In the morning, the landowner goes out and hires some workers for a vineyard. And then at different points throughout the day, he goes back out and hires more workers. And then the time comes for a payment to be given to the workers. And each of the workers receives the same payment, one to various, one days And in verse 15 of chapter 20, we see the same word that is used when the landowner responds to the disconnected workers, right? The workers who came out in the morning wanting to know, hey, why are we getting paid the same thing that the guys later in the day were getting paid? And the landowner remarks and says, is it not lawful for me to do what I wish for what is my own? Or is your I envious because I am generous? This bad I, this envious I, is the same group word, and it has to do with greed. We have already stated that our human tendency is to make as much so that we can spend as much as we can. Instead, we ought to try and follow the example of a man like John Wesley. It was said that in 1732, John Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he could give more to the poor. One year, when his income was 30 pounds, he lived on 28 pounds and gave two pounds to the poor. The second year, when his income increased to 60 pounds, He still lived on 28 pounds and gave 32 pounds to the board. The third year, it rose to 90 pounds and he gave 62 pounds away. The fourth year, it increased to 120 pounds and he gave 92 pounds away. Later, when he made over 1,400 pounds, he gave 98% of his income away to the board. Wesley taught and preached. that we should make all we can, save all we can, and then finally give all we can. He believed that with increasing income, what should rise is not the Christian standard of living, but the Christian standard of giving. And so, your generousness or lack thereof can have an effect on the gospel of Christ. As a business owner or someone who hires contract workers, are you known as someone who does not pay fair wages? Or do you have a reputation of generosity? If you are known to be a Scrooge, then Jesus says that there's something fundamentally wrong with you as a Christian. He says that that person is full of darkness. And you know that no darkness has told you. Furthermore, generosity does not necessarily depend on one's bank account. Again, over the past week, in terms of moving and caring for my wife, I saw the generosity of the Body, Hair, and Grace Fellowship, and their giving of time, and just the love that was outpoured. That's primarily one of the reasons why I'm able to stand before you this evening. And the thing about it is that it was a powerful witness and a testimony to my family and to our friends. And so the body just functioning as normal had the unintended result of a powerful witness. Imagine that. We're going back to Matthew chapter 6, we read, For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow nor reap, they are gathered into barns, and yet their Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life. And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin. Yet I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you? You of little faith. Do not worry then, saying, what will we eat? Or what will we drink? Or what will we wear? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. For your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. This takes us to our second point this evening, which is the challenge of the world. The challenge of the world. In times past, there was a sacred and secular divide when it came to the perspective of work. The truly holy work was reserved for monks and priests, while everyone else performed less holy but necessary jobs. Now, by the time that the Reformation came about, we see that the church began to embrace that all of life is sacred. Even my work, which is a calling from the Lord, My life from Monday to Saturday is no different than my life on Sunday. And so Martin Luther, for instance, says that the idea that service to God should have only to do with a church altar, singing, reading, sacrifice, and the like is without doubt but the worst trick of the devil. How could the devil have led us more effectively astray than by the narrow conception that service to God takes place only in church, and thy works done therein. The whole world could abound with services to the Lord, not only in the churches, but also in the home, kitchen, workshop, field. John Calvin later comes along and says, it is an ancient era that those who flee worldly affairs and engage in contemplation are leading an angelic life. We know that men were created to be themselves with labor, and that no sacrifice is more pleasing to God than when each one attends to his calling and studies to live well for the common good. And so, what the Reformers held to, the Puritans would later develop. It was the perspective that all of life was to be lived quorum deo, before the face of God. There was no compartmentalization regarding her so-called work life and her so-called All work that was not inherently sinful was viewed as a sacred calling. Now, do you view your work as a sacred calling? Would your brothers and sisters recognize you at work if they were there? Or going back to Matthew 6, is your life characterized by seeking all the things that the Gentiles seek? Gentiles in this instance being synonymous with unbelievers. Again, for the sake of Christ and the gospel, we should not only focus on working diligently, but like we spoke about earlier today, we should focus on working ethically. We should take care in how we conduct ourselves at work. Philippians 1.27 says, admonishes us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. And so if there's a manner of conduct that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, then there's also a manner of conduct that is unworthy of the gospel of Christ. And so we need to be on guard against the schemes of the enemy. Don't fall into, like we talked about, the trap of grumbling and discontentment. Don't entertain gossip and force jesting at work. And one particular area in which we need to be on guard at work is in the area of sexual immorality. Both men and women at work need to guard their hearts. And while you may not be actually committing the act of sexual immorality or adultery, you may be committing this act in your heart. Someone once wrote, the God pleaser is keenly aware that God sees and judges not only what he does and says, but also what he thinks and wants. He is concerned not primarily with the external flaws that men might see, but with internal mental attitude sins. Therefore, one must put in place the proper safeguards against inappropriate affection for the opposite sex. If you are married, don't spend extended amount of time away from your spouse and your family. Or if you're single, don't spend extended amount of time solely with the opposite sex. And if you're struggling in this area, then you need to reach out for accountability from your elders and pastors. You know, sometimes there's this shame and ugliness that is associated with the sin of sexual immorality that causes people to conceal their sin. What will my reformed, sound Bible-believing brethren think of me if they knew that I struggled in this area? Might I encourage you that struggling in this area is quite common, even among doctrines of grace-loving individuals. Recall the words of Proverbs 28 verse 13. It says, he who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. Well, going back to Matthew chapter 6, another way that we can view, like the unbeliever, or as Matthew puts it, the Gentiles, is by worrying. Jesus says in verse 25, for this reason I say to you do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Jesus says don't worry. He says Don't be anxious about your basic needs. They will be met. A good definition for the word anxious is this. Experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. When it comes to work, the unbeliever has reason to be worried. Because for the unbeliever, their work is their provider. But the believer should not be worried since God is their provider. So when rumors of layoffs or change of management start circulating, you're not to worry. Philippians 4 verse 6 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. If you find yourself worrying about how your basic needs will be met, then you should pray. And the next time that you begin to worry about money, and you need a reminder of the biblical perspective, what you should do is even if you just have one dollar bill, take it out and read what it says on the back. It says, in God we trust. In God we trust. Not in the bank account, not in the job, but in God we trust. Back when the economy was real bad and I was laid off were. This was a lesson that I learned really well. Can I tell you that God was faithful back then, even as he is faithful now? God provided for me and my family. My children did not starve. All our needs were met. And this passage, it was an anchor for my soul. Time after time, I saw the faithfulness and the goodness of God in all his kind providences. What I learned back then, it would later help me to take a stand in the future. When I began working at my current employer, I was pressed to work on Sundays, even though, through the interviews and everything that we had discussed, That was one thing that I made clear. But yet I was still pressed. And I had to make a decision. I would make an appeal to my HR department with the full intention that, hey, if they said no, I would move to look for something else. And again, I saw the faithfulness of God. My request was granted. Make a godly appeal to your ungodly employer. If they are asking you to do something at work that would violate Christian principles. If, for instance, you are being pressed to support the homosexual transgender movement under the guise of what they call inclusion and diversity, you need to shoot straight from the hip with your employer. Don't be like, don't be like Joel, Stephen, and Zach. Is Jesus the only way? Don't be hawing and humming. You need to let them know what you believe based on the scriptures. Providentially, you're appealing to her. And providentially, There may be consequences, but it is all the providence of God, regardless of the outcome. You need to remember that God is faithful. It was mentioned this morning, and as I said in the beginning, a little repetition is good, or a lot of repetition is good, but we looked at Daniel. And we talk about Daniel in chapter one. And we see with the situation where he goes before the king and being pressed to eat meat that would defile him as a Jew. And he makes an appeal to the king. And his appeal was heard. In some instances, that'll happen. On the other hand, we're quite familiar with the three Hebrew boys who were given the ultimatum, either worship the statute that was created or die. This goes back to what I said in the beginning. We think that we face challenges today in the workplace. Again, when we look throughout church history, Believers have faced worse, much worse, challenges. And so Daniel chapter 3, verses 14 to 18, it says, Benekenezer responded and said to them, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my God or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, lyre, trident, psaltery, baptism, and all these types of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made. Very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. And what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God, who we serve, is able to deliver us from the burdens of poison and fire. And he will deliver us out of your hands, O King. But, if he does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your God, to worship the golden image that you have set up. And what happened? And then you can answer saying, sure, I grant you an exception. No. They were cast into the fiery furnace. Might I suggest, however, that even though they were cast into the fiery furnace, that God still sustained them? And if you make a godly appeal at work and your employer denies the appeal, if your job is threatened, might I suggest that God will sustain you too? Do you believe this? Going back to Matthew chapter six, notice what Jesus says after he gives examples of the providential care of the birds of the air in verse 26 and the plants of the field in verse 28. He says in verse 30, but if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you? You of little faith? This is the heart of the matter, isn't it? It's an issue of faith. And how interesting it is in the Gospel that those whom we expect to have great faith, namely the scribes and the Pharisees, have none. And those whom we expect to have no faith, namely the Gentiles, Jesus says, have the greatest faith. The most educated people in the law of God and the most religious of the day often were chastised by Jesus for having no faith, while Jesus' own disciples were often said to have little faith. In contrast, Jesus would often commend the Gentiles for having great faith. Brethren, we must have faith. Someone once wrote, The faith that pleases God is a dependent faith, a faith that doesn't just believe the truth of Scripture, but depends on the truth giver to make good his promises. And it commits itself to following that truth. God-pleasing faith lives life with the conviction that God keeps his promises, both in this life and in the next. The one whose faith pleases God does not just believe that is, but also believes that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. And so the question is not do you know this, but rather do you believe this? I say to you today, speaking from experience, God is good and he takes care of his children. Well, there is another side of fear and anxiety that we face at work, which I wish to address before moving on. That is the fear and anxiety that results in the desire to please others. In particular, our desire to please our boss. Now, seeking to please others is not necessarily sinful, depending on the degree to which you seek to do it. If the desire to please others exceeds our desire to please God, then it has become sinful. We should never seek to please our bosses for fear of what they can do. Remember that all power and authority that they have was given to them by God. And so fear should never be a motivator for pleasing our bosses. John chapter 12, verses 42 to 43. It says this, nevertheless, many of the rulers believed in him, in Jesus, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. You see the link between fear and people police. Sinful people-pleasing. If you experience fear in your workplace, could it be because you are sinfully seeking more so the approval of man rather than of God? Luke 3-11 in his book, Pleasing People, how not to be an approval junkie, notes the love of approval tempts the people-pleaser to be timid about sharing his faith. People pleasers are often too embarrassed to be seen publicly giving thanks for your food, for the standard, for the truth, or to let it be known that they go to a very conservative church. Perhaps most serious, though, is their inclination to be ashamed of the gospel. They don't want to be stuck with some unflattering label or religious nickname, so they keep the good news about Jesus to themselves. Not only does the people pleaser love the wrong thing, the approval of man rather than the approval of God, he fears the wrong thing as well. He fears the disapproval of man more than the disapproval of God. So, should you share your faith at work? Touched on that this morning. Should you confront someone about their moral lifestyle? What about homosexuals or transgender co-workers or customers at the job? How should you interact with them? Do you bring biblical condemnation regarding everything that comes across your path? What do you think? In the first place, we need to remember that we are hired to complete a specific task. And we do not want to rob our employer by using job time for other things. That goes back to the eighth commandment of what we've been studying for the past few weeks. And though, in some instances, some sins may require an immediate review, generally speaking, there are more opportune times to do so. Again, like we talked about. And this doesn't only concern addressing sin, but sharing the gospel. There are more opportune times to do so. We talked about it at lunch, before work, afterwards. It doesn't have to come into conflict with what your employer is calling you to do as a job. Again, some jobs do. we might be traveling with a co-worker. These are all great times to talk about spiritual things. These are perfect opportunities to do so. But many of the times, we're not even thinking like that. We're not even thinking that these are opportunities to sow the seeds of the gospel, to see, as we were talking about earlier today, that the workplace is a field. We're not even thinking like, we're not even thinking, those categories. Again, we spoke about this morning. That's why we need to be in inner study of scripture. We need to be in constant prayer for our co-workers. We need to be relying on the Holy Spirit. And he will show us opportunities and we can be salt to those who are in darkness. And so the combination of the matter is this. Whose kingdom are you actively seeking to build up? Are you seeking to build up your own kingdom, to spread your own famed historic treasures here on earth or in heaven? Going back to Matthew chapter six, Jesus reminds us, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will appear for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Now the kingdom of God has to do with the reign and the rule of God. The kingdom in certain aspects is invisible and yet visible, present and yet future. It is both inward and outward of a reality. It is all-consuming. It has no boundaries or landmarks. It has no height nor depth. It transcends both time and space. The kingdom of God is the sovereignty of God, for he is the Lord of all, and all men will one day bow to me and confess his divine kingship, including the boss and CEO of your company. He is the king of kings, to whom all things exist, and move and have their being. It is him who we serve, the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the one who says that his throne resides in heaven and earth is his footstool. And so what he says, do not worry about tomorrow. We can safely take him. In conclusion, if your job causes you fear, or affects your joy, or gives you a sense of security, or causes discontentment, then it has become an idol. We must refocus our perspective upon the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our allegiance will solely be to Christ. When we are tempted to see our jobs as our providers, then we will begin to go astray. We must focus on who God is, and as we do so, we will find strength needed to make the difficult decisions at work. In the hymn, Behold Our God, the writer asks several questions that we need to reflect on whenever we're tempted to go astray in this area. The writer says, who has held the oceans in his hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand? Kings and nations tremble at His voice. All creation rises to rejoice. Who has given counsel to the Lord? Who can question any of His words? Who can teach the one who knows all things? Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds? Who has felt the nails upon His hands, bearing all the guilt of sinful man? God eternal, humble to the grave, Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign. Amen? Is the Lord reigning in your life at work? Is he the Lord of your conduct and speech there as well? If not, let us seek his forgiveness. Heavenly Father, you are good and you do good. And even as I reflect upon the goodness of the Lord, even as I reflect upon your goodness and your faithfulness, Lord, words cannot rightly describe your faithfulness, which is new every morning. As I said, Time and time again, you have provided for us in so many ways, and in so many ways, we are unthankful. Lord, help us to see you as who you truly are, the sovereign, the creator of all things. It is you whom we serve. You are greater than to Boston's, your grade, and King's. Help us to work in the way in which we have a signature with emotion, too. Or we, even as we reflect upon this subject, we know this is not something that we study one time and then put on the bookshelf and say that we got it. I pray that we may continuously revisit this, that we would continually put our faith and hope and trust in you in all things, that we would truly work as unto you and not as unto man, that we would truly adore the gospel, the gospel even as it was already said,