Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com. I'm Pastor Greg and I welcome you to our study in 1st Timothy chapter 6, verses 1 and 2, titled, Masters and Servants. No pressure. Amen. I was kidding. 1st Timothy chapter 6, verse 2 verses. Most of us like to sleep. I just thought you'd be interested to know if you have any questions about sleep. See Doug, he studies sleep. He just had a sleep study the other day. Man, he's like a PhD. We begin our study of 1 Timothy 6 with a discussion of Christian employment relationships. Don't leave yet. Verses 1 and 2, I'm just going to have you read both verses with me. So jump in there. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blaspheme, And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. Amen? Now when considering these things, we need to define our terms in order to have the context. Let as many servants as are under the yoke, That is important to establish what we mean because this is not a reference to, and the biblical teaching here is not an endorsement of slavery as seen in the United States prior to the abolition of the slave practice or the peculiar, what they call it, the peculiar practice of the South. with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which took place on December 6th of 1865. Just to show you I'm not making things up, the Dictionary of the Holy Bible, American Tract Society, this was written actually before the Civil War. Quote, this word servant sometimes denotes a man who voluntarily dedicates himself to the service of another. You are the servant of Jesus Christ. It's voluntary. And everybody in a pulpit who teaches that you are a slave is an idiot. Jesus said that he had come to set us free. He didn't say, come to me and I will make you a slave. Just ridiculous, the stuff they teach, but it's based on bad translations, by the way. The ESV tells you you're a slave and all these other ones. The word slave only appears twice in your King James Bible because such inhumane practices did not exist in Israel. What you see when you watch Roots, by the way, is a very exaggerated piece of propaganda. If you watch Roots, it makes you think that that was what was typical, and it wasn't. But at the same time, it's fair to say there was some really, really bad stuff going on among slaves, or being done to slaves here in the United States of America. American slavery was wicked from the start according to the Word of God. And by the way, we talked about this a few years ago in our Ephesian study and I covered a few things there we're not going to talk about here and vice versa. But I do want to go back to Deuteronomy 24-7. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And a lot of people read their Bible, especially if they read a corrupt new version, and they see slave where our King James Bible talks about servants and bond servants. And so they immediately think that God was like a Southern slave master who took the African slave out and whipped them with a, you know, a horse whip. and beat some of them to death and raped the women. And there were tens of thousands of mulatta, as they call them, babies. That was a word for babies that were brought into the world through slave women as a result of their white masters or owners sexually molesting them. And it did. It was terrible. It happened a lot. But it all goes back to how the whole thing started. American slavery started with a violation of Deuteronomy 24, verse 7. If you're there, read it with me. If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him, then that thief shall die, and thou shalt put away evil from among you. I'm sorry, thou shalt put evil away from among you. Dyslexia there. Flipped a couple words, but... They went into... Now, you say, well, they're Africans, not Americans. They're Gentiles. They're African Gentiles. And it was Gentile Africans, Gentile Arabians, and Gentile Europeans, and Gentiles, especially from Spain, who went and kidnapped these people. And the ones they didn't directly kidnap, they purchased from other tribes in Africa who had kidnapped these people. And God condemns it from the very beginning. And any preacher of that era, before slavery was abolished, who defended what was going on in America based on the Bible, they, I hope they were saved, but I guarantee you, they were embarrassed before the judgment of God, they will be embarrassed before the judgment of God for what they did. Because the Bible does not in any way, shape or form allow for slavery that begins by taking men, women and children stealing them, kidnapping them, putting them on ships where about a third to a half of them died from the squalor they lived in on the way over. Then when they got here, they were sold like cows and horses. And then the men and their wives and their children were bought and sold and separated, many never to see each other again. It was a terrible, terrible thing. And that's not what we're talking about when the Bible talks about being a servant. That's not what the Bible is, not the same thing. It's just totally a different thing, which is why it's a different word. I just took this off of Leo, is the AI for brave. And I've told you, I've explained this before, the AI that you've got in your internet web browsers and stuff, it basically just goes out into the internet, finds sources and brings back what is out there. then you check the references. You see the little tiny numbers? You look at that, it tells you what the references are at the bottom, and then you can go look it up and see what the AI has brought back to you. And it actually saves a lot of time if you're careful. But I'll guarantee it's more accurate than CNN and ABC and CBS and PBS and NPR and public education textbooks. The first enslaved Africans to arrive in the Americans did not come directly from America but were kidnapped in Africa. So those are secular sources and they were transported across the Atlantic. The transatlantic slave trade began in the 15th century with the first enslaved Africans arriving in the Americans in 1502 in Hispaniola, which is now Haiti in the Dominican Republic, and 1518 in Jamaica. Now by the time the Civil War took place, they were slaves who were 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th generation, and some of them lost track of how many generations had been here and everyone, every generation was a slave. They didn't know anything else. And the slave trade had almost totally been cut off. But because of the fact they would procreate, then there was always gonna be a new generation of slaves to be used. And they would actually grow in population like the children of Israel did in Exodus. Now, what the children of Israel went through was closer, especially toward the end, of what we saw in America. But even then, God had to convince them to leave. And what do you see? If you're reading along with us in the Bible, you'll see it. They're constantly saying, oh, that we were back in Egypt. By the way, Islam played a huge role in all this. In the 16th century, the African slave trade was influenced by both Islamic and European practices. Guess who the majority of the Europeans were? Roman Catholics. They don't tell you that, isn't that funny? However, the trans-Saharan slave trade, which is part of Islamic practice, continued to be significant. Historians estimate that between 650, the year 650, and 1900, 10 to 18 million people were enslaved by Arab slave traders and taken from Africa, across the Sahara, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. While the transatlantic slave trade initiated by European merchants became more prominent in the 16th century, the Islamic slave trade remained active and significant. And it's still happening in Muslim countries today. There are still African slaves being kidnapped from Africa and used in Muslim countries. Still happening. Again, we were also told this in 1 Timothy chapter 1, you might recall. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, which is a sodomite, and for what? Men-stealers. Our word would be a kidnapper. No new thing under the sun. It's going on today. That American Tract Society dictionary continues. It says, quote, in its primary sense, servant usually means in the Bible either a hired servant or one whose service was the property of his master for a limited time and under various restrictions. In the Old Testament, the slaves were set free every seventh year. And then the Jubilee, everything they lost, the land and everything, if they were debtors and everything, it all went back. Well, they didn't have anything like that here in America. So again, what you read about in the Bible does not compare to American slavery. It's just not the same animal. The fact is that nearly all employed Americans today are practically in the same case as the servant that we're reading about right here in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Have you ever thought about it? What you read about in the New Testament especially, you're talking about servants who are basically hired out. It's like a contract where you're committed for a certain amount of time and that sort of thing. The biblical servant relied upon his master or masters for livelihood, including housing, food, health care, and any other personal benefits. This describes the typical American worker. How many of you just decide you just go to work because you just want something to do? I think pretty much everybody in our church family, if you lost your job, you'd lose your house. Some of you lose your car. You couldn't pay your utilities and eat and all that kind of thing. What's the difference? The biblical servant changed jobs and masters, but relied on a master for his income and livelihood. How many of you just make your own living? Once in a while, there's somebody that can do that. But most people, you don't have the skill, you don't have the credit or cash to run a business, to get a business up and going. You don't have the, I admit to you, I don't have the smarts for it. I don't have that business acumen that they call. I have not been in the ministry and had to work secular employment as bivocational minister. Later on, I mean, I worked until I was about 19, 20, 21, 22 years old, and then I went in the ministry and had to be bivocational most of that time. I couldn't just go out and make a living just on my own. I had to find a master. So that again describes the typical American worker. The American servant, do you own your home or does the bank own it? And you're paying with massive interest to eventually own your home. Actually, the government has it. Well, jump ahead of me. I want them to think of it. How many of you, though, just talk about mortgages? Just on the mortgage alone. How many of you have paid off your mortgage? All right. So our offering should be better. I'm just kidding. You don't have a house plan. You're in a similar situation as the biblical servant. if you still don't own your home and you're still paying for it. That's what this biblical servant was doing exactly the same thing you're doing to eventually hopefully have a home. But if you do own your home, don't you pay thousands annually in property tax? And if you fail to pay it, you lose your home. How many of you here don't have to worry about property tax? Anybody? Everybody. That means that you are subject to that because you either pay or you get out. That's the point. If someone else owns it, you're beholden to two people, them and the government. And every time the people that pay rent need to understand this. You go voting for all these local tax levies, your rent goes up. because the owner of the property you're renting has to pay more taxes when you vote for that garbage, and so they have to charge you more to be able to pay for their own properties. I've tried to explain that to people over the years. Again, similar situation as the biblical sermon. Just to give you an example here, the average salary is about $45,000. I don't know how people with a family can make it any in that, I have no idea. The average $45,000 salary maker with a small family pays $4,700 in federal taxes, $3,400 in Social Security and Medicare that you may not ever see, but guess what? Unless they change the law, you'll get taxed on that too later. You pay $550 in state taxes. And if you have a typical home, which the average price of a family home today in Ohio is $250,000. You may not have paid that, but that's what your property taxes are telling you it's worth on average. So you're paying $4,000 in property tax. That means that right off the bat, the money that you bring home just dropped to $35,000. Local city income tax is over $1,000. Every time you fill up your gas tank, you're paying, and the amount of money the average person spends, they also, $600 a year of it is taxes that you think you're putting gas in your tank, you're actually putting tax money in the coffers. $450 of local sales tax just buying is a minimum amount of like $300 a month that you spend on things taxed. Most people spend a lot more than that. You have to pay 55 bucks total to get your driver's license and your tax for your car. So we take it down to about $32,700. Do you know what the average house payment and rent payment? Some of you say, well, I'm not paying that much. But the average is $1,900 a month. So that's $22,800 a year just to have a place. That doesn't count the utilities and food and all that. $12,000 minimum for groceries. You're already down in the whole $2,000. Yeah, I've got a lot of stuff I could throw on there. And you're thinking, how are people making it? We're a nation of servants. Like I said, the chattel is the word they use for it. So that's how you identify with what we're studying. Let as many servants as are under the yoke, you're under the yoke. And if you ain't the one paying all the bills, you're still under the yoke because you're relying on that person who's paying all the bills, kids and whoever. Count their own masters worthy of all honor. Makes you appreciate your boss if he keeps you on the job, amen? I mean, he may be a big, fat jerk, but at least he's letting you work, amen? I used to tell myself that all the time when I had bosses that just weren't fair, wouldn't, you know, I'd just go on and on, the problems I had with them and everything, but I'd say, at least they let me work, at least I have a job, I got some benefits to take care of the health needs, we're able to pay the bills. That's when you just start thanking the Lord. Count your blessings. You gotta respect your boss. And also what helps is what I've told you before is to get in your mind that your boss is a Jewish carpenter. This guy or gal that you work for in the immediate presence, if you're pleasing That boss, and they're not pleased, then, you know, you need a new boss. Amen? I mean, if you're pleasing God, they ought to be pleased. And we think it's strange to use terms like lords or masters, but if you think of the terms we use for our bosses and for people who are over us in one way or another, think of some of these just, if you work for a private company, they have a CEO or a COO, that's a chief. Oh, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief, or you have a supervisor, or a superintendent. You ever think about those words? He's like the Superman of bosses. You have a grand marshal, not just a marshal, a general manager, a supreme court justice, and so forth. And then, in modern times, we use the word master a lot, and we just don't think about it. We look at the Bible talking about master, and we think of our boss as a master. Oh, come on. Well, if they have a master's degree, a master chef, if you work in a restaurant, the master electrician or the master plumber, The prop master, the master mason, master of ceremonies, we use that word all the time, but we use it in ways that we're used to, we don't think anything of it. But there it is. So once we have context, we see what the main overriding issue is. This is what we have to be concerned with when it comes to our place and point where we work, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. Why should you work hard? Why should you be honest? Why should you behave yourself? Why should you be on time? Why should you not take extra long breaks and rip your boss off? Why should you not talk and hang out and, it's nothing wrong with talking if you can talk and work at the same time. But if you can't talk and work at the same time, what do you do? Shut up and work, amen? Amen, come on now. Because this is our main concern. That the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed. Because it's not about us. Boy, that transforms your work life. When I go into work and realize this isn't about me, and even what I'm doing as far as the task. It is about me being an ambassador of Jesus Christ, not bringing shame and reproach on the name of Christ. and making sure that at least I'm not in the way. That they can't use me as an excuse for not wanting to know Jesus. No, you know, that lifestyle evangelism stuff goes way too far. None of you are going to be so wonderful that people are just going to drop it on their knees in front of you and say, oh, I've got to be like you. That's not going to happen. But there have been plenty of Christians who have become a stumbling block. Plenty of Christians who are going to stand and answer for the fact that they threw stumbling blocks before people. And that's what we want to avoid. And just so you know, she has been having some back issues. I didn't spit on her. Just if you're wondering why she moved. And that goes for any of you. It doesn't bother me a bit. If you want to walk around, just don't be a distraction. It's not in our nature to do so, but being filled with the Spirit, we will seek God's glory above our own well-being. It's not in our nature, but when we're filled with God's Word, in prayer, walking in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, we'll find ourselves not really caring as much about ourselves, but what we are doing as far as He is concerned, how we are representing Him. and whether or not we are living in such a way that anybody cares about what we might say about things. Would people bother coming to you and asking for prayer? Are you the kind of person they think might be able to get in touch with God? Are you the kind of person they think might know the Word of God well enough to talk about it? Those kind of things. And, of course, morality and that sort of thing plays into it. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter 2, beginning verse 15, For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as what? the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. Read 18 through 20 with me. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently? But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. Now, I just want to, well, I'll come to what I'm about to say in a second, but look at what it says first before we move on. Let that sink in. There's times where you're not going to be treated fairly. You might get passed over for a promotion. You may not get the pay raise you know you deserve, or maybe just a pat on the back. I was working with a guy one time, and he thought for sure when we had our team meeting that the supervisor was going to call him out and just, you know, give him a little shout out for something he did. And she didn't mention it, and he got his feelings hurt. And I let him mope a little while, and then I think it might have been a day or two later, and we had a little powwow, and I said, oh, by the way, and I did, I said something. Oh, you don't have to, you know, he's like, I don't want to, He was glad I did it. I mean, you don't always, shouldn't always have to have a pat on the back. But the guy really did, I mean, bust his rear end to get something done. He should have got some, you know, some kind of a congratulatory thanks or something for it. But folks, it's not, a lot of times it's not gonna happen for you. But you know what you gotta do? You gotta remind yourself, he that seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Amen? That's not just about alms, that's a principle. You will reap what you sow. And if you have been sowing hard work, selfless labor, God's going to reward you. You've got to keep that in mind because this world is not fair. But this does not include criminal acts against us, I just want to say that. But we go to authorities and do not take matters into our own hands. got somebody being sexually molested on the job or something, they don't have to take that. You can resist that, leave, and go to the authorities. Trust God to take care of your job. Amen? Or if you know that you're working somewhere where they're doing things financially unethical, or maybe even embezzling, or whatever, you're not supposed to have anything to do with that. You leave, and you're supposed to go to the authorities. Amen? But back to our text there, we didn't, I hope you didn't leave yet. 1 Peter 2, I saved the first two verses before what we read. Because 13 and 14 says, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for what? See, what's that? That's saying it's not about you, it's about him. whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, like down on the border, and for the praise of them that do well. Amen? So this matter is also incredibly important when a Christian works for another Christian. Let's say your boss is a Christian, or a professing Christian, and you're pretty sure he's actually a saved man or woman. Verse 2 back in our text says, and they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. Now that can be a real touchy situation. I once worked for a company that made openly advertised they were a Christian company. Man, they treated their workers bad. And the guys I worked with used to say, they had big letters on the front of the building, glory to God. And the guys that worked there for a while said, it should say glory to gold. And I'll never forget, my time ended with them. I knew I was kind of a low man on the totem pole, so I figured I was going to get the winter layoff. Guess what day they laid two-thirds of the men off? Christmas Eve. I mean, if your last name's Scrooge, okay. But you advertise yourself to be a Christian organization, and they didn't give you any kind of indication, heads up, or anything. And then they started calling them in. And after two or three men went into the office and came out huffing with a pink slip, everybody knew what was going on. So then everybody's working and just waiting to hear their name. And they hear their name, you hear them throw something. And it was a terrible, terrible Christmas Eve, all because of a Christian employer. But no Christian should own slaves. So we know this, not talking about a Christian slave master, but it's a master over servants, but Christian masters should be respected and honored in that context. And again, John Wesley says this, quote, let them not despise them. pay them the less honor or obedience because they're brethren. And I've seen that. Because they're Christians, other Christians try to take advantage of them. And say, well, they won't call me out because they're a Christian. They wouldn't want to do that. And that Christian master, so to speak, he needs to call it out if they're doing something wrong. Don't put your boss in that position. Yeah, amen. but rather do them service, serve them so much the more diligently, because they're joint partakers of the great benefit, salvation. I mean, what? There's something wrong with you if you're working for a Christian and you want to make them either look bad or put them in an awkward situation like that. There's something wrong with your heart. Now, again, that doesn't mean that just because you're working for a Christian they can't do anything wrong either. We've all been there. But this is just for you, for food for thought, as you're working, whether it's a Christian or not, you apply these texts accordingly. And again, we must emphasize this temporary life is only important in light of the eternal. And if we could all get that in our minds, That just puts everything in the right, puts you in the right frame of mind. And how you handle things and how you work and so forth. So let's close with a passage I was going to read last week. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 through 11. Read the odd with me as we close with this reading, beginning with verse 1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. if so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath bought us the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit. Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. Amen? Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit. We thank you for the work you've done. Each one of us are at a different place, but we are all, as believers, on the road of sanctification. as your Holy Spirit works in our lives, looking forward to that day spoken of in this text we just read, when we will be glorified. We will take off this fallen, cursed, sick tabernacle that we're in, and we'll put on a body that is like unto yours. Until then, help us to make that what our lives are all about, what we do every day, day in and day out. is to please you and to store our treasures in heaven. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. All right, stand if you can. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. ♪ My heart to fear ♪ ♪ And grace my fears relieved ♪ ♪ How precious did that grace appear ♪ ♪ The hour I first believed ♪ dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. T'was grace that brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home. been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown. Wear a crown. Wear a crown. It's a wicked, wicked, wicked, wicked world that we live in Filled with wicked people raising wicked little kids People marching in parades declaring right and sin Leaves the only wondering when the end begins When the loving, just and holy King of righteousness returns The righteous will be taken and all the wicked burned Justice will be meted and the just receive reward At the end of this wicked, wicked world There's a devil, devil, devil, devil walking through and through. His weakness works against you, no matter where you go. But Satan is defeated, the fallen Lucifer. His destiny's destruction and his judgment is assured. justice will be needed in the justice It's an evil, evil, evil, evil time to be alive Just before unleashing Revolution Chapter 5 The biases and trumpets are ready to unfold But it's a happy ending as the ending is foretold When the loving, just and holy King of Righteousness returns justice at the end You ask me why I'm happy, so I'll just tell you why. Because my sins are gone. And when I meet the sculptors, you ask me why. I say, I say to God, that I'm going to need the blood of Christ every hour of the day. As for him that doth resist, no, in the sea of God's forgiveness, let's go. Praise God, my sins are gone. T'was by the old time gospel that God made my home. And now, my sins are gone. The works of old possession, the devil's making fun. I'm glad, my sins are gone. They are hungry for blood, look my sins are gone. As far as the darkness is from dawn In the sea of God's forgiveness that's good enough for me Praise God, my sins are gone When Satan comes to tempt me and tries to make me doubt I say, my sins are gone You've got me in control, but Jesus got me out. I'm glad in my sins are gone. There is no glory, the cross is not the reason. As far as death is concerned, no. In the city of God's forgiveness, there's not enough. I'm My soul is filled with music and all my heart I sing. I know my sins are gone. There are people like you on the cross in memory. As far as you can stop your sin from dawn. In the city of God you can promise that's good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone. To Canaan, the land of our father, where the strong never died, our darkest night will play. and the A rose is blooming there for me, where the soul never dies. And I will spend eternity where the soul never dies. No sound. joyous hour where all is love and the soul never dies I walk my way to that fair land where the soul never dies where there will be no parting and where the soul never dies Glad for that same