Good evening. Tonight we'll be picking up where we left off three weeks ago in our Wednesday night devotional series on work. And so, you guys are already turning there, but the passage is Colossians 3.23, and that can be found on page 985 of the Pew Bibles. Will you follow along with me as I read I'll repeat the passage twice, Colossians 3, 23. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Let's pray. Father, we pray that By your spirit, you would open our hearts, Lord, to receive your word. We thank you for your word. And also, Lord, would your spirit strengthen me and guide me that by your grace, I might deliver your word to your people. In Jesus' name, amen. So we continue on in our series about vocation, about God's calling for us to work. So some examples of vocations that we see are the teacher, the farmer, the doctor, the professor, the homemaker, the student, and the so many other callings that God has given to his people. And our question today is how and why do we work? And in this passage, it's simple. Work for God. Work for God. Point one, work heartily. Whatever you do, work heartily. When we hear the phrase working from the heart, what comes to mind? I know maybe you'll think of an athlete who spends hours in the gym with aching muscles, sweat dripping from his brow, diligently training so that he might be able to perform. We maybe think of the surgeon who with great dexterity performs the most delicate of procedures to heal the body, who seeks excellence, accuracy, precision in all of his work. Or maybe we think of the musician who plays an instrument passionately from the heart that it might touch the hearts of those who hear. These are some of the many characteristics that we might think of when we are working from the heart. And so in this passage, the command is to work heartily, to work from the heart. But Paul doesn't initially give this command to those of the most noble professions in the eyes of man. Paul gives this command, as we look in the context, to the lowliest, to the bondservant. These are bondservants bound to the Roman masters for seven years who often suffered as harsh and severe a servitude as the more modern, much more reviled chattel slavery that we have seen in the Americas. And so even the lowliest of bond servants is called to work heartily. And so it must be, too, for us Christians, no matter what vocation we are in, that we work heartily. For we are not subject to our earthly masters in everything, but still, we are still to work from the heart. And so, how do we do this? Let's go back to the examples that we stated earlier. So first, diligence. Let us work with diligence, with continued effort and continued hard work, and that we would put off laziness in all of our work. Second is excellence. Would we work with excellence, producing from the labors of our hands that which is good, that which builds up, and not cutting corners? Finally, to work with passion, to work with fullness of energy, to work with all of our hearts, and not to fall into lethargy or boredom. But these are just the start. These are just the things we think of when we work heartily. Paul further qualifies this command, and so we go to point two. Work for the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord. First, this should be an encouragement to us Christians. We see again God giving his command to even the lowliest of his servants, the bondservant, the one who suffers under harsh yoke. Even he can work for the Lord, so too can all of us in our vocations, in our calling, work for the Lord. And yet, it's a difficult call. As our brother Hoon reminded us from Genesis 3, our work is cursed. No longer do we work while resting in the presence of God in the garden in paradise. But we now work a ground that fights against us. We work among relationships that are broken and torn apart. We work long hours that sap our energy and drain our strength. We labor on for years that cause our bodies to be broken. How are we to work from the heart with this in mind? Well, first we look to a finished work. Our Lord took on humanity, took on human flesh, experienced the full human condition, experienced the same pain, sorrows, and sufferings that we experienced so that he might sympathize with us And yet, unlike us, He worked perfectly for the Lord. He merited the righteousness that we do not deserve, and in perfect obedience to His Father, went to the cross to take the punishment that we did deserve for our sin. And yet on the third day, He rose again, triumphing over sin and death. And he has redeemed us from our sins that we might no longer be under a yoke of slavery. But as we read in verse 24, you are serving the Lord Christ. You're serving a master who loves you and in his goodness calls you to the high standard of work. And so when we think about working for the Lord, here's three postures by which you might work. So the first is to work worshipfully, is to worship the Lord in our work. God created us, man, to worship him. And so should we live our lives in worship. How do we view God? Because our view of God will pour out into our work. If we adore him, If we sing his praises, just as a song of praise is fitting for him, how much more so should our work be fitting for him? We should passionately pursue diligence and excellence for our work in his name. Even more, we should steward the good gifts that God has given us. We should use them in our work for his glory. And we should be thankful for what he's given us, but even more so for who he is. The second posture is to work humbly. Work humbly. Depend on the Lord in your work. All things that you have right now have been handed over to you, have been given to you by God. your strength, your energy, your time, even the job that you have, by which you work, has been given to you by the Lord. How often do we seek His grace? How often do we run to Him for strength to sustain us that we might endure through our work? How quick are we to depend on ourselves, our own strength, how foolish we can be, for God has given us everything. We should walk by faith, in humility, seeking the Lord in prayer. We can pray to a God, we can pray to our Father, who not only can supply us with all that we need, but who loves to supply us with all that we need. And finally, our third posture is to work hopefully, We should work hopefully. We should wait expectantly for the Lord. Brothers and sisters, we are sons and heirs of God in Christ. And so, as we see in verse 24, that you will receive the inheritance as your reward from the Lord. And so, brothers and sisters, don't lose heart. Wait expectantly for the Lord's return. As we read in the same chapter, verse four, when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. In glory, we will work joyfully. We will work without toil. We will work resting in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now we move on to point three, work not for men. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. The men Paul has in mind here in this passage are the earthly masters that we have, the men in positions of authority over us. We are not to work for them because we have a master who is above. And so I'll outline four dangers that we often face in ways we might work for men. So the first danger is working to what man deserves. The slaves had every reason to work half-heartedly, to work grumbling because their masters were harsh. They worked in demeaning work. And yet still in this passage, they are called to work heartily as for the Lord. Do we work heartily as for the Lord when our bosses could be so micromanaging to the point of inefficiency? Or maybe a teacher is so uninvested in your education fail to work, students. We should not ask the question, what does man deserve? Ask the question, what does God deserve from me and my work? The second danger is, as Paul states in verse 22, this word, I service. It's when we only work hard when the eye of man is upon us. So think of it. Do you ever have your head on a swivel, looking around, looking to where your manager might be while you're working, and only working hard when their eye is upon you? This demonstrates a lack of integrity, and it results in subpar, inexcellent work. Think of a child when asked to clean his room by his parents, who once they leave the room, instead shoves everything into the closet, declaring his work done. We work for God and not for man. Though it please man, does it please God? Finally, or never mind, the third, the third danger is obeying or pleasing our earthly masters when God forbids it. This demonstrates a fear of man over God. So when in our line of work, our masters tell us to affirm or celebrate sin, when they tell us to discount the value of human life and promote the murder of the unborn, when they call us to affirm and promote and celebrate perversions of God's good created order, of sex and marriage, and among other things, when they call us to deny the faith, we are called to work for God. And so, if ever in your line of work, your master, your manager, anyone in position of authority requires you to sin, leave. Find your calling, find your vocation. in accordance to God's will. And the fourth danger, this is the last one. Disordered desire for validation and approval of man. A disordered desire for the validation and approval of man. Often our temptation is to seek to impress others in our work. To impress those above us and to glorify ourselves in the process. we gain a twisted satisfaction of stoking our own pride and craving the approval of those who are in power. And yet, the satisfaction is not rightly ordered. We should find our satisfaction in the Lord, first knowing that our standing is not in our works, but in the righteousness of Christ. And finally knowing that We have a new heart in which we delight in pleasing God. We love to please God because he's given us a new heart and he delights in us when we do the same. And so if you're not a believer tonight, if you have not put your faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, Why delay? He offers forgiveness, forgiveness from sins, and he offers eternal life, life everlasting. And when you believe, he will give you a new heart and these new desires that you might live in accordance with his will and be able to work for him. And fellow believers, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Work with diligence. work with excellence, work with passion, work worshipfully, work humbly, and work with a sure hope of the eternity of rest that we will enjoy in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Father, We need your grace. May we be sustained by your grace. Lord, may we work heartily with diligence, excellence, and passion. Lord, would you deliver us from the temptations to work for men. But would we work for you? Would we worship you in our work? Would we depend on you in our work? And would we hope and wait expectantly for your return in our work? We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.